Shakira’s flirtations with the cinema are almost non-existent. His first steps in the world of acting are few, considering his more than three decades of exploring the world of entertainment with great success. There facet of “Shakira’s actress” is limited to a Mexican soap opera, occasional cameos and dubbing of animated characters. Mainly on TV. On March 4, 2016, the singer made her film debut. Finally, we could “see” him in the form of a gazelle. On the contrary, we were able to “hear” it, because in reality, its first time on the big screen was the voice of Gazelle, an animated character from the Disney film Zootopia.
Telenovelas, cameos and dubbing
The truth is that Shakira Isabel Mebarak was a precocious actress who At only 9 years old, he played several roles in a Mexican soap opera for children called “¡Vivan los niños!”. At 17, he starred in the Colombian miniseries “El Oasis”. Almost 10 years passed until he reappeared on television. In 2005 we could see her in ‘7 lives’ one of the most acclaimed Spanish series. made by itself and appeared by surprise in the iconic ‘Casi Ke No’, sharing a brief scene with the greengrocer, Gonzalo and Vero. He took the opportunity to promote his new album, Fijación oral vol. 1 (2005).
In 2009, he produced a cameo in an episode of ‘Ugly Betty’, American television series. He shot his scenes in New York and was in an episode called “The Bahamas Triangle”. This coincided with the release of Loba, her eighth album. In 2011 she played herself again in the animated series ‘Dora and her friends’ (Nickelodeon). Shakira gave voice to the “Animated Shakira” in the chapter ‘Dora and the Girl Scouts’. He also participated in the soundtrack by singing Todos juntos.
“Put some hips on that poor thing”
The first time Shakira was present on a big cinema screen was through Zootopia (Zootropolis in Spain) the Disney film released in February 2016. Obviously, being an animated film, we could only hear his voice through one of his characters,a pop star gazelle named Gazelle with whom she felt totally identified, although he changed his physical features to make him look more like her:
“When they told me about Gazelle, I said ‘it’s me’. I loved her, her personality, she’s very stubborn, like me, and responsible with people,” she told ‘Good Morning America.’ However, Shakira wanted them to have more in common, at least One more thing. The ‘Hip’s Don’t Lie’ singer spoke to directors and producers and asked, “I thought she was too skinny, she lacked curves, and I told them ‘guys put some hips on this poor thing, that my father says there is no better seasoning than meat on the bone”. And they listened to me. They added big hips to Gazelle. They also changed the color of her eyes and added some extra lashes.”
Shakira at her Madison Square Garden concert / Getty Images/Larry Busacca
Released on March 4, 2016, Zootopia was a huge box office success and broke records in several countries. His world collection exceeded one billion dollars. He turned in the fourth highest-grossing film of 2016.
One of Disney’s best
In addition to making her film debut as a dubbing actress, in both the English and Spanish versions, Shakira performed try everything, the theme that plays in the end credits. Composed by Australian Sia and produced by the Stargate duo (who previously teamed up for Rihana’s 2012 hit Diamonds), the singer herself announced the song’s release on her social media: “Shak’s new single, Try Everything, from the movie # Zootopia is out! available ! this clip… ShakHQ.”
The song has surpassed 2 million copies in the US and over 400,000 in the UK. In 2020, Billboard named Try Everything one of the 12 Best Disney Songs of the 21st Century. Among other accolades, Zootopia won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature.
Shakira says “no”
It’s surprising that Shakira, a versatile performer always on the lookout for new challenges, hasn’t yet been enticed to become a film actress, like other pop divas have. It’s not for lack of offers. In the late 1990s, for example, the producers of ‘La máscara del zorro’ thought of her to play the main role (Elena de la Vega) alongside Antonio Bandera. But he rejected the offer. At that time, the singer I did not have a good level of English. The role was given to Catherine Zeta-Jones
Shakira, one of the protagonists of the Disney film Zootropolis / Getty Images/Steve Granitz / Contributor
Likewise, Vin Diesel publicly expressed interest in collaborating with Shakira on the tenth episode of “The Fast & The Forious,” which opens May 19. But neither will it be.