by Gill Pringle

When director Chris Sanders first envisaged turning bestselling children’s book The Wild Robot into an animated movie, the first person he thought of to voice the robot was Lupita Nyong’o. Not because he thought the Oscar-winning actress sounded like a robot – the very opposite, in fact.

It was the warmth of Nyong’o’s voice that he saw as the perfect way to humanize Rozzum 7134, aka Roz, a sophisticated robot who is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island without human guidance.

For Nyong’s part, she thought long and hard before accepting the job. “I was cautious because I do have a capacity for honesty that rubs people the wrong way. If you have a certain kind of ego, then we can’t roll,” teases Nyong’o when we speak to the actress and the writer/director together.

“The fact that this job has taken three years, you have to be in relationship with people for a long time. And I really wanted to know that I could talk to Chris honestly.

“That was my biggest thing, because I don’t know the world of animation. I don’t understand animatronics or whatever. But I do know story. And I do know character. And I know that there’s so many cool effects that can happen in the animation. But I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page about what story we were hoping to tell. Like, what is our true north right? And that has to be human-focused,” she says.

Having studied Sanders’ previous work – including How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods, and Lilo & Stitch – she concluded that she was in safe hands.

“I could tell from his previous work that he had his finger on the pulse of humanity. But I wanted to know, how do you get there with everybody else? And what I found in those conversations was, I would bring something up that was frank and critical. And Chris would go – ‘yeah, yeah’. And he would think for a bit, and then he would respond, and he would allow it, and he would integrate it.

“And I never felt that he was catering to my ego; I never felt that he was trying to seduce me to join his project, for any other reason than he liked what I did, and believed in me, and felt I would be a good fit.

“And so, it was that which made me really grow confident. And then I remembered in that first session, I came guns blazing, because I was like, ‘yo, we’re gonna be in this for three years, like, let’s get to it, like, let’s see what this chemistry is gonna be like’. I was honest, and he was receptive. And he would workshop the thing I suggested, and sometimes he’d be like, ‘that’s a great idea. Let’s put it in’. Other times, he would make it better. And I remember leaving that session, feeling pumped, like I had gained something. I had given something by gaining something,” she recalls.

In turn, Sanders [left] says, “Lupita’s input was pivotal in quickly discovering Roz’s character. Her attention to detail in every aspect was invaluable. Every scene recording was preceded by extensive discussions and brainstorming sessions with Lupita, leading to rewrites that consistently enhanced the scenes. Lupita’s talent lies in her profound understanding of characters and their narrative impact, ensuring they drive the story rather than merely being passengers.”

But in the process of bringing Roz to life, the 12 Years a Slave/Little Monsters actress not only lost her voice for three months but also learned unexpected life lessons.

“I like the message, that kindness is a force. I think oftentimes kindness can be considered as a vulnerability. But in this film, we really show how Roz’s journey shows how it is a force; and it’s a force to reckon with,” she says.

Based on Peter Brown’s book of the same name, we learn how Roz has been programmed for a modern, futuristic city life – designed to help whoever purchases her. Therefore, oblivious of her new predicament, she enthusiastically pursues her primary objective: finding a person with a task she can fulfill.

But instead of encountering humans, she meets only animals, eventually learning to connect and communicate with the island’s diverse inhabitants. Her purpose finally becomes clear when she discovers a goose egg; this unlikely mother nurturing and raising the gosling.

“For me, Roz is a very sophisticated robot – but when she lands on this island, she’s brand new. She’s like a child. And I think that’s what makes her such an endearing character, because she’s very childlike in her fresh eyes and naivete on what life on a wild island can be like,” says Nyong’o.

“I think the innocence of children is something that I thought of, not necessarily from anything from my own childhood, but in interacting with children – they say the darndest things.

“For example, yesterday, we asked this child: How would you look out for other people? And she said ‘with a telescope’. Brilliant, right? And as an adult, you just don’t think that way – but Roz does. There’s that sort of literal way of looking at the world, because she’s brand new. And keeping that innocence was inspiring and just remembering the innocence of babes,” she says.

Surprisingly, the Black Panther and Us actress was able to find common ground between herself and her robot alter ego.

“When I’m considering a new role, one of the things I ask myself is: What do I have of this character? What do I have for free? What do I intrinsically understand and don’t need to work at? And for me, it was compassion. Like the fact that her mission is compassionate. I was like, ‘Yeah, I feel like I know that’ and it resonates with me and the thing about Roz is that she’s compassionate and frank. And that’s one of the things that rub the animals on the island the wrong way! But I think that there is great power in compassion.

“And I am personally more emotionally open than I’d like to be at times, sometimes it feels like a burden … to have so much access to my emotions, because it means that I’m easily bruised.

“But I still stand in the belief that it’s ultimately my power, because it’s what makes acting a possible job for me to do and I feel strongest when I can be honest about how I feel. And I feel strongest when I can be kind. Not nice, but kind,” says the Mexican/Kenyan actress most recently seen in A Quiet Place: Day One.

Finding inspiration for Roz in the automated voices of Alexa and Siri, as well as voices on Tiktok and Instagram, she says, “what was similar in all of them was a kind of optimistic brightness. So, after a lot of trial and error, we ended up with that programmed optimism to start her off.”

But, after enthusiastically working on her robot voice, she found herself abruptly silenced. “I had a vocal accident when I was working on the earlier part of Roz. That voice was quite vocally athletic for me, and I injured myself, and was rendered silent for three months. I learned a very important lesson there to really pay attention to my limitations.”

Joined by an impressive vocal cast including Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Stephanie Hsu, this talented team all voiced animals alongside Nyong’o’s Roz.

As the months and years rolled by working in the vocal booth and on the animation, Sanders grew further convinced of the serendipity of his choice of Nyong’o.

“Roz has this unrelenting innocence and kindness. And it just won’t quit – and she begins to change the entire culture of the island, because the island is like: it’s life and death. And Lupita has that same spirit that Roz does, and it really comes through,” he says.

The Wild Robot is in cinemas 19 September 2024

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