Pixar’s ‘Elio’ Stars Yonas Kibreab in a Breakout Role

An exclusive chat with Yonas Kibreab, the Fil-Am voice behind Elio.

Published on Jun 18, 2025

Instagram/ @hiyonas_, © 2025 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

This article contains no spoilers.

In Pixar’s latest original film, Yonas Kibreab lends his voice to the titular Elio, an awkward, space-loving boy who gets beamed into a faraway alien council. There, they mistake him for Earth’s ambassador. Elio doesn’t dare correct them—not when it’s everything he’s ever wanted: a place where he feels he belongs. But the role demands more than he’s ready to give, and Elio is left adrift. He’s only a kid, after all—something even the galaxy’s most advanced beings fail to realize.

Produced by Mary Alice Drumm and directed by Madeline Sharafian (Burrow), Domee Shi (Turning Red), and Adrian Molina (Coco), the film features Yonas alongside a powerhouse cast that includes Zoe Saldaña, who voices Elio’s aunt, Olga.

Mainly set in the vibrant technicolor of the Communiverse, Elio is, at its core, a coming-of-age story about finding friends and belonging in unexpected places. The character is strange, funny, and full of heart—qualities Yonas brings to life with effortless charm.

Meet Yonas Kibreab, Pixar’s Newest Star

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Instagram/ @hiyonas_.

At 14, Yonas is already making his mark in animation and beyond. He’s voiced characters in several kids’ shows and is set to appear in the live-action musical Reimagined. But Elio is different—it’s his breakout role and a major milestone for the Filipino-American actor, who discovered his passion for acting at just eight years old.

Yonas made his feature-film debut in Blood Moon, a Blumhouse TV horror movie, and has since landed roles with Disney, Netflix, and even in Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi.

When he’s not acting, he’s playing piano, running, skating, or just being a regular kid—watching movies, biking around, and hanging out with his friends. He’s also planning his first trip to the Philippines this year.

We caught up with Yonas during Elio’s international press junket via Zoom. The moment he found out we were calling from the Philippines, he greeted us with a bright and cheerful “Kumusta,” instantly breaking the ice and making the first meeting feel like a warm reunion.

Yonas shared his excitement about the film, talked about working with Pixar and his favorite Filipino dishes, and reflected on how Elio’s life between two worlds mirrors his own experience growing up between cultures.

From Closets to Cosmos: Yonas Kibreab’s Journey Voicing Elio

How has your life changed since landing the role?
It hasn’t changed too much. I try to stay grounded, humble, and just be thankful for everything—all the success, and always thank the people who helped me. My life has been life-ing, it’s been normal so far.

Was this a typical audition for you, or did something unexpected occur when the role was offered? Could you share the backstory of this audition?

The setup in the house is my parents’ closet, and they’re always asking me when I’m gonna take the mic out and the blanket off all their clothes, but like, that’s really the studio for the auditions—and it’s been working out, so if it’s not broken, I guess why fix it? But yeah, I’ve just been recording in there.

I got this audition in there—it wasn’t called Elio in the beginning; it was an untitled project. I didn’t even know it was Pixar. When I did it, I didn’t hear back for like a month. It was wild. But then, all of a sudden, they gave me a callback. I did the callback, didn’t hear for another month—and then they offered me the role.

This was a scratch role—scratch is like the temporary voice for the animators to animate off of—and I did that for around a year. Then a year later, we got the main role for Elio.

What was your experience like while working with the team at Pixar?

It’s so great—everyone at Pixar, they’re all amazing artists. The animators did such a good job creating this new universe that nobody’s seen before in space, creating all these aliens from scratch in their minds. I don’t know how they do it, because I still mess up drawing stick figures. So, the fact that they drew these on paper and brought them to life is so inspiring to me.

But yeah, getting to work with three amazing directors—Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina—has been great. I’m so grateful that they trusted me to play Elio.

SPACING OUT – When 11-year-old Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab) finds himself in the Communiverse, an interplanetary organization with representatives from galaxies far and wide, he drinks “glorp” and explores the vibrant new world alongside Ambassadors Helix, Tegman and Questa.

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When you first read the script, what stood out to you about Elio? Was there a moment or a line that made you think, “I get this kid”?

There are so many lines. I’m trying to remember which one is my favorite, but I mean, really, just his story made me understand who he is. And sometimes, we can all feel lonely no matter what we’re going through.

Elio is going through a lot of grief at such a young age. That kind of shook him a little bit. That’s why he’s a little more closed off, and he feels like he needs to go to space—because he feels like he doesn’t belong on Earth. Just reading that brought me to tears. It’s such a deep story.

Just between us, Yonas, would you say Glordon’s your favorite alien in the Communiverse?

I’m biased because, yeah, Glordon is voiced by Remy (Edgerly), who’s a good friend of mine. We’ve been hanging out a lot lately during the press tour.

Glordon is such a cute, heartfelt, cuddly, toothy worm-alien. He’s so pure, and that’s what I really like about him. And it’s cool that even though Glordon is an alien and Elio is human, they have so much in common. They’re both feeling lonely, and that’s how they bond and become friends.

ALIEN BONDS – Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab), a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with eccentric alien lifeforms, eccentric alien lifeforms, including Glordon (voice of Remy Edgerly), a tender-hearted princeling.

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Now, something a bit more personal. You’re Filipino and Eritrean. How connected do you feel to your Filipino side?

Super! Growing up—which I still am—I’m always around my mom, who’s Filipina, and her side of the family. You know, going to all the Filipino parties, helping my mom roll lumpia, and just learning Tagalog in high school, which is one of the classes I’m taking. It’s so cool. Being Filipino is so cool. And there’s so much about the culture that I don’t even know yet, but I feel like I’ve learned so much already. Like… the food is amazing, the people are often really nice, and that’s what I love about being Filipino.

Is it safe to say lumpia is your favorite Filipino food?

I would say it’s my favorite Filipino snack. I feel like it’s more of a snack. My favorite food, like a dish, would be adobo or pancit.

Growing up with different cultures, do you feel it helped you connect with Elio’s experience of living between two worlds?

I feel like being Filipino and being Eritrean is like two different worlds. You have the Filipino people and the Eritrean people, and they’re both very different—but they’re the same. Kind of like the people on Earth and people in space.

There are aliens out there—there has to be. Like Elio, he’s a human, and then there’s Glordon and all of those aliens. But Glordon understands Elio, and Elio understands the aliens. I feel like that’s just the same with the two cultures.

Elio opens in Philippine cinemas on June 18. Watch the trailer below and get ready for a heartwarming journey that’s out of this world:

Hanna is a News Desk Writer at Smart Parenting, covering parenting, health, culture, and more. Off the clock, she’s likely people-watching at a café or park, matcha latte in hand.