A sea kraken with a heart of gold? Sounds like a dream. For DreamWorks, that’s exactly what “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is all about. Alex Miranda is here to tell us all about it.
Being a teenager is hard enough, but being a sea monster with tentacles makes it even harder. That’s what “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is all about. The cast gave Deco a deep sea dive into the story.
Jane Fonda (as Grandmamah, voice): “Krakens are majestic creatures and noble protectors.”
Lana Condor (as Ruby Gillman, voice): “I’m just Ruby Gillman, normal teenager.”
It’s hard being normal … whether you’re a giant kraken or actress Lana Condor.
Lana Condor: “I wish I’d gotten into more trouble. I really am someone that looks back, and I’m like, ‘I wish I was kind of like a little bit of a bad girl,’ but I really wasn’t. Like, I had like one friend, you know, and my parents were my best friends.”
But SoFlo is close to her heart.
Lana Condor: “My fiancé, most his family live in Hialeah.”
Lana Condor (in the recording booth): “”All this time you told me we were hiding from monsters, and it turns out, I’m the monster.”
Doing this movie had its ups and downs.
Lana Condor: “I’ve done some voice acting previously, but not to this extent, and it was really, really fun, but also had its challenges, because I’m so used to being in a scene with other people.”
Annie Murphy (as Chelsea Van Der Zee, voice): “Picture this: me, stunning but approachable.”
Same for Annie Murphy, who plays mean girl Chelsea.
Annie Murphy: “It’s such a different way of acting, first of all, like, you know, from TV, you have to be quite grounded and natural. And this, you go in, and you’re like way over the top right out of the gates.”
But playing a mean girl was kind of easy.
Annie Murphy: “I mean, there were a lot of them in high school, and there’s a lot of them everywhere, unfortunately, so, yeah, it’s easy to kind of source that vibe.”
Annie Murphy (as Chelsea Van Der Zee, voice): “And soon everyone will know the truth. Kushes.”
And how many takes did it take to nail that evil laugh?
Annie Murphy: “Oh, so many, and the first — ’cause it was in four-hour chunks that we did it in, and by the end of the first four hours, I had no voice left. But I was much more of a Ruby in high school than a Chelsea. I think I kind of like wanted to be a Chelsea, but I was much more of a Ruby, and I’m happy. Team Ruby all the way.”
Lana Condor (as Ruby Gillman, voice): “It’s time to go big.”
This is Annie Murphy’s first voice-acting role.
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is now playing in theaters.
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