Zoe Saldana on Laika Studios’ stop-motion mastery in ‘Missing Link’

Zoe Saldana —RUBEN V. NEPALES

LOS ANGELES—“I love Laika,” Zoe Saldana declared about the studio based in Portland, Oregon, that specializes in stop-motion animation movies, including such gems as “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” “Kubo and the Two Strings” and, now, “Missing Link.”

“I love everybody there at Laika, I honestly do,” added the actress who voices Adelina Fortnight, an embodiment of the modern woman at the turn of the 20th Century in “Missing Link.”

The “Avatar” star was strikingly beautiful in an orange dress by Sies Marjan, Sarah Hendler jewelry and Christian Louboutin shoes in our LA interview.

Hugh Jackman voices Sir Lionel Frost in the movie, written and directed by Chris Butler, which is described as a globe-trotting comedy-adventure.

The investigator of myths and monsters sets out to discover the world’s most legendary creature, the Missing Link (Zach Galifianakis). In a twist, when Lionel finds Mr. Link, he turns out to be a lonely, soulful beast.

The trio—Lionel, Adelina and Mr. Link—journeys to the fabled Shangri-La to seek the latter’s distant relatives.

Fil-Am Ching Valdes-Aran, an Obie winner for Ma-Yi Theater Company’s “Flipzoids,” voices Gamu. Also in the voice cast are Emma Thompson (The Elder), Stephen Fry (Lord Piggot-Dunceby) and Timothy Olyphant (Willard Stenk).

“They are there for the passion,” Zoe continued about the artists working in a 120,000-square-foot warehouse. “Stop-motion is a dying art. The fact that they’re keeping it alive and doing it so well is a testament to how talented they are, how great their taste is and how much they truly appreciate the impact that stop-motion has on the visual eye.

Zoe Saldana (second from left) with “Missing Link” characters– RUBEN V. NEPALES

“Since I was a child, I loved Gumby. I loved any kind of content for kids that was in the form of stop-motion. Now, I got the opportunity to once again explore stop-motion. I like to be a part of things that require a lot of time, effort and technology.”

Speaking of technology, we saw how Laika, which is led by CEO Travis Knight, uses 3D print custom animated facial performance for the “Missing Link” characters.

Described in simpler terms as akin to baking cookies, the pioneering technology requires five 3D printers running 24 hours a day, churning out about 2,000 full-color resin replacement faces per week.

“I feel like the people who surround themselves in those projects tend to be much more aligned with me as an artist. I did it for ‘Avatar’ (as Neytiri), ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (Gamora) and now for ‘Missing Link.’ These films make me feel that that’s the way I get to grow as an artist.”

In our second visit to Laika Studios, we were once more impressed with the painstaking detail devoted to the sets and costumes.

Zoe, who also visited Laika, said, “It’s a lot of work. You see them working with tweezers and things like that. And sewing the buttons, literally with the tiniest needle and thread you’ve ever seen. It’s an exquisite work of art. It’s just so precious and beautiful.

Adelina Fortnight (voiced by Zoe Saldana), Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) and Mr. Link (Zach Galifianakis) —LAIKA STUDIOS

“But the level of labor that is required, you appreciate a great deal. I take my husband (Italian artist Marco Perego) to all the fun things that I get to discover. He does the same thing for me in the art world. We get to enjoy it as if we’re little kids.”

On voice acting in a booth with the director and no one else to act with, the daughter of a Dominican (her late father) and a Puerto Rican (mother) said, “It’s interesting because you get to use your imagination. When you play a character, I’m that kind of person that if I say yes, that means I’m going to be open for you to give me all the tools that I need for me to just imagine this individual in my mind and become that person.

“So hours can go by and you don’t even realize that you’ve been in a dark booth working with somebody who isn’t even the actor you’re supposed to be with but you’ve been role-playing. It’s fun. I love it.”

Intricately detailed costumes and hair (nearly 2,000 feet of silk thread) of Adelina — RUBEN V. NEPALES

Asked if she shares Adelina’s fiery, adventurous and independent spirit, Zoe answered, “I’d like to believe that I do. There’s an exterior part of me that is tough. That’s just one of the many components of women. We’re complex individuals with just as much light as there is darkness. There’s a part of us that is confident, and there’s another part that’s insecure.

“So what I always look for in characters are those layers. I like working with filmmakers who  know how to write characters for women.”

“Something funny happens when they watch animation movies that I’ve voiced,” Zoe said about taking her children—three sons (twins born in 2014 and one in 2017)—to watch a film like “Missing Link.” “Their minds still can’t grasp why they hear mommy, but I’m sitting right next to them and they don’t see my face.

“So even though we explain it to them, they do this little thing with their heads where they look like little Yorkies (demonstrates tilting of head left and right) and poodles. We always record it. It’s the ‘fun-nest’ thing. It’s such a thrill for my husband and me.”

“Missing Link” is the first Laika film to use full-color resin 3D-printed replacement faces on all of its puppets — RUBEN V. NEPALES

A forest set, the habitat of Mr. Link, at Laika Studios — RUBEN V. NEPALES

The interior set of the ship, The Manchuria — RUBEN V. NEPALES

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