Rio 2 Movie: Anne Hathaway and Andy Garcia

Written by Kelli Gillespie

The beloved blue macaw family is hurtled from their home in Rio de Janeiro to the wilds of the Amazon in the animated sequel Rio2. Jewel reconnects with her father after growing up apart. Voicing this father-daughter duo on-screen is Andy Garcia and Anne Hathaway. Risen sat down with them to talk about raising girls, encouragement to start acting, personality traits and the search for family.

Interviewed for Risen Magazine at the Fountainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida

Risen Magazine: Andy, when it comes to raising girls what do you think is most important when it comes to investing in them or making sure they know that dad is there?
Andy Garcia: I think that, “he is there” are the operative words. I think it starts with [the fact that] you have to be present as a father. I think you make a lot of mistakes as a parent… first of all they pick up all your bad traits to begin with. Sometimes you may not represent well, but the point is that if you are present all the time, when they sum up and look back at the example that hopefully you set and your relationship, they will see that you were always there and the love was unconditional. That will sort of trump out the moments when you say, “Well, that wasn’t a very good parenting moment. I shouldn’t have taught them how to make a gin cocktail.” [Laughter]

Andy Garcia as the voice of Eduardo for movie Rio 2. Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox

Risen Magazine: Who would you say first saw your talent and gave you a chance?
Andy Garcia: I took an acting class in high school my senior year, the last semester – kind of the end of my high school experience. There was a teacher here at Miami Beach Senior High, Jay Jensen. I had a good time in the class, I really enjoyed the stuff we were doing and he encouraged me to continue to study. The words I don’t remember, but he certainly said, “You need to continue doing this.” And that gave me a little bit of confidence and pushed me in that direction which I wanted to do.

Risen Magazine: Anne, Jewel is adventurous and wants to see, and do, and feel. Obviously within your work, you have that mindset, but is that something that is part of your personality outside of your career?
Anne Hathaway: I love to go with the flow. I am one of those people that if I find myself in a new city I will just get on foot and walk around until I find the things that interest me. So I try to find my own adventure every day. It’s gotten a little harder to do that in recent years so I try not to be reserved because that is not in my nature, but sometimes you do have to put up boundaries or just protect yourself a little bit – I don’t know, I’m still working out my relationship with that.

Anne Hathaway as the voice of Jewel for movie Rio 2. Photo courtesy of Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox

Risen Magazine: Anne, speak to the idea of searching for family and the sense of belonging we all have within us.
Anne Hathaway: I think when you are young you think the world revolves around you and as you get older it’s actually about what you can give back to the world. I think the best place to start is in your family, and the best place to look for who you really are is in your family. I think whether people want to admit it or not, everybody craves that.

Risen Magazine: From the colors to the music, the experience and message… what format do you best understand and learn in?
Anne Hathaway: I think one of my favorite things is when I can see one of my role models leading by example. Words are one thing, but where I think life really matters is in the actions. When you see somebody you deeply respect walking the walk, that is where it really comes home. You need to pull yourself up and strive to be better, and that is when it really hits me.

Interview originally published in Risen Magazine, Summer 2014