When she accidentally crushes a goose nest, she becomes the guardian of the one surviving egg.
Dreamworks Animation
Nyong’o has been on her own journey with the film for some three years now.
I really loved how he challenged what I was bringing to the table and expanded it.
Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o) in ‘The Wild Robot.Dreamworks Animation
I definitely came in with my ideas and my opinions.
He was very receptive to all of that, which was surprising and very exciting."
That was one of the big things that we discussed a lot.
Fink (voiced by Pedro Pascal), Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), and Brightbill (Kit Connor) in ‘The Wild Robot’.Dreamworks Animation
What kind of language approximates emotion without dipping into it?
That must have really helped and opened some doors for you.
As a robot, one of her strengths is mimicry.
Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) in ‘The Wild Robot’.Dreamworks Animation
And then the script would develop to incorporate that.
I thought that was really cool.
And I mean that in a good way.
Roz (Lupita Nyong’o) and Brightbill (Kit Connor) in ‘The Wild Robot’.Dreamworks Animation
Was that a conscious choice?
Oh, that’s the highest compliment!
[Laughs] Yes, that was definitely conscious.
I wanted to find a voice that didn’t feel like my own.
he said that there is a natural warmth to my voice that he really loved.
So what would that be for Roz?
Chris mentioned there was a two-day session in particular that really stressed and damaged your voice.
Can you tell me more about that?
Was it a specific scene or sequence?
It was a four-day stretch, and we had been doing four- or five-hour sessions every day.
And because Roz starts in a more factory-setting sound, she has this overall positive inflection and tone.
The repetition of going to that high-pitched, highly resonant head space resulted in me having a vocal injury.
I ended up developing a vocal polyp and spent three months in silence.Oh.
And so I was able to heal my voice by just shutting up.
You literally livedA Quiet Place.
[Laughs] I did.
I didn’t even realize that I did.
I livedA Quiet Place.
In what ways did you relate to or understand Roz’s journey?
But she doesn’t know she’s an alien, which is quite charming.
I relate in the sense that I have been a fish out of water.
I have been, one could even say, an alien.
I’ve traveled a lot, and I have been the stranger.
I have been the foreigner in a world that I did not understand.
Especially moving to the United States of America, that was a big cultural shift for me.
How did the visuals and animation style of this film surprise you?
There is a texture to it that is highly emotional.
And I don’t know how that happens.
You also wrote and recorded “Sulwe’s Song,” which accompanied your children’s book.
Do you have bigger aspirations for a Broadway musical?
Is that something that you want to do?
[Laughs] Not at all.
I do not have a confidence for all of that.
And they were like, “But we’ve heard your voice, and we would like it.”
The Wild Robotis in theaters Sept. 27.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
