Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Text leads to Estefan joining ‘Father of Bride’
But her character wants divorce in Latino-led remake
Gloria Estefan’s journey to her latest film role started with a text from her friend and former co-star Andy Garcia. But she’ll tell you kismet was already at work.
Her 10-year-old grandson has become a bit of a film enthusiast, much like his father, Gloria’s son Nayib, who owns a drive-in theater in downtown Miami. As she explained recently, “He’s watched ‘Killer Klowns From Outer Space’ and stuff like that.” Under her care, Estefan wanted to introduce him to a more wholesome favorite: “Father of the Bride,” the 1991 remake starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short and Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
“It’s an age-old story,” says the veteran singersongwriter. “The daughter is leaving the nest; it’s the struggles that parents go through of watching their kids grow up.”
Instead of continuing his cinematic edification with the film’s 1995 sequel, Estefan followed up by going back to where it all started, with the 1950 original starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor.
She was met with some reluctance. “He was like ‘Tutu, it’s in black and white!’ ” she recalls. “I said, ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to like it.’ ”
He made it through.
And not long after, Estefan got that text from Garcia, whom she previously worked with on “For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story,” urging her to read the script of a new remake of the warmhearted family/romanticcomedy.
Written by Matt Lopez and directed by Gaz Alazraki, the 2022 iteration finds Garcia and Estefan playing the parents preparing for their daughter’s wedding — and in this retelling, Estefan’s character, Ingrid, has grown frustrated by her husband’s ways and wants a divorce. The film is now streaming on HBO Max.
This interview with Estefan has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: You play a woman who is unfulfilled in her marriage and on the cusp of divorce. In real life, you’ve been married to Emilio for going on 4 4 years. What’s the secret?
A: There’s no secret. First of all, it feels like 10 seconds. It feels so fast, maybe because of the life we’ve had. We’ve traveled so much and done so much and continue to do, that the years just speed by.
There’s a lot of respect. I’m very much about communication. And now he’s much better about it, but he had a tough time with that kind of thing as Latin males tend to do, so I really lead him down that path. But he’s the most motivational human being; he loves his family, we have the same priorities, we rarely disagree on business or music or even politics. So it helps when you’re not arguing about stuff. And we both wanted to be married our whole lives. So we balance each other. We’re very different personality-wise, but I think that helps kind of fill in each other’s gaps and strengths. I love to do things he doesn’t like to do, and he loves to do things I don’t like to do, so it’s a good team. Q: A Cuban American family is at the center of this “Father of the Bride” remake — and the brideto-be is marrying someone who is Mexican. How was it to be part of this story?
A: I’ve been eager to do something for a long time,
but it has to be the right thing or why bother? I’m not going to do something that either doesn’t advance me as an actor or doesn’t represent my culture in the way that I feel it deserves and should be. … When I read the script by Matt Lopez, I thought it was phenomenal and made me laugh out loud. I really loved the characters. And even through from what I read to what ended up on the screen, there were many passes taken to get rid of those little easy jabs that go to stereotypes about Cuban or Mexican culture. We wanted to make a really warm film about family about and have it be completely different.
Q: Was there a time in your career where you felt the pressure to be a multihyphenate?
A: It’s never been a pressure, it’s been an exciting new challenge that I love. An artist is going to want to play in many different venues. And I think the advent of videos in music
really changed the game for a lot of us because you were forced to act or do something, because not every video was a performance video. You kind of dip your foot in there, not just a toe. And I really knew that I loved it and that one day, I would do it. But I also respect the craft.
Q: You made your film debut in 1 9 9 9 ’s “Music of the Heart,” opposite Meryl Streep. How nervewracking was your first scene together?
A: Imagine — my very first on-screen scene that is shot is one-on-one with Meryl Streep on a bench at a New York City school. I meet her a couple of days before, she was the warmest, nicest person . ... So we sit down to do this scene, and I say, “You know, Ms. Streep, if you have any comments that you’d like to give me, any notes, I’d really appreciate them, and I thank you for them,” and she goes,
“Oh yeah, you too.” And I’m thinking, “Oh, yeah, like
I’m gonna turn around and say to Meryl Streep, ‘You know, Meryl, I really didn’t feel that last line.’ ” Come on. It was a master class in acting to be with her in that movie.
Q: I have vivid memories sitting in the back of my mom’s car and her listening to your CDs. I won’t ask you to pick a favorite song, but is there one with lyrics that are particularly special for you?
A: It’s hard. But I think “Con los anos que me quedan,” which was the first song that I wrote with Emilio, that we co-wrote in the kitchen in our bathrobes. It kind of is the way we live our lives — every moment that we have left, I’m going to take advantage, and I’m going to show you how much I love you. So I think it would have to be that song. Although, I love “Mi Tierra,” it’s my favorite to perform.
Q: At this time in your life, what do you value most?
A: Family, always. It’s still number one. The time I spend with my grandson is precious and sacred to me. My phone goes away. I make every opportunity I can. Just last weekend, I asked my son and daughter-in-law if they’d let him come with me to the beach house. … We just spent quality one-onone time — him with his aunt (my daughter Emily) that he adores, and me with him and with her. I make as many of those moments as possible happen because you have to make it happen ... you have to create it, you have to schedule it, you have to find the moment. … Time is short. So I want to spend as much time as I can with my family doing whatever we can together.