'Lilo & Stitch' stars Tia Carrere, Courtney B. Vance: Representing Nani as an 'athlete,' being respectful of previous movie and Maia Kealoha as the perfect Lilo

Yahoo

23-05-2025

The 2002 movie Lilo & Stitch is incredibly beloved in the Disney catalogue and now it's receive a more modern and live action remake, starring Maia Kealoha as Lilo and Sydney Agudong as Nani, a role previously voice by Tia Carrere who returns as Mrs. Kekoa, with Courtney B. Vance as Cobra Bubbles. While there are some differences in the story, director Dean Fleischer Camp largely stayed true to the essence of the original.
Speaking to Yahoo Canada in Toronto, Carrere and Vance spoke about Camp as a "passionate" director who was open to ideas from the cast. Vance also spoke about the similarities in working with young Kealoha and previously starring in The Adventures of Huck Finn with Elijah Wood. And Carrere praisde her previous character, Nani, for being a "thick, brown Disney Princess."
What hideous planet is caught in your crosshairs?
Shooting star.
I'm pushing for a friend.
Like a best friend.
What the hell.
When the original movie came out, I think there was a lot of conversations about Nani in particular looking like not a princess, which I think is kind of all we had unless it was like an actual animal.
It was a princess.
I think it's more impactful now to see a character like that and to see all the characters now that it is live action.
Um, I, I thought it was pretty maverick back in the day that she was like the.
Thick brown Disney princess, you know, she wasn't like this skinny mini little blonde dainty, you know, thing that you had to worry that she was gonna, you know, get hurt.
I mean Nanni's an athletes, she's, um, you know, kicks butt, she surfs um and then to see this embodied in real life in Sydney who's just a tremendous force.
I couldn't be more proud to know that I was part of this legacy.
I think for your character, I love that he has like empathy in this one in a way that I don't think we got from the original, and he feels so much more complex in a way that I almost didn't anticipate, to be honest, going in.
Was it nice to be able to kind of play with those levels for this film?
Yeah it was really wonderful to bring myself to it, and you know I played those kinds of, you know, authoritarian kind of characters and to know that.
Um, the, the, the love in the room.
Um, it changes the temperature.
In all of us and um uh I, I felt that I, I there was a, there's a scene where I'm listening to them sing the song in the hammock and and I'm supposed to be there just observing and making sure that no one gets out of line and all and I'm just sitting there listening and it's like oh what what.
What's going on here?
What are his feelings?
What am I gonna do with, you know, some they're gonna ask me to do something I know very shortly.
That's not what I do.
I don't do feelings.
I don't do help well, so I just, you know, so it was, it was, it was wonderful to for that.
To have that art.
TF it's been pretty well documented that for the original film you were able to say like no this is more authentic, they would say this, they would do this to to make the world feel as as rich as it could.
um what was the collaboration process like on this film?
I I could tell from the beginning they they wanted to stick to what was at the core of the original film.
So that was already baked in.
And Dean Fleischer Camp, I had seen Marcel the show with shoes on, and I knew if he just put some of that heart and soul in there people would be bawling because we've got the extravaganza and the CGI and the crazy stitch stuff, but then at the heart and soul of it it's let love um change you let the family hold you all the crazy messy insane parts.
And we can all uplift each other and so that was already there in the piece.
So I just love that it all came together in this incredible film.
Courtney, for you, obviously you've worked on so many great projects, so many great directors.
What made Dean particularly effective for this film and effective generally as a collaborator?
He he's in it.
He, he, it's not just the technical, and everybody can't do.
And can't talk to the creative.
I can't speak to it, can't I can't can't exist in it and still step out and do the technical and then come back in at that moment, you know.
Yeah, he's very specific with the performance and he took the space and time to do it you know you know I mean and and that you know I think that's what we respond to is that his passion.
He's passionate about this film that it is, you know, you, you, when you're doing something that is so beloved, you have the opportunity to put a stamp on something that will be resonate for, you know, uh, for generations and, uh, um, and, and to, to take that that responsibility seriously he seriously wanted this thing to be.
what the original was and more right and it's hard because everybody's looking at you like, are you gonna do this or you gonna mess this up?
And his because he was so on top of the specifics, he, he was very mindful to respect what was canon but also to bring, you know, put the fingerprints on the characters like my character Mrs. Koa, his mom is a is a social worker and he was like, hey, you know, looking at the wardrobe and looking about how she would say things.
And consulting with his mom and that, and I, I love that, you know.
I love that, you know, it's it's wonderful that we can bring all of ourselves to it.
That's what I mean, he's bringing all of himself and his mom and other people are bringing, you know, I mean that's for me the mark of a a a good director is one that says, this is my idea, make it better.
For everybody.
This is my idea, make it better and not this is my idea and I don't need to hear about what you feel this is what we're gonna do.
And that, that collaborative nature that he has.
Made everyone feel can bring their A game to the game.
I mean the character of Lilo has so much personality.
I think Maya has more personality than Lilo from incredible that they found this little girl.
Yeah, tell me a little bit about collaborating with her because she seems like such a star and someone who has such a great personality with a seven year old or you know you're collaborating with her family.
Um, because you know the, the, if, if, if she's set up right.
Or if the young person I did uh Huckleberry Finn with Elijah Wood back in the day and it was the exact same situation.
Mom was there and mom was like, OK, uh, son, it's time to go home now, but mommy, they're all going out to, to eat afterwards.
I know, baby, but we.
We've got that's not for you, yeah, you have to do your homework and keeping it keeping it real and uh and we, you know, we were it it starts with her, it starts with her family, and if the family is is is is the right type of family for her in in this environment, all of us go.
We can relax because we know that she knows we're not gonna take advantage.
Mom and dad knows we're not gonna take advantage of that and we know that they're not going to, they're gonna set them up for the next day, so it's a real beautiful thing to watch happen.
Yeah, Maya is just magic.
She's just I I it blew my mind because I thought when I first heard about doing this film as a local person like where are they gonna find this kid because Lilo is such a specific personality and that.
Must have gone through like almost 1000 kids to find her and it was worth every, you know, audition because she is Lilo.
There's nobody better than her.
She doesn't act like she's precocious.
She just is a quirky kid and she's fascinating, endlessly fascinating to all of us.