By David Michael Brown
Behind every animated high-speed big-gloved tail-spinning video game character, there is a voice. And in the case of the big-budget Sonic The Hedgehog adaptation and its sequel, those voices are perfectly pitched. Sonic, Knuckles and Tails leap from their 16-bit video game world onto the silver screen thanks to the vocal talents of Ben Schwartz, Idris Elba and Colleen O’Shaughnessey. And while we see his face, no one is more important to the success of Sonic The Hedgehog than Jim Carrey, Hollywood’s most animated actor.
BEN SCHWARTZ AS SONIC THE HEDGEHOG
Not content with voicing the world’s favourite spikey speedster, ever animated comedian Ben Schwartz has spent a career voicing some of the world’s favourite cartoon characters. From Leonardo in Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Dewey in Duck Tales and roles in Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., American Dad and Bob’s Burgers, the actor’s voice has been omnipresent. As an IRL actor, Schwartz first entered the public consciousness playing self-proclaimed pickup artist and “baller” Jean-Ralphio in the American comedy TV series Parks And Recreation. Joining Amy Poehler, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman, the part was created for improvisor Schwartz when he met show co-creator Michael Schur (The Office). Schwartz, who dated Jane The Virgin actress Gina Rodriguez, also collaborated with the other Parks And Recreation creator, Greg Daniels, on the Steve Carrell comedy vehicle Space Force. In the near future, his voice will feature in a cinematic version of his turtles show and DC League Of Super-Pets, while he will appear in the much-publicised Renfield, alongside Awkwafina, Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage playing Dracula.
IDRIS ELBA AS KNUCKLES
He may be giving voice to a punchy space echidna in a family-friendly video game adaptation, but the world first said, “Yo, String!” to Idris Elba for his formidable, terrifying portrayal of drug kingpin Stringer Bell in the television revolution The Wire opposite Dominic West’s Det. James “Jimmy” McNulty. Since those gritty ground-breaking days, all-round geezer, fledgling DJ and pseudo Lime Cordiale member, Elba has taken the lead in the British detective show Luther playing DCI John Luther, a role he will again play in the sleuth’s big screen excursion. Marvel fans will know him as Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost and protector of Asgard in the Thor films. Despite being a well-known face in the MCU, he also jumped ship to DC to play Bloodsport in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. He has also recently been in Australia shooting Three Thousand Years Of Longing, the latest film from Mad Max auteur George Miller, also starring Tilda Swinton.
COLLEEN O’SHAUGHNESSEY AS TAILS
The only member of the Sonic The Hedgehog 2 cast with a real history with her character beyond finger-numbing gaming sessions navigating Sonic’s high-speed perilous pixelated pratfalls courtesy of their Sega Entertainment System. As a voice artist, she was best known as the voice of Sora Takenouchi in the Digimon anime, Jazz Fenton in Danny Phantom, Wasp in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and Ino Yamanaka in the Naruto anime. Her vocals also appeared in Cars, Monsters University, Toy Story 3 and the English dubbed version of the Miyazaki classics Ponyo and Spirited Away. In 2010, Sonic entered O’Shaughnessey’s world when she gave voice to the video game character Charmy Bee and in 2014, she became the voice of Tails, the twin-tailed flying fox in games like Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Team Sonic Racing and Sonic At The Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020. Now that her two worlds have collided, she is the voice of Tails in Sonic’s blockbusting Hollywood escapades.
JIM CARREY AS DR. IVO ROBOTNIK AKA EGGMAN
Bald of head and luxurious of moustache, Jim Carrey’s turn as the megalomaniac scientist is a glorious fusion of the Canadian comic’s penchant for improvisational comedy and the mischievous hijinks that have seen him performing in some of the funniest comedies ever made. From his early days on the sketch show In Living Color to terrific turns in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber and Bruce Almighty, his bendy faced antics have delighted cinema audiences, and when he has tried to go serious in films like Peter Weir’s The Truman Show, Man On The Moon and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, he has proven himself to be an actor of great versatility. After a few troubled years where Carrey stepped away from the limelight post the suicide of his Irish makeup artist girlfriend Cathriona White in 2015, he made a comeback on the oddball TV comedy Kidding. In the run-up to the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, Carrey took on the role of Joe Biden during the 46th season of Saturday Night Live. And now with Sonic The Hedgehog and its sequel, he is topping the box office once again with his crazed performance as the maniacal brainiac and Sonic’s arch-nemesis bringing a much-needed zaniness to proceedings.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is available to buy or rent on Digital now.
