Film

All the facts about Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal and Lupita Nyong’o’s new film The Wild Robot

Jul 29
Written by Emily Maskell

Chris Sanders, Kit Connor, Lupita Nyong’o, Mark Hamil and Pedro Pascal at Comic-Con

The director and cast of The Wild Robot. (Instagram: lupitanyongo)

The Wild Robot is a star-studded animated science fiction survival film coming soon, and it definitely has a star-studded line-up.

It’s also almost certainly the cutest movie about a robot that adopts a baby goose you’re likely to see this year.

The film stars Heartstopper’s Kit Connor, The Last of Us‘s Pedro Pascal and Black Panther’s Lupita Nyong’o, amongst others.

The adventure film, based on Peter Brown’s 2016 book of the same name, follows Roz (high-tech ROZZUM unit 7134), voiced by Nyong’o, who washes up on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the wilderness and get on with the wild animals that live around her.

“Roz becomes a more dimensional being through this journey,” director Chris Sanders told The Wrap.

“Lupita’s acting is extraordinary but she can also modulate her voice in a very subtle way so that she goes through a shift throughout the film.”

Speaking about the film’s character arc, Sanders notes: “It’s much more complex than simply a machine that gains emotion. That is something we’ve come to expect.

“It is much more interesting and complex and emotionally resonant. Roz understands a lot, you could argue almost everything.

“But she doesn’t really understand it dimensionally. She knows what the definition of things are.

“But she has no experience of those things. And the gaining of that experience makes her more dimensional.”

Robot Roz with a big blue eye looking at a small goose. — Lupita Nyong’o is Roz and Kit Connor is Brightbill. (DreamWorks Animation)

**Who does Kit Connor play in The Wild Robot?**

In The Wild Robot, Kit Connor plays an orphaned goose named Brightbill.

Brightbill unexpectedly bumps into Roz and the pair grow close, so much so, in fact, that Roz adopts the adorable young goose as her own son.

Connor is best known for his role as Nick, the love interest of protagonist Charlie (Joe Locke), in hit LGBTQ+ series Heartstopper. The show’s third season is set for release on Netflix on 3 October.

Kit Connor and Lupita Nyong'o with robot structure at Comic-Con — Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy and Bill Nighy have also been cast. (Gilbert Flores/Getty)

**Who else is in The Wild Robot cast?**

As well as Connor and Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal plays Fink, a mischievous fox who is the first animal that Roz helps and befriends.

Schitt’s Creek‘s Catherine O’Hara has been cast as Pinktail, a mother opossum (lets hope she uses her Moira Rose voice throughout the movie).

Veteran British actor Bill Nighy stars as a wild elder goose, Longneck.

Stephanie Hsu plays Vontra, a robot of Roz’s race who has been sent to retrieve Roz.

And none other than Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, is grizzly bear Thorn.

The wider ensemble cast also includes the indomitable Matt Berry from What We Do In The Shadows (and many, many more hit comedies) as well as Ving Rhames – who is arguably best known for playing IMF Agent Luther Stickell in all Mission: Impossible films.

At the San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday (July 27), some of the cast gathered to promote the upcoming film – which was posted collaboratively to their various Instagram accounts.