Benjamin Bratt sits down with film critic, Peter Travers, to discuss the new Pixar film, Coco. Bratt is the voice actor for Ernesto de la Cruz in the movie. He also discusses various aspects of his career thus far and some of his personal life as well. Cliff's Notes:
- Benjamin talks about the premise of "Coco" and his character. He says that the film is a quintessential Pixar film, but also different because it's the first one to be set against the backdrop of Latino (specifically Mexican) culture.
- He says that he is proud of the film because it authentically depicts the subtleties and beauty that exists within Latino culture.
- He talks about how important representation is and how it affected him when he, growing up as a young person of color, didn't see that many POC in the media.
- They talk about "Coco" is juxtaposed with the current political climate and the Trump administration's demonization of immigrants and POC/minorities.
- Benjamin talks about his background and how he is a Quecha Peruvian through his mother. His parents divorced when he was four and he faced adversities growing up.
- Benjamin discusses how how many stereotypical roles (drug dealers, gangbangers, etc.) he was offered earlier in his career.
- He talks about how his 15 year old daughter and 12 year old son usually don't care about his films but were interested in "Coco".
- He says that there was an alternate ending to the scene in "Miss Congeniality" where Eric kisses Gracie instead of eating the Snickers Bar after she sings the "You think I'm gorgeous" song. It was cut because they thought the scene would have made their romance happen too soon in the script, and they preferred to keep the tension between the two characters.
- Bratt says he would trade any artistic ability that he has in order to become a singer.
- He talks about his show "Star" and Lee Daniels.
- Benjamin ends the interview by singing a portion of the "Remember Me", which is a song from "Coco". They also talk about how Benjamin will have to be the one performing the song at the Oscars if it gets nominated.
Benjamin briefly gets interviewed by Good Morning America's Amy Robach. Cliff's Notes:
- He discusses how challenging voice acting is and how difficult it was singing a song for the film since he isn't a singer.
- His kids make fun of his singing.
Benjamin, along with Anothony Gonzalez (he plays Miguel in the movie), get interviewed by Movie Guide. Cliff's Notes:
- Benjamin talks about his favorite family traditions since a central aspect of this film is about family.
- Talks about how voice acting is tougher than live action acting.
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