What The Cast Of Encanto Looks Like In Real Life

While it wasn't the box office juggernaut it deserved to be as a result of being released during a challenging time for theaters — the business was still working to bounce back after the COVID-19 pandemic — "Encanto" nonetheless became a full-blown pop culture phenomenon. Some of this came after its release on Disney+, while the surprising record it broke in regards to its incredible soundtrack and its own separate grabbing of the zeitgeist deserve much of the credit.

Telling the story of the Madrigal family and the magical power that surrounds them, "Encanto" features a much larger cast of characters than a lot of Disney films, especially ones that aren't sequels. Though Mirabel Madrigal (Stephanie Beatriz) is inarguably the de facto lead character, there isn't a clearly defined hierarchy of importance amongst the remaining ensemble.

Even relatively minor characters prove to be integral to the story, and each one of them is played by an incredibly talented actor that helps to ensure that no character is superfluous. Every one has the potential to be someone's personal favorite. 

"Encanto" spends its first stretch mythologizing Bruno Madrigal, portraying him as someone who has been rightfully ostracized for all the misfortunes he manifested onto the family. Of course, we come to learn that he was simply predicting future events that were already going to happen, or were at least likely to occur, with or without him saying so. To clarify: He doesn't cause bad things to happen, he just knows that they're coming. It is also revealed that he wasn't forced to go into hiding, but rather made the choice himself to become a recluse so as not to have to reveal the vision he saw of Mirabel destroying Casa Madrigal.

Bruno is played by John Leguizamo, who is no stranger to animated voice work. The actor played ground sloth Sid, one of the most popular characters in the "Ice Age" franchise, across five installments to date, as well as the upcoming "Ice Age: Boiling Point." But Leguizamo is more famous for his on screen appearances in films like "Carlito's Way," "Summer of Sam," "Romeo + Juliet," and the "John Wick" franchise. He's also an acclaimed theater actor.  

Similar to Storm of the X-Men, Pepa Madrigal has the ability to control the weather. Also like Storm, those abilities are tied to Pepa's mood — and if she doesn't keep her emotions under control, it can manifest in catastrophic conditions. Which is what happened when anxiety over not letting that happen on her wedding day became a self-fulfilling prophecy, and she inadvertently not only caused it to rain but conjured a full-on hurricane. Her recounting of that story is what kicks off the musical number "We Don't Talk About Bruno," with her blaming her brother for putting the idea in her head that she might create a storm if she gets too nervous.

Actor and singer Carolina Gaitán is the voice of Pepa in "Encanto." She is primarily known for films and television shows released in her native Columbia, though she was introduced to a global audience when she starred in the Netflix series "Narcos."

Beyond serving as an uncredited background singer on the soundtrack for "The Greatest Showman," Gaitán's big screen debut was her role in "Encanto." She then followed that up with her first live-action film, the thriller "Quicksand," in 2023. When she's not acting, Gaitán releases music both connected to and entirely separate from her film and television work.

One of the themes of "Encanto" is that you never know how someone truly feels, or what internal struggles they might be facing, even if it seems like they've got it all together. Such is the case with Isabela Madrigal, the token "perfect child" of the Madrigal family, who appears to have no problems, no worries, and is assumed to have a fairytale life laid out before her. 

The truth is that Isabela feels bogged down by the unfair pressure of having to maintain her so-called perfection, and is hurt that her sisters automatically dismiss her as snobby without bothering to dig deeper and actually get to know her. 

Actor Diane Guerrero exclusively revealed to Looper how she felt playing a character like Isabela. "I think that a lot of us can relate to Isabela, this sort of pressure, societal pressure and instinctual pressure to be perfect, to get everything right," she told us. Guerrero was in the middle of her stint as Crazy Jane in "Doom Patrol" when she starred in "Encanto," another character who struggles to get people to get to know the real her and not just make assumptions about the type of person they think she is. The actor also played recurring roles on "Jane the Virgin" and "Orange is the New Black," the latter of which won her three Actor Awards (formerly known as SAG Awards) as part of the show's ensemble.

On his fifth birthday, Pepa's son Antonio learns this his gift is the ability to both talk to and understand animals. But arguably his more important role in the Family Madrigal, and in "Encanto" as a whole, is that he doesn't treat Mirabel any differently due to her apparent lack of a special gift. While it makes her something of an outcast — or at least, someone to feel sorry for — to much of the rest of the clan, Antonio instead just looks up to Mirabel as his cool aunt and nothing more. And it's that sweetness and love that becomes Antonio's defining trait as a character.

Only 10 years old when he played Antonio, "Encanto" wasn't even the first major role for actor Ravi Cabot-Conyers. That distinction belongs to his being one of the main cast members on "BlackAF," the 2020 Netflix sitcom from "Blackish" creator Kenya Barris. 

These days, Cabot-Conyers is arguably most associated with the role of Wim on the Disney+ miniseries "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew." He's also set to play one of the lead roles in Jon Favreau's upcoming live-action/animated hybrid series "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit."

For as much attention as "We Don't Talk About Bruno" got, and for all the records it broke and milestones it achieved, it took another song from "Encanto" to give the movie a truly unique historical claim. "Surface Pressure," the song that oldest Madrigal sister Luisa sings about the stress of having to be the strong one of the family both literally and figuratively, became the second song from "Encanto" to be in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 — and thus, "Encanto" staked its claim as the first-ever Disney movie to have two top 10 hits at once. The success of "Surface Pressure" helped to ensure that Luisa also took her rightful place as one of the movie's biggest fan favorite characters.

With due respect to the obviously brilliant songwriting of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who penned all of the songs for "Encanto," much of what makes "Surface Pressure" great is the stellar delivery of actor and singer Jessica Darrow. "Encanto" is one of only two film roles thus far for the actor, though they have also appeared on the TV shows "Elsbeth," "Fifteen-Love," "Blue Bloods," and "The Residence." 

Other voice roles for Darrow include the shows "Monster High" and "Hamster & Gretel," and the video game "Grand Theft Auto Online." 

"Encanto" is progressive in a fun little way that doesn't always get clocked by most people. Felix took Pepa's last name when he married into the Madrigal family, instead of the reverse. Sure, it probably had more to do with the Madrigal name having so much power and influence in the region that they're seen as akin to royalty, but it's still a fun detail that deserves more attention than it gets.

As for Felix as a character, we don't learn much about his life before marrying Pepa, only that they are a great match. That's in large part because of how good he is at keeping her calm and happy. And he's also seemingly the preferred one amongst Abuela's sons-in-law. 

Felix is voiced by Mauro Castillo, who is better known as a musician and composer than an actor. That being said, in addition to "Encanto," he was also a recurring character on the Columbian TV series "Para de mi corazón" and appeared on a few other shows.

He has written music for several TV shows, including the Columbian incarnation of the reality talent competition franchise "The X Factor." Castillo is also the lead singer of the Grammy-winning salsa band Grupo Niche, as well as being able to include producer, brass player, and opera singer among his many hyphenates.

At the start of "Encanto," Mariano Guzmán is the boyfriend of Isabela. He is initially presumed to be a typical macho archetype of sorts, probably because that is also what people would expect of the boyfriend of Isabela as she is initially presumed to be. But, just as we come to learn that Isabela is much different and more complex than what a surface-level reading suggested, Mariano, too, is shown to be almost the exact opposite of what everyone thinks he is. So much so, in fact, that he subsequently ends up with Isabela's sister, Dolores, instead. But more on her later.

Another member of the "Encanto" cast that is primarily a musician and only occasional actor, Juan Luis Londoño Arias — known by his stage name, Maluma — voices Mariano. In fact, a small role in the 2022 Jennifer Lopez/Owen Wilson rom-com "Marry Me" is Maluma's only other acting credit.

Meanwhile, as a musician, Maluma is as prolific as he is acclaimed. He's a 15-time Latin Grammy Award nominee who has released nine albums and nearly 50 singles.

Though she is forced into being more of a secondary character as a result of Abuela being the primary matriarch in "Encanto," Julieta Madrigal — mother of Mirabel, Luisa, and Isabela — still plays an important role in the story. She was forced to become something of a second mother to younger siblings Bruno and Pepa after the death of their father, and her magical ability to heal people with her cooking is one of the only gifts among the Madrigal clan that doesn't seem to have any downsides or negative trade-offs. Julieta's nurturing ways also extend beyond just her family, as she often heals other members of the community with her magic meals.

Julieta is played by actor Angie Cepeda, whose acting credits go back to the early '90s — though it wasn't until the 2010s that her career began to encompass a mix of Spanish and English-language projects. Among the films within the latter category is "Old Horses," which not only starred Robert Duvall, but, as writer and director, became his final project as a filmmaker. In 2022, Cepeda appeared in an episode of the Paramount+ "Halo" TV series. 

Julieta's husband, and father to Mirabel, Isabela, and Luisa, Agustín doesn't have powers of his own — but that doesn't mean he doesn't contribute to the Madrigal family's gifts. He is quite clumsy and accident prone, which has had the side effect of allowing his wife numerous excuses to continue to hone the healing abilities of her cooking.

Unfortunately, as much as Agustín and Julieta love each other, Abuela has never been particularly impressed with him as a son-in-law — or even just as person. But at least he was able to bond with Mirabel over what was presumed to be their shared misfortune of not having magical powers.

What you best know Wilder Valderrama from, apart from voicing Agustín in "Encanto," depends a lot on your age. If you were a TV watcher in the '90s, you will likely always associate him with the character Fez from "That '70s Show." Younger generations might instead know him more by voice, as he played the titular character in the animated series "Handy Manny." More recently, Valderrama and Mark Harmon struck up an "NCIS" bromance after the former's addition to the long-running show's ensemble, which is arguably the project that Valderrama is most identified with these days. 

The oldest child of Pepa and Felix, Dolores is most readily defined by her being literally soft-spoken. But it's not necessarily shyness that has her constantly keeping her voice down — her gift is that of extremely powerful hearing. This allows her to hear basically everything within a 10 mile radius, whether she wants to or not. And the "or not" part comes into play as "Encanto" unfolds, with the revelation that Dolores is burdened with knowing a lot more than she lets on. She is constantly struggling with how much of that she should share, to whom, and when. As a result, she herself doesn't speak loudly, because it would probably hurt her own ears to do so.

Just like Mariano, with whom Dolores ends up with by the end of "Encanto," she is voiced by a singer who goes by a mononymous stage name. In this case, it's Adassa, and "Encanto" is thus far her sole acting credit. Instead, she's primarily a musician, one who has been called the "reggaeton princess" due to her success within that genre. In addition to her solo work, which includes three albums so far, Adassa has collaborated with Missy Elliot, Pitbull, Snoop Dogg, Daddy Yankee, and Enrique Iglesias, among others. 

The question of who among all the "Encanto" characters has the best gift is debatable, but it's tough to deny that Camilo's is a definite contender for the top spot. Dolores's younger brother, and the middle child of Pepa and Felix, Camilo has the ability to shapeshift into other people. Not only that, but he isn't limited to only being exact carbon copies of those people, as he can also make adjustments like changing their height. He cannot, however, take on the magical powers of the people he shapeshifts into. 

Prior to playing Camilo in "Encanto," actor Rhenzy Feliz already had experience with superpowered characters. He also portrayed magic user Alex Wilder in the 2017 Marvel TV series "Runaways."

Even when he isn't specifically playing characters with magical powers or abilities, Feliz seems to gravitate towards projects with fantastical worlds and/or characters, having also played roles in "Teen Wolf" and "The Penguin."

To say that Alma Madrigal, aka "Abuela," is a complicated character in "Encanto" would be an understatement. She initially seems like the genial matriarch of the Madrigal clan, happy to oversee and take care of, not only her family, but also the surrounding community. But there are moments throughout the story that call her motives into question, and in explaining the ending of "Encanto", there is a lot that Abuela should have to answer for when making decisions for her family. But ultimately, she's not some secret villain or anything, and ultimately had only ever been interested in doing what she thought was truly best for her loved ones.

Actor María Cecilia Botero brought 50 years of acting experience to the role of Abuela in "Encanto." That work was almost entirely films and television shows in her native Columbia, with "Encanto" being her first major English language production. Since then, she leveraged her newfound crossover fame into playing Dora's grandmother in the 2025 live-action film "Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado," marking her first on screen appearance in an English-speaking role. 

The main character in "Encanto," the character around which the primary conflict revolves and who proves to be pivotal in saving the day, as it were, is Mirabel Madrigal. Initially, she is an outlier among the Madrigal clan. She's the only member of the family not to have received a magical gift. But it is eventually revealed that she not only has a gift, but it's the gift upon which the entire future of the family hinges.

In an exclusive interview with Looper, actor Stephanie Beatriz revealed that she identifies more with Mirabel than any other character she's ever played. "Vocally, she's the closest to my actual voice, but I also think her insecurities and the things that she is going through in the film are also the closest to journeys that I've actually had as a person," she explained. That might come as a shock to those who previously knew Beatriz best as grouchy, ever-scowling detective Rosa Diaz in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine." 

Since "Encanto," Beatriz has been quite busy, dividing her time between more animated voice work and additional live action roles. Her most recent high profile role has been that of Quiet on the Peacock series "Twisted Metal."