Encanto’s Stephanie Beatriz: ‘Many of us feel like outsiders in our family’

Every member born into the family at the center of Disney’s new animated movie Encanto is blessed with a magical gift — except plucky teenager Mirabel, who never received a gift from the family’s enchanted house the day she was supposed to. Compared to a sister who can make flowers bloom wherever she steps a cousin who can shapeshift into anyone else’s form, Mirabel is definitely an outcast. Her feelings about herself and her family are the emotional core of the movie, according to director Byron Howard and one of the movie’s stars.

“I think many of us feel like outsiders in our family, and yet we desperately want to be accepted by our family,” says Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Maya, the ThreeStephanie Beatriz stars as Mirabel. “That’s the sort of push and pull that I think is super relatable. I just pulled from my own experiences about that.”

While Mirabel loves her family, she’s constantly trying to prove herself to them. All the Madrigals use their powers to help the greater community, but without any magical abilities herself, Mirabel often feels that she can’t live up to the family name. It puts strain on Mirabel’s relationship with her Abuela. She is the matriarch of the Madrigals and has high expectations. Mirabel is unable to meet their demands because Mirabel lacks the power she needs.

Image: Disney

“Abuela [and Mirabel’s relationship] really reminded me of my relationship with my mom, which is like really wanting acceptance and love, unconditional love, from someone who you feel — whether or not they Do have conditions on their love, sometimes you feel like the love is conditional,” says Beatriz. “And you don’t know how to get in there and get around to the place where you feel loved.”

From the get-go, filmmakers Byron Howard, Jared Bush, and Charise Castro Smith had to figure out how to balance the family’s tension with their care and concern for each other. The first couple of months were spent looking closely at their own families as inspiration.

“I think a lot of what you find, if you really start to dig into your families, is that there are these difficulties and these challenges,” explains Howard. “At the same time, there are things you want to celebrate. Moments of pure joy are possible. We tried to find the right balance between family and work. It felt like a conversation about family. [We] also don’t shy away from the great times. They really love each other, they’re just kind of missing each other from time to time, and not seeing each other fully.”

EncantoThe film will open in cinemas on November 24.