Interview: ‘All The Light We Cannot See’ Star On Following Her Once Stifled Dream

Aria Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann Discuss The Power of a Voice

Before her work as Marie-Laure Leblanc in Netflix’s All the Light We Cannot See actress Aria Mia Loberti not only never acted before, she never even auditioned for a role. Awards Radar spoke to the actress and her co-star, Louis Hofmann about their work on the powerful new limited series.

For Loberti, the idea of becoming an actress seemed distant and unobtainable. “I had not really planned on being an actor. I’d always dreamed about it when I was little. When I was six or seven, I really stifled that dream. I think anyone who’s part of a marginalized community historically, the world sort of tells you which box you belong in.” The idea of acting was set aside for many years, “I just never thought it would be a possibility, so I shoved it as deep down inside me as I possibly could.”

When the opportunity to audition in global search to play Marie-Laure she decided to follow the childhood dream she once abandoned. In a world full of barriers, the actress, who like her character is blind, knew there would challenges ahead of her, but was driven by her love for Anthony Doerr’s book. “It’s a book and story that means a lot to me and to my family. I was just enjoying the process of auditioning. I never expected anything to come of it,” said Loberti. “I got the part and I still don’t really believe it. We did this incredible five and a half month long shoot with these incredible people who are all at the top of their fields, and I had to learn as I go.”

Loberti found her on set learning to be an ‘exceptional experience,” one that had her playing Marie-Laure across several years of her character’s life through numerous taxing scenarios. “It’s just this just remarkable language that I didn’t know existed. And it was a challenge to learn because I had to literally learn it while I did it. I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare. I was just thrown in,” explained Loberti. “It’s like being the first violinist when you don’t know what a string instrument is. And it was just so much fun and so wonderful.”

The limited series, All The Light We Cannot See, directed by Shawn Levy, is set in the World War II and the story centers around two characters, Loberti’s Marie-Laure a girl whose radio broadcast are a source of hope for many, including a German soldier, Werner, played by Hofmann. The actor feels the story spoke to today’s world in unexpected ways, including the parallels found in the power technology plays. “If you have such a huge amount of love for something and then people come and use it for something that you are completely against, I think that is something that generates a power in yourself and an anger and a want to fight for,” said Hofmann, “In the good and for what the radio for him actually stands for.”

“I think that is really beautiful because with, in terms of like, let’s say AI in our days can be so wonderfully used, you know, for cancer research and different things, but it can also be used for very scary things,” continued Hofmann. “I think that can be, I think the radio can be used as an analogy for that.”

Though set over eighty years ago, the themes are undeniably just as relevant today. While hate has not been extinguished, neither has hope, explained Loberti. “This story is so timely because there’s really hard stuff going on right now in the world. I think at our core, every human being, if they’re allowed the potential to be, can be good,” said the actress. “Sometimes it takes the voice of another or the soul of another, that connection to remind you of your goodness. But that connection is sometimes not a thing we can always feel, or that we always know.”

“I think that’s why I really look up to her (Marie-Laure) as a person, because she’s really beholden to this idea of you cannot let the darkness dim your light,” expressed Loberti. “You have to hold on to your hope and believe that something better is going to come and that things are going to work out.”

Watch the complete and inspiring interview with Mia Loberti and Louis Hofmann below. You can also find their amazing work in All the Light We Cannot See streaming exclusively on Netflix.