Disenchanted cast on what it's like returning to roles after 15 years
Amy Adams, Idina Menzel, and Patrick Dempsey are among the stars reprising their roles from the hit 2007 musical.
Fifteen years after the original was released in cinemas, a sequel to the hit musical Enchanted arrives on Disney Plus this weekend – with Amy Adams reprising her role as Giselle.
Disenchanted sees the Andalasian princess and her family relocate from their New York home to the fictional suburb of Monroeville, where she soon finds herself facing off against a new antagonist played by Maya Rudolph.
In addition to Adams, several other familiar faces from the first film – including Patrick Dempsey and Idina Menzel – reprise their roles, and speaking to RadioTimes.com and other media at a press conference ahead of release, they explained what it was like to return to their characters after so long.
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"For me, it was interesting 'cause we were looking at where Giselle would be now," Adams explained. "And, you know, when we leave her in the last movie, there's been an evolution from the beginning of the movie of Enchanted to who Giselle is at the end of the movie.
"So taking that evolution of who she might be after spending 10 years, but also making sure we keep her grounded in the truth of her feelings, without losing that joy and that naiveté and innocence and purity that makes Giselle so special."
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She added: "That's sort of where my launching place was, taking everything that I loved about Giselle in the first movie, and then just getting this opportunity to spin it throughout this one.
"It was really just such a pleasure, and getting the returning cast together – it was so fun to get to see everybody just step back into it, and we were lucky enough to have everybody come join us."
Meanwhile, Menzel spoke about how her character has gone through "a pretty drastic change" since we last saw her, with Nancy Tremaine now spending her days as the Queen of Andalasia following the events of the previous film.
"I go from this, you know, cynical New York chick, and then I jump down a portal or a manhole and then I come out, and it was so much fun for me. And the challenge for me, well, not even the challenge... [was] just kinda figuring out the balance.
"Adam [Shankman, director] and I would talk. I'd say, 'How much of my New York accent do I still have coming from Andalasia, and how much has this idyllic, romantic, beautiful perfect place rubbed off on me?' And then, you know, putting on the corset and all that, just, it was an easy journey for me."
On returning to his character – Giselle's husband Robert – Dempsey explained: "At the very beginning [he] is very much the same, although he's kinda trying to balance, you know, life between his new baby and his other child, and the conflict between the stepmother and that dynamic.
"And then getting into larger than life was completely freeing and really fun. So for me, it was a fantastic ride. I had a great time where I could work a little bit, do some sightseeing in Ireland, and work on the musical. So it was fun!"
Unlike the original, Dempsey also gets the chance to sing in the new film – something which he described as "an extraordinary" experience.
"The vibration, there's something very intoxicating about it," he said. "So it's nice to get a taste of that."
Disenchanted premieres on Disney Plus on 18th November. Enchanted is available to watch now. You can sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year now.
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