“I remember not being too sad about it,” said Harless, now 34 and living with her husband on the south shore of Long Island. She smiles more than her voice and bears an uncanny resemblance to Dora. “I knew that time would come, but it was a very transitional period in my life. I had an identity as Dora since I was seven years old, but I didn't know who I was outside of that. I didn’t know if it was there.”
So Harles went to find out who she was. She attended Pace University on a campus in downtown Manhattan, commuting from her hometown of Deer Park on Long Island. She made friends. One of them found out she was Dora and she told the others, but it wasn't a big deal, Harless said. Her peers had their own lives and didn't really care that she spent half of her adolescence voicing iconic characters on children's television. Herles majored in communications and she was one credit short of minoring in Latin American studies. She always worked in the hospitality industry at shopping malls, restaurants, and gyms. She still took acting classes, appeared in a few commercials, auditioned for roles here and there, and mostly did voice-over work. While working at Equinox Hotels' headquarters, she used her management job to become part of her team designing the interior of a new hotel the company was building in Hudson Yards. “It remains one of my greatest accomplishments,” she says.
Now, 15 years after putting down Dora's backpack, Harles is stepping back into the world of Dora. He is this time as Mami. Paramount's Her Plus reboot, titled “Dora,” is the fourth installment of the series and promises a refreshed and vibrant 3D version of Dora and her companions. Diana Zermeño plays the role of the energetic star who continues to go on adventures. Swipe! ” Ask Maps for directions and teach your viewers Spanish.
“I know I lost my passion for acting in my early 20s,” Harless says. “Is this what I want?” When I said yes and got the role, all the memories came flooding back.I remember the first time I walked into the booth. [when I was 7] I went there to record a show and I've never felt so safe. ”
Mami was also on the show during Harless, but now she, Papi, and Dora's twin baby brothers are a bigger part of the story. Abuela is still there too, giving big hugs and reading Dora stories to feed her sense of adventure. But what Harles feels is the biggest difference is that Dora's ethnic origins are clear. In the original show, Dora was pan-Latinx to be more inclusive, Herles speculates. In the new show, Dora is Peruvian on Mami's side and Mexican and Cuban on Papi's side.
“This is important because many of us are Latino and multicultural,” said Herres, whose parents immigrated from Peru in 1982. When “Dora the Explorer” first came out, she thought, “Hey!” I'm a Latina girl and I'm here to share everything, connect with the Latinx community, and bring in people who want to learn Spanish. ” [The point was] It's about bringing everyone together, and there's no specificity to it. I like how it has evolved. ”
After emigrating from Lima, Harles' parents settled in Queens. Growing up with his older brother in a Latino household, Herles was taught that his family was everything. She was proud of her family's origins and her Peruvian-American identity. But her brother was the first to tell her to her face that her Dora voice was annoying.
“I still laugh because I think it’s funny,” Harles says with a big smile. “Dora is loved and iconic, but it's so easy to be made fun of. I've seen some of them do funny things to Dora, make fun of her poses, etc. I know people are repeating themselves so much. Sure, sometimes people write comments on social media, but I laugh it off. I mean, in a way I get it.”
For Herles, there is no need to dwell on this old iteration of himself. She is ready for her new adventure. Like Dora-chan.