Encanto voice actress recorded song while secretly in labour
NEW YORK - American actress Stephanie Beatriz was secretly in labour when she recorded Waiting On A Miracle, a song from the Disney animated hit Encanto (2021).
The actress, who voiced the film's main protagonist Mirabel Madriga, gave birth to a girl the day after the recording.
"I didn't want to tell anybody at Disney because I didn't want anyone to freak out," the 41-year-old, known for acting in television comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013 to 2021), told entertainment news outlet Variety.
"But I was already having some contractions when we were scheduled to record that day. I was like 'Well, fingers crossed I finish the song before (the baby) comes.'"
Encanto director Byron Howard told Variety that he had no idea that Beatriz was close to giving birth.
"We knew she was very, very, very, very ready to have that baby. But she did not tell us she was almost, almost ready," he says.
Broadway star Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the songs on Encanto, joked that Beatriz sang Waiting On A Miracle while waiting for her own miracle.
Beatriz added in the same interview that she closely identifies with her animated character, a 15-year-old who is the only member of her family without magical powers.
"Most of (my roles), I disappear into the character. And in a weird way, it's the same with this because it's the most 'like me' role I've ever played, yet I've disappeared. It's not my face, it's an animated person."
Encanto is up for three prizes at the upcoming Academy Awards on March 28: Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score and Best Original Song for Dos Oruguitas.
The soundtrack has clocked up nine weeks atop the Billboard 200 chart, with the song We Don't Talk About Bruno currently at No. 2 on the singles chart.
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