Exclusive: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Filmmakers Pete Sohn (Director) & Denise Ream (Producer) talk Pixar’s Elemental

Jun 19

Now in theaters is Pixar’s Elemental, directed by acclaimed animation filmmaker Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur). The film is produced by Denise Ream and Pete Docter. The voice cast features Leah Lewis as Ember Lumen, and Mamoudou Athie as Wade Ripple.

Other actors joining the voice cast are Ronnie del Carmen as Ember's soon-to-be retired dad, Bernie; Shila Ommi as Ember's love-seeking mom, Cinder; Wendi McLendon-Covey as Wade's stormy and Air-Ball-loving boss, Gale; Catherine O'Hara as Wade's welcoming mom, Brook; Mason Wertheimer as Ember's admiring earth neighbor; and Joe Pera as a city bureaucrat.

Disney and Pixar's Elemental is an all-new, original feature film set in Element City, where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The story introduces Ember, a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman, whose friendship with a fun, sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade challenges her beliefs about the world they live in. Element City is inspired by big cities around the globe, embracing theorized contributions from each elemental community: giant pine-tree-like buildings and waterfall skyscrapers to a tornado-shaped arena called Cyclone Stadium.

Blackfilmandtv.com correspondent Chantell Pennie spoke with Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Filmmakers Pete Sohn (Director) & Denise Ream (Producer) on the making of Elemental.

Lewis is known for her breakout performance in the Netflix feature film ”The Half of It.” She also recently wrapped the fourth and final season of the CW series “Nancy Drew,” which released on May 31, 2023. Lewis will next voice the role of Räv in Paramount’s animated feature film “The Tiger’s Apprentice,” which releases in 2024 and features the voices of Sandra Oh and Michelle Yeoh.

Athie was most recently seen on the big screen alongside Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard in Universal and Colin Trevorrow’s “Jurassic World: Dominion.” The Los Angeles native was also nominated for an Emmy for outstanding actor in a short form comedy or drama series for his role in the FX series “Oh Jerome, No.” He was also seen as the lead in Prentice Penny’s feature “Uncorked” for Nefllix opposite Courtney B. Vance. He will next be seen in Maggie Betts’ “The Burial” for Amazon Studios, alongside Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones, and Yorgos Lanthimos’s film “And” for Searchlight, alongside Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Willem Dafoe, Margaret Qualley, Hong Chau and Joe Alwyn.

Sohn made his directorial debut on the Pixar short “Partly Cloudy,” before going on to direct his first feature “The Good Dinosaur.” He was also an executive producer on “Luca,” which debuted on Disney+ in June 2021. He previously worked on Academy Award-winning feature films including “Finding Nemo,” “The Incredibles” and “WALL•E.” In addition to his contributions as a filmmaker, Sohn has lent his voice talents to Pixar’s feature films. In “Ratatouille” he voiced the character of Emile, and in “Monsters University,” he is the voice of Scott “Squishy” Squibbles.

Ream joined Pixar Animation Studios in October 2006 as the associate producer on the Academy Award-winning feature film “Up.” She continued on to produce 2011’s “Cars 2,” working alongside director John Lasseter, and Pixar’s original November 2015 feature film, “The Good Dinosaur,” with director Peter Sohn.