Actress and activist Aria Mia Loberti shines bright with guide dog Ingrid by her side.
by Jen Reeder
When All the Light We Cannot See star Aria Mia Loberti arrived at the Golden Globe Awards on January 7, 2024, she strode onto the red carpet with a black Lab named Ingrid – who made history as the first guide dog to walk the red carpet.
Loberti, who dazzled viewers of the Netflix miniseries with her portrayal of Marie-Laure LeBlanc, a French teen sending hope via illegal radio broadcasts in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, hadn’t given much thought to the milestone beforehand.
But during the drive to the Golden Globes, she started thinking about how many viewers would be tuning in who’d never seen a guide dog team at one of Hollywood’s biggest events.
Often people with disabilities make news for being denied access to a business because they have a service dog, or for a narrative that only by partnering with a service dog did they finally become “a full person” – which rankles Loberti.
So she delighted in the chance to offer quality representation of service dog handlers on such a big stage.
“It was really exciting,” Loberti said. “I’m going in for a job that I did well, and it has really nothing to do with my guide dog, but she is there. And that is the best way to normalize something: to show someone at the top of their field who is using a guide dog – or using a service animal of any kind– and that it’s an accepted thing.”
Walking the red carpet together is just one of many adventures the trailblazers have shared together since partnering in 2017. At the time, Loberti had just finished her freshman year of college at the University of Rhode Island, and Ingrid had completed her formal guide dog training at Guide Dogs for the Blind, a California-based, donor-funded nonprofit that provides guide dogs free of charge to people who are blind or have low vision.
The Lab charmed the young academic with her “chaotic good” personality and upbeat attitude toward working as a guide dog.
“Work is a human concept completely,” Loberti said. “Ingrid just thinks this is a fun game and the whole universe is now revolving around her. It’s really funny, and that’s what makes this experience so interesting.”
Loberti describes her rare eye condition as “an invisible disability.” Though she trained to use a white cane, she never used one because she was subject to bullying during her childhood. Prior to receiving Ingrid, none of her friends and classmates were aware she had low vision.
“I completely swallowed down all of that beautiful culture,” she recalled. “I denied it. The only people who knew were the professors who had my legal accommodation letter that basically just said that I needed access to my computer in class. That was it. I had wanted to get a guide dog because I really wanted to embrace my culture.”
Ingrid accompanied Loberti to classes and traveled with her to academic conferences and for research.
“Ingrid was ‘famous’ on campus, so much so that the university actually got her a GoPro to clip on her harness and record her experiences,” Loberti said. “Often people would know about Ingrid but would not know me.”
Apropos of her celebrity status, Ingrid never leaves home without wearing pearls – a gift from Loberti’s dad after he visited the party section of a drug store.
“He insisted she was too special for a mere bandana,” she quipped.
Meanwhile, Loberti continued advocating for disability rights and gender equity with speaking engagements for the United Nations and a compelling 2018 TedX Talk.
In 2020, after graduating summa cum laude with degrees in Philosophy, Communication, and Political Science, and minors in Rhetoric and Ancient Greek, she traveled with Ingrid to London as a Fulbright Scholar, where she earned a Master’s degree in ancient rhetoric.
Back in the States, Loberti – who assumed she’d have a career as an academic – began pursuing a doctorate in ancient rhetoric at Pennsylvania State University in 2021.
Then a text from a former teacher changed everything.
The woman told Loberti about a global casting call for people who are blind or have low vision for All the Light We Cannot See, a miniseries based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Loberti and her mother both loved the book, and despite never having acted, Loberti decided to audition.
She memorized lines of dialogue for a conversation between the character Marie-Laure LeBlanc and her father, played by Mark Ruffalo – and after several weeks of callbacks, director Shawn Levy told her she’d landed the role.
She cried tears of joy with Ingrid by her side.
Loberti and her guide dog headed back to Europe to film alongside A-listers Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. While Loberti earned the respect of her colleagues, Ingrid once again charmed her new friends.
“On film sets, Ingrid has designated off-duty time, where cast and crew can play with her and snuggle her – and bribe her with bananas and peanut butter,” Loberti said. “Everyone looks forward to their Ingrid time.”
Since the success of the critically acclaimed series, Loberti has no intention of slowing down. She continues to advocate for human rights and climate action through UNICEF outreach, and serves as an ambassador for Guide Dogs for the Blind, filling the shoes of the late Betty White. She’s the new face of beauty brand L’Occitane en Provence and appears in the Roku series The Spiderwick Chronicles.
“I don’t know how many countries Ingrid and I have been to at this point. I want to say twelve,” she said with a laugh.
Christine Benninger, CEO of Guide Dogs for the Blind, said she’s proud of all Loberti has accomplished, and the courage she showed by taking a chance and auditioning for All the Light We Cannot See.
“I just give her so much credit,” she said. “It shows – for all of us – that as we build confidence in this world, we’re willing to take on the world in so many different ways. And Aria is definitely doing that…. She’s changing people’s view of disability.”
Loberti and Ingrid are one of more than 16,000 guide dog teams to graduate from the nonprofit since 1942, she noted.
“We’re proud of every single one of our graduates because everybody has their own journey to getting guide dogs,” Benninger said. “We’re proud of every single person who comes through our doors.”
Around 60 percent of the nonprofit’s guide dogs are Labs because they mature early and are so personable, sweet, confident, eager to please, elicit a positive response from the public, and can easily be taught to walk in a straight line.
“Labs are absolutely the perfect guide dog,” she said.
Benninger hopes the high-profile partnership between Loberti and Ingrid continues to change public perceptions and to highlight the empowerment that can come from partnering with a guide dog – a sentiment Loberti shares.
“It’s a real partnership,” Loberti said. “I wish more people knew this was an option. It’s not going to be a cure-all – you need to go do that work – but it can better your quality of life. And then you have this beautiful partner who you also get to spend your time with. I think that’s what’s so special about getting to share our relationship with the world.”
Follow Aria Mia Loberti’s adventures with Ingrid on Instagram: @ariamialoberti. For more information about Guide Dogs for the Blind, visit: www.guidedogs.com.
This article originally ran in the July/August 2024 issue of Just Labs. You can purchase this individual issue through our website. You may also choose to subscribe for one, two, or three years, either print+digital or digital only. We hope you’ll join us!
