Lin-Manuel Miranda Channels Rafael Nadal When He’s Writing Songs: Watch

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Lin-Manuel Miranda knows how tennis great Rafa Nadal feels. When he's writing songs, "It's like somebody throwing a ball at me."

Lin-Manuel Miranda attends the Film Independent Screening of "Tick, Tick... Boom!" at The Landmark on Dec. 12, 2021 in Los Angeles.

 

Lin-Manuel Miranda has a superpower. He collects awards like no one else.

The multi-hyphenate musicals master has two Emmys, three Grammys, three Tonys, and a Pulitzer Prize. With his recent Academy Award nomination for Encanto, he could attain EGOT status, all at age 42.

On Monday night (March 14), Miranda stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a chat and to poke fun at his own good fortune.

The animated Disney film’s “Dos Oruguitas,” for which which Miranda composed the music and lyrics, is nominated for best original song at the 2022 Oscars. 

 

How much does he want that EGOT? Surely he’d kill for a shot at glory, Kimmel pressed at the top of their spot.

“It’s like stats,” Miranda explains. “When (Spanish tennis champion) Rafa Nadal broke the record for most Opens, he wasn’t thinking about breaking the record. He was just thinking about, ‘there’s a ball coming at me very fast. And I have to hit the ball back.’ And that’s how I feel when I’m writing the tune. It’s like somebody throwing a ball at me.”

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Nice volley.

Speaking of smashes, Kimmel also asked about the magical ingredients that went into “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”

Miranda had no idea it would be the global hit that it has become. “Group numbers are never the hit, you can’t sing them,” he explains. “It’s usually the ballad or the villain song or something else. The group numbers are the things that theater kids like and no one else likes, because they get to sing it at their cast party.”

“Bruno” has cast a spell on sales charts around the globe.

The ensemble song – by Carolina Gaitán, Mauro Castillo, Adassa, Rhenzy Feliz, Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz and the Encanto Cast – logged five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming just the second No. 1 ever from a Disney animated film, and the first leader for Miranda, the song’s sole writer.

Also, it’s the first original Disney release to hit No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, where it stayed for seven weeks.

During his stint on Kimmel, the pair talked Andrew Garfield, and reminisced about the crazy finale of the 2017 Oscars, which the talk show star hosted. Miranda also taped a sketch for the late-night show, promoting a “miracle cure” for those struggling under the constant rotation of Encanto songs, a “first of its kind pill,” dubbed Encantix. It’s like magic, just stick the pills in each ear canal. Side effects include exploding jazz hands. 

Watch below.