From the second Captain Crow (Jared Harris) meets Maisie Brumble (Zaris-Angel Hator) in Chris Williams’ The Sea Beast, he recognizes an undeniable fire in the young trailblazer. She’s fearless, stowing herself away on The Inevitable in order to sneak off and join the majestic hunters she’s read about for ages in her book of legends. But she also bears a compassionate soul, bonding with beasts of the sea despite everything she’s always been told about how she should fear them. 

Maisie changes hearts and minds, including those of famed hunter Jacob Holland (Karl Urban), and she isn’t afraid to unlearn a thing or two herself. Unequivocally, she’s the MVP of this high-seas adventure tale because, without her, everyone in the land would just be following the royals blindly. As we learn, this gal has a mind of her own.

“We ask so much [of her] in the course of this story,” Williams, who also directed Moana and Big Hero 6, told Tudum of the British actor. He noted that her character goes through a “huge evolution.” He said, “Initially she’s this real force of nature, really driving, driving, driving forward. But she starts to see things around her a little differently, and she starts to have these realizations and epiphanies over the course of the story. And then by the end, she has this powerful moment of confrontation.” 

Hop in the Booth with The Sea Beast Star Zaris-Angel Hator Time to put a face to the voice!

Creating the animated film took years to make and was full of long days, and Williams said that Hator “just brought so much joy. She’s a great actor [and] a great kid.”

We spoke with Hator, from London, about how much she has in common with her adventurous animated counterpart. She said she’s an avid reader like Maisie and that the character inspires her to be braver in her own life. (FYI: If you didn’t know, she starred as Matilda in Matilda the Musical on the West End in London. The more you know!) Warning: Spoilers ahead.

Maisie’s heart belongs to the sea. Does the sea also call to you? Well, I do love the sea, especially at the beach and the sea at night. I can sit on the beach at night, and it’s so peaceful. But I do love the sea to an extent. I think the sea can be kind of scary. I don’t think Maisie’s afraid of the sea at all, but for me, I don’t do the cold. I don’t do scary things either. So yes and no.

In the movie, Maisie admires Jacob Holland so much, but she often has to stand up to him. Have you ever had to stand up to a mentor yourself? Yeah, for me, it’s always been a struggle to do that kind of thing. I’m a very nervous person. So Maisie, I don’t think she’s ever really had that problem. Maybe internally she does, but when I’ve had to do that, it’s not always come out [the way I intended it to]. But I’m working on it. Maisie’s very inspiring.

Maisie is obviously such a supporter of the hunters and loves her book extolling their adventures, but she believes what she sees with her own eyes and is willing to change her mind. Would you say you’re also someone who very much has a mind of her own? I definitely say as I’ve gotten older, I do have my own interests and my own beliefs and things like that. I’m learning to be more vocal with it, but, yeah, I do definitely have my own mind.

It’s so upending for her to learn that the rulers of the land wrote her hunter books and that they started the whole war against the sea beasts. That totally rocks how she views the world. Have you ever had to unlearn something, or have you ever learned something that changes how you view the world? I would say some things in school. I’m not a big math person at all, and I would get really, really, really upset if I [didn’t] do well in my exams. And the thing is, I would try my very best and it didn’t work out. I thought, “That’s it, I can’t do anything.” But it’s not like that in the world. Obviously, in all of my exams, I did try my best and revise. That’s the main thing. But it’s just not my thing. But I’m doing OK!

Maisie loves her pet, Blue. Are you also a big animal lover? Do you have any pets of your own? I do love animals, but I don’t have any pets yet. I’m hoping to get a Pomeranian because they’re the cutest dogs ever. But yeah, some animals I do not like. I do not like reptiles. Snakes, crocodiles, I hate them! [laughs] Frogs! I’m not that kind of person.

What would you name the Pomeranian? Do you know? I was actually going to name it Brumble, which is Maisie’s last name.

That is perfect, it’s like Maisie’s always with you then. Maisie is also super rebellious. She stows away on the ship. She sneaks out to the pub. But if you don’t break the rules, they never change. So would you say you have a little bit of a rebellious streak, too?  I really don’t. Maisie’s really amazing. We’re kind of similar, but we are also very different. So I’ve not really been that rebellious type, but it’s been fun to play someone who is.

In what ways do you think you’re similar to Maisie? I think Maisie tries to be kind. Even though she’s very fiery and she goes for what she wants, she’s still kind. She still loves. And when she loves something, she really loves something. Like when she loves the beasts, she really loves the beasts. And when I love something or someone, I really love them. So I think that’s a similarity there.

Maisie shows bravery in many ways, even through her vulnerability in telling Jacob she wants to form a family. That’s such a soul baring thing to do. You have your own family, but do you feel like in your own life you also have a chosen family in the form of your friends and the people you surround yourself with? Yeah, definitely. Me and my friends — I actually call my friend group a second family, because we are really, really close. They spend more time at my house than they probably do in their own home. And my mom, she makes dinner, we watch things together. We do a lot together. 

What moment of the film made you feel the proudest of Maisie?  Definitely the ending, where she shouts at the royals, shouts at everyone. I was so happy about it because even just the way they animated that, it was incredible. And because that one recording took a lot out [of me], and I was even shocked when I initially did the big shout. I surprised myself. And we did a lot of that. We got really emotional doing that bit. That’s my favorite bit in the whole film.

What other qualities of Maisie’s would you say you admire about her? As you said, you found her very inspiring. I love her attitude as well. She’s really funny. Like a lot of lines that we did end up doing, I don’t think they were there originally. So when I initially read them, it was so, so, so, so funny. I love the way she just has a lot of attitude. Because she’s tiny but mighty, and I love that about her!

Maisie is courageous on so many occasions. She’s fearless about standing up to injustice, and she’s willing to talk to the beast, even though everybody tells her it’s a scary thing to do. And she shows compassion for Captain Crow. She’s the opposite of a coward. In your life, when would you say that you have felt the most brave like Maisie? There [have] been a lot of times in my life where I’ve had to be brave. For me it’s kind of more spread out, the areas where I’ve had to be brave. Yeah, if it was a movie, maybe there’d be like a set moment, but I think it’s just life. The last time I had to be brave, I think I was working and a snake was involved, and that’s my biggest fear — snakes. And I had to act! Like, that’s my job. And I literally wanted to faint when it came out. I had to be very brave.

You and Indiana Jones are the same; you both hate snakes. Did you have any say in how Maisie’s design came out? Her hair is amazing. They did send us the design and asked if we liked it. I loved her when I first initially saw her. It was the scene where she meets Sarah Sharpe and she’s talking to her. That was the first time I saw Maisie talking, breathing, moving. That was very exciting.

Maisie cherishes her book about the legends of the hunters and everything before she learns the truth, that is. Are you also a big reader? Are you reading anything right now? I am. I love books. I think I got that from my mom. Me and my mom, we sometimes share books. Right now, I’m reading the A Twisted Tale books. It’s a Disney series where it’s the Disney story but kind of flipped in a way. I think the one that [I’m reading] is called What Once Was Mine, about Rapunzel. It’s really good. Rapunzel is one of my favorites, too.

What’s next for you on the horizon? What are you excited about that’s coming up? Well, I’ve got some things in the works, and also I like to create. I like to write music. I like to write stories. We’ll see what happens with them. My imagination’s real big. I have lots of ideas. We’ll see what happens. I’m not too sure yet.

The Sea Beast is very much an action-adventure, swashbuckler film. Do you have any favorites of that high-seas genre? Does in the sea count?

Yes, it does. OK, I say The Little Mermaid.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.