Netflix’s Blue Miracle starring Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Gonzales releases on Thursday, May 27. Based on the incredible true story of Casa Hogar, the film follows a group of Mexican boys that come together and enter the world’s biggest fishing tournament to save their orphanage. ComingSoon Managing Editor Tyler Treese spoke with both Quaid and Gonzales prior to the film’s release.
Check out ComingSoon’s Blue Miracle interview with stars Dennis Quaid and Jimmy Gonzales below either in the video or the full transcript:
Tyler Treese: Dennis, this role really plays to your strengths as it’s able to blend comedy with drama. There are some great one-liners like when your character said, “You can never ever undrink urine.” Can you discuss your character and what really drew you to this role?
Dennis Quaid: Oh, I don’t know if that’s a one-liner or a truth about that you can’t undrink urine. Given the script was really good, and when you’re working with a bunch of kids like that, it’s like they’re perfect straight men. The story itself, it was just, it’s an amazing story, and I was drawn to it because stories like this are rare.
Jimmy, did you get to meet the real Omar or anybody like actually from Casa Hogar?
Jimmy Gonzales: Unfortunately not. I came on a little bit later on the film, about five to six weeks prior to shooting. So I didn’t get a chance to meet any of them. Aside from about an hour ago, we had a Zoom session with them where we played some games. I didn’t meet Omar, but I did meet a lot of the kids from Casa Hobar, which is just, I think I can speak for Dennis when I say this, it was all incredible.
Quaid: Yeah. We shot the movie in the Dominican Republic and not, Cabo because they had a big tank there, but we’re planning on going down there soon. It’s amazing. I mean, this movie wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for those kids and that orphanage. They really saved their orphanage. They really were about to lose it because of the hurricane and certain other factors. So I really look forward to meeting them in person.
The story is so incredible. As it says in the outro, the real Omar hasn’t caught a fish since winning the Bisbee, which makes it even more crazy. Jimmy, what does it mean to be able to bring this story to life on screen and, you know, spread this story far and wide.
Gonzales: I mean at the heart of it, it’s about the kids and it’s about Casa Hogar. It also has some deep, like spiritual meanings about faith and about having courage and what does courage look like? And being vulnerable and what is it that we’re teaching our kids? AThat’s a thing that I really tuned into, especially the relationship between Captain Wade and Omar, where they tend to teach each other what they need to learn. At this point in time, and we’ve gone through a pandemic and we’re all hungry for some more positive uplifting stories. I’m just so proud to be a part of this.
Dennis, I know you like to golf. Is fishing also a passion of yours? What prep did you do for this role? I know deep-sea fishing is such a physical grind.
Quaid: Yeah. I’ve done some deep-sea fishing, like on vacation and things like that, but I’ve been a freshwater fisherman most of my life with a fly rod. I’d like to take that fly ride to the ocean. That would be really fun. Being out at sea, we shot most of the movie, as far as being on the boat, we shot in a tank. Which made [it so that] the movie, we could shoot it in six weeks rather than six months, which would’ve taken me to being around the ocean all the time. It’s really difficult to shoot out there, but we went out of the ocean a few of those days. Nobody got seasick.
Dennis, your character Wade is so interesting in the film. Can you just talk about what connection you had with the character and what connected you to that?
Quaid: Well, it wasn’t like a Disney type of character. This guy has some ambiguity to him. He’s a very kind of jaded person to just start out with, and who’s very ego-driven. He’s won this Bisbee fishing tournament before what won it straight up, but then the second time he won it, he cheated actually. He’s come to learn like a lot of the wrong lessons and what he values is kind of, he’s got it all upside down really. He’s humbled in this film by these orphan kids that he didn’t even want to take on. He learns about what’s really important and it’s in that by getting humbled like that. That’s where God’s miracles really happen.
ComingSoon would like to thank Netflix for setting this Blue Miracle interview up and to Dennis Quaid & Jimmy Gonzales for their time.
