“All The Light We Cannot See” Finds Its Lead Actress in Newly Discovered Aria Mia Loberti

Aria Mia Loberti will play “Marie-Laure”, the blind teenager at the heart of the story, whose path collides with Werner, a German soldier, as they both try to survive the devastation of World War II in occupied France.

A recent Fulbright Scholar, current Ph.D. student in Rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University, and former United Nations Youth Delegate, Aria Mia Loberti decided to try out after learning about the casting search for blind and low vision actresses from a former childhood teacher. Loberti had previously read the book and was a fan of the story. Despite no formal acting training, Loberti beat out thousands of submissions to secure the role of the heroic protagonist. This will be her first-ever acting role.

Quote from Director and Executive Producer Shawn Levy on casting: “To find an actress to play the iconic Marie-Laure – a young blind woman whose greatest strength is the tenacity of her hope and the power of her voice across the airwaves during wartime – was no small challenge. We searched the world and reviewed thousands of auditions. We never thought our path would lead to someone who has not only never acted professionally, but never auditioned before. It was a jaw-drop moment when we first saw Aria Mia Loberti, who is both a natural performer and an advocate for disability equity and representation. I can’t wait to tell this beautiful story with her at the center.”

The global casting search for “Marie-Laure” was led by Lucy Bevan & Emily Brockmann. Susanne Scheel led the search in the U.S.

About the Limited Series:

Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller All The Light We Cannot See will become an epic four-part Netflix limited series produced by Shawn Levy’s 21 Laps Entertainment (Stranger Things, Free Guy, Shadow and Bone, Arrival) and written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders). Levy is set to direct all episodes.

About the Novel:

All The Light We Cannot See quickly became a global phenomenon when it was published in 2014 and has received wide critical acclaim as well as a Pulitzer Prize in 2015, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction in 2015. All the Light We Cannot See has spent more than 200 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, and has sold more than 5.7 million copies in North America across print, e-book and audio formats and another 9.5 million copies worldwide.