How Lupita Nyong’o Found Humanity in The Wild Robot (Exclusive)

“He gives it his all, he has a very dynamic voice,” Nyong’o says. “He understands all the characters he’s written and he brings them out. He was my scene partner, every scene partner I needed.” He also helped bridge the gap between Nyong’o and the other actors in the film, which was essential to understanding the character of Roz.

“Roz has a phrase, a turn of phrase that she uses, but I remember saying we have to find out where she learned it from. So that turn of phrase was given to Fink (the fox played by Pedro Pascal) earlier in the film,” Nyong’o reveals. “When we were shooting that scene for Roz, I asked to hear the recording of Pedro Pascal saying it so that I could be informed by his inflection. I loved that process of finding ways for Roz to adapt to what we feel empathy is.”

As Roz learns a new language over the course of the film, Nyong’o is aware that this also applies to younger members of the audience. “They have unabashed access to rage, fear, joy and euphoria. They have big feelings and understand big feelings in a way that we adults avoid.”

Nyong’o, Sanders and the animators worked to ensure that the film’s language remained accessible to children, which doesn’t necessarily mean simplifying it.

“The choice of language was very important so as not to alienate the children with such a vast vocabulary,” she recalls. “We didn’t want to simplify the script, because it’s an opportunity for the children to learn a new language. What was fascinating was how the animators took care to make it understandable for the children through their use of expression. There was the language on the page, the inflection that was applied to it by the interpreter and the expression that the animators brought to it, all working together.”

The wild robot It was a unique experience for Nyong’o, but she still has new things she wants to try.