Disney and Pixar’s Elemental is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where people made up of the four classical elements — fire, water, earth, and air — live together despite their opposing elemental compositions.
The story focuses on Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with the boisterous Water person named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in and the person she wants to be.
As the only child of immigrant parents, Ember is keenly aware of how much they sacrificed to give her a better life. She’s determined to prove herself to them and take over the family business. But all that changes when she meets Wade.
Speaking during a press conference recently, Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, who voice the film’s main characters Ember Lumen and Wade Ripple respectively, spoke about the influences behind each character and the nuances they brought to their performances.
What are Ember and Wade like when we meet them at the start, and why is Ember so confident Fire and Water could never be friends?
Leah Lewis: In the beginning, you see why Fire and Water don't really get along. A lot is at stake for them to just even interact as they could literally extinguish one another or snuff each other out. But also, just fundamentally because Fire is so different, they don't really socialize in ways that other elements would since they can kind of burn everything down.
Mamoudou Athie: Wade is an eternal optimist and also a realist. He has a pragmatic element to him when the going gets tough but he chooses to live his life in a very open-hearted way. He looks to see the positive in everything, and in everyone.
For Leah Lewis, what would you say you have in common with Ember?
Leah Lewis: She kind of mirrors a bit of a younger part of myself, one I think in the past was a bit more defensive. Even though we see her as being really guarded, I think that she's just a bit fearful to kind of step out into the world and see what these other elements have to offer because she's only known one thing in her life.
But she's so loyal to her family and the things that mean the most to her and I think that's like a really admirable quality that I also kind of follow suit with. You know, the things that I really care about, I would go to the ends of the earth to fight for that as well.
I think similarly with her having this intense passion that can kind of double as an explosion, has also happened in my life, too. I've had a bit of an edgier side to myself, but I've actually, just like Ember, been able to kind of turn that into something good, but through the help of people in my life who helped me actually see the light inside of me.
What’s it like being the voice of a Pixar character and is there a favourite moment during the recording process that you have?
Mamoudou Athie: Honestly, it really was a dream come true. It still is and now we get to celebrate this movie and talk about it. But getting into the booth, it's hard to quantify into one moment that was extra special because I think I'm old enough now to really appreciate a good thing as it's happening.
Would you say that the story also echoes your own personal story or your past experiences?
Mamoudou Athie: Yeah, a hundred per cent. My family came to the US when I was a baby. I was five months old. My dad was a diplomat and he had two master's degrees that he couldn't take with him and had to start afresh completely.
I understood that was a sacrifice when I was a kid but now I have a fuller understanding of what it is to build a life for yourself. But I cannot imagine having to start all over for the sake of your family. But they did it and they did it without question. They did it for us.
Director Pete Sohn and I shared that sense of gratitude, that feeling of this sort of debt. In the making of this film and talking with my parents about it, it's not so much like a debt anymore. It feels like a gift that I have to pay it forward.
Leah Lewis: I love what Mamoudou just said about it being a gift because I think when I talked to my parents, they gave me the gift of giving their 135 per cent when it came to supporting me and my sister.
The gift back is just living your life to the absolute fullest and really working on yourself as a human being to feel fulfilled and feel confident. I felt really close to Peter's story just in general, and the fact that he could be so honest and vulnerable in such a digestible way through Pixar.
I just related to Ember specifically on so many different levels, especially in her journey of having to work through some of her anger and frustration and actually turn it into something that's really creative.
Growing up as an adoptee from Shanghai, China, I grew up in a Caucasian household, but my mother and father were so supportive, very early, on my wanting to pursue acting and singing. And I think that's crazy that they actually like believed me back then.
That's one of the biggest gifts that I could have gotten from them and when I watched this film, it rings so true for me. So, all of this has been really special, especially with the opportunity to play Ember.
Pixar’s Elemental will begin screening in cinemas on June 22.
