Meet the young boy who rules ‘The Jungle Book’ with his performance

SETHI in “The Jungle Book”

LOS ANGELES—A star is born in “The Jungle Book.” Only 10 years old when he was chosen by director Jon Favreau to star as Mowgli in “The Jungle Book,” Neel Sethi is the only human in the movie.

A lot depends on Neel, and he effortlessly carries the stunning live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s stories.

Jon chose Neel to play the pivotal role very well, zeroing on the young actor who was the 2,000th boy he auditioned. The filmmaker has created a visual masterpiece that, more importantly, has heart, emotion and humor.

In person, Neel, now 12, is also as charismatic as he is onscreen—candid as only a kid can be, funny, smart, articulate and unusually poised for such a young person. The New York native, whose parents are of Indian descent, appeared in a comedy short, “Diwali.”

In “The Jungle Book,” Neel acts with nothing or bare puppets to represent the various animal characters he interacts with, but he conveys honest emotions in all his scenes.

It helps that the actors voicing the animal characters are top-rated: Bill Murray (Baloo), Ben Kingsley (Bagheera), Idris Elba (Shere Khan), Christopher Walken (King Louie), Lupita Nyong’o (Raksha) and Scarlett Johansson (Kaa). The digitally created animals and landscapes are astonishingly life-like.

Neel’s mother, Cheena, who was back in the room of the Four Seasons Hotel in LA, beamed as she was suddenly asked a question as his son held court. “He’s always been outgoing and bold,” she said. “He loves people, and it shows.

“By the second grade, he was the class clown. People were always surrounding him. He enjoyed it. I told him around third grade that I will give him a platform so he could just go out there. There was a drama class that we enrolled him in, and that was a good setting for him.”

“She stole my interview!” Neel interrupted, with a big grin. “Alright, my turn.”

“Like I said, he likes an audience,” the amused mom quipped.

Excerpts from our interview with Neel:

How did you land this role?

I was in a dance class, and the teacher heard about the role and said that I would be good for it. So I auditioned, and we flew to LA the next day. Then, we started two weeks later.

What kind of dance lessons were you taking?

I am Indian, but each time I go to an Indian wedding, I start breakdancing. It’s embarrassing. So, they put me in an Indian dance class so when I go to an Indian wedding, I can do Indian dancing.

What were you asked to do at the audition?

I recited some lines and did some taekwondo moves. I fake played tennis and imagined stuff, like there was a bear next to me and I was petting it.

If you couldn’t do that, then you can’t do the movie because you have to imagine the entire thing.

Did you know “The Jungle Book” stories by Rudyard Kipling before?

When I heard about the audition, I watched the movie.

Jon Favreau said you were the 2,000th boy to audition.

I didn’t know when I was auditioning that so many people were auditioning for the role.  That would have probably made me more nervous.

How was your first day of filming?

It was a little hard, but Jon Favreau helped me through everything.

It was nothing like I expected. Before, when I thought of acting, it was with a person. There are no people there to act with (in this movie).

So, it was a little different. A lot of green screen and blue screen. Sometimes, it was blue screen because the jungle is green. So, it can’t be green on green or else, the tree just won’t be there.

Jon had puppets to represent the animals you had to interact with. What was it like to shoot those scenes where you had to imagine things that weren’t there?

Yes, there were puppets. Some of them looked like real animals. There were puppeteers who would actually do the voices.

So, for Baloo, they would do a Baloo voice with an accent. That really helped me. It was a lot easier because it sounded like Baloo. Jon also got into the puppets, and he would interact with me.

What was the most difficult part?

It was when I was in the mud—it was real. So the mud would dry on my skin. I couldn’t wipe it off because of continuity, so they would have to spritz it with cold water. I am just wearing a loincloth, so it’s very cold.

You were nine months on the set. A kid your age would grow fast in that period. What adjustments did they have to make?

I think I grew like two and a half inches. And I gained a bunch, like eight pounds. There was a lot of food on the set!

So, they would make new loincloths to fit me. And they actually shaved my legs a little bit because they were getting too hairy.

Tell us about your family.

My parents have nothing to do with the film business. They are both dentists. I have an older sister, who’s 18. We live in New York. Both my mom and dad were born in India.

What did they think about you becoming an actor?

NEEL Sethi Ruben V. Nepales

They thought it was cool, but they had never thought about it before.

Does your sister treat you now like a movie star?

No movie star (treatment) or nothing. She beats me to the ground.

Do you want her to also be in the business?

No.

Do you want to be the only star in the family?

Maybe (laughs). It feels good.

If you get tired of acting, what would you like to do?

Dentistry, sports—a lot.

If you could be an animal, what animal would you like to be?

Probably a spider monkey.  Because they can swing up to 40 feet in the air.

If you could hang out with anyone from the movie, whom would you like to hang out with?

Baloo the Bear.

If an animal could represent Jon Favreau, what animal would that be?

Baloo the Bear.

Have you ever been in a real jungle?

I have not been in a real jungle, but I have been in the woods.

So how are you in the outdoors? Do you like spiders?

Oh, I do not like spiders at all!  I am not that outdoorsy because if I am barefoot and I step on grass, I feel like it hurts (laughs).

Do you have a pet?

Yes, I have a dog. He is really small—he’s a Shih Tzu. His name is Rocky.

Do you watch many movies?

Not really. Before “The Jungle Book,” we barely ever watched movies.  But now, we are trying, like on all the flights. we are trying to catch up on movies.

What did you do instead of watch movies?

Play sports and video games.

What was your biggest splurge so far?

My hoverboard. My parents were always like, “Oh, you’re going to forget about it in a month.” I proved them wrong. I always use it.

What was it like to see yourself for the first time on the big screen?

The first time was at D23 (Disney’s biennial exposition event). They showed a three-minute clip. It wasn’t the trailer. They showed my face.

The whole thing was my face, when Mowgli wakes up and Baloo is there. My face comes in and I am like, oh my God! I am like, OK, keep moving. It was amazing, but I really like it.

What do your friends say?

When they saw the trailer, they were like, “Ewww, it’s Neel!” in a good way.

What was the coolest thing from this experience so far?

Probably doing talk shows.  Because they’re big. A real big talk show like “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would like to do something for “The Jungle Book” and compliment me about it. That just makes me very happy.

How about a sequel to “The Jungle Book”?

That would be amazing because it was a lot of fun.

E-mail [email protected]. Follow him at https://twitter.com/nepalesruben.