Samantha Lorraine has officially taken over the role of Dora the Explorer from Isabela Merced — with exactly no swiping needed (a public service announcement to Swiper).
Dora the Explorer (the franchise, not the character — she’s still 16) turns 25 this summer, and Nickelodeon (and the greater Paramount Global) is going all out for the silver anniversary. The big swing is the return of Dora to the big screen feature film in Dora the Search for Sol Dorado, which releases July 2 on Paramount+.
The straight-to-streaming movie follows the world’s greatest explorer and her friends as they trek through the perilous dangers of the Amazon jungle in search of the ancient treasure of Sol Dorado. Dora (Lorraine), Diego (Jacob Rodriguez), the monkey Boots (voiced by Gabriel Iglesias), Mango (voiced by Jacqueline Obradors) and one really handy knapsack must race against time to keep the goodies from getting into the baddies’ hands.
Stepping into the iconic role was career gold for the first live-action Dora, Merced — Lorraine hopes there’s plenty of luster dust left over for her Dora film to have a similar impact.
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You’re the sixth Dora.
I am the Dora from Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado!
Well, Nickelodeon told me you’re No. 6 — but you’re not the first live-action Dora…
I’m not. Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight, The Last of Us) did a movie in 2019, and she was absolutely incredible. She’s had such a fantastic career [since then], and so many amazing projects have come out of it. I hope to have that same trajectory. She’s just so incredible, and I’m honored to share things with her and the [previous Doras]. It’s a huge community.
You’re a relative newcomer, though you did do the movie adaptation of one of my favorite books when I was a kid, The Kid Who Only Hit Homers (Matt Christopher, 1972).
No way! That’s funny — it’s such a niche book.
Yeah, I’m old.
(Laughs) It’s so interesting. We did a little Amazon movie right before COVID hit. I remember we were shooting the last week, and all the news started coming out about COVID starting. We really missed [COVID shutdowns] just by a week.
Since Dora is set up to be your breakout role, do you have any apprehension that Hollywood will see you as “the Dora girl”?
No, honestly, it’s not as terrifying to be seen as that because the character in itself is not a copycat of the Dora that we’ve seen before. [This time], we see her be such a smart, quick-witted character, I was lucky enough to see it again last night with the cast and crew. Every time I watch it, I think to myself, “That’s a new Dora. A Dora that we haven’t seen before.”
She has the same traits and attributes of her positivity and optimism — her hopeful leadership. But in this movie, we also see her go through really some low times in her life. She loses a lot of important things, and I think there’s a beautiful, symbolic message of grief and how to deal with that in this movie.
Are there other ways this Dora will stand out from the others?
She doesn’t ask a question to the audience, and she doesn’t wait for the answer to be told to her. She knows it.
In our movie, she does break the fourth wall, kind of. When I’m in that tram scene and I’m giving the tour to the parkgoers, I break the fourth wall, and the camera pans out and shows the actual audience in real life, physically there. I thought that was a fun way of implementing that classic Dora-breaking-the-fourth-wall, but also keeping it true to our movie.
Was it daunting to play the role?
It’s truthfully daunting to have one of the biggest characters in media be made new again by your own devices. However, with that came an odd creative freedom to think and interpret her as my own. I think people are going to really like that she’s the same old Dora we know but so much more fearless, determined and smarter than we’ve seen. Her problem-solving skills are beyond impressive. I need a lesson or two from her.
Samantha Lorraine.
Emily Assiran
This is a straight-to-streaming movie. Did you know that when you signed up? Did you hope for theatrical?
No, I didn’t. But honestly, I’m so happy that it’s panning out the way that it’s been going so far. The engagement has been so positive. The reason why I do this is because my family — seeing my little cousins watching the screen and them going, “Sammy, Dora! Dora, Sammy!” It’s so surreal. It makes me tear up every time I think about it. Hopefully, little kids all around the world are going to go, “Wow, that’s — that’s Dora!” They’ll grow up with this version of Dora, and I’m so excited for them to see that.
There’s a ton of kids who will see it who weren’t even born when the 2019 movie came. You will be a generation’s Dora.
Exactly. Even though that previous movie was not too long ago, this movie is a completely different iteration. I think that’s so important to know. It’s another generation’s Dora. Art imitates life and I think it’s so exciting for kids and for the entire family.
You’re 18 now. You were 16 when you shot the movie — so what was your experience with Dora the Explorer? Who was your Dora?
I grew up in Miami, and I come from a very, very, very large Cuban family. That’s my roots. So obviously, me and my entire family watched Dora growing up. [The original Dora] Kathleen Herles, I’ve been able to speak with her. When she first connected with me — I’m being so serious — I threw my phone and started crying. You know the show that you watched growing up that really made who you are? That icon speaks to you and knows you exist? It’s such a huge honor.
What were you acting opposite for the monkey? A tennis ball, I assume?
Good old Boots (Gabriel Iglesias)! Mr. Fluffy! It was a tennis ball. But sometimes I would forget it was a tennis ball because they did such a fantastic job. Especially the little moments where I give Boots a hug, or Boots pets my face. It tripped me up sometimes where I was like, “Wait, that was a tennis ball I was talking to!”
How do you physically hug a tennis ball?
(Laughs) We had a tennis ball and then we had a stuffed animal monkey that I would hug for a reference.
L-R: Sonny (Acston Lucas Porto), Diego (Jacob Rodriguez), Dora (Samantha Lorraine) and Naiya (Mariana Garzón Toro) In the movie Dora and The Search For Sol Dorado for Nickelodeon, streaming on Paramount+ July 2.
Pablo Arellano Spataro/Nickelodeon/Paramount+
You’re very proud of your heritage and Dora is a very important character to the Latin culture — did you ask to add anything specific to the character to further highlight that?
Definitely. That scene after the map being burned and we’re at the dinner table at the Márquez house, asking them if they could put more Ropa Vieja on my plate, because that’s a very Cuban dish. And that’s one of my favorite Cuban dishes. I was like, “Oh, can I get a few extra scoops of that?” The tostones and the salsa and all of those foods. I was like, “Give it more to me, because, you know, she’s not really eating.” I was like, “Pile. It. On!”
Also in that same scene — when we were doing a fitting, that shirt of mine is such a beautiful, authentic Latin shirt, with that shape and that texture. I felt really connected to my roots, being in that wardrobe. There were a few other options that I tried on that I didn’t feel quite as represented, so I was like, “Let’s just go with that shirt. Let’s do it. This is a Latin film and we need to understand our culture, you know?”
On the final day of filming, did you just casually stroll out with Backpack?
I wish I would have taken Backpack! No, that would have been so amazing. You’ve got to manifest it for me. Diego (Rodriguez) and I have our Quipos on our hands that we do for our handshake, the Allyu handshake. I did snatch that up and I have it hanging on my wall right in front of my door. It’s such a good memento, because every time I see it, I always think to myself, “How can I reshoot the movie?” I just want to relive the moment again.
Are you down for more Dora? Or are you one and done?
Oh, absolutely not — bring on the Dora! I love her so much. I think she’s such a huge role model, not just for the Latin community, but just for every single culture around the world. When it comes to that one episode for World Friendship Day, and she goes to Russia, she goes to China and she goes to Africa. It’s such a love for culture, and it’s such a love for, yes, we are all different, but more we’re all the same and we’re all human — just be more empathetic to each other.
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Dora the Search for Sol Dorado releases July 2 on Paramount+.