Nick Wolfhard Talks THE LAST KIDS ON EARTH, BEYBLADE, and More
Image courtesy of Netflix
Nick Wolfhard stars as Jack Sullivan in The Last Kids on Earth from Atomic Cartoons and Netflix. I had the opportunity to ask the man some questions about the show as well as some of his other work and I’ve got his answers for you below.
Credit: Paige Kindlick
Tommy: Nick, thank you for taking the time to answer some questions. In The Last Kids on Earth, you voice the lead character Jack Sullivan who sort of leads his friends through a post-apocalyptic world. Given the current apocalypse-like vibes in the real world, have you felt a closer connection to Jack or do you think you're closer to a different character?
Nick: I'm definitely closest to Jack out of all the kids for sure in terms of hyperactivity and overall interests, though I'm definitely less "out there" when it comes to dangerous situations or extreme thrill seeks. I'm very much an introvert when it comes to social interaction (though of course I love to hang out with my friends when I'm not tired). For me, I lose energy when I hang out with people, my brother is the exact opposite in that he is very extroverted, so it's nice when he and my other friends help me break out of my shell in terms of my social comfort zone.
Tommy: When you were auditioning for the role of Jack, had you already read any of the books by Max Brallier? If not, have you since read any of them?
Nick: I read through one of the books while I was still recording and I definitely could see why kids like it so much, it’s very adventurous with a ton of flair and style to it. Even in terms of adult interest there are some nostalgic descriptions of things that both adults and kids grew up with. It’s really awesome that Max considers something for everyone when he writes the books, I hope that we have been doing the same with the series, people seem to be really enjoying it so I'm super happy about that.
Tommy: What has been your favorite part of The Last Kids on Earth?
Nick: Getting to work with so many amazing people, I became great friends with Montse Hernandez who voices June, and of course it was a total dream to work with our show runner Scott D Peterson, I grew up watching a lot of Phineas and Ferb which he wrote a lot of so it was so cool to actually get to work with him and have him direct me. Speaking of directing, our voice director James Corrigal is one of the absolute best people you can be directed by in the voice over industry, I firmly believe that. Everyone is so awesome to work with, shout out to Jamie Vander May, Joshua Pruett, and literally all of the cast and crew that were involved, I met and worked with a ton of them and they are good people.
Tommy: Many people have a plan in place for the zombie apocalypse, typically called a "Zombie Plan." Do you have one, and are you willing to share any of it with us?
Nick: I have a plan that involves a trail of sausages, a Rube Goldberg machine, and a wood chipper, in that exact order.
Tommy: A few years ago you voiced Yugo Nansui in Beyblade Burst. Have you ever been into collecting and/or playing with Beyblade either before, during, or even since working on the show? If so, what's your favorite kind?
Nick: If you're a kid like me who grew up in the early 2000s, Beyblade was the hotness. Even if you didn’t watch the show, you knew that super hype theme song that always gets you pumped up. Oh yeah and to answer your question, I did collect Beyblade as a kid. I LOVE the metal ones, I still have to find my character's Bey, Yegdrion I believe was the name of it. Anyway, recording that entire show was a blast, and getting to shout out LET IT RIP in the series was definitely something I can cross off on my bucket list.
Tommy: What's a dream project for you (it can be one you've actually heard of or just a pipe dream)?
Nick: I've always wanted to be involved in something video game related, I live in Vancouver so we don’t have nearly as much video game voice over work as LA for example. Mo-Cap is something I've really wanted to do for a while cause it's like on camera acting but with the emoting of voice over. If I had to pick a series that I'd love to work on, I honestly can't just choose one. Some of my favorite video game series are Ratchet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, and more, but honestly I’ll take anything haha. I love my job, so if the experience is fun, then I'm having fun
Tommy: Do you have any projects that fans should be looking forward to?
Nick: I was recently involved in a pilot on Adult Swim called “Smiling Friends” which aired a few weeks ago. Hopefully we get to do more of that cause I loved working on it. Other than that, there's some things in the works currently that I can't talk about, stuff that may happen, stuff that may not happen, meetings ahoy!