Voice Actors for ‘Encanto’ and ‘Luca’ Talk Recording From Home, Staying in Character for Years
variety.comZoe Hewitt Imagine standing by yourself in a room and having a conversation that needs to sound like it’s taking place on a bumpy bicycle ride.
Or in the midst of a heavy lift, or during an epic battle. Imagine this all because unlike performing in a live-action film with other actors, props and thoroughly designed and decorated sets or locations, voicing an animated character means not just visualizing it, but convincingly vocalizing it.Animated films take a notoriously long amount of time so actors return to the recording booth, sometimes over a period of years, as scripts evolve.
In between sessions, great chunks of the movie may have been rewritten, but the actors need to jump back into character as though they never left. “Encanto” director Byron Howard remembers working with Stephanie Beatriz (who plays Mirabel) over a period of years and at least 15 recording sessions for the film’s dialogue alone.
The musical numbers added up to even more.But even before the movie had been fleshed out, during early studio pitches Howard says everyone’s hearts went out to the unnamed “woman in a family of incredible people who herself was very ordinary.” It was key that she wasn’t too earnest, and needed to sound like an old soul that had been through a lot; she didn’t want anyone’s pity.Beatriz found that depth.
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