Braelyn Rankins on Playing Young Mufasa and Working With Lin-Manuel Miranda in 'Mufasa: The Lion King' | THR Video - video Dailymotion

The Hollywood Reporter

Braelyn Rankins describes the excitement he felt working with Lin Manuel Miranda and singing new songs in 'Mufasa: The Lion King.' Plus, he talks working closely with Aaron Pierre in the film.

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00:00What was it like stepping into this role? This is a huge franchise, a huge role.

00:05Did you have any pressures coming into it?

00:09I feel like I didn't have as much pressure since I'm playing Mufasa as a young'un,

00:14but I was really excited to start. I feel like we've seen Mufasa as a king, so getting to see

00:19his origin, how he became to be who he is, I just think it's been really great so far.

00:24What did you learn about Mufasa? Especially as a kid, that journey

00:29into his adulthood, what do you feel like you learned and that the audiences would appreciate?

00:34Well, learning Mufasa was an orphan. I mean, that's been, hey, who saw that coming?

00:40But there's a lot I've learned about the character for sure. Not anything that I can say

00:44yet, but when you see the movie, you'll definitely see.

00:48And I heard it's a lot of singing, so do you sing too?

00:52I do sing in the film.

00:54Any original, I heard it's a lot of original songs. So what was that process like,

00:58kind of stepping into this world? We know the OG songs, they're classics at this point,

01:03but doing new music, what was that like for you?

01:05Yeah, the music, that's honestly my favorite part of the film. Working with Lin was great,

01:10and it just feels so nostalgic. I've loved The Lion King for a long time,

01:15so being able to be a part of a franchise and singing it is crazy. So I'm very excited for

01:20everyone to hear the song, hear the music. It's my favorite part of the film.

01:24I love that. And what do you want this new generation of kids and families to get out

01:29of this film? Well, I mean, this is a very family-oriented

01:32film, and it's just a message about that you don't have to be your past. Mufasa has a very

01:37rough upbringing that we'll see. So yeah, I mean, your past doesn't define who you are,

01:42so you can always grow and change into someone else.

01:46I love that. And did you work closely with Aaron, who's the adult Mufasa at all? What was that like?

01:51Yes, I love Aaron. I just saw him a moment ago. I met him a couple months ago when I was actually

01:56recording. We weren't recording together just because I'm playing the younger version,

01:59he plays the older version. But he's so nice and so talented, so I'm excited for everyone

02:03to see his work as well. I'm excited to see his work as well, for sure.

Braelyn Rankins on Playing Young Mufasa and Working With Lin-Manuel Miranda in 'Mufasa: The Lion King' | THR Video

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