'Coco' Star Anthony Gonzalez Shares Touching Story on Landing the Film's Lead Role

While many Pixar films have been lead by major Hollywood names, such as John Goodman, Tom Hanks and Ellen Degeneres, Coco is taking things in a slightly newer direction. The film boasts the talents of Edward James Olmos, Gael Garcia Bernal and Banjamin Bratt, but Coco's shining star is 11-year-old newcomer Anthony Gonzalez.

The young actor voices Miguel, a young boy who tries desperately to achieve his dream of becoming a musician, and we had the chance to talk with him about landing the role of a lifetime. As Gonzalez began to talk, it was clear that his story to Pixar stardom was anything but ordinary.

"It was a very long process," Gonzales said of his journey to getting the part. "I auditioned when I was 9 years old, and I got to go to Pixar when I was 10 years old, which was so much fun."

So Gonzalez, who is now almost 12 years old, has been working toward his role in Coco for almost three years. About two years into the process, he finally got the breakthrough he was hoping for.

"I started doing some scratch voices for Miguel, I did that for quite a while," the actor explained. "When I was 11 years, in December 2016 they actually told me that I got the part. It was so much fun because they did it in an amazing way. They told me that they gave me a present for Christmas, [Director] Lee [Unkrich] told me that after I finished recording. I was like, 'Ooh yes, I wanna open it.' I opened it and it was this wonderful piece of artwork that said, 'You got the part!'"

Benjamin Bratt, who was sitting beside Gonzalez during the interview, chimed in upon hearing his young co-star's story.

"That's beautiful, I didn't know that," Bratt said. "That was quite a bit different than the way my offer cam across. Mine was like, 'Hey, you wanna do this?'"

You can watch the full interview with Gonzalez and Bratt in the video above, and be sure to check out Coco when it hits theaters on November 22.