One of this year’s most anticipated releases is Freakier Friday, the long-awaited sequel to Disney’s Freaky Friday. Twelve years after the original, it reunites Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as one of the most iconic mother-daughter duos, Tess and Anna Coleman. The film promises everything you’d hope for from a sequel: quick wit, great acting, heart, chaos, and a nostalgic return of the teen girl rock band, Pink Slip.
Among the fan-favorite returns is Christina Vidal, who reprises her role as Maddie, Anna’s best friend and lead guitarist. “This is a dream,” Vidal told HOLA! in an interview. “It’s a blessing. I never would have imagined this actually happening.”
The Bronx-born Puerto Rican actress and singer has been a standout talent since childhood. She made history as the first Puerto Rican child actress to lead an American film, starring opposite Michael J. Fox in Life with Mikey. Then came Taina, where she became Nickelodeon’s first Latina lead, cementing her place in the hearts of millennials everywhere.
© Getty“I was still postpartum, but I was like, there’s no way I’m saying no to this – Vidal
Rumors about a Freaky Friday sequel would come and go over the years, so when they popped up again, Vidal didn’t quite believe it. “People would say for years, ‘They should bring this back!’ And I’d always be like, ‘Yeah, yeah.”
But this time, the rumors were real. As she heard more info about the film, and what actors were coming back, she recalled with a laugh, “I was thinking, please, let me just walk through the background.” Then, she got the call from her managers. “I was like, yes, yes, yes, whatever the details, let’s do it.”
Vidal had just welcomed her third child, a son, 4 months prior. “I was still postpartum, but I was like, there’s no way I’m saying no to this. I’ll just figure it out, like Maddie is gonna just be a little fuller, you know what I mean? Maddie is just gonna be in her full lady phase.”
She said they reunited at the first table read. “I got there and got to see everyone, and my heart just exploded with excitement and warmth, and everyone was so happy to see each other,” Vidal said.
Reuniting with Lohan brought back instant familiarity, and something new. Both are now mothers. “That was probably the first thing we talked about,” Vidal says. “We went, ‘Hey girl, how are you?’ and then we talked about our kiddos and how amazing it is to be a mom and how it changes your perspective on everything.”
© GettyLohan and Vidal had an older and younger sister vibe in the film, which carried over into real life, with the Parent Trap star seeking insight on having more than one child. “She was asking me, you know, how it is having more than one?” Vidal said.
“I’m like, Girl, of course, on days it’s hard, but I love it,” she assured Lohan. “I love, I love having 3 kids. I love seeing my kids with each other and how they treat each other.” They also talked about how it felt “like no time had passed.” “We got back together and it was like, ‘oh, we’ve just always been doing this.'”
Their reunion makes for one of the most emotional full-circle moments as the band reunites on stage. “It was like – this is the movie. That was the moment,” Vidal says. “It felt so special, so electric. We really rocked out.” When you see Vidal on screen, there is no doubt that she is having a blast and soaking up every moment in front of the camera.
Vidal has two daughters who have already seen her on the big screen. “We went to a screening a couple of years ago,” she said. “My daughter looked at me, then looked at the screen and said, ‘Mommy, you were so young!’” But even with a résumé like hers, her kids mostly just see her as “the lady who gets the snacks and cleans the noses.”
I thought my career was over until maybe 8 or 9 years ago. God has exceeded my expectations and blown my plans out of the water – Vidal
Along with motherhood, Vidal steps away from Hollywood for a few years. She’s described her past struggles in Hollywood as “failure after failure,” but those experiences have shaped how she approaches work now. “Gratefulness is the word,” she says. “Gratitude really allows me to be present in every moment, thankful for every moment. Even for this film, I’ve tried not to let myself get caught up in any little things that maybe would have bothered me years ago. Now I’m just enjoying every minute of it, trying to do my best, show up, have fun, treat everybody with respect and consideration, and work like a team. It matured me, I would say.”
© GettyWhen she looks back at her past work, that younger Vidal, she says the parts of her she would want to hold on to are her confidence. “You couldn’t tell that Christina nothing,” she quipped. “It was like, OK, I’m here now, so everyone else can go. Sometimes I’d like some of that confidence back.”
As for what’s next? “Only God knows,” Vidal says. “I thought my career was over until maybe 8 or 9 years ago. God has exceeded my expectations and blown my plans out of the water, so I look forward to just seeing what comes. Ideally, I’d like to get into directing at some point. I’d like to get into producing and making stuff.”
With Freakier Friday, Vidal isn’t just reprising a role, she’s reclaiming her place in Hollywood, with gratitude, perspective, and that same infectious smile she’s had since she was a kid.
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