Emma Berman Discusses All The Inspiration Behind Disney's Upcoming Animated Film Luca

Disney has been introducing a new wave of talent. Inspired by movies Inside Out, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc, and Aladdin, young Emma Berman is one of Disney’s newest prodigies. Based in San Francisco, she is a bilingual theatre kid who specializes in voiceovers and has a long career ahead of her. 

At eight years old, the bona fide starlet booked the role of Annie at the Bay Area Children’s Theater and has been a trustworthy cast member since. Berman’s biggest role to date is voicing Giulia in Disney’s Luca. Luca is the story of a friendship between close friends Luca, Alberto, and Giulia and their magical summer adventures. Inspiring messages are interlaced throughout the film such as pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, celebrating differences between one another, ignoring all the negative thoughts that reside in our heads, and never judge anybody. Giulia is a powerful female protagonist and is an inspiration to a young female audience. She’s passionate, intelligent, inclusive, ambitious to follow her dreams, and those are all traits Berman admires and relates to. They also both have a cat!

On auditioning for Giulia, “I first auditioned for this role in the fall of 2019.  A few weeks later, Pixar invited me for a callback at the campus. This was my first time going to the studios and it was a very magical experience. After the callback, I booked scratch recording in early 2020. Three months later,

director Enrico Casarosa and producer Andrea Warren invited me onto a zoom call and told me

I got the part! It was the most exciting day of my life!”

Photo credit : Tenley Clark

The Emma Watson-influenced actress confesses that there are a lot of takeaways from the film, especially the one to never judge a book by its cover. 

In addition to motion picture films, Berman has lent her voice to many educational toys by Leapfrog, Spin Master, and Playmates Toys. She began voicing for Leapfrog at nine years old where she fell in love with voiceovers. She dabbled in singing and officially found her calling. 

When not working, she enjoys playing guitar, reading, doing art and crafts, hanging out with her cat Peppa, and watching old black and white movies and musicals. 

Watch Luca on Disney+ on June 18th, 2021.

Keep up with Emma Berman on Instagram.

Meet the Author

Brianna Vacca is a Philadelphia-based writer. She has an unhealthy addiction to true crime documentaries, celebrity gossip, and writes overly dramatic sad songs