“I don’t think I’ve processed it. You can see the numbers, you can hear about it, and read about it, and it’s still so cool. I don’t quite know how to take it in, what we’ve been able to achieve.” Said Lee Majdoub.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now available on Digital and will become available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 9. In celebration of the home entertainment release, Majdoub, who plays Agent Stone in the movies, joined Movieweb to chat about their making and working alongside Jim Carrey and Jeff Fowler.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has proven to be a huge success, claiming the title of the highest-grossing video-game movie of all time. It earned that title after dethroning none other than the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie.
To be a part of a franchise that is doing such a good job with these characters and telling lovely stories, and an incredible team… that’s what it’s all about.
Agent Stone and Dr. Robotnik
“Agent Stone is the loyal, right-hand man to Dr. Robotnik. A big admirer and fan of his. He’s willing to go to any lengths to help the doctor out.” Said Majdoub, also noting how capable Agent Stone is and how that results in the admiration. “I think they identify with each other on a level that not many people understand, whether it’s that Stone sees something in the doctor that he sees in himself, or that Stone is really the only character that Robotnik gives any responsibility or trust to.”
Jim Carrey plays Dr. Robotnik, who is a household name for a list of impressive roles. Majdoub had great things to say about working with him, from joking around behind the scenes to coming up with ideas that they tried out. “Working with Jim was surreal… it’s a continual learning experience. I got to learn so much from seeing him do his thing. When you’re there in person and see his process and see how focused he is on the detail, and how important the story and character are to him, and the specificity and collaboration that he wants to have. He’s really gracious and generous to us. He always wants to give you everything, so you can also give him everything. It’s the best-case scenario working with him as a scene partner.”
As for their ideas, Majdoub said they’d “bring them to Jeff, and more often than not Jeff laughs immediately and is like, ‘Yeah, let’s try it out.’ On this film, more than in the first one, a lot of what we did was already written in. And then once we had all that done and figured out, then we start to build on it.”
Working with Director Jeff Fowler
“I can’t even put into words the amount of responsibility he has,” said Majdoub about Fowler, the director of both Sonic movies. “The amount of stuff that must be going through his mind as far as the CGI elements, the live-action elements, and all of it is pre-figured out with storyboards so he knows where Sonic is going to be, where Knuckles and Tails are, what they’re going to do, where the explosions are going to go… So, there’s a lot of trust coming in.”
He continued, commenting on how Fowler was able to provide him with the best direction “100 percent of the time. He’s the captain of the ship and I don’t think these movies would be what they are without him… He’s a huge fan of the material, and you can see that his love for it is there. So, it’s coming in knowing that I’m working with someone that’s going to guide me and I trust it, and we’re going to knock it out of the park for staying true to the material and caring for these characters.”
As for Majdoub’s love for the franchise, he mentioned that it started even before the movies when he got a Genesis Sega console, and it came with Sonic. “I’ve really got a soft spot for Sonic and still love playing it, and looking back on it really fondly. To be a part of it years and years later, it's wild.” Looking forward, he added that he doesn’t have any confirmation but would love to return for any future movies.