Young Filipino-American actor Yonas Asuncion Kibreab is about to rock the silver screen as the star of Pixar’s upcoming film “Elio,” a sci-fi epic about a kid whom aliens mistake for Earth’s leader.
It may be hard to imagine that just four years ago, Yonas was a sports enthusiast with no acting experience.
“How I started really was I was a tennis player. I played tennis and me and my dad would make funny tennis-related Instagram and Vine videos,” the 13-year-old said in an ABS-CBN interview.
His uploads caught the eye of the US Tennis Association, which asked if he was interested in becoming a “kidcaster” for the 2018 US Open in New York.
Yonas served up an enthusiastic “yes,” and little did he know, this decision would open other doors for him. “I got some auditions. I auditioned and I actually got my first role, which was a commercial for a headphone,” he said.
Since actively pursuing an acting career in 2019, Yonas snagged significant roles in Disney’s “Pupstruction,” “Pretty Freekin Scary,” and even ventured to a galaxy far, far away in the Star Wars series “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He’s also left his mark in “Silicon Valley” and the second season of the Netflix series “Sweet Tooth.”
And when he was finally cast as Elio in Pixar’s 28th feature film, Yonas said, “I was jumping up and down.”
“When my dad and I got the call, we were driving to another audition and we pulled into this little strip mall and in front of us was a restaurant called Olga’s Kitchen. Olga is my mom’s name in the movie. It was just like the world was congratulating me,” he told Screen Rant Plus.
“Elio” arrives in theaters in March 2024, promising an adventure of an underdog with a wild imagination, inadvertently beamed up to the Communiverse. Mistaken as Earth’s ambassador to the universe, Elio must form bonds with eccentric aliens, conquer formidable trials, and discover his true cosmic calling, according to the film’s official synopsis.
So, now that Yonas is officially part of the Pixar fam, does he have any other dream role in mind?
“This is my dream role! I get to be in a Pixar movie, that’s amazing,” he said.
