Young 'Lion King' actors had Beyoncé-size shoes to fill

The pressure was on for young actors Shahadi Wright Joseph and JD McCrary when they got word that they'd been cast as the voices of young Nala and young Simba in "The Lion King." Not only was it an ambitious remake of an iconic film, but it was their first major Hollywood project.

Then they found out that their characters adult voices would be done by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Donald Glover, and it took "just waiting to be king" to a whole new level.

But director Jon Favreau was confident that they could fill the "big shoes" of their adult voices for the film, which opens nationwide Thursday evening. Fourteen-year-old Shahadi, for one, had a pretty big advantage: At age 8, she played young Nala in the Broadway production. In fact, casting director Sarah Finn submitted only her name to be considered. Favreau was on board.

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph, left, and JD McCrary posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote their film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

"She understood the role, she understood the music and she's got an incredibly powerful Broadway voice," Favreau said. "She's just this very unique talent."

JD, 11, was less of an obvious choice. He didn't have much of a resume in film work. Finn, who had helped find Neel Sethi for "The Jungle Book" years ago, had to cast a wide net to find her young Simba, from seasoned veterans to open call unknowns. Favreau said JD broke through as the front-runner when he saw YouTube videos of him singing.

"He definitely had the right voice and a lot of personality as well," Favreau said. "He was somebody who was really interpreting songs and putting a lot of personality into it."

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph, left, and JD McCrary posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote their film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

Then, as the filmmakers were getting ready to make the then-8-year-old JD an offer, they learned that he'd just collaborated with Glover on the Childish Gambino song "Terrified."

"Donald definitely vouched for JD and said he was great," Favreau said. "I felt there was something pre-ordained about (it)."

JD said getting that call was, "One of the biggest moments of my life."

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

The two young actors had the benefit of being able to record together in the studio, which doesn't often happen for animated films. It allowed them to riff and play off of one another's personalities.

"I feel like if I didn't work with JD we wouldn't have that chemistry on the screen," Shahadi said. "It would have been mindless actors just saying the lines and not actually feeling them."

She found it particularly liberating to be able to mess up and improvise in the studio. It was a stark contrast to performing for a live audience on Broadway, where she said you "cannot make a mistake."

This July 10, 2019 photo shows JD McCrary posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

Favreau also made sure that the young actors had a sense of the world they were inhabiting through a Virtual Reality demo that allowed them to see Pride Rock and the rest of the settings.

"The VR was really cool," McCrary said. "It was like your first sneak peek, but you were in it, you could feel it."

It's been three years since Shahadi and JD were cast, which for kids at that age can feel like a lifetime of waiting. But they've been busy. Both worked in other films released this year. Shahadi played the daughter of Lupita Nyong'o in Jordan Peele's "Us," and JD appeared in "Little" alongside Marsai Martin.

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

On the day after the world premiere in Los Angeles, both were riding high from finally seeing the movie on screen with a receptive audience, many of whom could be heard crying at key parts.

"I made a lot of people cry," JD said proudly.

And then of course there is the fun of being in proximity to so many stars.

This July 10, 2019 photo shows JD McCrary posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

"It was awesome! So cool!" JD said, nearly jumping out of his seat with excitement. "I was backstage with Chance the Rapper, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Blue Ivy, Donald Glover, everybody!"

Shahadi said she was still recovering from meeting Beyoncé for the first time.

As for what's next, both are looking forward to more acting roles, and they even have a suggestion for the next one.

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

"I want to re-do 'The Wiz,'" JD said. He'd play the Scarecrow and Shahadi would be Dorothy.

"That would be dope," he said.

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

This July 10, 2019 photo shows JD McCrary posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

This July 10, 2019 photo shows Shahadi Wright Joseph posing for a portrait at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., to promote the film "The Lion King." (Photo by Rebecca CabageInvisionAP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — A soon-to-be-released Biden administration review of Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in its war in Gaza does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms for their use, according to three people who have been briefed on the matter.

The report is expected to be sharply critical of Israel, even though it doesn't conclude that Israel violated terms of U.S.-Israel weapons agreements, according to one U.S. official.

The administration's findings on its close ally's conduct of the war, a first-of-its-kind assessment that was compelled by President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats in Congress, comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Biden has tried to walk an ever-finer line in his support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war against Hamas. He has faced growing rancor at home and abroad over the soaring Palestinian death toll and the onset of famine, caused in large part by Israeli restrictions on the movement of food and aid into Gaza. Tensions have been heightened further in recent weeks by Netanyahu’s pledge to expand the Israeli military’s offensive in the crowded southern city of Rafah, despite Biden's adamant opposition.

Biden is in the closing months of a tough reelection campaign against Donald Trump. He faces demands from many Democrats that he cut the flow of offensive weapons to Israel and denunciation from Republicans who accuse him of wavering on support for Israel at its time of need.

Two U.S. officials and a third person briefed on the findings of the national security memorandum to be submitted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Congress discussed the findings before the report's release. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.

A senior Biden administration official said the memorandum is expected to be released later Friday, but declined to comment on its conclusions.

Axios first reported on the memorandum's findings.

The Democratic administration took one of the first steps toward conditioning military aid to Israel in recent days when it paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern over Israel’s threatened offensive on Rafah, a southern city crowded with more than a million Palestinians, a senior administration official said.

The presidential directive, agreed to in February, obligated the Defense and State departments to conduct “an assessment of any credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, have been used in a manner not consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law.”

The agreement also obligated them to tell Congress whether they deemed that Israel has acted to “arbitrarily to deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly,” delivery of any U.S.-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for starving civilians there.

Lawmakers and others who advocated for the review said Biden and previous American leaders have followed a double standard when enforcing U.S. laws governing how foreign militaries use U.S. support, an accusation the Biden administration denies. They had urged the administration to make a straightforward legal determination of whether there was credible evidence that specific Israeli airstrikes on schools, crowded neighborhoods, medical workers, aid convoys and other targets, and restrictions on aid shipments into Gaza, violated the laws of war and human rights.

Their opponents argued that a U.S. finding against Israel would weaken it at a time it is battling Hamas and other Iran-backed groups. Any sharply critical findings on Israel are sure to add to pressure on Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to Israel’s military and further heighten tensions with Netanyahu’s hard-right government over its conduct of the war against Hamas.

Any finding against Israel also could endanger Biden’s support in this year's presidential elections from some voters who keenly support Israel.

At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was working to head off moves from Democratic lawmakers and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.

Israel launched its offensive after an Oct. 7 assault into Israel, led by Hamas, killed about 1,200 people. Two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children, according to local health officials. U.S. and U.N. officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since Oct. 7 have brought on full-fledged famine in northern Gaza.

Human rights groups long have accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and have accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, in a case brought by South Africa, the top U.N. court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.

Israel says it is following all U.S. and international law, that it investigates allegations of abuse by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportional to the existential threat it says is posed by Hamas.

Biden in December said “indiscriminate bombing” was costing Israel international backing. After Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in April, the Biden administration for the first time signaled it might cut military aid to Israel if it didn’t change its handling of the war and humanitarian aid.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, in the 1980s and early 1990s, were the last presidents to openly hold back weapons or military financing to try to push Israel to change its actions in the region or toward Palestinians.

A report to the Biden administration by an unofficial, self-formed panel including military experts, academics and former State Department officials detailed Israeli strikes on aid convoys, journalists, hospitals, schools and refugee centers and other sites. They argued that the civilian death toll in those strikes — such as an Oct. 31 strike on an apartment building reported to have killed 106 civilians — was disproportionate to the blow against any military target.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

U.S. President Joe Biden boards Marine One at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Pool Photo via AP)