Anthony Kavanagh: “I’ve played penguins, a firefly and a horse so why not a zebra?”
Madagascar returns this evening to Gulli. In 2014, Première met its voice actors.
In 2014, First met several voice actors from Dreamworks: Alain Chabat, Manu Payet, Marina Foïs, Marie Gillain… Here is our interview with Anthony Kavanagh, while waiting to meet him this evening in Madagascarrebroadcast on Gulli.
Anthony, how do you play a zebra? I had already done quite a bit of dubbing before. Mushu for the Quebec version of Mulan, penguins, a firefly or even a horse so why not a zebra? But for that, I had to adapt to the original voice, that of Chris Rock – so, it’s not really my voice, it’s slightly more broken. A sort of cross between my own timbre and that of Patrick Bruel. Unfortunately, we don’t have to disguise ourselves to feel closer to the zebra, we are shown some unfinished extracts from the film so that we can get an idea of the story and the characters. And then, we have a stage director, Barbara, who gives us information on the characters and their attitudes. With her, everything is simple. Everything is good even when it’s not: “It was great, great. We’ll do it again anyway but it was perfect.” (laughs)
It sounds cool told like that. I love exercise. It requires a lot of work on the rhythm and at the same time, it’s a blast. You always have to be on top because the characters never weaken. And it’s lightning fast; It’s done in just 2-3 days. Afterwards, it depends on the films, we are given more or less freedom. It’s especially interesting for me because it allows me to try things that I don’t usually do at all: as much on stage, I’m quite free with my time and what I want to do, so much so here. requires real discipline. My only regret is that we can’t record with each other. We do this separately. And often, it’s me who starts so I rarely have a French voice to answer me.
Do the kids know you’re Marty? Not really, but when their parents tell them, there’s a flash in their eyes, it’s crazy. They are 5 to 10 years old and they ignore you, but when the parents explain that I am the zebra, there, suddenly, they are your biggest fans. We have the impression that they saw the Virgin.
Did you have the opportunity to see the American team of the film? Yes, we often promote together when they are in France. But it doesn’t go further than that. It actually cooled me down a little. I’m a huge fan of Chris Rock, he’s one of my favorite comedians along with Eddie Murphy. And we can’t say that he is very friendly. Every time I have met him, he remains very cold, not very friendly. That doesn’t take away from the admiration I have for him, but hey… it’s often said that you shouldn’t meet your idols and that’s somewhat confirmed. On the other hand, Jeffrey Katzenberg is a very cool guy. This guy is good: he has achieved everything, he is one of the most powerful in the business and he remains accessible with intact passion, like a kid. We feel that he respects our work, it’s very pleasant. He really takes the time to talk to us, but to speak sincerely, not to play the false friend. And it’s funny, because I’ve noticed at galas or other shows that French stars are much more snobbish while American ones talk less about it. It always amazed me.
Manu Payet, Kad Merad, Gad Elmaleh, Alain Chabat, you… is there a secret club of Dreamworks voice actors? (Terminator-style robot voice) You are all going to die. You know too much. They will exterminate you. The secret of Dreamworks has been revealed. I can’t speak anymore, ma’am. They are coming, they are coming to get you. They are on the stairs. (he bursts out laughing) No unfortunately, no club or friendship but that would be cool.
Favorite Dreamworks. I would say the first Shrek which was a real big surprise. It was so original with these brilliant valves for both kids and adults. We have the impression that they thought of parents who watch cartoons with their children. But also the third Madagascar because it was even crazier than the other two. I hope they make a Madagascar 4. Although they may have already said everything, I don’t know where they might go this time. In South America ? Or in China, well, it’s China. Or otherwise, they are bought by Qatar and become PSG players. Marty Zlatan, that sounds good, right?
Favorite replica. “I like to move it, move it” and a bit of everything that King Julien, the lemur, says. This character always makes me laugh with his Borat accent. I would have loved to do both voices actually.
A favorite scene. The scene where Marty ends up in a wig clowning around. It makes no sense ! It is very funny !
Collected by Perrine Quennesson
