Sonic 2 star on being the only actor to reprise her role from the video games: ‘It’s really huge’

Following the very first Sonic the Hedgehog motion picture brought the legendary blue speedster (Ben Schwartz) into a recognizably human planet, this month’s sequel introduces his most significant supporting characters from the prolonged-working video activity franchise. But though Knuckles the Echidna is portrayed by Idris Elba, the lovably nerdy fox Miles “Tails” Prower is voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey — the same actress who’s voiced him in video clip online games and cartoons because 2014.

O’Shaughnessey is, in fact, the only Sonic voice actor to carry above from the games into the burgeoning are living-motion film franchise.

“It really is really huge for me, and it is large for the voiceover local community,” O’Shaughnessey tells EW. “I are not able to explain to you how several of them have arrived at out to me, and they are truly energized. That is the very best factor about the voiceover group: We are all rooting for each and every other. Even though it truly is a huge earn for me, it’s a substantial acquire for all of us. I just acquired a textual content in all caps with a million exclamation points from one particular of my close friends about it this morning. It is just quite enjoyable and unconventional. I’ve been undertaking this for a actually lengthy time, and I experienced no illusions that I would get to do this motion picture. It just doesn’t often happen. I truly feel so fortunate it really is awesome.”

These new flicks are occupied minting plenty of young new Sonic followers, but you can find also a pre-current fanbase who have been next the franchise for decades. From the minute Tails popped up in the publish-credits teaser at the conclusion of 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog, these admirers were being thrilled to listen to O’Shaughnessey’s voice on the huge display.

Paramount Photographs and Sega of The usa Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) in ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2.’

“The fans genuinely appreciate it. The guidance I have gotten from the fanbase has been frustrating and just so beautiful,” O’Shaughnessey states. “I’m so grateful for all of them. They couldn’t be greater. They are just so content that Paramount did it. It presents a via-line for them. If you’re a enormous supporter of Sonic and you’ve been actively playing the game titles, you get utilized to what a character appears like, and that’s who it is to you.”

Tale proceeds

Just after all these years of taking part in him, O’Shaughnessey has naturally attained some insight into what helps make Tails tick.

“He is so very wise — essentially genius amount, he will make all these great devices,” she suggests. “He is loyal. He’s the greatest buddy you are ever gonna have. He’s sweet, he’s endearing, and he’s humorous — primarily devoid of which means to, I assume!”

Tails is also a huge lover of Sonic. In the new movie, all this precocious young fox wants is to support his hero preserve the entire world. Schwartz, for his element, is a massive fan of O’Shaughnessey and enthusiastically praises her talent.

“She is remarkable,” Schwartz tells EW. “Looking at her go via this course of action of premieres and this and that, I consider she’s this kind of a amazing, exclusive, kind, talented human. I textual content her before all the things, just checking in with her, and she’s just wonderful. She’s experiencing it all, and she deserves it simply because she’s a super professional.”

It is really fairly common observe in animation for ladies to voice youthful male figures like Tails. More than the several years, O’Shaughnessey has figured out how to modulate her voice for unique people as part of honing her craft.

“When I 1st began out, my voices have been women — although I would do impressions of boys all the time,” she claims. “But at the time I had a callback, and the casting director was like, ‘You seem too substantially like a boy.’ We bought as a result of the audition, and at the conclusion, she explained, ‘You want to go and notify your agent that you do boy voices.’ So I had to actually think about that. Younger children seem incredibly comparable, but you can explain to when a boy’s talking as opposed to a lady most of the time. So I experienced to determine out, what does that sound like?”

O’Shaughnessey continues, “My neighbor at the time experienced a younger boy, so I would listen to him, and I would watch Tv set and pay attention to what boys sounded like as opposed to what women sounded like, at any specified age. I actually worked on putting myself in that attitude. Then I had young ones, and my boy was very commonly boy, and my lady was pretty normally lady. Watching the way that he approached his ecosystem or a toy vs . the way she did, it was very diverse. So I just grabbed on to those. Now, possessing completed this for so extensive, when I’m supplied a script that has a boy or a woman or whatsoever, in any given age, I can kind of just dial in the natural way.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is in theaters now.

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