Nico Hiraga & Alycia Pascual-Peña Interview: Moxie

Moxie is the latest entry into the ever-expanding library of teen entertainment, arriving on Netflix March 3. But rather than focus on love triangles and backstabs, the story centers on a timid teenager named Vivian (Hadley Robinson, Utopia) who finds her inner confidence and stands up for her beliefs through a self-published magazine.

But she doesn’t do it alone, finding strength and support in classmates like her childhood friend Seth (Nico Hiraga, Booksmart), who is the only one who knows her secret, and new student Lucy (Alycia Pascual-Peña, Saved By The Bell), who reminds her to speak up. Directed by Amy Poehler (whose debut was 2019’s Wine Country), Moxie takes on sexism in schools with gumption.

Hiraga & Pascual-Peña spoke to Screen Rant about their character’s stories, the cast’s offscreen bonding, and the honor of being directed by a comedy legend.

Alycia, I loved that Lucy spoke Spanish very naturally in the film. Was her being Afro-Latina already in the script, or did you bring that in?

Alycia Pascual-Peña: I was very privileged that I got to bring that to the script. I’m very grateful that we have such a beautiful story that was written by Jennifer, and we did have this Latina at the center with these other beautiful girls in the story. But simply with my existence, being a black woman, the character was Afro-Latina.

They really committed themselves, Amy and this amazing crew and cast, to exhibiting women empowerment and all the beauty in that. I was grateful to represent my own culture and identity in this film, and just randomly speak Spanish as I do in my own personal life. Because as a Latina, I speak Spanglish very often, and then it was great to be able to do that in the film as well.

Nico, we stand a feminist king in Seth. He talks a bit about his backstory in Moxie, but what do you think makes him able to see and understand Vivian and Lucy’s perspective from the start?

Nico Hiraga: Seth was the youngest of three older sisters. I think the movie doesn’t shine a whole lot of light on Seth’s upbringing, but he does drop knowledge that he is the youngest out of three older sisters. I think that growing up with them can definitely be very educational and will teach you a lot.

I’m an only child, but I have eight girl cousins on my dad’s side. They’re all like older sisters to me, and I was also the youngest. They all play a big part, definitely. It was pretty relatable to play Seth, so there’s a little cheat code.

Alycia, one thing I loved about Lucy but also thought was a little bit sad, was that she’s already prepared from the start to defend herself and to stand her ground. Did you talk about the backstory that put her in that position, unlike Vivian’s?

Alycia Pascual-Peña: Absolutely. I think a very tragic truth for women of color, and specifically black women, is the fact that we are revolutionaries by birth because we have to learn how to navigate oppression and systemic racism and microaggressions. I know that I’ve personally had to do that in my own life.

I think that, naturally, Lucy is a force to be reckoned with. But specifically, her being a black Latina woman has forced her to have to learn how to navigate the world and its injustice in a different way that her counterparts didn’t have to., because they aren’t women of color.

I think that’s a powerful truth of the story. We’re not judging all the women in this film and their beauty, but understanding that intersectionality is important, and that we need to acknowledge the nuances of womanhood and just identity in general for things to actually progress. Lucy is the embodiment of revolution and resilience in everything that she does.

Both of you have a really special dynamic with Vivian, as Seth is the one who knows her secret and Lucy is the one that helps inspires Moxie in the first place. Can you talk about your relationships with Vivian and your work with Hadley?

Alycia Pascual-Peña: It was such an honor, first and foremost, to work alongside Hadley Robinson. She’s just an angel of a human being with the most beautiful heart, and someone that I’m blessed to call a friend – like the rest of the cast, including Nico. I’m just grateful to call her a friend, and someone that I know and have been able to work with.

Working with her was like a masterclass. I learned every time I was on set. Specifically, her relationship as Vivian with Lucy, I think is really beautiful because these people come from two different worlds who articulate themselves very differently and have very different perspectives, but are able to come together and really learn from each other and have this relationship that’s rooted in empathy. [It’s] learning how they see the world differently and come together to fight this oppression within their school, and misogyny and sexism.

I think it’s really beautiful to see that unravel, and to see the power that there is in looking past someone’s initial impression that they give you and learning more about them. One of my favorite parts is the fact that I got to film so much with Hadley.

Nico Hiraga: Alycia just knocked it over the head. Maybe I should have gone first; I might be a little bit shorter. But working with Hadley was really phenomenal. She really took the bull by the horns and killed the role of Vivian. She really portrayed such a revolutionary character, onscreen and off. Seth and myself, or any person in their right mind, would fall head over heels for a person like that. She truly made it really easy.

What does “moxie” mean to each of you now? What do you take away from it?

Nico Hiraga: I’m one of those people that, going into this movie, I didn’t know what what moxie meant. But after making this whole film, really big pointers for me on moxie would have to be bravery, courage, respect, responsibility, and compassion. I think those all play a part in it.

I can easily say that everyone in this film had moxie in every single different way. It’s very spontaneous and very random.

About The Author

Tatiana Hullender
(637 Articles Published)

Tatiana Hullender is a writer at Screen Rant, focusing on film and television, as well as a co-host of several podcasts. In the interviews she conducts for Screen Rant, she seeks to learn what drives each creative mind and how different experiences influence the same narrative. As a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Tatiana studied theater and comparative literature. She has been passionate about all manner of storytelling since being exposed to Jane Austen and BBC adaptations of her work all at once. But Regency satire of manners isn’t the only genre she loves, as a love of comic books naturally developed into a love of cinematic universes and their superheroes. So long as a story has heart and humor, there’s a chance of finding something to enjoy in the telling of it.
Visit @myrcellasear on Twitter to follow Tatiana’s articles, interviews and podcasts including: The Flash Podcast, Pop A La Carte and Ladies With Gumption. Subscribe to them on the Podcast app, or contact her directly at painted(dot)out(at)gmail.com.

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