‘Up Here’ Interviews: Mae Whitman and Carlos Valdes

Premiering March 24 on Hulu, it was created by Tony Award winner Stephen Levenson (“Dear Evan Hansen”) and Oscar winners Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen”). A new musical romantic comedy, Up Here.

What’s the synopsis for “Up Here?”

A musical romantic comedy set in 1999’s declining New York City. It tells the extraordinary story of Lindsay (Mae Whitman) and Miguel (Carlos Valdes), an ordinary couple who fall in love and discover their single biggest obstacle. You may be the one who finds happiness together. And a dangerous world of memories, obsessions, fears and fantasies in their heads.

Who is the cast of “Up Here?”

“Up Here” includes Mae Whitman (“Independence Day”), Carlos Valdes (“Flash”), Katie Finneran (“Freaky”), John Hodgman (“Pitch Perfect 2”), Starring Andrea Burns (“In the Heights”). , Sofia Hammons (“Under the Wrap”), Emilia Suarez (“The Nice Guy”) and Scott Porter (“To Do List”).

Moviefone recently spoke with Mae Whitman and Carlos Valdes about working on “Up Here,” auditioning, participating in the musical, and the voices in the character’s head.

Read the full interview below or click the video player above for interviews with Whitman, Valdes, Katie Finneran and Andrea Burns, as well as executive producers Steven Levenson, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel. Please look. , and Thomas Kyle.

Moviefone: First, May, what was your initial reaction when you read the script and realized you were going to sing and dance in this series?

Mae Whitman: I was frightened, really frightened, shivering in my boots. Because I had a lot of encounters with everyone, and I loved everyone. We talked on Zoom. I found this script to be not only wonderfully funny, meaningful, deep and special, but this character was so hierarchical and incredible. The concept of doing something that scares me feels like the only thing that gets me excited even though I’m really scared to do it. The support gave me confidence. Doug Peck, the voice teacher who prepared me. But the audition process was just wild because I had to stand in front of people on Broadway, put the music down, and say, ‘Yeah, let’s do this in any key. I was like, “I don’t have confidence.” So I was really scared. But I have to say, you work with these amazing professionals who are really at the top of their game, so they know how to make you feel comfortable and you I always felt very safe, seen, trusted and respected. I think that was the vibe of every category on the set.

Mae Whitman appears on Hulu’s ‘Up Here’. Photo: Patrick Harberon/Hulu.

MF: Carlos, how was the casting process?

Carlos Valdes: A handful, but in the end I got the part. It was a process I was pretty familiar with. You come in, you sing a song, you do a scene, that sort of thing. That part was pretty comfortable, but I had never done music mixing for TV before, so there were elements of the unknown in the process that made me a little scared. Like when you said I like doing things that are a little out of my comfort zone and this was definitely it.

Carlos Valdes is on Hulu’s ‘Up Here’. Photo: Sarah Schatz/Hulu.

MF: Lindsay and Miguel actually hear in their heads what their friends and family are saying to them and criticize them. May, what voices do you hear talking to you in your head?

MW: God, it’s hard to say. do you know what it is for me I started working at a young age, so I always wondered if the defense mechanisms were in place at a young age, so they looked like fun monsters. One has an overthinking Medusa head with all these different options. Then there’s the big furry bear that’s like, “You’re a baby. Let me hold you.” But I think that I am an adult. For me it’s like having these imaginary friends. It’s not really a person, it’s various iterations of yourself that manifests itself in these cartoonishly childish ways, saying, “Okay folks, I can hear you. I can see. Thank you. Let’s go.” Drive the bus first, but you can sit down and enjoy the bus if you want.”

(Left to right) Carlos Valdes and Andrea Burns on Hulu’s “Up Here.” Photo: Sarah Schatz/Hulu.

MF: Finally, Carlos, can you talk about the voice in Miguel’s head and his relationship with his mother?

resume: Andrea[Burnes]she brought this amazing quality to her character. There’s a sensibility that she really captured in that character that felt very real to me. Sometimes I feel like it’s in my head. Honestly all the voices in my head are actually he is one voice and that guy is an idiot.

(From left) Carlos Valdes and Mae Whitman on Hulu’s “Up Here.” Photo: Patrick Harberon/Hulu.

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