Mowgli From The Live Action Jungle Book Is Unrecognizable Now

As a 10-year-old actor filming his first feature film, “The Jungle Book” must have been an extremely daunting task for Neel Sethi. Sethi was the only live actor in the movie as all of the other characters were CGI-generated and voiced by actors from a sound booth. This proved to be a wonderful challenge for Sethi, however, who learned an immense amount about the acting world. Of Jon Favreau, the director, Sethi told CBC, “I didn’t know acting. He taught me everything I know now. He taught me not to overact, to be very subtle.”

Sethi had to act against a blue screen most of the time. To help him interact with what would be CGI animals in the final version, Sethi acted with puppets created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. According to Sethi, however, the most challenging part of filming had nothing to do with the CGI. Describing the discomfort of working with mud, of all things, Sethi recounted, “When it was on me, it had to dry there because of continuity, and then they would spritz it so it gets all wet, with cold water. It was just really itchy,” he told People (via Romper). In preparation for his role as Mowgli, Sethi also underwent intensive physical training, including martial arts and parkour. These skills were crucial for managing the demands of the character.