“In Waves”, interview with the actor Will Sharpe

Presented as the opening film of the 64th edition of the Semaine de la Critique during the 79th Cannes Film Festival, “In Waves” by Phuong-Mai Nguyen explores love, loss, memory, and artistic legacy through animation grounded in lived experience.

In the film, Will Sharpe voices AJ, a character inspired by the real-life graphic novelist whose personal story became the emotional core of the project.

“AJ tries to be strong, but there are moments where he crumbles”

Sharpe revealed that director Phuong-Mai Nguyen was drawn to what she described as a “slight vulnerability” in his voice, an aspect the actor connects directly to AJ’s emotional trajectory.

According to Will Sharpe, AJ spends much of the film attempting to remain composed while confronting overwhelming experiences and profound grief. “There are moments where he just crumbles slightly under that pressure,” the actor explained, emphasising the emotional fragility embedded within the character.

Because the French-language version had already been recorded and the animation finalised before he joined the production, Sharpe approached the role through an already established physical and emotional framework. Rather than constructing the character from scratch, he focused on finding subtle tonal variations through rhythm, inflexion, and timing.

Carrying someone’s story forward

One of the most meaningful moments for Sharpe came after meeting the real AJ during the Cannes premiere. The actor spoke about the emotional continuity between life, art, and cinema embedded within the project.

He recalled being particularly struck by a scene in which AJ promises Kristen that he will continue telling her story through his art. Watching the completed film screened in Cannes, Will Sharpe saw that promise fulfilled in real time.

“Here we are in Cannes, in a room full of people, and he’s telling her story through this movie,” Sharpe observed. “There’s something incredible about that.”

The actor also noted his immediate personal connection to the narrative, mentioning both the sensitivity of the storytelling and his own mixed heritage as possible reasons the material resonated so deeply with him.

Family, friendship, and emotional survival

While the film centres on AJ and Kristen, Will Sharpe emphasised the importance of the wider emotional community surrounding them.

For the actor, one of the film’s strengths lies in its portrayal of chosen family and friendship as forms of survival. He described the close-knit group at the centre of the story as essential to helping the characters endure loss and uncertainty.

He also reflected on the metaphorical dimension of the ocean within the narrative. Initially a source of fear for AJ, it gradually becomes something he learns to embrace. Sharpe connected this transformation to the longer process of grieving itself.

“Grief takes time to move through,” he said, while stressing that the film ultimately reaches a place of cautious optimism. Rather than avoiding pain, “In Waves” acknowledges its permanence while suggesting the possibility of emotional growth and resilience afterwards.

Animation and performance

Sharpe, who is currently developing an animated project as a director himself, also discussed the collaborative nature of animation performance.

He argued that animators themselves function as performers, shaping facial expressions, gestures, and physicality long before voice actors enter the process. In that sense, his role became one of complementing rather than redefining the character already visible on screen.

“You’re only bringing the aspect of the voice,” he explained, while acknowledging how powerfully voice and image can interact once combined.

For Will Sharpe, the challenge ultimately became understanding AJ’s emotional rhythm without disrupting the delicate balance already created by the animation team and director.

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