Cuban-American singer-songwriter-actress Gloria Estefan on Friday reflected on playing the role of Gigi in Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie, a live-action film based on the popular Netflix series, which hit theatres on Friday.

The film stars Laila Lockhart Kraner as Gabby alongside Estefan.

In the new film, Gabby (Kraner) heads out on a road trip with her grandmother Gigi (Estefan) to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco. But when Gabby’s dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera (Wiig), Gabby sets off on an adventure through the real world to get the Gabby Cats back together and save the dollhouse before it is too late.

With her signature ability to ‘get tiny’ and enter the miniature world inside her dollhouse, Gabby invites children into a universe built on play, possibility and connection.

Gigi is the grandmother any child dreams of — creative, courageous, endlessly cool. She is a baker, a maker, an expert crafter, and most of all, a believer in imagination. With her vintage yellow van and artistic spirit, Gigi is a living example of what it looks like to grow older without losing your youthful spirit.

Gigi is not just a caregiver to Gabby, but a co-conspirator in adventure, and the source of so much of her granddaughter’s creative spark.

Estefan immediately recognised herself in the role. “There’s a lot of me in Gigi,” Estefan said in a statement.

“She is super cool; she is bohemian. I have a grandson, and since the day he was born, we have had a special connection. We share the same sense of humor. We love doing the same things. There is nothing he asks me to do that I will not do. Seeing that relationship mirrored in the bond between Gigi and Gabby made me think, ‘I absolutely have to do this,’” she added.

On set in Vancouver, Estefan quickly formed a natural connection with her co-star. “Gloria hit off with Laila immediately,” producer Steven Schweickart said. “You felt that there was a history there and that they were family—riding across America in a cat van seemed totally natural.”

Still, for Lockhart Kraner, working alongside a global music legend came with some understandable nerves. “I mean, it's Gloria Estefan and she is obviously a huge icon in the Latin community,” Lockhart Kraner said. “So, I was a little nervous, but when I met her, she was so welcoming and had such a warm energy. At the end of the shoot, I really felt like she was my Grandma Gloria,” she added.