Gloria Garayua Didn't Have to Do Research to Play Blanca: "I have a lot of experience with children so no. But I did work on the accent. I wanted to make her from Nicaragua so I worked on the accent. I just mentally prepared myself to work with Jim Carrey."
Gloria Garayua on Getting to Improv with Jim Carrey: "We did have an improv scene. They actually cut it out of the movie. You won’t see it, so you have to go buy the DVD and see the deleted scenes. But we had a whole improv scene and then afterwards he shook my hand and said, ‘You did very well,’ and I was so happy to hear that. But he’s easy to work with. He doesn’t intimidate you on set. He welcomes you because it should be a creative environment, and he creates that."
Garayua said that being prepared for Carrey's ad-libs made it a lot easier to respond. "I kind of expected that to come so I just kept up on my improv and I was fine. I really was. Plus, if he makes you feel uncomfortable in any way you just say to him, ‘Hey, I wasn’t sure I did that well. Can we do it again?’ He’s like, ‘Sure, why not?’ He’s always up for doing things again because he’s going to come up with something zanier and crazier than the last time. He uses up a lot of film (laughing)."
Gloria Garayua on the 1977 "Fun with Dick and Jane:" "You know, it’s funny. No, I did not [watch it]. I purposely chose not to because I didn’t want it to influence my work. Plus I heard my character wasn’t in that movie. It was a deviation of a male character, a male Blanca so to speak. I didn’t want to watch it but I am going to watch it this week. I just wanted to see this one first, and then see the original."
On Her Other Projects: "I am doing a project right now called 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.' We still have a little longer to go. It’s a theatrical play at the Kirk Douglas Theatre and it’s by the first Latino Pulitzer Prize winner – Nilo Cruz – so I’m really excited to be working under that name. Plus it’s based on a story by Gabriel García Márquez. I’ve got to finish that up and then we’ll move on and take it from there."
Will There Be a Movie Version of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings?: "We’ll see. Right now he has 'Anna in the Tropics,' which was on Broadway. I’m a musical theatre baby so hopefully I’ll return back to the theatre – musical theatre and do 'Anna in the Tropics.' We’ll see…"
Gloria Garayua on the Resurgence of Movie Musicals: "What I love it is it seems to bring about this energy for, especially, the youth. It just rejuvenates everyone and encourages everyone to go and see theatre and plays. That’s so important because I believe that theatre will never die. But things like having theatre made into movies can help put people’s perspectives in that path."
Jim Carrey, Gloria Garayua, Aaron Michael Drozin and Richard Burgi Interview Video from the Los Angeles Premiere of "Fun with Dick and Jane" - Play the Video
