'There's never been a role like this': The 'surreal' search for TV's next Latina star
In the last year, Olivia Goncalves has headlined her first TV series and befriended stars like Eva Longoria and Zoe Saldana. But right now, at this particular moment, she's only interested in showing off the brightly colored beaded creations she's made of her favorite Disney princess trio: Tiana, Ariel and Jasmine.
"I made them last night hoping someone would ask me about them," she says, carefully positioning the bubbled designs in front of her iPad's camera for a better view over Zoom. Think paint by numbers but with water-activated beads.
Goncalves is 12, so you can understand if she sometimes prioritizes toys over her Hollywood ambitions. But as the face of the new HBO Max comedy "Gordita Chronicles," she is already proving to be a performer with the mark of something special.
Premiering last month, the comedy follows the Castelli family after they move from the Dominican Republic to Miami in the 1980s and try to adapt to their new American surroundings. Goncalves plays Cucu, a middle schooler with spunk who was the life of the party back home and is trying figure out her place in this new life.
Cucu is not only adjusting to a physical move, but a cultural one too. And
