Cristela Alonzo is going dark…
The 40-year-old Mexican American comedian/actress is lending her voice to HBO and BBC drama His Dark Materials.
Alonzo, Helen McCrory, and David Suchet are among those to sign up as voice actors for the Philip Pullman adaptation, written by Jack Thorne and produced by Bad Wolf.
The first season of His Dark Materials follows Lyra, played by Dafne Keen, searching for a kidnapped friend. She uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and becomes a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. As she journeys through the worlds, including our own, Lyra meets a determined and courageous boy called Will (Amir Wilson). Together they encounter extraordinary beings and dangerous secrets, with the fate of both the living — and the dead — in their hands. James McAvoy, plays Lord Asriel who has a demon in the form of a snow leopard. Ruth Wilson’s villainess Mrs. Coulter has a monkey. Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Lee Scoresby, a Texan who flies air balloons. He revealed that when we first see his character, he’s singing with his demon.
McCrory voices Stelmaria, Lord Asriel’s snow leopard daemon, Suchet is Kaisa, gyrfalcon daemon to the witch Serafina Pekkala, played by Ruta Gedmintas. Scoresby’s daemon is an arctic hare called Hester, voiced by Alonzo and Lyra’s unsettled daemon, Pantalaimon, is voiced by Kit Connor. Mrs Coulter’s mysterious daemon, a Golden Monkey, doesn’t speak or have a name but his animal noises and vocal characteristics will be created by Brian Fisher, who also serves as the lead puppeteer and CFX co-ordinator on the series.
Iorek Byrnison, a bear who Lyra meets on her quest will be voiced by Joe Tandberg. In the frozen wilderness of the North exists a race of armored bears. Both skilled metal workers and fierce warriors, they have their own culture and laws.
The cast of the drama also includes Anne-Marie Duff, Clarke Peters, Ariyon Bakare, Will Keen, Ian Gelder, Georgina Campbell, Lucian Msamati, James Cosmo, Mat Fraser, Geoff Bell, Simon Manyonda as well as young actors Lewin Lloyd, Daniel Frogsonand Tyler Howitt.
