Aria Mia Loberti | |
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Born | 1994 (age 29–30) |
Occupations |
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Known for | All the Light We Cannot See |
Aria Mia Loberti (born 1994)[1] is an American actress. She stars as Marie-Laure Leblanc in the Netflix miniseries All the Light We Cannot See. She won her inaugural role from a global search of thousands of actresses.[2]
Loberti was born and raised in Johnston, Rhode Island. Dissatisfied with her treatment in public school, her parents homeschooled her from the third through twelfth grades.[2] As a child and teen, she trained intensively in classical ballet at the preprofessional level.[3] She also trained in martial arts[4] and holds a yoga teaching certification, working as a certified yoga teacher throughout college. [5]
Loberti attended the University of Rhode Island from 2016 to 2020. She graduated summa cum laude with three majors — Philosophy, Communication Studies, and Political Science — and minors in Ancient Greek language and Rhetoric, and completed the Honors Program.[6][7] She received her master's degree in ancient rhetoric with distinction in 2021 from Royal Holloway, University of London on a Fulbright Scholarship.[8] She started her doctoral studies in ancient rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University in 2021,[9] when she began to question her career path.[10] She then responded on a whim to an All The Light We Cannot See open global casting search posted online.
Loberti’s inaugural acting role was the lead character of Marie-Laure Leblanc in Netflix's adaptation of the 2014 novel All the Light We Cannot See. It was also her first audition.[11][12][13] Her performance has been universally praised by critics, described as "graceful and affecting",[14] "luminous",[15] "resonant, [and] captivating",[16] and a "radiant…good and pure presence that grounds the series' sense of jeopardy."[17] Her co-star Mark Ruffalo referred to her as "a revelation."[18]
She received a Rising Star Award at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival[19] and an Entertainment Weekly Breaking Big Award at the 2023 SCAD Savannah Film Festival.[20] She is a nominee for Best Breakthrough Performance at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards.[21][22]
Loberti, who has low vision due to a form of the genetic condition achromatopsia,[23] landed the part after a global search for an actor who is blind or low-vision. A fan of the book, she auditioned after learning about the search from a childhood orientation and mobility teacher.[24][25] Despite no acting training, Loberti beat out thousands of submissions to secure the role three weeks after she sent in her self tape.[26] Director Shawn Levy stated of Loberti: "I didn't know what she had acted in, I didn't know what her training was, all I knew is that there was a combination of intelligence, which was extremely self-evident, and a luminous quality on camera… I later found out that not only was she new to acting—she had never even auditioned before."[27]
In September 2023, it was announced that Loberti would serve as the new face of the beauty and skincare brand L'Occitane en Provence.[28][29] In November 2023, it was announced that she would narrate a new audiobook version of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.[30] She will also appear in the upcoming television adaptation of The Spiderwick Chronicles.[31]
Loberti is also a human rights activist and began speaking up for her own and others' educational and accessibility rights at just four years old.[32][33] As a child, she advocated in her local community to improve policies for blind and low-vision students.[34] In high school and college, she turned her focus to gender equality and participated in activities and speaking engagements with the United Nations, UN Women, and other summits.[35] She gave a 2018 TEDx Talk about her background.[36] At present, she is an active supporter of UNICEF and has traveled with the organization to support educational rights and climate change efforts.[37] In October 2023, Loberti signed an open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, of artists calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.[38]