'Sesame Street' Nina: Suki Lopez Plays Newest Latina Character, Resembles a 'Living Dora the Explorer'
"Sesame Street" is growing bigger. Labeled as "a living Dora the Explorer" by Vulture, Suki Lopez will play Nina, a bilingual Latina character.
Fox News Latino says the popular children's show is kicking off its 46th season at its new HBO home, a brighter-looking set, a new Latina character and more. Celebrities expected to grace the set include Nick Jonas, Gina Rodriguez, Pharell and Gwen Stefani, according to NBC News.
Another major change is the inclusion of another human character Nina, played by Suki Lopez. Latin Post says the Cuban-American was signed on to replace Sonia Manzano, the actress who played the role of Maria for more than four decades on the show and retired earlier last year.
Sesame Workshop describes Lopez' character as "a young bilingual Hispanic woman, uses her wit, compassion and charisma to help the furry residents of Sesame Street solve their daily dilemmas, providing a positive role model for preschoolers."
On the show, she is shown working three different jobs: working at the bike store, Laundromat and as Elmo's babysitter.
Lopez says she can relate to her character as a millennial herself and trying out different jobs. Before landing at 'Sesame Street,' NBC says Lopez has appeared in a number of plays, worked as a staff in restaurants, tried her hand in graphic design and more.
Her experiences during the audition process and filming have been "surreal" and have made a positive impact on her.
"I now have this affiliation with Sesame Street and their values. So I want to make sure that the values that I stand for on the show come through in my real life," Lopez said during the interview.
Loyal fans of the series will notice other significant changes to the show. The Daily Beast describes the new set as less gritty, brighter, with even a free WiFi sign posted near Big Bird's new coop.
Each episode is also shorter. To reflect the attention spans of the current generation of preschoolers, episodes are cut to half an hour says the New York Post.
According to the Latin news channel, the five-year contract with the cable channel will allow the show to branch into other markets. The show will be dubbed in Spanish when it airs on HBO's On Demand.
The New York-based publication says 'Sesame Street' will premiere two episodes on Jan. 16 at 9 am. Replays will be shown starting Jan. 23 at 9:30.