Ryan Kwanten : TeenHollywood

Cute Aussie Ryan Kwanten (Of HBO's "True Blood" series) and Brit Jim Sturgess (ofAcross the Universe, 21 and The other Boleyn Girl) voice warring owl brothers Kludd and Soren in director Zack Synder's (300, Watchmen) visually stunning animated adventure film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole based upon the popular novels by Kathryn Lasky.

We're sitting down with the "bros" in Century City in L.A. to find out how the new-to-voice-work young actors took to seeing their voices coming out of fluffy, feathery owl faces.

Picture the handsome actors in casual wear; Ryan in crisp white dress shirt and jeans. Jim in jeans and black suit jacket over gray tee. Tousled hair and shadow beards make for the ideal manly style. 

The duo is telling us about sibling rivalry in their own lives and the influence of animation on them as kids or teens. Would they voice an animated character again after this experience? You bet!

TeenHollywood: Ryan and Jim, do you have brothers and is there a rivalry between you as there was in the film? Or was there one when you were younger?

Ryan: You go first, Jim and I'll shoot you down.

Jim: [laughs] Thanks, Ryan. I do. I have an older brother and a younger sister so I'm the middle child. Yeah, and like Kludd and Soren, I'm far more courageous than my siblings. I'm better looking, a better flier. No, me and my brother get along really well so we don't have that 

 

Ryan: I am, actually, an older brother. And, like Kludd, I too suffer from what I have diagnosed as OSS, which is Older Sibling Syndrome where you feel the need to set a fine example and you don't necessarily posses the natural gifts of your younger brothers. I know I didn't and Kludd certainly doesn't.

I think the older brothers too suffer from the need to be overly-ambitious. I try and use that for good. Kludd, on the other hand, was easily persuaded to the more darker side.

TeenHollywood: Do you see an advantage in voice acting over live action acting?

Ryan: Yeah. Usually (in live action) you're hindered by maybe you're losing light (on an outdoor set) and you didn't grab your prop on the right line. There's all sorts of things that hinder us but to be given that freedom (of the director saying) 'You know what? Just try it again sixteen different ways and let's see what pops' (is great).

 

TeenHollywood: They also video your movements while you are recording the voices though you know. 

Ryan: (laughs) I never want to see those tapes.

 

TeenHollywood: Jim, you really wanted to do a voice for animation. What animation did you grow up watching and what is the difference in the stuff you used to watch and this film?

Jim: Just like any kid, you just always wanted to be the voice of a cartoon character. It would just be a cool thing to do. There's been loads of animation I watched. I was in love with a film called Watership Down. That was a huge part of my life as a kid growing up. And, as a kid, it's mainly cartoons and animation that you watch. As I get older, the animation has just been getting more and more exciting and more possibility is going to come in with that.

 

TeenHollywood: This is your first voice for an animated character. Why choose this one?

Jim: I've nearly had the chance to do a few animated characters so when this came up, it was just ticking every single box that I'd ever dreamed about. The story was epic in every way then they sent me this book of how the animation was going to look and the characters' backstories and different designs for the claws and the weaponry and the shields and the masks.

I was just taken in by this whole world that they'd already created before I ever got anywhere near to being involved. It's just fun to hear your voice (come out of) this beautifully-designed character. It was such an exciting film to watch. It's different than watching a film that you're acting in. It's this whole fantasy world and it's a real buzz and a thrill. That's your voice behind that little owl's face.

TeenHollywood: Ryan, what animation did you watch as a kid?

Ryan: It was three boys at home and we were kicked out of the house pretty much at any moment. It was easier for us to be dealt with outside the house than inside. So we were forced to use our imaginations and play outside.

We must have come up with twenty or thirty different games using our imaginations, just taking over our backyard and the neighborhood. Our neighbors were well and truly versed in our mad ways. We'd be running through with masks, diving over hedges; all sorts of things. So it was pretty much games inside my head. I wasn't much of a TV animation junkie growing up.

 

TeenHollywood: You didn't watch a lot of TV but was there an animated feature film that made a big impression on you as a kid or teen?

Ryan: I always liked Who Framed Roger Rabbit. When you amalgamate the live action and the animation, that transcended everything else I saw then. I was between 10 and 13 I think.

 

TeenHollywood: Jim, how did you go about approaching the voice of Soren?

Jim: When I first found out that I'd got the part, I went onto my computer and started to practice with the voice and I did it with a program called "Garage Band". I tried out different sorts of things on how the voice was going to work. Obviously, trying to get an Australian accent was the first thing I had to try and get through (Ryan is chuckling since he is Australian).

But, I realized that without the use of your eyes and your face, I thought 'Oh, I'm really going to have to amp up my voice and really try and make it as expressive as possible'. So, I kind of overdid it. I was over-keen. Then I remember when we came for the first day to do our first recording session, I was like 'okay, I've got the character down. I'm going to overplay it I guess'.

 

TeenHollywood: Did somebody change your mind about that?

Jim: Yeah. I was forgetting that these incredible animators would put in the eyes and all these expressions so I really kind of overdid it at first and had to draw myself back and remember that there would be an acting performance and these incredible animators would do that for me really. So, once I understood that, I could just play it as you would if you were just making a film.

It wasn't a radio play. You didn't have to just use your voice. That wasn't the only tool that you had. I saw the film last night for the first time and I couldn't believe the expressions they were able to put on these owls' faces, to put the comedy in just by a look; the intensity in the eyes. It just blew my mind.

 

TeenHollywood: Big name actors are doing voices for animation now. Do you feel that voice work for animation is equally as legitimate as any acting job and would you consider doing it again or doing a sequel to this?

Jim: Of course, 100 percent. What's exciting about animation is, as an actor, you want to play different characters and it's not often in film that you get to play a baby owl. It requires animation to get to play a variety of really extreme kinds of things you wouldn't get to play on film or in the theater. So that, for me, is the reason for why animation would be exciting; why actors are interested in that platform of acting. It's a different way of acting. It's exciting. I can see why a lot of people are drawn in by that.

Ryan: I was also thinking that you have different dimensions with the 3-D aspect of this film but there is also more than one dimension in terms of acting. I've felt that a lot of the animation films don't have the character development. It's sort of a one-dimensional character. They don't have a specific arc. And I think even the smaller characters in this have at least one thing to play and there's a journey that they go through.

 

Particularly, for my character, that was a really appealing thing for me that he starts off as this misunderstood, misguided owl and it's this one single decision that changes the course of his life and that tells more about who he is than the whole lifetime of moments before; how he chooses to react in that moment. (Kludd chooses the Dark Side). So, I would gladly partake in a sequel.

 

TeenHollywood: We were impressed at the amazing artistry of this film all around. 

Ryan: You can tell all that love too when you watch it.

 

TeenHollywood: Ryan, this was filmed over the last three years. Did you go in on your time off from "True Blood" and record the voice? When you did, was it a relief from the action on "True Blood" just using your voice?

Ryan: Yes, it was a nice escape but this was also incredibly hard; the amount of times that I left the three hour recording sessions with sweat pouring off because you're doing all the huffing an puffing and the flying. I'm sure you did it too, Jim. [Jim says 'yes and Ryan flaps his arms like owl wings] Various levels of exertion too.

There's the happy, joyful exertion and then more exasperation then Kludd being not so eloquent with the way he flies. So, there weren't too many times when I left with an abundance of energy after. But it was a nice relief from playing Jason. I love playing that character but when I'm not shooting, that's the last thing I want to dive into.

 

TeenHollywood: Do you see an emotional comparison between Jason Stackhouse and Kludd?

Ryan:  I think there's a vulnerability to them both and an innocence but I think Kludd has more willpower and perhaps more mental capacity. [laughter]

 

TeenHollywood: I don't know about Jason but Kludd could be interpreted as evil.

Ryan: Hey!! Hey!

 

TeenHollywood: Okay, misunderstood.

Ryan: Thank you.