For those who are waiting for the wide release of A Man Called Otto on January 13th of 2023, we have some wonderful news to share with you! We have an exclusive interview with not one, but two young actresses that will be starring in this movie–Alessandra Perez and Christiana Montoya. We are happy to hear that these two young ladies will be starring as Abbie and Luna respectively in the movie, and we can’t wait to see them on the big screen. This interview will be a bit different compared to our other interviews, as this one will have the two actresses asking each other questions. These questions ranged from their audition process, what they knew about their characters, how different the characters are from the actress, and many more! But before we can even continue with this interview, let’s first start with some history about the movie and its connection.
A Man Called Otto stars Tom Hanks as Otto Anderson, a grumpy old man who lives in Pennsylvania. Otto is an old man who values rules, maintains order in his community, and sticks to a daily routine. He may be a bit gruff, but he’s a compassionate old man who is often misunderstood by others around him. Throughout this movie, he struggles to come to terms with the recent death of his wife Sonya, whom he had loved dearly. However, his life gets turned upside down when a new family moves in next door–a sprightly young lady, her husband, and two daughters. Because of them, Otto slowly begins to remember how joyful life can be with the connection of others, and eventually becomes even more involved with those in his community.
Here’s a little context surrounding the movie’s history. The movie was originally adapted from a Swedish novel from 2012 called, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. The book’s contents are relatively similar to the movie; Ove is a grumpy old man with a set of strict principles, a young couple with their two daughters moves in next door, and the lessons of an unexpected friendship that leads to the growth of one’s worldview remain the same. The book received a lot of positive reception because of its humorous and episodic chapters, its explorative reflection based on love and loss, and a whole lot of other reasons. There was another adaption based on the book that was made in 2015 with the same name, and that was written by Hannes Holm.
As mentioned before, these two talented young girls star as two, different characters in A Man Called Otto. Christiana Montoya is a film and television actress, and she started acting at the age of 6. She is well known for her roles in The Guilty (2012), Spoonful of Sugar, and A Place in the Field. She stars as Luna, who is Marisol’s youngest daughter. Alessandra Perez is a child actress as well, who is best known for her voice acting role in Spidey and His Amazing Friends and T.O.T.S. She stars as Abbie, who is Luna’s older sister and Marisol’s eldest daughter.
The two started to ask each other questions and the girls alternate asking questions to each other. When Alessandra asked Christiana what it was like behind the scenes, Christiana stated that everyone was like a big, goofy family. She has mentioned that when it snowed, she said that it doesn’t really happen where they live, but has mentioned that they built snowmen behind the scenes. When Christiana asked Alessandra what it was like to work with Tom Hanks, Alessandra said that Tom was really nice and would make funny faces at them. Alessandra asked if Christiana remembered when she first met him and ‘freaked out’, to which Christiana remembered and stated that he sounded exactly like Woody, despite being Woody. She has expressed that working with Tom Hanks was awesome, and every time he talks, she would picture him saying a certain, but specific line from Woody. To those who remember the line about a snake in a certain piece of footwear, it’s that one.
