One of Hollywood’s most recognizable young stars — even if she’s not permanently living in L.A. — Ariel Winter is familiar to fans not only on sight, but also for her vocal talents, as she’s been crushing voice-acting roles for most of her life, perhaps most notably as Disney’s mini-princess Sofia the First. Winter’s latest family-friendly 2D performance was for The Sisters Grimm, which is currently streaming via Apple TV subscription, and she told CinemaBlend why she still gets just as excited about animated projects as live-action ones.
In The Sisters Crimm, the first successful adaptation of author Michael Buckley’s YA novels, Winter voices the role of older sibling Sabrina Grimm, who discovers she and sister Daphne have quite the magical family tree as they meet up with characters straight out of fairy tale lore. The actress talked to CinemaBlend ahead of the streaming show’s debut, and I asked whether her opinions have changed over time, in regards to a preference between animated and live-action roles, and her response was delightfully down the middle. In her words:
You know, I don't think they've ever changed. I've loved both of them always. I started doing animation first, I think, when I started acting and I was four years old. I remember starting with animation, and I always loved that. Then when I got into live-action, when I was six years old, I loved that, too, so I don't think it ever changed, what I've loved more. Yeah, I think they're both great.
Currently 27 years old, Ariel Winter has amassed around 100 credits so far across her work in movies, television, video games and more. (I’m especially fond of 2022’s decisions-matter horror The Quarry.) Some of her earliest voice roles happening in the preschool program Tickle U, the game Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, and Bambi II, released between 2005 and 2006, though likely recorded earlier. Meanwhile, she first popped up in live-action for appearances in One Life to Live, LIsten Up, and as the 7-year-old version of Michelle Monaghan’s character in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Just that lineup touches upon a variety of different characters and performance types, and that’s a bit part of why Winter remains excited about both. She continued:
They're both unique in their own right. Live-action, you get to express yourself in so many different ways. With animation, you really only have your voice to bring that character to life, which is a cool challenge to have to do. But, yeah, I appreciate them both. They're different, but I appreciate them both for sure.
Since Modern Family wrapped up its run in 2020, amid constant calls from fans to revive or spinoff the ABC comedy, Winter has largely opted to lend her voice to animated projects like American Dad, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Phineas and Ferb, with The Sisters Grimm serving as her first series regular role since playing Alex Dunphy. On the flip side, Winter has appeared in a handful of live-action indie movies in the past few years, from the 2023 comedy Tripped Up to a trio of 2025 releases: the drama Like Father Like Son, the coming-of-age dramedy Pools and the Zoom-esque horror Don't Log Off.
Given the long wait time between actors recording their performances and when the fully animated projects are released, I wondered if it's ever difficult for Ariel to get excited all over again while promoting those projects. I was surprised to learn the exact opposite is the case, as Winter said it's more difficult to tamp the initial excitement down in the first place, saying:
It's not hard to get re-excited for something, because I don't think the excitement for the project ever goes away. It's harder to have to remind yourself that, 'Okay, it's going to come out at some point.' It's hard to have to push down the excitement more than anything, because when you finish doing it, you're like, 'Gosh, I can't wait to see how they put it together! I'm so hyped to see it!' And then you have to remind yourself, 'Okay, it takes time. Like, everything takes time. Animation takes even longer.'
It's a good point to make, since live-action projects obviously also take time to come together during the post-production process, even if it's not always as extensive as animation can be. But it's still awesome to hear that Winter doesn't have any trouble falling right back into a pumped-up mindset when new projects are on the horizon. She continued:
So it's harder because you really have to push down the excitement more than bring it back up. And I don't think it ever really goes away, because when you love what you do,, it's exciting all the time, and you hope that everyone gets to see all the projects that you do eventually.
It's definitely true that not all projects are created and released equally, so the fact that The Sisters Grimm got such a high-profile release is celebratory in and of itself. While waiting to hear whether or not Season 2 will happen at Apple TV, check out what co-star Lorraine Newman told me about Saturday Night Live's casting changes.
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