Kristen Bell:
"Astro Boy's" Feisty Side-Kick
by Lynn Barker
 Just back from Australia on a promo tour for her comedy Couples Retreat, Kristen Bell stopped off in Beverly Hills to chat with us about her voice role in the animated film Astro Boy. For those unfamiliar with the popular Manga and the '80's TV show, Astro Boy, set in futuristic Metro City, is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist named Tenma (Nicolas Cage). Powered by positive "blue" energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly.
Embarking on a journey in search of acceptance, Astro Boy learns the joys and emotions of being human, and gains the strength to embrace his destiny. Ultimately learning his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to understand what it takes to be a hero.
A character new to the Astro Boy universe was added to the mix for the movie. She's Cora, played by Kristen Bell, a "smart, resourceful girl who is a tough but caring den mother to a gang of kids. She teams up with Astro to save Metro City". At our interview, Kristen talked about the animation process in detail and spoke of the great respect she gained for the whole difficult task of creating an animated film. We learned about her girl-power character Cora, Cora's wardrobe and what is up next for the talented, former "Veronica Mars".
AGW: Were you at all familiar with Astro Boy, the TV show or the Manga?
Kristen: No. I had known the name in the back of my head for a while but I didn't know why he was significant or what the story really was but, after I read the script, I became familiar with how iconic he was overseas and how he was like the Mickey Mouse of Japan. There are so many incarnations of "Astro Boy" in Manga and there was a TV show in the '80's here. I just really liked the script in general. I thought it had a lot of great themes and was excited to be a part of it.
AGW: It does have great messages of friendship and more.
Kristen: It does but it's not shoved down your throat. It's semi-subliminal. The themes are definitely universal. For instance, Metro City, where everyone lives, floats above the earth because the earth is destroyed. The surface of the earth is very polluted and it’s a junkyard, and that’s just a fact. They don’t really go into it. But, it’s an interesting thing to take into consideration.
Robots are our servants and they’re second class citizens and you’re taught, “Don’t treat them like human beings ‘cause they don’t deserve it. They’re just robots.” And, when someone like Astro Boy steps forward, and has emotions and real feelings, you see what people do with that. And then, there’s the overall theme of maybe what makes you different actually makes you unique. At our core, everybody wants to be accepted, so we should all accept each other a little more. It's really nice. It's a great adventure movie and, despite the name, I think girls will like it as well. I'm representing the females in this film. I often find myself being the only girl (in a film) but I don't mind it. I can hold my own.
 AGW: So you don't usually do films with a lot of girls in them?
Kristen: Well, I just did a movie with all girls (You Again) and it was so refreshing because I so often work with only boys.
AGW: What about Cora as a character? She's spunky.
Kristen: She's spunky. She's opinionated. Just kind of rebellious and she's got a very tough exterior but she's kind of a marshmallow on the inside. All of that appealed to me. She's got a lot of mystery to her and you don't really figure out who she is until the very end which I liked as well.
AGW: Do you personally relate to Cora?
Kristen: Oh, absolutely. I think I sometimes have a tougher exterior and it's always covering up for insecurities some way or another when anyone does that. That's definitely how Cora is and I think I'm probably just as sassy as she is. People have said that (she laughs).
AGW: When you saw Cora, what were your first impressions of her? What were you most excited about?
Kristen: Her wardrobe. It’s fabulous. There are all these runaway kids and they have colorful junkyard wardrobe, so it’s really cute. There’s a lot of layers and colors. That’s what I was most excited about. And, there’s so much that goes into it, that nobody sees. They had options for her wardrobe. I didn’t get to pick, but I did get to have feedback about what she should wear and what best describes her.
Characters in cartoons don’t change clothes. It’s not like a continuity, day-to-day thing, like a regular film is. So, you really have to do a lot of thinking into how you want to describe the character by what you put them in.
AGW: When you voice an animated film, you have the challenge of having to record a ton of different versions of each line and having to be in a booth by yourself so what are you using of your acting experience to do this sort of voice role?
Kristen: You feel a bit like Sybil (like you have multiple personalities) in the recording booth because you do have to give the director the option of having a less intense line or a more intense line depending upon what your co-star gives. I was lucky to have Freddie Highmore (Astro Boy) record before I did so I was able to hear him and respond directly. But I think David Bowers, our director, probably had the hardest job because he had to put this whole film together and seamlessly integrate all of our performances to make it seem as though we were all interacting. And the levels; it does no good if one person is whispering and one person is screaming so he's got to keep a very clear perspective and he did a great job coaching me through staying on track.
AGW: Sometimes it takes a really long time to record your voice for an animated film. How many recording sessions did you do?
Kristen: I think I did four. I was cast later in the game. What appeals to me so much about animation besides just liking to watch it, is how much actually goes into it. It's very easy to think that someone just draws it on a computer and, all of a sudden, it's on film but it passes through hundreds of people's hands and each animator is given a section of the film.
AGW: How much of that did you actually see though?
Kristen: It's amazing to see it from pencil and paper, because we were shown sketches of our characters, to being shown what it looks like with colors and then background and depth and, ultimately, all the fight sequences and movement. That's why it takes so long for animation because it's really such an involved process. Animated characters usually just wear one outfit. Little details like that really intrigue me.
AGW: Is there room for improvisation in the sessions; thinking up your own lines?
 Kristen: To a degree but not much only because we are satisfying all the voices in David's head because he's got a clear idea of what the movie is. When you are on your own, there is room. If Cora is talking to herself or humming to herself or how she meets and greets people like 'Hey, Astro, what's up?' I can say 'how are you?' There are slight changes you can make to make the voice comfortable for you but, for the most part, you have to stay on script to everyone else can do their jobs.
AGW: Did you get to even meet the rest of the cast?
Kristen: I did get to record for a bit with Freddie and for a moment with Matt Lucas as well but it was a big treat for me because I'm such a big fan of Little Britain because I like a lot of BBC shows. I loved "League of Gentlemen" even before (I met) Russell Brand (her co-star in "Sarah Marshall"). Brits have a quirky sense of humor. I like "Faulty Towers". They're bizarre.
AGW: What were you in Australia for? Couples Retreat? They can get to Bora Bora a lot easier than most of us can.
Kristen: Yeah. We had gone to Bora, Bora, then Australia and back. That was the first leg and I've come to do this. Then we go Germany, England and some people section off and go to Sweden, Italy and bunch of other fantastic countries.
AGW: Overall, do people in different countries take the jokes in a film differently? Like did they receive it differently in Australia?
Kristen: A couple of the American jokes didn't land as well as we thought they would solely based on the culture and the references they are familiar with. There is a joke about Applebee's (restaurant) in the movie and they didn't know what that was. but I think nobody has a better handle on that than Vince (Vaughn). He's such a dynamic comedian.
AGW: In your new, girl-friendly film You Again, who do you play?
Kristen: I play a girl named Marine who had a pretty rough go in high school. She decides to start a new life for herself and not be the nerd that was beaten up in high school and moves to L.A. She comes home after a few years to find that her brother is engaged to the girl who tormented her during high school so she is determined to break that union up and show this girl's true colors. She's played by Odette Yustman who is absolutely phenomenal and it's Jamie Lee Curtis, Betty White and Sigourney Weaver. As that character I got to be as weird as I wanted and played myself in high school. They covered me with pimples, glasses and braces and it was a lot of fun.
pictures
from ASTRO BOY courtesy of and copyright Summit Entertainment, 2009
Kristen Bell portrait by John Russo |
