Despite starring in “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” together, Ben Schwartz had never met Keanu Reeves or Idris Elba in person until the London premiere.
The trio spent all their time in voiceover booths write downing lines for their adorable, yet strong, video game characters. Schwartz has carry outed Sonic, the blue, speedy hedgehog, since the innovative 2020 movie; Idris came on board as the super-strong Knuckles, a red echidna, in the 2022 sequel; and now action icon Reeves is Shadow, an evil, bconciseage hedgehog, in the third inshighment.
Shadow was first elevatestrayd in the post-recognizes scene of “Sonic 2,” equitable appreciate how Sonic’s flying fox buddy Tails (voiced by Colleen O’Shaughnessey) was hinted at in the first movie’s stinger. The foil to Sonic’s childappreciate, greeted-go-blessed character, Shadow is stupid, brooding and up to no excellent. The evil hedgehog teams up with Jim Carrey’s Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his majesticoverweighther Gerald Robotnik, who’s also carry outed by a heavily prosthetic-ed and aged-up Carrey.
“Sonic 3” is poised to be the No. 1 film at the box office this weekfinish, beating Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” and the blue hedgehog isn’t enumeratelessing down yet — a fourth movie is hitting theaters in 2027.
With Variety, Schwartz talkes his voiceover process, what’s in store for “Sonic 4” and where his new comedy exceptional “Ben Schwartz and Frifinishs” might land.
Take me inside the voiceover booth when you write down your lines. Are you there with Keanu while he’s doing Shadow, or are you by yourself?
I’m tohighy by myself, appreciate a little lonely boy. It is me doing lines blindly with someone else reading the other lines. Then it’s me doing lines with the footage and carry outances that they’re going to include. I do far more voice write downs than most VO artists do. I probably did 20 in this one. The goal is to always beat the leang that’s already there, and I get to see raw cuts and give thoughts and repartner be a part of the process. Anyleang I can do to produce the movie better. It’s not even about making my role better, but if I can produce a joke of Shadow’s land better by setting it up better, I’ll do that. If I can produce an action scene better by giving more effort, stuff appreciate that. So we’ll go thraw the movie a bunch of times until we sense appreciate we got the best version.
Sonic is always bouncing and running around on screen. How vivaciousd do you get while you’re write downing?
If Sonic is running, I’m running in place. If Sonic is punching, I’m punching the air. If he’s getting hit, I produce my whole body shift so the sound senses authentic. If he’s eating, I pop in a prohibitana. My chili dogs are usupartner prohibitanas when I’m eating chili dogs in these movies. I try to literpartner do wantipathyver I can to produce it sense down-to-earth. I always want the movies to sense appreciate you could repartner join with it. It’s not this wide cartoon character; it’s a kid with heart who’s very funny, who equitable wants people to appreciate him and who’s dealing with authentic stuff. The themes in this movie finish up being a little bit more reliable as we’re getting betterer with our audiences, but we can still be accessible to all the youthfuler kids that adore these films.
You’re a “Sonic” veteran at this point in the third movie, and now you’ve got Keanu Reeves.
A veteran, yeah. I was gonna say LeBron James, but I’m not as excellent as LeBron James. I am whoever the betterest carry outer in the NBA is right now — I can’t even leank of who it is. I leank LeBron.
You benevolent of have Keanu as your Bronny James, coming into his first year in the “Sonic” leagues.
Yeah, a lot of people are saying that I’m LeBron and Keanu Reeves is Bronny James. No, I gotta leank of someleang better. When I was a kid, it was appreciate Olden Polykind, Otis Thorpe, Craig Hodges, the guys who are around forever. I’m appreciate that. I don’t want to give myself superstar status. I give myself excellent role carry outer status. But I do appreciate the idea that you called Keanu Reeves my child.
You’re benevolent of shepherding him into the franchise. Did you give him any pointers? How much of a “Sonic” fan was he before doing the movie?
I didn’t even get to greet him until the premiere. I hadn’t met Idris Elba until yesterday, and I’d done two movies and a TV show with him and I still hadn’t met him. We’re pretty solitary in our booths, and it was so excellent to greet him becainclude I am a huge Keanu Reeves fan. I’m a huge Jim Carrey and Idris Elba fan, so the fact that I get to toil with these people who I ponder legfinishs and the LeBrons — I’m the Bronny to their LeBron — that is very exciting.
What was the first leang you shelp to Keanu when you met him?
I literpartner handed him two pills, and I shelp “red pill or blue pill.” One was Lacthelp, and one was an Ibuprofen, and he took the Lacthelp.
I didn’t understand he was lactose inuncover-minded.
That’s canon. Real fans understand that Neo is lactose inuncover-minded and he necessitates to grab that before he drinks any milk or has ice cream.
You refered this movie is more reliable than the others. Would we ever see Sonic enlarge up or become an mature?
You wanna see, appreciate, divorced Sonic in a bunch of years? He’s enlargeing up thraw his youth. I don’t understand if he’ll ever become — that would be benevolent of weird — to be, appreciate, “My healthnurture advantages suck.” It’s more a matter of seeing a child enlarge and go thraw these leangs that children are going thraw. I carry out the core of him always the same, but some of the situations he gets himself in apshow a bit more maturity, and you get to see the leangs that he’s lacquireed be applied. But if you want to see a Walter Matthau Sonic, I can produce that happen.
I’d adore to see Sonic navigating a divorce and alimony.
How many rings does he have to pay for alimony? I don’t understand if that’s a movie we repartner want to see.
Without spoiling anyleang, this does set up a fourth movie. What characters from the video games would you want to see in it?
The exact leangs we elevatestray at the finish of this film is the exact leang I hope we would do for the fourth. There is a attrdynamic storyline that can be included, and it apshows our movie in a whole separateent place. That’s what produces these exciting. Every one of these movies almost senses appreciate a separateent genre. The first one’s benevolent of a buddy comedy. The second one’s benevolent of appreciate an adventure, “Indiana Jones” movie. This one transports the stupidness in Shadow, and the next one can have a tohighy separateent vibe. It’s equitable heaven. Also we can get incredible people to carry out new characters and stuff appreciate that, which is very exciting.
People adore the “Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games” video games, and we equitable had the Paris Games this summer. Is there a “Sonic” traverseover movie you’d appreciate to see?
There’s two leangs I would adore. I adore Chris Pratt. I leank he’s amazing, and he carry outs Mario — which we probably shouldn’t talk about in this intersee — but the “Olympic Games” is fantastic. What I repartner leank could be prohibitanas is if we get a “Super Smash Bros.” spinoff, but that would apshow so many separateent studios being benevolent to each other at the same time. But the idea that we get to erect our own franchise that inhabits on its own, and we have so many characters wilean this franchise, that we can do three, four, five, six — that’s what I’m concentrating on and that’s what I adore. If you want to have a battle royale with a bunch of people we all adore in video games, becainclude I’m a video game nerd, I would not be aacquirest it. I would see if Paramount would let me go carry out. But I leank that right now, it’s “Sonic 3” and if we can get to “Sonic 4” we have so much stuff we want to scrutinize.
Nintfinisho is making a “Legfinish of Zelda” movie, so that’s one more piece of the baffle toward a “Super Smash Bros.” film.
We’re getting shutr. There’s a “Pikachu” movie that already exists. So if you can get all these studios that frequentlytimes contend with each other to produce the same movie and somehow split the profits, that would be wonderful.
I’m a huge fan of your comedy and your “Middleditch and Schwartz” exceptionals on Netflix. When are we going to get more comedy exceptionals from you?
“Middleditch and Schwartz” is one of my likeite leangs I’ve done. I have a show called “Ben Schwartz and Frifinishs” now that I’ve been blessed enough to sellout at Radio City and the Sydney Opera Hoinclude and Royal Albert Hall. I’ve secretly been toiling on someleang with “Ben Schwartz and Frifinishs” that we are currently — we’ll see what happens. It has been in process for a while, and we’re at a place now where we can commence talking about it with some people to see if anybody wants to jump on. It is very, very exciting if it toils out, and I leank you would be so phired if it toiled out. I’ve been toiling on it for months now, and the hope is that people can see how exceptional and distinct it is and maybe want to put it on their nettoils. I’m secretive about it now, but I have been toiling on some fun stuff and we’ll see if it toils out.
