Yahoo Lifestyle ‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin’ Director on Casting Disabled Actors to Voice His Film: ‘It Was an Easy Choice for Us’
For the Oscar-shortlisted documentary “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” director Benjamin Ree made several unique choices. The film tells the story of a young Norwegian man, Mats Steen, whose battle with muscular dystrophy makes it challenging for him participate and connect with others. Steen begins spending all his time online, playing video games, particularly the role-playing hit “World of Warcraft,” where he goes by the name Ibelin Redmoore. When Steen died at 25, his family learned that Steen had lived a whole life though the game, making friends and affecting the lives of others. They are taken aback by the outpouring of support from the online community and learn about the impact Steen had on so many.
To tell Steen’s story, Ree not only pulled from real text chats that took place in the game, but also animated the interactions in the “Warcraft” style by employing artists he found on YouTube. And when it came to casting the voices for the animation, Ree made the choice to employ actors with disabilities.
“When we began this project, we thought about what Mats/Ibelin would have wanted, and then it was an easy choice for us: To give the job to very talented people that often are overlooked,” says Ree. The production worked with British talent agency VisABLE Agency, which specializes in such actors. To play Steen/Ibelin, they cast Ed Larkin, who previously became the first wheelchair user to lead a musical on the West End, “The Little Big Things.”
Says Ree, “Larkin captured Ibelin’s sensitivity, charm, humor, insecurities and stubbornness so beautifully, with nuances, subtlety and complexity. Voice acting is often overlooked, and the whole ‘Ibelin’ cast did an incredible job for this film. We were so fortunate to have been able to work with them.”
The film, which is now streaming on Netflix, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won both the Audience and Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary category. It’s also been nominated at the Critics’ Choice Awards and International Documentary Association Awards and is shortlisted for the Academy Award for best documentary feature film.
In the below video, Ree works with the voiceover actors, all of whom have a disability, to capture the spirit Steen’s unique world and friends.
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