Idris Elba might be the most famous person to ever play two anthropomorphic animals. He spoke about playing an echidna (in Sonic the Hedgehog 2) and a cat (in Cats) in a new interview with The New York Times to promote the new Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie that comes to US cinemas today, April 8.
Elba played Macavity the cat in 2019’s poorly received Cats film from director Tom Hooper. Elba didn’t have anything bad to say about that film but said he’s looking forward to never playing a mysterious CG cat again. “From a performance perspective, it is an incredible experience, being a feline. That’s something I’ve experienced and never have to again,” Elba said. “That box has been checked.”
As for playing Knuckles the echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Elba said he landed the role based in part from his experience with voiceover roles in animated films he’s done before like Zootopia and Finding Dory. “When my agent called with this, he didn’t even get to finish his sentence. I was like, yes, absolutely,” Elba said.
Elba said he is “100%” a gamer, noting to the interviewer that he had his Nintendo Switch in his bag when conducting the interview. His first console was a Commodore 64 and he said he’s owned “pretty much every single console since then.” He specifically gravitates toward FIFA and driving games.
As for finding the voice of Knuckles, Elba said he and director Jeff Fowler tried out different voices before settling on the one in the film. Elba said he pitched a “squeaky”-type voice, but the idea “got nixed immediately.”
Elba is set to return to play Knuckles again in the Sonic TV show, and the actor said he had no idea from the start that Paramount was planning a Sonic cinematic universe. “But now, the fact that I can probably get to play more Knuckles and maybe even spin off into his own world is great,” he said. Come from Sports betting site VPbet
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opens in US cinemas on April 8, but the movie is already out in a number of international markets and is making lots of money already.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 brings back Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and Jim Carrey as the evil Dr. Robotnik. Colleen O’Shaughnessey, who voices Tails in the video games, plays the same role in the film. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter also reprise their roles from the original Sonic, and director Jeff Fowler returned as well.
Paramount has said it’s planning a third Sonic movie and a TV series as part of its plans for a Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe.
For more, check out GameSpot’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 movie review.
