Fernanda Andrade said one of the defining characteristics of her character from “The Devil Inside,” Isabella was hope.

“I think I started [exploring the character] from exploring the event itself,” the event being Isabella’s mother’s (Suzan Crowley) brutal murdering spree which landed her in the Catholic psychiatric ward, the idea being that she was–and still is–possessed. “[Isabella] has dealt with it her entire life, and is defined by it, so she goes out in search of the truth. With the search, there’s the hope that she isn’t insane and that she can have her mother back but there’s also the fear of ‘Could it happen to me.'”

Being able to film “The Devil Inside” in a “found footage” way allowed Andrade to become more of her character, she said. “It was great,” she said. “It was a real luxury to be able to film like that. It’s much different than the other movies I’ve shot. We got to breathe those characters…In other movies, you have a lot of breaks, but we got to film continuously.” For her, it was like living the movie instead of merely filming it.

For Andrade, the intent of the film is much different than other horror and exorcism movies. “There was a completely different intention because we were realistically showing an exorcism, uncomfortably so without sensationalizing it so much,” she said. “It’s really exciting.” Films like this have kept moviegoers intrigued for a reason, said Andrade. “The questions that movies like this arise–is this real, the battle between good and evil–these types of questions keep people interested.”