Charise Castro Smith Explained

Charise Castro Smith
Birth Date:30 August 1983
Birth Place:Miami, Florida, U.S.
Alma Mater:Brown University (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
Spouse:Joby Earle

Charise Castro Smith (born August 30, 1983) is an American playwright, actress, screenwriter, producer, and director. She is best known for co-writing and co-directing the Disney animated film Encanto (2021).

Personal life

Castro Smith is from Miami, Florida,[1] where she was raised in a Cuban American family.[2] She attended Brown University as an undergraduate student and later the Yale School of Drama, where she earned her MFA in acting. Previous to graduate school, she was a city schoolteacher. She lives in LA and is married to actor Joby Earle, whom she met at Yale.[3] [4]

Education

After receiving her BA from Brown, Castro Smith attended the Yale School of Drama for her Master's in Fine Arts (MFA). Although she was studying acting, she wrote a play Estrella Cruz [the junkyard queen] that was produced at the Yale Cabaret, the student-run theatre.[5] From this, Paula Vogel, head of the playwrighting program at the time, began to act as a mentor to her. After graduating, Castro Smith worked primarily as an actor until she was selected for the Van Lier Fellowship Program in 2012–2013 at the New Dramatists in New York.[6] This led her to embrace playwriting as a career, which led to writing and producing for television.

Career

Artistic inspiration

Many of Castro Smith's plays are comedic, relationship-focused, and often politically relevant.[7] She notably wants to create more complex, dimensional roles for women on stage in leading roles. Her plays have been inspired by an eclectic mix of works, such as Shakespeare, South Park, Greek myths,[8] and 1970s horror films.

Playwright career

In 2008, Castro Smith's first play Estrella Cruz [The Junkyard Queen] was produced at the Yale Cabaret, and was later produced at the Ars Nova ANT Fest in New York City and at the Halcyon Theater in Chicago. The play is a Cuban-American twist of a Greek myth of the goddess Persephone set in the 21st century.[9]

In 2011, Smith's play Boomcracklefly was produced at the Milgaro Theater in Portland, Oregon.

In 2014, her play The Hunchback of Seville was produced by the Washington Ensemble Theatre in Seattle. Acclaimed as a "gleefully revisionist riff on rampaging colonialism,"[10] The Hunchback of Seville was inspired by Smith's interest in how Americans handle the history of Columbus and the massacres that resulted from his actions.[11] The complex character of Queen Isabella stems from Smith's own desire to play Richard III in Shakespeare's Richard III.

Smith's most produced work, Feathers and Teeth, was featured at the Goodman Theater's New Stage Festival (2013-2014). Inspired by Hamlet, 1970s horror films, and Jon Ronson's book , Feathers and Teeth centers on a 13-year-old girl who loses her mom and thinks her new step-mother is a demon. As with Smith's other plays, Feathers and Teeth features a complex, "crazy" female lead in an eccentric and comedic play. Ultimately, Smith's goal was to use horror as a way to help others understand the human experience of obsession and fear. The play was later produced at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon.

In 2017 Castro Smith's work El Huracán, featured at the DNA New Work Series at La Jolla Playhouse, is described as loosely connected to the ideas of Shakespeare's The Tempest.[12] It premiered in 2018 at Yale Repertory Theatre, starring Jennifer Paredes, Maria-Christina Oliveras, and directed by Laurie Woolery.[13]

Television career

In 2015, Castro Smith made her television writing debut with the Lifetime series Devious Maids. In 2016 she served as both a writer and producer on the Fox television series The Exorcist, as well as writer and co-executive producer of the ABC pilot The Death of Sofia Valdez. In 2018 she went on to serve as writer and supervising producer for the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House. And in 2019, Castro Smith wrote and co-executive produced the Starz series Sweetbitter.

In February 2024 it was announced that Academy award nominee America Ferrera would star in and executive produce an Amazon Prime Video series based on the Katz' 1990 book Naked by the Window: The Fatal Marriage of Carl Andre and Ana Mendieta. The series will be scripted by Castro Smith and co-executive produced by Amazon MGM Studios and Plan B Entertainment.[14]

Films

Castro Smith made her film debut in a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, titled Encanto, centered on a Colombian girl who lacks magical powers in spite of her family having them. Castro Smith co-directed the film alongside Zootopia co-directors Byron Howard and Jared Bush, and co-wrote the screenplay alongside Bush.[15] [16]

Artist credits

Playwriting credits

Acting credits

TV producing/writing credits

Film credits

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Charise Castro Smith Playscripts, Inc.. www.playscripts.com. 2017-04-07.
  2. News: Charise Castro-Smith stars in 'Antony and Cleopatra'. Monell. Ray. March 7, 2014. NY Daily News. 2017-04-07. en.
  3. News: Charise Castro Smith Writes Weird Roles for Women. June 5, 2014. City Arts. 2017-04-07. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20170209141420/http://www.cityartsonline.com/articles/charise-castro-smith-writes-weird-roles-women. 2017-02-09. usurped.
  4. Web site: Talkin' Broadway - What's New on the Rialto? - Charise Castro Smith: "Antony and Cleopatra" - 2/14/14. www.talkinbroadway.com. 2017-04-26.
  5. Web site: Meet the Playwright: Charise Castro Smith » Artists Repertory Theatre. www.artistsrep.org. en-US. 2017-04-07.
  6. Web site: Charise Castro Smith Goodman Theatre. www.goodmantheatre.org. 2017-04-07.
  7. Web site: Interview with Playwright Charise Castro Smith. www.trinityrep.com. 2017-04-07.
  8. Web site: Announcing Casting for Estrella Cruz [the junkyard queen] Halcyon Theatre]. halcyontheatre.org. en. 2017-04-16.
  9. Web site: Review: Estrella Cruz [the junkyard queen]/Halcyon Theatre]. February 13, 2016. Newcity Stage. 2017-04-28.
  10. News: 'Hunchback of Seville' at WET is a zany trip back in time. June 13, 2014. The Seattle Times. 2017-04-17. en-US.
  11. News: Bosnian cousins, gender-bending queens, hunchbacked twin sisters, and store-front churches.... Jillian. James. Brown University Performance Studies. 2017-03-07.
  12. News: Playhouse's DNA fest takes on new twists . Hebert . James . . 2017-04-28 .
  13. Web site: Leininger . Tim . 2018-10-11 . STAGE REVIEW: 'El Huracán' is a good play despite its steady diet of anger . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20230425022123/https://www.journalinquirer.com/public/stage-review-el-hurac-n-is-a-good-play-despite-its-steady-diet-of-anger/article_8f048614-cc98-11e8-b78c-5ff69672fbca.html . 2023-04-25 . 2023-04-20 . . en.
  14. Grobar, Matt (February 23, 2024). "America Ferrera Set For Series 'Naked By The Window' In Development At Amazon MGM Studios". Deadline. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  15. Web site: June 22, 2020 . Evans . Greg . Lin-Manuel Miranda Confirms New Disney Animated Movie Set In Colombia . . June 22, 2020 .
  16. Web site: 15 November 2021 . Gleiberman . Owen . 'Encanto' Review: Disney's Lush and Lovely Animated Fairy Tale, Fueled by a Tasty Batch of Lin-Manuel Miranda Songs . Variety .
  17. News: That High Lonesome Sound - Actors Theatre of Louisville. Actors Theatre of Louisville. 2017-04-26. en-US. https://web.archive.org/web/20160809160757/http://actorstheatre.org/shows/that-high-lonesome-sound-2014-2015/. August 9, 2016. dead.
  18. Web site: 'Washeteria' Puts Children's Theatre Through the Rinse Cycle. Tran. Diep. May 29, 2015. AMERICAN THEATRE. 2017-04-26.
  19. News: Playhouse's DNA fest takes on new twists. Hebert. James. sandiegouniontribune.com. 2017-04-26 .
  20. Rogers. Jami. June 4, 2014. Antony and Cleopatra performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (Swan), and: Richard II performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RST), and: Thomas of Woodstock performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company (Barbican Theatre) (review). Shakespeare Bulletin. 32. 2. 310–319. 10.1353/shb.2014.0020. 192046138. 1931-1427.
  21. News: New Dramatists Names Van Lier Fellows - Stage Directions. Coakley. Jacob. February 15, 2012. Stage Directions. 2017-04-07 .
  22. News: The Death of Eva Sofia Valdez: Firefly's Gina Torres Cast in Title Role - canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale. March 8, 2016. canceled TV shows - TV Series Finale. 2017-04-27. en-US.