“Finding Roz’s Voice Was Quite The Journey” Lupita Nyong’o reflects on the Challenges Faced in the Making of The Wild Robot

Mumbai, 04th October 2024: Mark your calendars for October 18th as The Wild Robot, one of the most anticipated animated films of the year, makes its way to cinemas across India, stirring excitement among fans. Based on Peter Brown’s award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, this visually stunning masterpiece is brought to you by Universal Pictures India (distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery). Directed by three-time Oscar nominee Chris Sanders, the film promises to take you on a captivating adventure, featuring Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Mark Hamill, and Stephanie Hsu.

The story centres on Roz, short for ROZZUM Unit 7134, a robot stranded on a wild, untamed forest island. Her adventure takes a heartwarming turn when she stumbles upon a goose egg and instinctively begins to care for the hatchling. As Roz bonds with the island’s animals, she evolves from a mere machine into a nurturer and companion. Nyong’o, who voices Roz, revealed that discovering Roz’s unique voice was a collaborative effort with director Sanders. Her voice gradually transforms from robotic and detached to one filled with emotion, mirroring her journey from a programmed entity to a figure of empathy and warmth.

Reflecting on her experience voicing Roz’s character, Nyong’O shares, “Finding Roz’s voice was quite the journey. It all started with a debate about the role of emotion in a robot. Roz, being a robot, has to learn how to access the spontaneity of emotion, which doesn’t come naturally to a programmed entity. So, how does that philosophical, cerebral debate translate into a performance? What choices do you make to convey the lack of emotion and then her adaptation to the world to express emotion?” She further adds, “We started with a more disembodied voice and what I call the ‘programmed optimism’ that comes with robotic figures like Siri or Alexa. There’s this optimism, but you can’t really feel the soul of Siri. Roz starts in that realm and then, as she adapts to the world and becomes more of a mother in raising Brightbill, she reprograms herself to access something more akin to human empathy, expression and emotion. By the end of the film, she’s a fully three-dimensional, well-rounded figure.”

Join Lupita Nyong’o as she takes you behind the scenes of The Wild Robot, sharing the fascinating journey of transforming Roz’s voice from robotic to profoundly emotional. This heartwarming tale will be available in English and Hindi, in theatres on 18th October 2024.