Aimee Carrero plays Sofia on Freeform’s Young & Hungry every Wednesday at 8p. Her character is a strong woman, who has her stuff together, and the actress is just the same in person. OK, well maybe Sofia is looking for a job and she just started dating her roommate’s ex, but other than that, she has her stuff together.
I recently visited the set of the scrumptious sitcom and I got to talk to her about it. Her character deals a lot with her roommate Gabi (Emily Osment), and she described their relationship as “I always say that, ‘Sophia is like the Ricky and Ethel to Gabi’s Lucy.'” Later on she added, “Sofia, sort of, brings to Gabi, a feeling of home, a feeling of centeredness and being grounded. And Gabi sort of pushes Sofia to be a little more romantic and a little more of an idealist.”
How does she describe her character? She told me, “She is definitely the realist. She is also not afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to the plot and stuff like that it. It Is really fun to play Sofia and it is fun to play a character that is genuinely happy with who she is and comfortable in her own skin. That is really refreshing I think.” It is and it is empowering to the little girls who watch it every week.
She also likes that Sofia and Gabi, “do a lot to advance the role of women because the core audience is teenage girls. If we can show two women who are living alone and not crying about a boy or their bodies all the time, it is really great. It is just what we need and I am really proud of that.”
She is also proud that she will be playing Princess Elena of Avalor, Disney’s first Latina Princess. The Disney Junior animated show will spin off of the very popular Sofia the First later this year, and her character is described as “a confident and compassionate teenager in an enchanted fairytale kingdom inspired by diverse Latin cultures and folklore.” This means a lot to her as she shared with me, “One thing that really struck me is their commitment to making a great story. They do a great job of representing a lot of the Latin cultures because there are so many nuances in every country and every city. They do a good job of spreading it around evenly.”
What is it like to be the first Disney Latina Princess? Carrero said, “It is a huge responsibility, in a way you can’t process it all the time because I wouldn’t be able to do the job.” She does the job and it means a lot to her. She revealed that, “I think back to when I was growing up and watching these movies, I thought, I couldn’t see myself or my own story represented.” Then she added, “I am hoping that this will be a wonderful way for a new generation of boys and girls to, you know… If we can inspire a little bit of tolerance and a little bit of interest in something that is different than what somebody knows, I think they have succeeded.” If it is anything like Sofia the First, then they will be making a huge difference. I see it my 2 year old niece’s eyes every time she watches it and I can’t wait for her and all the little boys and girls to watch Princess Elena of Avalor. A show that will truly be making a difference and I can’t think of a better actress to voice that than Aimee Carrero.
Tune in to Freeform tonight at 8p to see her on Young & Hungry and later this year on Disney Junior’s Princess Elena of Avalor.
