It was surreal to hear Angelina Jolie and Bryan Cranston voice my characters: Katherine Applegate on ‘The One and Only Ivan’

Ivan, a 400-pound silverback gorilla has been living in a shopping mall for the most part of his life, along with companions Stella, the elephant and Bob, the dog. At the time of writing, little did author Katherine Applegate think that her story of Ivan, would take a visual form as a live-action film titled The One and Only Ivan. The heart-warming story now unfolds visually under the direction of Thea Sharrock, replete with a star cast: Sam Rockwell as the voice of Ivan, Angelina Jolie for Stella; Danny DeVito for Bob; Helen Mirren for Snickers the poodle, among others. But expressed through an artistic, playful, loving gorilla, somehow those life lessons come out easier and digested in a different way.” Katherine had come across this extraordinary story in the New York Times. In a strange way, Katherine says, Ivan’s story reflects on the present day, when human isolation is the norm to fight the pandemic.