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Many voice actors need to have a certain level of commitment in order to do things like record scripted movie dialogue from homemade recording booths during a pandemic — but Brooklyn Nine-Nine actress Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Mirabel Madrigal in the Golden Globe award-winning Disney movie Encanto, was actually secretly in the process of literally having a baby while she recorded her most iconic solo from the movie!
Stephanie Beatriz, the actress who played surly detective Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, with her ‘Encanto’ character Mirabel Madrigal. Credit: Disney Parks Blog
“I didn’t want to tell anybody at Disney because I didn’t want anyone to freak out,” Beatriz told 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!’”
Fortunately, crossing her fingers worked; the song “Waiting on a Miracle” was recorded successfully by the actress with no one the wiser, and Stephanie Beatriz gave birth to her daughter Rosaline Hoss (with husband Brad Hoss at her side) the next day.
Mirabel singing “Waiting on a Miracle” Credit: Disney
Encanto director Byron Howard gave his input, as well. “We knew she was very, very, very, very ready to have that baby,” the Tangled director told Variety. “But she did not tell us she was almost, almost ready”.” Songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the original song “Waiting on a Miracle” for Encanto (as well as the movie’s other songs) apparently joked that Stephanie was singing “Waiting on a Miracle” while waiting for “her personal miracle”.
Stephanie Beatriz with her Best Animated or VFX Performance Award from the Hollywood Critics Association, which she won for voicing Mirabel Madrigal in the Walt Disney Animation Studios movie ‘Encanto’ Credit: officialcharts.com
In the Heights actress Stephanie’s diligence also paid off in her performance, apparently, garnering her the Hollywood Critics Association award for Best Animated or VFX Performance. The song “The Family Madrigal”, a fast-paced tune about the entire Madrigal family, is also a song that mainly features Mirabel singing — and that song has done even better on the charts than “Waiting on a Miracle” has!
The song “Dos Oruguitas” doesn’t feature Stephanie and Mirabel, but it is the one Encanto song that has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song!
The Madrigal family: Luisa (voiced by Jessica Darrow), Isabela (voiced by Diane Guerrero), the matriarch Abuela Alma (voiced by María Cecilia Botero), Felix (voiceded by Mauro Castillo), Julieta (voiced by Angie Cepeda), Pepa (voiced by Carolina Gaitán), Agustín (voiced by Wilmer Valderrama), Camilo (voiced by Rhenzy Feliz), Antonio (voiced by Ravi Cabot-Conyers), and Dolores (voiced by Adassa) and Mirabel Madrigal (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz). John Leguizamo voices Bruno (not pictured). ‘Encanto’ is directed by Charise Castro Smith. Credit: movies.disney.com
Can you ever listen to Mirabel’s power ballad (also known in Disney movies as an ‘I want’ song) again without thinking about the labor that was going on during it? Do you think that Stephanie’s emotional and physical undertaking during the song made the song even more powerful?
