Isabela Merced and Eiza Gonzalez do not only co-star in the upcoming DreamWorks Animation Spirit Untamed, but also join forces on “Fearless (Valiente Duet),” part of the movie soundtrack.
Merced portrays Lucky Prescott, a headstrong girl looking for a place to belong, and who discovered her kindred spirit after befriending a wild horse named Spirit Untamed. Gonzalez portrays Lucky’s late mother and Miradero-based horse-riding stunt performer, Milagro Navarro.
“Overall, it’s about Lucky finding her community, her family, and people she didn’t think she needed in her life but are there for her,” Merced tells Billboard. “All the while, she’s trying to find the family of this horse that’s been stranded. It’s about a Latina with an identity crisis discovering where she belongs.”
As part of the animated adventure film — directed by Elaine Bogan with a cast that includes Julianne Moore and Jake Gyllenhaal — Merced and Gonzalez have teamed up on the original movie track “Fearless,” a bilingual, uplifting song about being brave, strong, and courageous.
“I’m very connected to this story,” the Peruvian-American actress and singer notes. “I always wanted to sing and compose for the soundtrack and award-winning composer Amie Doherty helped me be part of this. There’s a whole wonderful team of women behind this movie and ‘Fearless.’ You can tell in the tone and heart of the movie.”
For Gonzalez, music has the power to transport you to places and emotions that nothing else can.
“This is one of the most important songs,” the Mexican screen star says. “It’s a form of lullaby that ties both Lucky and Milagros throughout the whole film and it resonates a lot with my culture.”
“Everything was done virtually,” Merced adds. “That’s how I found out Eiza was going to portray my mother in the movie because she DM’d me. We were so excited that we finally got to do a movie together.”
Below, watch an exclusive “making of” clip as well as the lyric video for “Fearless (Valiente Duet).”
