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Christina Vidal Mitchell on Nostalgia, Motherhood, and Pink Slip’s Epic Comeback
Christina Vidal Mitchell is back as Maddie, the lead singer of Pink Slip, in Freakier Friday, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2003 cult classic. Over twenty years later, the New York actress and singer with Puerto Rican roots revives this character with the same punk energy that captivated an entire generation, but now with the maturity and experience her career and personal life have given her.
“So much fun, so much fun. You know that movie was 20-something years ago and I felt like a little girl again… Somehow it was better this time around because I think I’m more grounded in who I am and have experienced so much. And I carry so much more, and I think that brought that into the performance,” she said, in conversation with LatiNation.
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The comeback wasn’t just about music and being back on stage, but also about reconnecting with old friends. On set, she reunited with Lindsay Lohan, with whom she shared iconic scenes.
Christina has said it was like seeing an old friend again: “Even though we hadn’t stayed in touch all this time, seeing each other felt like we were back in 2003. There was no distance, just memories.” Both now moms, they found a new point of connection: “The best part is that we’re moms now. We’d look at each other and say, ‘Can you believe it? We’re moms!'”
Vidal has been making her mark since she was a child. With Life with Mikey (1993), she became the first Puerto Rican child actress to star in a Hollywood movie. But her big break came with Taina, where she became Nickelodeon’s first Latina lead.
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“I didn’t actually. Not until we started doing press and stuff afterwards… I was like, oh wow, the first Puerto Rican girl to have her own TV show… I’m just like, I’m having fun being on TV. You’re a kid, you don’t know,” she admits about the show’s historical significance. Today, she acknowledges the weight of that legacy: “I feel grateful. I feel honored. I feel humbled… I felt like I was just blessed to be able to sit in that seat and be the face of the trailblazer.”
In this new movie, Maddie makes a comeback with a refreshed version of “Take Me Away.” “My voice is now deeper, more confident… Recording it again felt like doing it for the first time, but with new awareness. I felt at home, yet thrilled as if it were all new.” The filming was filled with nostalgia, featuring moments like re-enacting an anecdote from 2003: Lindsay offered her apple with cheese back then, and this time, she did it again on set. “It was so sweet.”
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Working with the young cast was also special. “I felt like the cool aunt on set,” she jokes. “The kids were super sweet, and they gave us our due. They recognized what we represent for this story.” And reflecting on teaming up again with Jamie Lee Curtis, she highlights how the chemistry between the three of them remains intact. The moment when Pink Slip takes the stage again, she says, was pure magic: “It was like – this is the movie. That was the moment. It felt so special, so electric. We really rocked out.”
For Christina, Freakier Friday is a tribute to friendship, connections that stand the test of time, and her own growth as an artist and a woman. “Reuniting with Lindsay, hanging out with Jamie, singing as Maria… it was like coming full circle. But also, like opening a brand new one.”
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