Last week it was announced that Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex would be the voice of new Disneynature documentary, Elephant.
Now the documentary's directors Mark Linfield and Vanessa Berlowitz have opened up to People about meeting Meghan and Harry in Botswana in 2017, when the Duchess first became interested in the "matriarchal structure" of an elephant herd.
Linfield and Berlowitz said Meghan was “absolutely intrigued by the elephants and transfixed, especially by the female empowerment side.”
Berlowitz explained Meghan was especially interested in “how important the matriarchs are to the story; it really is all about female leadership. It’s a different form of power — it’s about consensual leadership. It’s also very inclusive, as well — very contemporary. She was absolutely fascinated by that.”
It was after this meeting that Linfield and Berlowitz say they decided Meghan would be the perfect fit for the voice of their documentary.
“We actually tried her voice against the picture, right then,” Linfield said.
The filmmakers even searched for audio by Meghan on Google to see if her voice would match up with their vision. “She had done United Nations women’s speeches, and they just worked great,” said Linfield.
They added that Prince Harry had joined Meghan when they did the recording and even corrected her pronunciation.
“It was amazing having [Harry] there,” said Berlowitz. “He had a connection to Botswana, of course.”
The Duke of Sussex reportedly provided a little direction, from, as he put it, “the cheap seats.”
“Harry was correcting her pronunciation!” Linfield added.
The documentary is Meghan’s first job since stepping down as a senior Royal Family member and will air on Disney+ today.
Elephants follows one elephant family, led by a matriarch named Gaia, 1,000 miles back and forth across the Kalahari Desert as they search for water.
Gaia’s journey in the documentary begins in Botswana, a country Meghan and Harry know well from their time helping out assist Dr. Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders during their 2017 African tour.
Meghan's fee for the work will go directly to the charity Elephants Without Borders.
