Elemental Interviews: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Peter Sohn and producer Denise Ream

Last Updated on August 3, 2023

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend an in-person press day for Pixar’s Elemental at the headquarters in San Francisco. I had previously been there a few months earlier for a long-lead press day, but this was something else. The movie, which had only been partially done then, was complete, and I would get to speak to several key people involved. First things first – how was the movie? Despite early mixed reviews out of Cannes, I found it pretty charming, with director Peter Sohn and the Pixar gang doing an amazing job animating the various elements. You see, Elemental takes place in “Element City,” a world inhabited by living elements, with characters being either Earth, Wind, Fire or Water.

In this society, water dominates and, as fire is the opposite element, tensions between the two elements are high. However, our heroine, a fire element named Ember (Leah Lewis), happens to meet and maybe even fall in love with a good-hearted water element named Wade (Mamoudou Athie). In many ways, Elemental is Pixar’s version of a romantic comedy, with a bit of social commentary worked in, with it being, at its heart, a story of immigration, albeit a very upbeat, positive one.

During the press day, I was lucky enough to speak to the two stars, Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, who revealed that despite their obvious chemistry, they never actually recorded their lines together, with Sohn, himself a great actor (he voiced Sox in Lightyear) standing in. I also asked them what their favourite Pixar movies are (how could I not?). Next up was Peter Sohn and producer Denise Ream. Both of them had previously told me about their connection to the project, and this time I opted to focus a bit on how they animated the elements and beyond.

You can read my full review for Pixar’s Elemental tomorrow, but I thought it was a charming little movie. Are you looking forward to it? Let us know in the comments!