Walt Disney Television/Yolanda Perez(LOS ANGELES) — Lisa Vidal found the perfect role in her motherly and hilarious character of Mari Garcia on ABC’s new comedy-drama, The Beauty and the Baker.
The series — which follows Mari’s son, Daniel, a local Miami baker who catches the eye of a famous model — offers plenty of laughs in addition to some touching moments. Vidal tells ABC Audio that one of those moments was when Mari learned that her daughter was gay.
“I was so excited about that storyline because I really wanted to make sure that we were being truthful to the subject matter,” Vidal says. “And to the characters and the experience of what the characters were going through.”
“So, it was really important to me that we didn’t play Mari being stereotypical like, ‘Oh!’ You know, Catholic, ‘You’re going to burn in hell,’ kind of thing,” she continues. “I think Mari is much more evolved. She’s much more in tune with her kids. And, I think it’s more the fact that she feels a disconnect.”
As a mother of three children herself, Vidal says it’s never easy to learn that you and your children aren’t on the same page.
“The worst thing that can happen is feel like you’re disconnected to your children,” Vidal says. “So I appreciate how the writers chose to show the journey of Mari, wanting immediately to protect her daughter and to realize that there’s something about her daughter that she didn’t know. And that it’s just distressing.”
The Baker and the Beauty airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.
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