TORONTO 鈥� Adapting a beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel into a Netflix series sounds like a daunting task, but Canadian director-producer Shawn Levy says bringing 鈥淎ll the Light We Cannot See鈥� to the screen didn鈥檛 feel that way for a simple reason 鈥� he is a 鈥渞abid fan鈥� of the book.
鈥淎ll along, I've approached this material with reverence. Not so much reverence that I'm unwilling to change things to make it breathe in this new format on screen," he said in a September interview after two episodes of the limited series premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Anthony Doerr鈥檚 novel 鈥� set during the Second World War 鈥� tells the parallel stories of blind French girl Marie-Laure, who joins the resistance to Nazi occupation, and radio tech-savvy German teenager Werner, recruited by the Nazis to track down illegal broadcasts. The book has been a hit with readers and critics since it was first published in 2014, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide and winning multiple literary prizes, including the coveted Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
Montreal-born Levy, whose resume includes producing the 2016 sci-fi drama film 鈥淎rrival鈥� and the hit Netflix series 鈥淪tranger Things,鈥� said Doerr is a novelist 鈥渨ho understands the shift in medium, (and) didn't try to over control the process with too much preciousness.鈥�
All four episodes of 鈥淎ll the Light We Cannot See鈥� were written by Steven Knight, creator of the BBC show 鈥淧eaky Blinders,鈥� and Levy said it was clear from the start of their collaboration that Knight understood the novel in the same way.聽
鈥淵ou have a book that means so much to millions of people,鈥� Levy said. 鈥淚 wanted the soul of the book to be captured. I wanted to do right by these characters who are, in my heart, iconic.鈥�
Newcomer Aria Mia Loberti, who plays the teenage Marie-Laure, stood out among 鈥渉undreds and hundreds鈥� of auditions sent in response to a global casting call for blind and low-vision actresses.聽
Loberti, a U.S. scholar and PhD candidate with a master鈥檚 degree in ancient rhetoric, had never acted or even auditioned for a role before, Levy said.聽
鈥淎ria is singular,鈥� he said.聽
Even though she initially didn鈥檛 know anything about working on a set, Levy said Loberti told him she wanted to 鈥渂e great鈥� and that he could be blunt in his feedback.
鈥淚t's pretty amazing to work with an actor who is telling you up front they're not fragile, they want candour and they're aspiring to the same thing you are, which is excellence.鈥�
Levy said Loberti, in turn, taught him and others how to give Marie-Laure's character 鈥渁uthenticity beyond the page鈥� by pointing out when the script didn鈥檛 accurately portray the life of a blind person. For example, Levy said Loberti told him that Marie wouldn鈥檛 navigate her own home with a cane, since it鈥檚 a space she knows intimately.聽
Loberti was named one of TIFF鈥檚 rising stars but she didn鈥檛 do interviews alongside Levy to promote the series at the festival, due to an ongoing Hollywood actors strike.聽
In press notes provided by Netflix, Loberti said blindness is "the last thing on Marie-Laure鈥檚 mind and it鈥檚 probably the least relevant part of her identity, but it is the way she explores and feels the world around her."
She said people behind projects that want to include a character with a disability 鈥� or any character from a marginalized community 鈥� should be asking questions such as: "Why do you want to tell the story? And if you鈥檙e not doing so authentically, what makes you drawn to that story in the first place?"
Rounding out the main cast are Louis Hofmann 鈥� who starred in the twisty sci-fi German-language Netflix series 鈥淒ark鈥� 鈥� as Werner, Mark Ruffalo as Marie鈥檚 father Daniel and Hugh Laurie as Marie鈥檚 great-uncle Etienne. Levy also cast a blind child actress from Wales, Nell Sutton, to play the younger version of Marie-Laure.
Directing young actors alongside seasoned veterans is nothing new for Levy, whose film credits also include the family comedy 鈥淐heaper by the Dozen鈥� and the 鈥淣ight at the Museum鈥� movie franchise. He said being a father of four is part of the reason he鈥檚 worked well with young performers over the years. 聽
鈥淚n my experience, everybody who chooses this creative life, whether they're young or old or new or veteran, they choose this life because they love the community of creatives,鈥� Levy said.聽
聽鈥淎ll the Light We Cannot See鈥� premiers globally Thursday on Netflix.聽
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31, 2023.
Sonja Puzic, The Canadian Press
