"I was rejected at 300 castings before finishing in one"
WRITEN BY ORNELLA SAITTA
Maia Reficco’s childhood dream was to one day become Hannah Montana. Now, at 23, she is about to do so.
Maia was born in Boston, United States, in 2000. However, as the saying goes, “the Argentinian is born wherever he wants”.
At the age of four, the artist, the daughter of Argentine parents, settled in our country and experienced the childhood and adolescence of any other young Argentine woman. I’ve been here all my life, I’ve been here for 20 years," Reficco explained in an interview with Clarín.
Her mother Katie Viqueira, a tango singer and vocal coach of renowned artists, is her great inspiration. 'I’m very lucky. The truth is, I wouldn’t have done even one-eighth of what I could have done without my mother. And my brother too, who was the person who supported me the most and who believed blindly in me. "They guided me a lot," she thinks.
And she said, "She’s a queen. My mother is the best thing that ever happened to me. The truth is that I could talk a thousand hours about what my mother is professionally because it is indisputable, that is to say she is the best. You come to my house to have a friend and there is an artist you like. Or she calls me anytime to vocalize or give me a class. But beyond the professional, she’s the best mother."
© Photograph by Emmanuel Fernández
Katie tried to keep Maia away from the cameras, but her passion for the art industry was stronger: “I always knew what I wanted to do and my mom didn’t want to let me work when I was young, which I thank her for. For the casting of Soy Luna, he didn’t let me do it and for the casting of Violetta, I was six.
But after studying singing in the United States, the opportunity of his life presented itself. “I started working there because I went to an audition for a film, I went through the stages and a castinera met me. I didn’t stay, but a year later they called me to audition for something else because they needed a Latin American, preferably Argentinian, to play Evita. They emailed me and I didn’t answer because I thought it was spam. I auditioned and stayed,” Maia said.
Reficco became the youngest actress to play Evita in the iconic Broadway musical, a life-changing experience that led her to meet who would become her agent, Kevin Lin.
“I didn’t even know what an agent was. He said, "Well, if you’re ever interested in having an agent, we want to represent you." For me, they wanted to get money from me, I don’t want to give a percentage to anyone. Later on, I realized it was very important and they changed my life. I’m really lucky— there is a lot of effort and a lot of work, but also a lot of luck and I am very aware of that,' said the actress.
At the same time, Maia was already gaining recognition among children and teenagers by playing the main character of the Nickelodeon series, Kally’s Mashup , where she demonstrated her singing and acting skills.
"The youngest actress to play on Broadway in Evita"
And some time later, in 2022, she becomes Noa Olivar, one of the five «last girls» of the reboot of the series Pretty Little Liars , whose seasons are available on MAX.
"I loved Pretty Little Liars, it was unbearable considering how much I loved the show. Besides, I really liked Lucy Hale, and I said it so much that she found out. Even when I got the audition, I texted my brother and said, "They’re doing a reboot of Pretty Little Liars, I’m dying!" Beyond staying or not staying. Obviously, I ended up staying, God knows how, and we are there. A delusion too, because we grew up with this series," recalls Reficco.
Although her career is currently developing in the theatre world, Maia has made it clear that her true passion is singing.
© Instagram Bailee Madison
Recently, she managed to unite her two loves and realize another dream: to become the protagonist of a musical on Broadway. Since July 2, she has played Eurydice, the protagonist of the historical play Hadestown , from the ancient Greek myth.
Regarding how she got the role, Maia explained, “I was auditioning for the same director, but for another play. I don’t know the whole story, but I guess that’s why. But it’s very crazy, I don’t understand anything.... It’s been my dream since I was a little girl. Those things I was even ashamed to dream about."
"The level of crying that crossed me when I discovered it and the emotion was so great that I realized how often I missed singing and being on stage. It was very moving and also a great reminder of how much theatre is going through me. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so moved by something I’m going to do. I feel very honoured, very happy,' she said.
© Maia Reficco with Jordan Fisher in Hadestown
The musical offers eight performances a week, every day, with two presentations on Saturday, three hours each. “I’m going to do over 100 performances and I’m here for three hours. Because other than that, it’s a game set on a spinning platform, so you run, you jump... I go to the gym every day," Maia laughed.
And she went on to say, "It’s a huge privilege. The truth is that for me it was something unthinkable. I dreamed about it when I was very little and I was watching Disney. And today, being there for me is really a great privilege. It was my dream as a little girl watching Hannah Montana to one day be able to work in something similar.
Maia Reficco: an Argentina at liberty in the United States
Even though her career takes place almost entirely in the United States, Maia does not forget that she is only an Argentina like the others.
On his phone, he has four schedules for four different cities in the world: Los Angeles, where he records series and films, New York, where Broadway, Nashville, where his accountant lives and, of course, Buenos Aires.
“I travel a lot and I make a lot of video calls. I’m very addicted to mate, but at a ridiculous level. I live the same life there, even all my friends are Argentinian, outside of work. And I made everyone I met try mate, empanadas... What I miss most is my people, my family, my dog, my friends, my home. It’s hard, but I choose it.
© 2022 World Cup of Argentine
For Maia, flying to the US is like a routine trip to work, since her home is in Argentina.
"It’s an honour for me. Being there, what has been most difficult for me is this cultural divide that I can have with people who are not from Argentina or Latin America in general. What makes me feel most culturally integrated is how I feel at home. Talk to my family, have breakfast, go out to eat with my friends and speak Spanish. Don’t spend all day with the Yankee perfo chip that is foreign to me and sometimes alienating,” she said.
She is so Argentine that her reaction when meeting Lionel Messi was the same as anyone else would have had when meeting the best player in the world.
© Photograph by Rafael Mário Quinteros
Regarding the meeting with Ten, she said, "It was spectacular! I had the incredible honour and privilege of singing when Sofi and Luis Suárez renewed their vows. It was a delusion. We went there with Agus Casanova and his group (Marama) and it was the best night of my life. I trembled when I greeted him. I couldn’t understand what was going on. It was stuck. "I really couldn’t get the word out, I was stiff looking at it."
The same happened when the Argentine national team became world champion in Qatar 2022. Like five million other Argentineans, Maia went to the Obelisk with the jersey and celebrated with her friends.
"I was unbearable. Infumable. I tattooed the three stars, the bottom of Messi is still on my cell phone, the densest." I never imagined what had happened," she recalls. And she added:
“And it became another thing to hold on to to shouting, "I come from there." 'It gave me something more to say as an Argentinian. I am sorry for all the people around me because I am really unbearable because I am Argentinian . People always make fun of me, I never get tired of it.
© Maia Reficco when she meets Messi
Become Hannah Montana, her big dream
If you are Argentinian, how did you improve your English so that when you speak, you look like another American? The answer is simple: Hannah Montana.
“I’m the most stubborn person in the world. I knew I wanted to work like Hannah Montana. So I had already put myself in mind to learn to speak English like that. Because I moved very young, I had an Argentine accent during my adolescence. And I used to go to a school where we learned English, but I didn’t speak like a Yankee. And I became very stubborn because I wanted to learn to look like Yankee,” Maia recalls.
“I remember that I also copied Zendaya in Shake It Up and with it I learned more familiar words than at school. I pierced the brain of my family to try to learn the accent. It cost me dearly, it was not easy. It took me many years of testing, but now I feel like I can fool them,” she added maliciously.
© Photograph by Emmanuel Fernández
But becoming Hannah Montana wasn’t easy. To do so, Maia had to spend more than 300 auditions before landing her first role in Hollywood.
“I keep trying because it’s clear to me. That’s what I like. I get along pretty well with rejection. Obviously, sometimes it hurts me very much, projects that I was very passionate about do not come true. But at no time does it occur to me to do anything else. I have no choice but because I really want to and I love her very much. "I am very happy to do my job," she said.
“By being there, you understand that the dream you have built in your head is very different from reality. But the reality is that for me, it’s a huge privilege to just have a job, to be young and to earn a living doing what I love. I don’t feel like Hannah Montana, far from it, but I feel very lucky.
© Photograph by Rafael Mário Quinteros
In addition to waiting and rejection, Maia faced another hurdle : Being a Latina woman in the United States.
“In the United States, and around the world, there is a huge discrimination for those who are not white, it is something more macro. I think that from now on, existing as a woman and existing as a Latin American woman goes against a system that is not made for you to succeed.
© Maia Reficco child
“I just think there are a lot of extra steps to being a Latin American woman or woman, to have an accent. I had a lot of accent and I wasn’t in castings. In other words, there are many little things that make it impossible for you to live and exist in a country designed for the most privileged person to be a white man. It goes beyond my background or experience, it’s something structural all over the world, it happens,' commented Maia.
And he talked about his personal experience: "I had to fight a lot. We Latin Americans are not a group of countries that say, “Oh, you’re Latina, well, play Cuban.” I’ve really tried to make the characters I play have at least some sort of connection to Argentina. Sometimes it’s not possible because sometimes there are creatives who are beyond us. '
“But the reality is that discourse on representation loses its validity when this representation is purely obsolete and superficial and can be used as a joker. But when you try, from home, to add things that give truth to your own experience, the representation becomes moving. Because I see, in a series coming from the United States, Anya Taylor-Joy, a drinking companion, and I die of excitement because I know that she is Argentina. And it’s something she offers, he added, mentioning the famous actress of Argentine origin.
© Photograph by Emmanuel Fernández
For Maia, it was a priority to put her Argentine brand on the film A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow, which she recorded two years ago with Kit Connor but which still has no release date.
“We talked about it with the people from the production company because for me it was irremovable. I said I will play this character if we add something from Argentina, she explained.
And she added, "This is the story of the author, who is Cuban, and I didn’t want to disrespect her culture, knowing that as an actress, there are a lot of stories that won’t be the same as mine and that I will play against people." That’s not exactly how I am. But just as she told her story through her words as a Cuban, I wanted to add even a little bit of Argentina that I wear. If I can try to make our culture a little more present on the screen, I’ll try to do it."
© Maia Reficco and Kit Connor on A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow
The movie with Maia, which has a release date, is One Fast Move , with KJ Apa and Eric Dane, which will be released on August 8 on Amazon Prime. “I’m really excited because this movie was so much fun to shoot. It’s great and I had a lot of fun,” Maia said.
And she added that she had another film that hasn’t been released yet is "La Dolce Villa, we just finished recording it a month ago. It will be seen on Netflix."
© Maia Reficco and K.J Apa in the One Fast Move movie
Music: the passion of Maia Reficco
Even if Maia chooses the latter between playing and singing, the last time the artist released a song was two years ago. She said it was on purpose.
Maia Reficco in the studio
“I don’t want to rush it. I’m thinking about the fact that I have three whole albums that haven’t been released yet. Before, I felt this clock of having to come out of the music and artistically I was not and it was not what represented me. And that’s why I decided not to release any more music. When two years passed without releasing a song, I realized that no one was stopping me. That’s when I started to enjoy making music, music that felt good and made me feel like Maia,” she explained.
© Photograph by Emmanuel Fernández
“It was also a dichotomy because of the language. Because I work there and my life is at work in the United States, but I live, I learn, I cry and my heart breaks in Spanish. All my stories are therefore in Spanish, with people and emotions experienced in Spanish. Then I also made the trip to write everything in English because Spanish was related to what I did before, to what I did not meet. But I said where am I?, she added, referring to the importance of writing songs in Spanish.
In addition, Maia announced that her fans will soon hear her voice again: "I want to sing. The truth is that I also have to work and play allows me to live, with music it is a little more difficult. But I would like to spend more time on music. This is something I’m very aware of and have already told my team. I need to sing because otherwise I’ll go crazy. Sing and finally release my music. That the truth I am trying to capture can be heard and that people appreciate it.
© Photograph by Emmanuel Fernández
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Find the shooting of Maia on Maia Reficco France and the clothes she wears on the site Maia Reficco Fashion.
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