Elio Stars Yonas Kibreab & Remy Edgerly on Bringing Disney and Pixar’s Space Adventure to Life

We've been thoroughly enchanted by Disney and Pixar's latest animated film, Elio, and we couldn't be more excited that fans can now relive the journey at home.

The out-of-this world adventure tells the story of the titular Elio, an 11-year-old boy struggling with the loss of his parents. Elio feels misunderstood by both other kids and his aunt, Olga, but finds comfort in his obsession with aliens. Then, one day, his wish to be abducted finally comes true, and he's whisked away to an interplanetary council called the Communiverse. Things go awry when he's mistaken as the leader of Earth, but he goes along with the ruse—and agrees to negotiate with the belligerent and deadly Lord Grigon—to avoid getting sent home. Perhaps Elio's new friendship with Grigon's sweet and peace-loving son, Glordon, could be the key to resolving the galaxy-spanning conflict once and for all.

The story of Elio has been beautifully brought to life through gorgeous and colorful animation and skilled voice acting, in particular from young stars Yonas Kibreab, the voice of Elio, and Remy Edgerly, the voice of Glordon. Ahead of the Elio hitting streaming Disney+ on Sep. 17, we had the pleasure of hopping on a Zoom call with both boys to discuss their stories as actors and all things Elio. Read our full interview with them below.

And if just can't wait, Elio is already out on digital and Blu-ray. Purchasing the digital or Blu-ray releases also grants viewers access to all kinds of bonus features, from deleted seasons and featurettes to a gag reel and more, so be sure to check it out there if you can't get enough of the film.

 

Sweety High: How did you each discover your passion for acting? Were there a key moments that made you realize it was the path for you?

Remy Edgerly:  I saw my dad voice acting and it looked really fun. When I tried it, I had a blast with it. Eventually, I was able to book something for T.O.T.S., the Disney Junior Show. That's when I realized how fun voice acting is.

(Image courtesy of Remy Edgerly)

Yonas Kibreab: For me, it wasn't really planned. It actually happened through Instagram. I played tennis for a while when I was younger and I was posting tennis clips and funny tennis-related videos, and then USTA, the U.S. Tennis Association, saw it. They reached out asking if I wanted to go to the U.S. Open and interview some different tennis players. From there, I got an agent, and my dad told me that maybe I should try acting. I just fell in love with it from there.

(Image courtesy of Yonas Kibreab)

 

SH: You've both had pretty prolific careers so far as young actors, but what has it meant to you to be involved in a Pixar feature film seen by such a wide audience?

Remy: Honestly, it's just amazing to be a part of the Pixar family. I've been watching Pixar since I was young, so it's just really nice to be able to work with them.

Yonas: I feel the same. I mean, I've been watching Pixar movies since I was very little. I think the first one I saw was The Incredibles. To finally be a part of one is a crazy experience, and I'm so glad that I was able to work with Remy alongside lots of very talented actors and actresses.

(Elio via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

 

SH: Tell us about your characters, Elio and Glordon, and how you related to them:

Yonas: For me,  I could relate to Elio's amazing spirit and his fun and quirky personality. He's always down for an adventure,  and I can relate to that on so many levels. I'm very glad I got to take some of my own personality and bring it to this character.

Remy: I had a lot of fun with Gordon because I also really like making friends.
It's really nice to hang out and talk with people, so I can relate to Gordon in that way.

 

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SH: When it comes to animation, sometimes actors record their voices entirely separately, and sometimes they get the opportunity to work together a bit. What was the experience on Elio like?

Remy: We did get to record together once, and for the PR, we've pretty much done everything together.

Yonas:  Yeah. I wish we could have done it more, because it was really fun, but we got to do lots of press and PR together. It was really fun getting to know him, and we became friends along the way. I'm very glad that we got to work together.

 

SH: Have you had the chance to spend time with other members of the star-studded cast?

Remy: During recording, it was mostly just me and Yonas who had met each other, but we were able to meet everyone else at the end when the movie was being screened at the El Capitan.

Yonas: Yeah, that was really cool. I also got to do lots of press days with Brad Garrett and with Zoe Saldaña, and they were great to meet. Brad Garrett is such a funny guy and he's really tall. When I met him for the first time, I could see him from a mile away. I'm like, yeah, 100%, that's him. And Zoe is such an amazing person. She's very talented and she taught me some things along the way. I'm very glad that I got to meet them both.

(Elio via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

 

SH: Do you each have a favorite scene from the film?

Yonas: I think I have multiple, but one of my favorites, to record and to watch, is when Glordon is coming outside for the first time. We're going through like all of these different things, and I'm showing Glordon around, because he's never been out for all this time he's been living. We got to eat lots of different foods, drink lots of Glorp. That one clip like where we're all throwing up is very funny to me.

Remy: That's probably my favorite scene, too. It was really fun to record, and I really liked how it turned out. It's just a really cool to see them having fun.

(Elio via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

 

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SH: The movie has lots of action and humor, and your performances aren't just about dialogue but also making the right sounds to bring the story to life. What's it like to do that in the studio?

Yonas: Remy, you were doing a lot of crazy sounds.

Remy: It was really nice to be able to do all the sounds in a bigger booth. They sometimes showed little me little clips of behind-the-scenes stuff so I could get into it a bit easier, and that definitely helped a lot.

Yonas: It was pretty fun for me as well, because there was some scenes where I would have to run—like that one scene where Elio is getting chased by the other kids at his camp—and they were like, "Do a lap around the studio." We were in this really huge studio in California. I was able to do lots of laps and I was out of breath. That was really fun.

 

SH: Did you get to see many illustrations or animations of your characters as you were developing the voices and performances for them?

Remy: After recording sessions, sometimes they'd show us little clips of how it was going. I

Yonas: I didn't get to see like too much animation during the whole process, but I got to see kind of some drawings of all the different characters. When I first saw Glordon in the early stages, I was like, wow, I did not imagine him look like that. He was really cool looking. I think there were some things that were a little bit different to the final cut of the character,  but getting to see those little clips in the early stages was so cool.

(Elio via Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

 

SH: Do you have any favorite fictional aliens?

Yonas: I love the ones from Toy Story. They're really cool.

Remy: This is a really obscure one, but the Eliatrapes from a small series called Wakfu on Netflix. They're technically considered to be aliens, and they use energy to kind of make like constructs and portals and whatnot.

 

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SH: It was just announced that Elio's is coming out on Disney+ next week. Why should our readers check it out?

Remy: You should watch it when it comes to Disney+ as soon as it releases, because if you have the Disney+ app, you'll be able to watch it on your phone, maybe on a plane ride or on the train. If you're at home, you can watch it with your family or maybe just in your bed and have some snacks. Also, if you watch it on direct or the BluRay, you'll also be able to see the deleted scenes and extras.  I think everyone should check it out.

Yonas: My favorite thing to do when I see a movie that I really like is to go on YouTube and searching up all the deleted scenes and some of the behind the scenes. You can watch that from the comfort of your own home if you didn't get to see it in theaters, or even want to watch it again.

(via Disney/Pixar)

 

SH: With the digital/BluRay releases there's also a blooper reel, which is very classic Pixar.

Yonas: It's been a while. Somebody was telling me they did it for A Bug's Life.

Remy: They used to do it for all the movies—Toy Story, A Bug's Life.

Yonas: And they must be real bloopers, because I don't remember recording anything scripted. I do remember doing a lot of different things on accident that they'll probably include, so hopefully it's not too embarrassing!

 

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