Get ready for an epic adventure with a new warrior princess, Maya! Maya and the Three is an all new fantasy series streaming on Netflix Oct 22nd. I had the opportunity to interview the voice of Maya, the incredible with Zoe Saldaña. We talked parenting, life lessons and why she wanted to be a part of this new adventure series.
ABOUT MAYA AND THE THREE
In a fantastical world, where magic turns the world and four kingdoms rule the lands, a brave and rebellious warrior princess named Maya is about to celebrate her fifteenth birthday and coronation. But everything changes when the gods of the underworld arrive and announce that Maya‘s life is forfeit to the God of War — a price she must pay for her family’s secret past. If Maya refuses, the whole world will suffer the gods’ vengeance. To save her beloved family, her friends, and her own life, Maya embarks on a thrilling quest to fulfill an ancient prophecy that foretells the coming of three great warriors who will help her defeat the gods and save humankind.
Interview with Zoe Saldaña
When I asked Zoe about working on this project, it was clear it was important to her to play a role close to her own heritage. Zoe can relate to Maya and what she represents. Zoe shared, “Maya is loud and she’s proud and she’s feisty and she’s in your face. You know what I mean? And she makes these mistakes out loud. And I feel like everything about Maya is undeniably female and all woman. And I really feel that Jorge captured what a woman is, you know, in a girl’s form because he really wanted to celebrate the women in his life that mean so much to him, that raise him every day. And so, obviously I wanted to make him proud.”
MAYA AND THE THREE (L to R) GABRIEL IGLESIAS as PICCHU, ZOE SALDAÑA as PRINCESS MAYA, ALLEN MALDONADO as RICO and STEPHANIE BEATRIZ as CHIMI in MAYA AND THE THREE Cr. NETFLIX © 2021
When asked how she hopes Latino kids feel when seeing someone they identify with in an animation series Zoe said “I hope this makes you feel happy and seen and heard. And I hope that this inspires you to continue growing and learning and following a path of leadership so that you can open these doors in the future, because every child, given access to a decent education, has the ability to move the world, every child.” That is so very powerful for kids to see someone who looks like them represented on screen.
MAYA AND THE THREE (L to R) STEPHANIE BEATRIZ as CHIMI, GABRIEL IGLESIAS as PICCHU and ALLEN MALDONADO as RICO in MAYA AND THE THREE Cr. NETFLIX © 2021
How does Zoe describe her character Maya? “She is sassy. She is independent. She is very wholesome. You know, I–even at 15, she knows who she is. And I just love that about people. Every now and then I–you know, you meet people at whatever age, even when they’re, like, six months old and you’re like, “You know who you are. You know exactly who you are.” Like, you just–it’s just a–their personality is just there, you know?
And that’s exactly how Jorge wanted her, and I think that she is a combination of all these women, these female heroines in Jorge’s live, from his mom and his wife and his sister. And he definitely wanted me to make her be bold and beautiful and just, you know, rebellious.” -Zoe Saldaña
I personally love that boys and girls can see this young warrior princess find her way, make sacrifices and defeat the odds against her. There is a ton of adventure and action packed into this series that pairs beautifully with it’s heritage and life lessons.
Watch Maya and the Three streaming on Netflix Oct 22nd!
