How Zoe Saldaña and Yonas Kibreab Can Really Relate to Their 'Elio' Characters
In an exclusive conversation with IMDb, the cast of Disney-Pixar's upcoming animated feature 'Elio' shared insights into their creative process and character development. Rising star Yonas Kibreab, who voices the titular character, revealed the nuances of emotional voice acting versus on-camera performance.
"Communicating emotions through a mic is a lot harder than communicating emotions on camera," Kibreab explained during the interview. "The easiest part is being myself because I share a lot of traits with Elio's quirkiness."
Zoe Saldaña, who portrays Olga Solís, discussed the unique demands of voice acting. "It brings out a different form of acting that sometimes can feel picturesque because emotions need to be really accentuated and inflected," Saldaña noted.
Brad Garrett, making his animated villain debut as Lord Grigon, described how the character evolved through collaboration with the creative team. The production team particularly praised Garrett's ability to bring unexpected tenderness to the role, which influenced the character's development.
Director Domee Shi highlighted Saldana's contributions to shaping the mother-son dynamic between Olga and Elio. "She asked so many questions about where Olga's coming from, getting to the root of Olga's frustration," Shi said.
Producer Mary Alice Drumm credited their casting department for discovering Kibreab early in the process, noting "his performance speaks for itself."