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American actor Stephanie Beatriz has revealed that she recorded 'Waiting on a Miracle' for hit animated film Encanto while in labour. She kept it mum, kept up with her commitments and gave birth to her daughter Rosaline the following day.

“I didn’t want to tell anybody at Disney because I didn’t want anyone to freak out,” she told Variety. “But I was already having some contractions when we were scheduled to record that day. I was like ‘Well, fingers crossed I finish the song before the baby comes!’”

The film’s director, Byron Howard said although they knew Beatriz was “very, very, very ready to have that baby,” she had not told them just how close she was to it. Songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda liked to joke that she was singing 'Waiting on a Miracle' while waiting for her personal miracle.

The Brooklyn Nine-Nine star voiced the protagonist Mirabel in the hit film, which was released in December. To play an ordinary woman in a family of incredible people, it was key that she wasn’t too earnest and needed to sound like an old soul that had been through a lot, like she didn’t want anyone’s pity. For the casting crew, Beatriz found that depth. While she originally came in for a different role, Howard and fellow director Jared Bush called her the “missing piece” after her audition.

Beatriz said she disappears into the characters she plays and this felt like the "most ‘like me’ role" she's ever played despite it being an animated one.

Encanto saw great success after its release, especially where its soundtrack is concerned. It became Disney's highest-charting soundtrack, surpassing Frozen's Oscar-winning single 'Let It Go' as the biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit since 1995.

The musical flips the typical children’s movie script. Instead of few magical people amid a sea of ordinary, here the ordinary is weird. It starts with Mirabel Madrigal, a youngster from a magical family in Colombia, where their vibrant house holds many generations. Every Madrigal at the age of five reveals an inner magic like shapeshifting, talking to animals, super strength or powerful hearing. They, in turn, help the surrounding community. But magic has somehow skipped over Mirabel, who as she grows into a young girl still tries to be useful among a household of Avenger-like siblings.

The animated film addresses the pressure of living up to high expectations and the fear of revealing imperfections.