“Vashti added so much life and detail with the pictures.
Telling the story out loud though was something the author had been preparing for since she wrote the book.
How’d that come about?
Credit: Matthew Soltesz
You did astorytime videowith them where you read the book.
Yes, that was definitely good practice for the audiobook.
I think the Netflix reading was the first full recorded reading that I had done.
Matthew Soltesz
So it was definitely worthwhile for the audiobook.
We were already far enough into the conversation about the movie at that point.
So it was a bonus.
Were you eager to voice your own audiobook?
I imagine it’s using a bit of a different skill set than other forms of acting.
I didn’t question it at all.
And I thought it would be amazing to have the opportunity to read it myself.
It would frustrate me so much to not be able to see the images when I wanted to.
I’d have to wait for her to turn around and show me the pictures.
Thinking about recording the audiobook, how did you find the right tone?
Yeah, but you know,Sulweis such a personal story for me.
So I really wrote it out loud.
Like I had a very, very lively voice in my head as I wrote it.
And so I was very, very clear on what tone goes where.
With that said, have you seen emotional responses to the book from both parents and children?
Oh yes, I certainly have.
Actually, the very first time I heard the book read aloud, it was byPenelope Cruz.
I was on a shoot with her and she read it to her daughter.
Her daughter was so confused because you’re like, “Wait, what’s happening?”
So it was just such a beautiful, pure moment.
For me, that was such an encouraging first experience of my book in someone else’s mouth.
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That’s amazing.
You know, I have to say that it was so alien to me working with Vashti.
And I applied that to how I started my relationship with Justin.
It doesn’t announce itself to you.
So I wanted that to be the rule of thumb for the audiobook as well.
It was a learning curve for sure.
That’s a no.
So it didn’t even occur to me to go and watch myEssencespeech.
Well, yeah, I mean, you brace yourself.
But I try and make it constructive criticism toward myself to try and get us to a finish line.
So I have a lot of pep talks with myself through the process.
Which voice did you have to workshop the most?
Cause you do voice for Sulwe.
You do specific voices for the star, and Day and Night.
There was a version where I used to sing it.
Are Day and Night rooted in any mythology?
Because there’s such beautiful world building withinSulwe.
No, not that I know of.
But actually, the Night and Day story just came to me one day.
We got told a lot of origin stories when I was younger.
Kenya has 42 tribes and each tribe has its own mythology.
So I grew up learning and hearing those kinds of stories.
I don’t pass judgment on the word “chocolate.”
It really just depends on setting and context and all that.
This book was written a lot from my personal experience, it’s like a very liberal autobiography.
And when I was younger, I got teased and called “night” a lot.
Night is the thing that children are meant to be afraid of.
And I secretly wanted to reclaim night and look at it and portray it in a more beautiful light.
So that’s why I went that route.
In general, books have played a big part in many aspects of your career.
