By George Dickie
Dec 02nd, 2014
read full article here Zap2it
With the holidays in full swing, Kevin McKidd takes a break from his role of Dr. Owen Hunt on "Grey's Anatomy" to provide the voice of a dinosaur gladiator in a new Pixar animated special.
In "Toy Story That Time Forgot," airing Tuesday (Dec. 2), on ABC, McKidd voices Reptillus Maximus, one of a group of new toys for little Bonnie, deluded action figures that make Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of their fellow holdovers the centerpieces of their violent gladiator games.
McKidd, who had previously worked with Pixar on the 2012 animated theatrical feature "Brave," says his character, Reptillus, was inspired by one he played on the 2005-2007 HBO series "Rome."
Dec 02nd, 2014
read full article here Zap2it
With the holidays in full swing, Kevin McKidd takes a break from his role of Dr. Owen Hunt on "Grey's Anatomy" to provide the voice of a dinosaur gladiator in a new Pixar animated special.
In "Toy Story That Time Forgot," airing Tuesday (Dec. 2), on ABC, McKidd voices Reptillus Maximus, one of a group of new toys for little Bonnie, deluded action figures that make Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of their fellow holdovers the centerpieces of their violent gladiator games.
McKidd, who had previously worked with Pixar on the 2012 animated theatrical feature "Brave," says his character, Reptillus, was inspired by one he played on the 2005-2007 HBO series "Rome."
"[Pixar) very quickly told me the inspiration for the character was the character I played in 'Rome,' Lucius Vorenus -- his speech patterns and his attitudes and his sort of warrior nature as the kind of template for this character in the 'Toy Story' thing," the 41-year-old McKidd tells Zap2it in his native Scottish brogue. "This character is a very bombastic character, so everything he does is very loud and bombastic, so you just have to be careful that you don't blow out your vocal cords in the first 10 minutes ... . I had to rely on my theater training just to make sure that I didn't completely destroy my voice."
He also called on his background in radio to help maximize his vocal instrument.
"Back in Britain, before I moved here, radio plays are still very popular in the U.K," McKidd explains. "So when I was living there, I would regularly -- and actors in Britain do this all the time in between bigger gigs -- they'll do radio plays.
"And it really is a great training ground for this animated stuff because it's all coming through the voice -- there's no other way of expressing the situation than the voice," he says. "So I really enjoy getting to sort of keep those radio-play chops up by getting to do these voice work sessions."
Photo/Video credit: Getty Images/Pixar
SOURCE: http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/toy_story_that_time_forgot_kevin_mckidd_reptillus_rome_abc-2014-12
He also called on his background in radio to help maximize his vocal instrument.
"Back in Britain, before I moved here, radio plays are still very popular in the U.K," McKidd explains. "So when I was living there, I would regularly -- and actors in Britain do this all the time in between bigger gigs -- they'll do radio plays.
"And it really is a great training ground for this animated stuff because it's all coming through the voice -- there's no other way of expressing the situation than the voice," he says. "So I really enjoy getting to sort of keep those radio-play chops up by getting to do these voice work sessions."
Photo/Video credit: Getty Images/Pixar
SOURCE: http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/toy_story_that_time_forgot_kevin_mckidd_reptillus_rome_abc-2014-12
