It turns out that the voice actor who plays Sonic in the upcoming videogame movie, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, has a favourite videogame character – and shockingly, it isn’t Sonic. Ben Schwartz, who voices the legendary blue character in the upcoming family movie, revealed to us in an interview that despite his love for SEGA’s mascot, another anthropomorphic animal holds his heart.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2, based on SEGA’s hit videogame franchise, sees our blue hero meet some brand-new faces that long time fans of the games know all too well. Knuckles (Idris Elba) and Tails (Colleen O’Shaughnessey) are introduced into the upcoming action movie, and prove to be stand out features in the charming videogame adaptation. When asked which characters he would like to join Tails, Knuckles and Sonic in future cinematic sequels, Schwartz told The Digital Fix many possibilities before revealing his personal favourite figure in the beloved platformer franchise – Big the Cat.
“There are so many different characters on the Sonic floor, and there’s also versions of Sonic that are pretty freakin’ cool. We can throw in a Metal Sonic in there; there’s all sorts that could be fun, like an Amy Rose. Or if one day we get to introduce Shadow or something like that.”
“Oh, and I think that Christopher Walken should voice all of them,” he joked. “We just have a very unique VO thing. Bobcat Goldthwait from Police Academy should be there too.” When we suggested that Goldthwait would make a great Big the Cat, Schwartz agreed and said, “Oh! By the way, Big the Cat, my favourite character.”
Big the Cat is the friendly purple feline who was first introduced to the franchise in the 1998 videogame Sonic Adventure. With a friendly attitude and an unwavering devotion to his friends (especially Froggy), it is easy to see why Schwartz would hold the cartoon character in such high regard. However, despite Big the Cat holding a firm place in the actor’s heart, Schwartz did clarify his reverence and love for Sonic too.
“To me growing up, you know, me playing videogames my whole life, but also being introduced to videogames in the late ’80s, in the early ’90s, Sonic to me is one of the most iconic videogame characters of all time,” he explained. “So, the idea that I get to voice this character that has had such an incredible lineage and has such great VO actors along the path to here, it’s been amazing.”
Only time will tell who will be joining Sonic next in his future films. However, considering Big the Cat is a long-time fan favourite as well as Schwartz’s pick, we may see some Cat powered body slams on the big screen soon.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races into theatres on April 1 in the UK and on April 8 in the US.