Leah Lewis and Brandon Soo Hoo lead Paramount+'s new film, The Tiger's Apprentice.
It's been a long time coming, as the film was recorded years ago. That didn't take away from the optimism of its stars. Both Lewis and Soo Hoo were enthusiastic talking about their characters, and what could be next.
But we also discussed one of Lewis' other high-profile projects, Pixar's Elemental, the long journey to release, Dungeons and Dragons, and the secrets of voiceover acting in the booth.
Leah Lewis, Brandon Soo Hoo Tiger's Apprentice interview
Below is our interview with Leah Lewis and Brandon Soo Hoo for Paramount+'s The Tiger's Apprentice.
ClutchPoints: I loved Elemental, it was a big hit in my family, and I was curious about your reaction to the legs of the box office?
Leah Lewis: Oh my gosh. First of all, I just want to say thank you to you and your family. Part of this experience being so incredible has been hearing the outpour of love and just how people have related to it.
But it really shocked me, the box office, because we started out with pretty slow legs. And I will say, I got a couple of reviews that were really questionable in the beginning and for a story like that, too, I was just kind of really bummed out because I really felt like some of the first reviews were not as accurate to how deep the story was and what it really means for representation and just people in general.
So when it finally got into the hands of regular people and I saw the box office numbers, it was like the film had so many different chapters of when it gained new legs. And just seeing people love that film, and seeing people love Peter Sohn's story, and all the hard work that our whole crew put in, I was weeping and getting really excited and sending articles back and forth, just because it just made me so happy that people were able to finally connect with that story.
I try not to have insane expectations for things in general and just keep it pretty leveled, but it completely surpassed anything that I thought would ever happen to it. And as it should, just because Peter Sohn is just so talented and so incredible in the way he tells stories. So I was thrilled to say the least.
CP: Is there anything that you're hoping to see in a sequel, whenever that happens?
LL: Oh my goodness. In a sequel, I don't want to watch whatever story Peter probably has in mind, but I think it would be really cool to see them dive more into their relationship [of] Ember and Wade.
It's funny because Peter was actually teasing that they would have a steam baby if they ever gave birth to a child. So I don't know where that would go, but hopefully, it would stay in the vein of the same messaging and what they were going through in the first movie, but just in a more elevated way.
CP: Brandon, I'll start with you so Leah can start thinking about your answer. You guys have done a lot of voiceover work and also live-action, but what's something about the animated form that you really love?
Brandon Soo Hoo: My favorite thing about doing animated stuff is, at least in the booth, I get to really focus on the world building and I get to focus on just really using my imagination to craft the characters around me and craft the environment around me.
And while that can be a limitation, it's a little bit less distracting because there's a lot less stuff for me to have to interact with. I can be really, really selfish in the booth and with my time and that's something that I really enjoy because I find the booth experience to be just really relaxing — it's dark and cozy and intimate in there — and I could really just take my time to find exactly the performance that I'm looking for.
It's just a direct line of communication between me and the director or me and the whoever's the creative team behind the Zoom call and I get to just really focus on getting the best performance out of it as opposed to being distracted by all the commotion of a set because sets can be really hectic.
I've been really enjoying doing voiceover stuff. I started off doing live-action, I found that I actually really dig being in this booth all on my own. It's a nice little exercise.
LL: To piggyback off of what Brandon said, you can take up a lot of space when you're in the booth, and that is one thing that I really appreciate. I think, again, when you're on a moving live-action set, time is money, like, we [have] gotta be places. And it's not that it's not like that in the booth, but I also think just being with yourself, you can really sink into the presence and I guess the “peace before you perform,” the “calm before the storm.”
I feel like for animation too, it's so imaginative. I never expected myself to become a voice actor, even though I'm really comfortable with my voice, even when I tell stories to my friends in real life, I love to use different personalities and characters. I'm also a singer.
So, stepping into the booth, manipulating my voice in a way that is now a form of storytelling for acting. That part has been really cool, but the imaginative aspect where nowadays, after the pandemic, we don't really have partners in the room. I wasn't speaking at Brandon at all. I think we did one session together and they actually [did] not even use it because we were too friendly. [laughs]
When you're alone, I think it's really surprising to see where your mind can go or the things that you create. It's a really beautiful challenge I've really enjoyed it.
CP: If you weren't in the booth together, was there anything you could do to build your rapport?
LL: I think a lot of that also comes down to the people behind the screen like the creative directors. They got to know our personality [and] how we are as the character as well and [were] able to direct us or give us little clues in a way that explain the cadence of the other actor because it's not like they were playing recordings of Brandon.
I mean, there were a couple times when, and even in Pixar's Elemental, we would go at it for like a good 30 [minutes] and they're like, “Okay, you're just not getting it. So I'm gonna show you a little snippet of what it is just so you can understand the context of what you're doing, or the emotion [of the scene], or where you're coming from.”
And that part really helps too, but I really feel like it is the creative direction [that] really guides you along and where you need to go. It does sound like Brandon and I were in the booth pretty much the whole time and all the characters, but I hadn't even met most of the characters to be honest in real life.
BSH: To piggyback off of what Leah was saying, absolutely, it's up to us to really trust what the creative team is telling us because that's most of the context that we get when it comes to building the other characters in the booth with us because we are by ourselves.
However, we did get a couple sessions to read with each other, and the only two characters that I got to read with were Henry [Golding] and Leah. I'd say [during] some of those scenes that we actually got to read and riff back and forth and feed off each other's energies, I felt so spoiled because the entire time we were kind of flying it solo, flying blind. And when we actually got to play with each other and hang out with each other, it felt super organic and the chemistry was super tangible and it was there.
That definitely helped to bring the dynamic between the characters, at least with the tiger and with Räv.
Aside from that, like what Leah was saying, we were just like trusting the directors and the writers because they were the ones that were telling us like, “Yeah, this line needs a little bit more sauce,” they would guide us a bit, give us the bowling alley lanes [bumpers]. So that's how we kind of built that dynamic.
CP: I don't know if this comparison will land for either of you guys, I recently played Dungeons and Dragons for the first time and working in the booth sounds kind of similar. Are those two things comparable to you?
BSH: I've never played Dungeons and Dragons, but from the way you described it and the way that I know about the game, it seems like it's pretty much that, yeah.
LL: I do know what you're talking about, and I have many friends who play Dungeons and Dragons. It's interesting because it's like the most random people, too, but they get so into it and so into the storytelling, which I absolutely love. [smiles]
And I guess it is kind of similar. Although… it's a little different because it's not Dungeons and Dragons, but it is kind of like that. [laughs]
I mean, we do have a general idea of kind of what is happening. It's more so the emotions that they're like, “Hey, we want you to feel this way or sound this way.”
In Dungeons and Dragons, I feel like people are also telling you what is happening to you. We do have a pretty general idea of what the script is and where we're going and like different things like that. So it isn't like the director's like,”And now a big spider appears and you guys have no swords and you're gonna die — what are you gonna do?”
That was my shot at a bootleg Dungeons and Dragons impression. [laughs]
BSH: I love it. I dug that.
The directors have a general idea of, in their head, the rhythm and the cadence of a scene. And they already have the edit reworked into their head — we don't know how they're going to edit it, we don't know exactly what the animatic looks like, so, I think that's also what they're speaking to [and] what they're guiding us towards.
But they're still pretty flexible about letting us make interesting choices, but if it's way off, if it doesn't fit with the edit or the general flow of the scene, that's usually what they're trying to correct.
And also, we should totally [play] some Dungeons and Dragons. I've never done it before, but it sounds cool.
LL: I'm super down. Even as an actress, though, I get nervous to, like, be a character. So I feel like it'll be a really nice improv exercise. [laughs]
BSH: It seems like an improv game.
CP: I read that you guys recorded this film a few years ago, so it's been a long time coming, but is it something that you'd like to revisit?
BSH: It has been a couple years since I've hopped in a booth and been with Tom. But, I mean, it's a character that we've worked on so long together, I feel like I understand him [on] a pretty deep level.
I would hope so at this point. I almost feel like we've blended together quite a bit — I feel like just working with the character over so many years, I've grown with Tom and Tom has so much Brandon injected into the character himself. So yeah, I think it'd be really natural and really fun to hop back into that character.
And there is a lot of source material on it. So let's make this thing a trilogy! I'm down to do this. Whenever y'all want.
LL: Yeah, I feel that. I think Räv is a little different than Tom just because we've had a couple of reiterations of her. We started off with more of a darker, more guarded, almost even— I can't spoil anything in case there is a trilogy because it is based off of more books as well [laughs], which Räv does appear more later in other books, too.
But we ended up in a place where Räv is this really supportive, but clearly edgy girl that actually really helped Tom for the most part other than— okay, I'm like about to spoil everything. [laughs]
She helps Tom and I really feel like where we land at the end of the film, there's so much more to explore [with] her and her backstory and just the kind of person she is, too. I just love her. I think she's such a champion and such a good platonic figure in Tom's life in general.
So I would love to step back into her shoes and just the film itself has so many other places for growth for so many other different characters. It's such an incredibly written script and book in general, [and] with all [of the] different cast members that are in this, I would love to see more from them, too, and see how we explore new dynamics.
CP: I've gotta go, but I hope to see you guys playing Dungeons and Dragons in social media posts.
LL: Yes! It was good to meet you.
BSH: If we do, it'd be because of you. [smiles]
The Tiger's Apprentice is streaming now on Paramount+.
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