Categories: Interviews (Film)

Interview: ‘Elemental’ stars Mamoudou Athie and Leah Lewis get animated about playing Wade and Ember [VIDEO]

Published by
Share

In Elemental, Pixar’s latest animated feature, elements become emotional as Fire and Water mix in the studio’s first fully-fledged romantic comedy that proves opposites do attract.

As any fan of animation knows, all the stunning imagery in the world needs to be backed by grounded voicework by committed and talented artists and Pixar hit the jackpot with Mamoudou Athie and Leah Lewis. The Mauritanian-born Athie is best known for his roles in the films The Circle (2017), The Front Runner (2018), Unicorn Store (2017), Underwater (2020), and 2020’s Uncorked, which was director Peter Sohn’s visibility to the actor’s voice acting potential, as well as the television series The Get Down (2016-2017), Sorry for Your Loss (2018-2019) and Archive 81 (2022). Athie was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series for his performance in Oh Jerome, No (2020).

As an actress, singer, and dancer, Lewis is a triple threat. Having begun taking Russian ballet at Central Florida Ballet at three years old and acting lessons at four years old, Lewis was always a star in the making. Continuing to perform through high school, she landed roles in the Disney TV movie Madison High and broke into television shows like The New Adventures of Old Christine and more recently, Station 19 and Nancy Drew. But it was the 2020 Netflix film The Half of It, a loose retelling of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, that caught Sohn’s eye and he found his Ember.

I traveled to Pixar Animation Studios to talk to Athie and Lewis about their experience working on the film, the deeply collaborative nature of director Peter Sohn and, shoes" layout="responsive" width="720" height="454">

Erik AndersonErik Anderson
Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

Recent Posts

29th Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards: ‘A Complete Unknown,’ ‘Nosferatu,’ Shōgun,’ ‘Ripley’ Among Nominees

The Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) has announced the nominees for its 29th Annual… Read More

January 9, 2025

2024 Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA) Winners

Sean Baker's Anora was the big winner with the Georgia Film Critics Association (GAFCA), taking… Read More

January 8, 2025

Directors Guild of America (DGA) Nominations: Edward Berger, James Mangold, Jacques Audiard Lead All-Male Lineup, Blockbuster Directors Miss Out

Directors Guild of America President Lesli Linka Glatter today announced the five nominees for the DGA… Read More

January 8, 2025

31st Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards Nominations: ‘Wicked’ Leads Motion Picture, ‘Shōgun’ Leads Television

The nominations for the 31st Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards have been revealed and Universal… Read More

January 8, 2025

2024 Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) EDA Award Winners: ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘The Substance’ Lead

The winners of the 2024 Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) EDA awards have been… Read More

January 7, 2025

2024 Directors Guild of America (DGA) Television, Commercials and Documentary Nominations: ‘Shōgun,’ ‘The Bear,’ ‘The Penguin’ Dominate

The Directors Guild of America (DGA) today announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Television,… Read More

January 7, 2025