Ally Maki joins the Toy Story franchise as Giggle McDimples, a brand new character tiny enough to perch on Bo Peep’s shoulder, reports Awards Circuit.
“To be the tiniest character to exist in the universe is really awesome,” said Maki. “And then to be the first ever Asian American female within this universe is so incredible. To be a woman of color in this universe is so incredible.”
Toy Story 4 director Josh Cooley described Giggle as “Bo’s Jiminy Cricket,” according to Nerds of Color. Giggle is the police chief of Miniopolis and close friends with Bo Peep, who returns to the franchise after being absent from Toy Story 3.
Maki grew up with the Toy Story franchise and said that when she accepted the role of Giggle, she asked producers, “You guys know you hired an ultimate fangirl? I don’t know if this is going to be good or bad for you, but I’m going to be all over just freaking out every single day!
“They were telling me that you’re the first ever Asian American female within the entire [Toy Story] universe and to me that was so mind blowing and it’s so much to process, but it means so much to be personally. As a fan of the films, someone that is in the film, it’s just a lot.”
The Japanese American actress is founder of Asian American Girl Club, an apparel company “set to redefine what it means to be a modern Asian American woman.”
She is known for her main cast role as Jess Kato in TBS comedy Wrecked and a recurring role in Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger.
“What I love most about Giggle McDimples is that she is not an Asian character,” said Maki. “It wasn’t like ‘Hey, Giggles is an Asian character, we must cast an Asian.’ She is a toy with no ethnicity. You were picked because you are great and happen to be Asian. How important is it to be cast in this way?
“To me, that’s what it’s all about. That is why I started Asian American Girl Club because I felt like the next phase of this is the normalization of Asian American females within the world, you know. We’re not just this and that or that we’re hired because we’re Asian, but we just are. We’re humans. We’re like everybody else. We have our own identities. Our own multifaceted stories and upbringings and backgrounds.”
Toy Story 4 is now open in theaters everywhere.
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