Garcia: Certainly not the cash! . . . It was a very nice little script [by Analisa LaBianco and Jeffrey Bushell], you know, it really was. It was a very warm idea, very well crafted, the whole conceit of the story kind of immediately brought a smile to your face.
Garcia: Embracing your identity, the cultural identity, there's a lot of strength in that, wherever you're from, that you can integrate yourself into a society. You can be part of a greater society, but you don't have to give up your cultural identity.
Sotelo: We can't forget where we come from, because that's the message that the movie has. It's a great message.
Times: What was it like for you to make the film, given the fact that you left Mexico at 16 and came here?
Sotelo: I remember when I used to watch the Disney movies and I'd say, "Man, I would like to be in one of those movies." And when I received the phone call that I can have the chance to do the audition, I said, "Man, this is a great chance to make my dream come true."
[The actors discuss what it was like to record their speaking parts.]
Garcia: Drew and I did all our scenes together, you know, actually opposite one another. And they recorded us at the same time, they had cameras on us at the same time, I guess to look at your sort of facial expression, your mouth and stuff. Then they assembled the movie, and then we got a chance to come back in and sort of like improvise to picture. It really became a nice collaborative process, the script kept getting funnier . . . . And then you would be able to improvise against the behavior of the dogs.
Times: Your assumption is with the technology and having to sync everything up, it wouldn't leave much elbow room as an actor.
Garcia: I had a lot of freedom in the movie to say and come up with things.
Lopez: I had a couple that were. . . .
Garcia: Off color?
Lopez: Yeah. A couple really good ones. There were a couple with Papi, he gets adopted, and the lady, the dog's kissing this elderly lady and I was like, 'I didn't know you were into cougars!' They took that out!
Times: Our culture more and more seems to reflect the integration, the mainstreaming, of Latino influence.
Garcia: Well, it's the history of America. America is built on integration of different cultures. I think the strength of our country is going to be in the multiethnicity of it, and all the cultures that come together to still honor their culture, but ultimately we all feel American. You don't have to abandon your nostalgic, primary culture to embrace the American culture and be an American.
