GIGI & NATE Stars On Upcoming Movie: ‘Family, And How We Stay Strong Together Is The Heart of This Film’
By Movieguide® Staff
Movieguide®’s Evy Baehr Carroll recently talked with the stars and director of the upcoming movie, GIGI & NATE, based on the true story of a disabled person and their capuchin monkey service animal.
“GIGI & NATE is a life-affirming drama about a young man whose life changes after an accident,” Movieguide®’s review reads. “After college-bound Nate gets water in his brain from a cliff jump, he gets meningitis and is left a quadriplegic. His family rallies together to care for him. Nate’s mother decides to get him a small service monkey named Gigi. Just as the bond between Nate and Gigi is formed, an animal activist petitions the government to ban these types of service monkeys.”
Actor Charlie Rowe, who plays the title character Nate Gibson, said he hopes the movie honors the real-life story and sheds light on the unique challenges the disabled community faces daily.
“I learned a lot in particular about the disabled community,” Rowe told Movieguide® at the red carpet event. “It was very intense, but that’s why you do it, I want it to be intense, it’s helpful for the character. I’m trying to tell the story of this guy’s life, and it has to be intense. So we love it.”
“I hope they are moved by it and they see themselves and I hope the wider audience understands the importance of service animals to the disabled community and recognize the resilience of these people who are disabled and their families,” he said.
Zoe Margaret Colletti, who plays Lori in the movie, added: “First of all, this event is so amazing and I think it’s such a great thing for the community in general. It’s just really uplifting. It’s really about the aspects of it that can be hard, kind of adjusting to having to live your life in a different way. But it all ends really positively, [with] people being super accepting, your family being there for you, friends being there for you. It’s a really feel-good movie about just being happy with yourself and being with the people you love.”
The director Nick Hamm said he wanted to capture the family dynamic and how disability affects those relationships.
“In terms of an accident, it is something horrible, and how that affects the family dynamic,” he explained. “What we have to do is set up a family that was at one and at peace with themselves before that, and then what happens in the movie is that that family is dislocated and messed up. And that’s what they have to deal with.”
Hamm added that he hopes it shows appreciation for caregivers, who often go unnoticed, unthanked, and even unpaid.
“The cost of that on any family is quite severe,” he said. “I think the real heroes in this situation are people who are caregivers, and who do that. Sometimes they don’t get paid to do that. They do it out of love.”
One of those caregivers in GIGI & NATE is Gigi, a capuchin monkey. While Gigi is a unique service animal, Hamm said that new laws are starting to ban the use of primates for special care.
“Essentially, the monkeys have been out and working for the last 20 to 30 years,” he explained. “Over time, what has happened is that that option to people who are disabled, has been closed down. State by state, the idea of having a service animal, particularly as a primate, that option has been removed from people.”
“I don’t think people know that or were even aware of that, or sometimes are even aware that monkeys or primates can be service animals,” he added. “But they can, and they can work with human beings in a completely fresh and new way. It seems rather sad that those laws have been passed, where that isn’t impossible.
“It’s a lovely friendship between an animal and a human.”
One of the major themes explored in GIGI & NATE is family, whether between other humans or animals.
Emilio Garcia-Sanchez, who plays Travis Holter, said that the family theme extended outside the story and into the cast and crew.
“This family dynamic and what this family goes through and the trials and tribulations of it and how we stay strong together is just like the heart of this film,” Garcia-Sanchez told Movieguide®.
He continued: “Anytime you do any sort of theater or film project, you end up making a family with your co-stars and that’s super important. I was so lucky to work with so many great co-stars. Everyone was just fabulous to work with.. No, seriously, you spend like 16 hours a day, 14 hours a day with these people, you better hope they wear deodorant and are good people.”
A portion of Movieguide®’s review reads:
GIGI & NATE is a well-made, entertaining movie. It makes good use of a limited budget. GIGI & NATE has a strong Christian, pro-family worldview with prayer and themes of serving others. The shows a family’s love for a sick family member and caring for him in the midst of hardship. The movie has some commentary supporting a smaller government, because the government is interfering with Nate’s ownership of Gigi. There’s one scene where Nate goes to a party and drinks, but this is rebuked. GIGI & NATE also has lots of light foul language. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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