Star of Encanto Carolina Gaitán.Photo: Andrés Oyuela
Turns out the stars ofEncantoare just as obsessed with the Disney hit as fans are.
Carolina Gaitán, 37, who voices Pepa Madrigal in the family musical, tells PEOPLE she’s “so happy and grateful to be involved in such a big and beautiful masterpiece.'”
“All of the Latino community is being represented in the most beautiful way — our food, music, dancing, multi race, multi ways of being, the multi possibilities, that is exactly how we are,” she says.
Encantotells the story of a teenage girl named Mirabel, who’s the first of her family to not get magical powers. From superhuman strength to controlling the weather, the rest of the magical Madrigal family has gifts that help guide their small town ofEncanto. Through a mix of catchy ensemble numbers and heart-warming ballads, the movie is a true celebration of Colombian and Latino culture.
Disney
After landing on Disney+ in November, the movie became a huge success. Most recently, the movie was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Animated Feature Film, Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Dos Oruguitas.”
Gaitán was lucky to see the effect this representation has on fans of the film. The actress remembers the world premiere in Los Angeles as being “filled with happiness” and says that “the entire theatre was clapping.” At the Colombian premiere, she says, “the entire theatre was crying.” She thinks that “Colombians are represented in the way that we really needed to be represented” and seeing that was extremely emotional for herself and for the audience that night.
The song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” caused a sensation after recently becoming the No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100. “I cannot stop celebrating, it’s just really beautiful,” she says.
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But for Gaitán, celebrating the movie’s success is more than giving herself a pat on the back and moving on — it’s about continuing to make content for the fans that loved it so much. “The celebration is very creative, you feel that you have to give back some of the things that people are giving to you,” she says. “We need to continue doing content, we need to continue to get the most of this experience.”
The Colombian actress also reconnected with the movie’s songwriter and composer,Lin-Manuel Miranda, recently in New York. After meeting with Miranda at a bookstore for coffee, the pair was quick to find a piano to perform. “He was playing the piano and we started singing ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno,'” Gaitán says.
As for other projects the actress and singer is currently working on, Gaitán is one of the judges ofEl Factor X(X Factorin Colombia) and is starring in the Netflix political satireJuanpis Gonzálezand the showMalaYerba,streaming now on Starz.
She’s not done showcasing her singing chops, either; Gaitán is launchingher new song “I Am Bolero"with an accompanying video: “I really want people not only to just know me because of [Encanto], but also to enjoy my music as well.”
source: people.com
