Hollywood is a place where talent shines at any age, and young actors Yonas Kibreab [15] and Remy Edgerly [13] are perfect examples. Both achieved early success in voice acting, with Yonas also making his mark in film and television. Recently, they both added their talented voices to the Pixar film Elio. Yonas, voicing the title character of Elio, while Remy portrays his newfound alien friend Glordon.
In celebration of the Blu-ray release of the film and its upcoming Disney+ release, we had the opportunity to catch up with the talented young performers to discuss their beginnings in acting and how they landed their roles at Pixar. Please join us in welcoming the skilled young actors Yonas Kibreab and Remy Edgerly to GVN Interview.
GVN: Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day, guys. How are you doing today?
Yonas and Remy: Great. How are you? Thank you for having us.
Getting Started
GVN: So, let’s start with some of your creative beginnings, starting with you, Yonas. What first sparked your interest in performing, and whose work on film or television kindled that fire in you?
Yonas: Some of my favorite actors, whom I watched, were my favorite superheroes, like Batman and Spider-Man, I think. I love Tobey Maguire and watching Tom Holland. And those were some of my big acting role models at the start of my acting career.
GVN: Same question for you, Remy. In your case, your father, Chris Edgerly, is a noted actor in both television and voice. Was it simply a matter of following in his footsteps, or did you pursue that journey for other reasons?
Remy: One day, when I was really young, I saw him recording in a booth, and I asked him what he was doing. He showed me, and it looked really fun. So I decided to try it out, and I was able to book a job and I just had a lot of fun with it. So I kept doing it.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
GVN: Yonas, you have compiled an impressive resume of acting and voice-over work, including an appearance in the Star Wars franchise, specifically in “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” Was this role something you and your agent actively pursued, or was it simply a stroke of good fortune? How did this opportunity arise?
Yonas: Obi-Wan Kenobi was a great experience. That was kind of not at the start, but in the middle. I think I was around thirteen or twelve. But getting to play a young Jedi was really cool because my whole family, everybody loves Star Wars. My cousin, is obsessed with Star Wars. She has posters and loves Harrison Ford. She was super excited to hear that I was in a Star Wars show. And that was an amazing experience. I got to meet some fellow cast members. There were other Jedi Younglings that were in that show, and I’m also glad that I got to meet them as well.
‘T.O.T.S.’ and ‘Helluva Boss’
GVN: Remy, you have also established an impressive beginning to your career with multiple roles. So, what was your first role, and did you enjoy that experience?
Remy: I think my very first role, I think they were just for like really small stuff. But my first ever like, you know, big role was in T.O.T.S. I played Zed.
GVN: You really DID start young (looking at the picture above). Now I want to make sure I got this right, Remy. Did you also have a part in “Helluva Boss?
Remy: Yes. I did appear sometime in the beginning of season two, I think, as a young Fizz (Fizzarolli). I think that’s what his name was.
Making Time for Being a Kid
GVN: But, you know, even at my age, I know how important it is to try to get a work-life balance. So, this is for both of you. Whoever wants to chime in, what do you both do when you’re not working? I mean, are you hanging out with your friends playing video games? What are you doing?
Remy: I like to play games with my friends, read some manga, watch shows. You know, have a lot of fun with my friends. Definitely. We crack jokes, play games.
GVN: Excellent. How about you, Yonas?
Yonas: Playing video games as well. Hanging out with friends. Just being a kid. You know. I think that’s very important to do. Off from all the acting. But I really enjoy all of it. Just skating. I love to skateboard. I love to take the train with friends, go on an adventure. And I also like to collect Pokemon cards with my friends. So, you know, every Saturday we go to the local Pokemon shop, rip a pack or two and see what we get.
Auditioning for “Elio”
GVN: That’s really great to know, especially since you hear stories about young actors whose work takes over their entire lives, causing them to miss out on their childhood. It’s reassuring to know you’re still embracing that part of your life. So, let’s get to the reason I have absconded with part of your day, and that is the Blu-ray and upcoming streaming release of Pixar Studios’ Elio, in which you both play major roles. With Yonas voicing the title character Elio and Remy voicing Glordon, his new space friend. Starting with you, Yonas, how did this opportunity come about, and did you feel confident going in about landing that role?
Yonas: This was during Covid. I mean, 2020 prime Covid. I was in my parents’ closet. I set up lots of dampening foam and blankets around to get the best quality sound possible. My dad was helping me out recording on the side, and I sent off the audition. I didn’t hear back for, like, a month. It was a very long process. And then I got a call back, and I got to do a zoom call with Director Adrian Molina at the time, and then I didn’t hear back for another month. Got another call back. I think there was like four total auditions, very, very long. But at the end, I got the role for scratch, which is like the temporary voice used. They use it to do like the early animation. And I did that for about a year, and then later they offered me the final role for Elio, which was very, very surreal. I was like punching the air out of excitement. It was a crazy, huge moment for me in my career.
GVN: So, as a follow-up…Okay, there was this long wait time from when you started to when you finally got the role. Did you ever feel like? Okay, this is not going to happen for me.
Dealing with Possible Disappointment
Yonas: Yeah. I think, during that month, that was like when I was like, yeah, I think that one’s gone, sadly. I was pretty bummed too, because I love Pixar. I watched The Incredibles, Toy Story, Wall-E, and Up. Those are like some of my favorites. But when I heard back, I’m like, yo, I have to knock this out of the park.
GVN: Same question for you, Remy. How did this opportunity come “a knocking” and did you audition specifically for the role of Glordon, or were you open to whatever part they wanted you to fill?
Remy: Yeah. I got an audition for Elio, actually, and they said that I actually did better for Glordon, so I was scratched for him. And then I was able to go up and, you know, now I’m actually Glordon, you know.
The Pixar Process
GVN: Can you tell me about the Pixar recording process? Do you record your lines individually in a booth with just the director, or do you work collaboratively? Just how does everything come together?
Remy: Well, we didn’t [record together]. We were able to record together once, but pretty much, other than that, we were able to do it on our own. Sometimes the directors would do like the others lines, like they would do Elio’s line for me and probably Glordon’s lines for Yonas. But for PR we were pretty much doing everything together. We went to Disney World, we got to see a space station. We got to see a lot of stuff.
GVN: [Laughing] Sounds like a tough gig. How about you, Yonas? Of course, as you said, you set up your own booth/closet to record. Did they (the directors) give you any room as far as changing your inflection or anything, or do you pretty much follow the directions given?
Yonas: Yeah. I’m very glad because the directors, all of them were very open to different suggestions and ideas. Sometimes,I would veer off a little bit, going too far away from where we’re trying to get. But I’m glad, you know, I got to try different things. Work on the character, add some of my own personality to him, and yeah, I mean, like Remy was saying, we only got to record together like, maybe once or twice. But, in the early stages, I was recording still in that closet. Same setting. But then, you know, later in the process, I finally got to go up to Pixar, up in Emeryville and record there.
Making the PR Rounds
GVN: So, since the film was released, as you said, you’ve been doing PR things. Was that a new experience for you, or have you had an opportunity to do PR for other projects?
Yonas: I mean, I don’t know about Remy, but for me it was it’s never been that much PR. I mean, Disney does it crazy like they do a lot. And it was really cool. I mean, I got to go like to London. Me and Remy got to go to Houston, Florida. We went up to Emeryville at the studio and Pixar. That was that was a crazy, I mean, crazy experience for me. And people are like, aren’t you tired? I’m like, no, I really enjoyed it. It was really fun getting to meet all the other actors because like Remy was saying, you don’t really record in a studio with with all the other costars. So it was really cool.
Upcoming Projects
GVN: I want to thank you both, Yonas and Remy, for taking the time to be with us. Before we wrap up, I’d like to give you a chance to share any upcoming projects you’re working on that you’re able to talk about.
Yonas: You want to go first, Remy?
Remy: No, I don’t really have much.
Yonas: I just finished a movie called Pinocchio in the Water of Life, which is another voice acting role. That was really fun to do recording with Mark DeCarlo, who has been in the animation world for a long time. I also did a film called Reimagined. It is a movie, based on a pageant directed by Matteo Messina. It’s a Christmas movie about a musical. So, I got to do some singing, and it was a really cool, very fun experience. I also got to meet some of the other kids that I got to work with and I’ve been friends with them for a long time.
GVN: Excellent. Well, I appreciate it, young men. We’ll be keeping an eye on both of your careers and look forward to catching up with you again in the future.
Pixar Studio’s Elio is now available on digital and Blu-ray and streaming on Disney+ starting September 17th.
Here are the links for the YouTube and Audio interview:
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
