Meet Yonas Kibreab, 14-year-old Filipino-Eritrean American star of Pixar's Elio

Young actor takes lead role in the latest film from the acclaimed Disney-owned animation studio

In Elio, a boy is transported to a utopia in the middle of the galaxy. It’s called the Communiverse, a place where aliens from across the stars joyously share the secrets of the universe. For young Elio, it’s a dream come true.

Yonas Ascuncion Kibreab, the 14-year-old Filipino-Eritrean American actor who plays the title role, once had a moment like that, too. It was the day he went to Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, California.

Kibreab tells The National: “That campus is so magical. Being there, it’s almost like you’re living in a Pixar movie. All the people there are so cool and creative – I’m just so grateful I got to go there.”

While he’s now one of the handful of child actors to ever lead a Pixar movie, he never thought it possible he’d get there. Growing up, he wanted to be a professional tennis player – though he did watch the film Up over and over, crying each time.

Elio is about a young boy who dreams of being abducted by aliens. Photo: Pixar/Disney

“I started playing tennis when I was around three, and I played until I was 12. But I loved it so much that I would make funny tennis-related videos,” says Kibreab.

The US Tennis Association saw his work, inviting him to the US Open in New York to interview the top tennis players.

“I was like, ‘oh heck yeah’. That was the dream. But my parents saw me doing the interviews, and they thought, ‘I think he could be a good actor’. So I got an agent, did a commercial audition, and now I’m here,” Kibreab says.

In the character of Elio, who his Armenian-American co-director Madeline Sharafian describes as “the world's weirdest kid”, Kibreab related most to his active imagination, outgoing personality, and the fact that he doesn’t care what people think. “I think that’s his superpower. It was never hard to go into Elio’s character, because he’s like me in a lot of ways.”

When Kibreab auditioned for the role, he didn’t have the script, which he found thrilling. “It was the coolest thing. I could imagine what this movie was – what my character looked like. And all the aliens and the amazing universe that Pixar’s animators had created. It was so special because it’s something no one had ever seen before,” he continues.

In the three years that he played Elio, from the age of 11 until 14, he bonded with his character to the point that, to play the most emotional scenes, he didn’t have to think of any sad moments in his own life.

“It was Elio who really helped me. I just had to think of Elio’s story. There were so many deep things for me. When he’s crying in the story, honestly, just that itself made me cry,” says Kibreab.

In the film, however, Kibreab actually plays two characters – both Elio, and the AI clone of Elio made by the ship’s computer in the Communiverse. The clone travels back to Earth and takes his place, living with his aunt and pretending to be him.

Kibreab originally aspired to be a professional tennis player before discovering acting. AP

“I feel like other Elio is a little bit creepier,” says Kibreab. “The directors were like, ‘have you seen any horror movies?' I'm like, Yeah, I have!’ So they told me, ‘just try to do your creepiest voice.'”

The young actor got so into the role, that he suggested to the directors that they record both characters at the same time, with him switching back and forth between playing both versions without a break.

“They're like, wow, that's a cool idea. Let's try it,” says Kibreab.

In the years that he recorded for the role, Kibreab started to grow up behind the scenes – so fast he hardly noticed until he went to the film’s premiere. When he looked up at the screen, he remembered how different Elio was when he auditioned for him – how unsure of himself he was. But the character in the finished product is different – a reflection of the young man he’s becoming.

“He has more confidence now than he did. When I watched the movie, I kind of teared up a little bit, because I really felt how Elio is feeling,” says Kibreab.

Elio is in cinemas now across the Middle East