The 2018 seventh season of ABC’s “Modern Family” is coming to a close and actress Stephanie Beatriz is starting 2019 by returning to a lovable blue-collar family sitcom.
Beatriz will be a series regular in “Encanto,” which will debut in January and is yet another chance for the New York native to live vicariously through her alter ego.
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“This is a chance to revisit that character who I feel has always been so important to me, but as an actress being able to play someone who’s not, and is on the inside, so incredibly tragic and not so funny,” Beatriz said.
En Capo is described as “a middle-class Latino family with a strong middle-aged patriarch.” The Wrap first reported on Beatriz’s casting.
The former “Nurse Jackie” star explained that she would find a part of herself in Kate, one of three daughters in the family.
“Whenever you go onto a show with a character like that, and you know where you are, you become invested in the family, and there are certain things that are very true to you about that character and how you relate to them, and you always feel a little bit of shame, because we’re so beautiful and [the character is] a total nightmare, but you still do feel good to be part of their lives.”
Beatriz said the show is about each individual person’s “tribe” which helps contribute to the overall tone of the series.
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Fellow “Modern Family” actor Ed O’Neill welcomed Beatriz to the cast, saying his and her characters’ careers on the show helped them discover each other on a deeper level.
“When I first came on to the show, she was the only one who had ever met him [his character] before,” O’Neill said. “I didn’t really know her, and the fact that we had become friends on the show… how fascinating is that!”
As for Beatriz, her experiences have given her a love of her Mexican-American heritage.
“What’s interesting is, it’s not like I went back home and spoke Spanish and became like an expert. I didn’t have any of that, but being able to play this kind of character and play someone who’s speaking the same language and sharing a culture that I [have] is a dream come true.”
Watch Stephanie Beatriz talk about her new series “Encanto” above.
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