“So You Think You Can Dance” winner Jeanine Mason didn’t think an animated series would present much of a workout challenge.
But when she got into the voiceover booth for “WondLa,” a new AppleTV+ series, “I was sweating and jumping and truly labored,” she says. “I was literally bouncing the entire time.”
Based on a series of books, “WondLa” follows Mason’s character, Eva, a teenage girl who has been raised in a state-of-the-art bunker by a robot named Muthr. On her 16th birthday, Eva is forced onto the surface of a planet called Orbona. There, she tries to connect with other humans and find her place in the world.
A host of creatures become friends with Eva and Muthr when they break into a new world in "WondLa."
While Mason was aware of the books by Tony DiTerlizzi, she didn’t know how the characters would look or where the animated series might go. “They kept it a secret as it unfolded,” she says. “The amazing thing about getting to do an animated series is it takes so long to make and it’s wildly collaborative – more so than on-camera stuff. It’s pieced together over time; when they didn’t know what would happen, we would figure it out together sometimes.”
Teri Hatcher, who voices Muthr, says producers and directors were very specific about what they wanted from her performance. “I think she has this germ of emotion that grows in her,” she says. “I found that very charming and a little bit complicated to play.”
How to do that? “You try to figure out what parts of you could have any emotion, if at all,” Hatcher says. “And then, you think about the future. What would a robot sound like?”
Muthr’s programming was designed to keep a child safe, nurtured and learning. “Those are relatable, motherly agendas, but they wouldn’t be dissimilar to what might be programmed into a caretaking robot.”
Actor Teri Hatcher is 59.
Already, Hatcher says, parents have devices that serve as babysitters. “I personally don’t think that’s great, but I also have a lot of empathy with why parents end up doing. It’s a balance.”
Like Mason, she didn’t have other actors to play off. “I might have seen a rough sketch of Muthr initially, but I think it sort of evolved. It wasn’t until the end that I finally saw a trailer and (thought), ‘Wow, this is amazing. You almost forget you’re in it because you’re looking at everybody else’s amazing performances.”
With “Coraline,” another animated film, Hatcher got to see what the characters looked like before she started because it employestop-motion techniques. “The animation was more arduous – just individual people knitting tiny, tight sweaters to put on puppets. ‘Coraline’ took longer” and found the Golden Globe-winning actress playing another mother. “Some mothers are good and some are not so good,” she says with a smile.
Mason
For Mason, “WondLa” is a dream job. “Every actor I know is desperately trying to get into voice (work) and it’s tough. I sent sound samples for years, just hoping to get something.” She landed a role in “Trolls,” then won the lead in this new series. “It’s the closest I’ve had to a 9-to-5, going in every day and recording, recording, recording. It was so fun.”
A fan of animation (“Finding Nemo,” “Toy Story” and “Monsters Inc.” are among her favorites), the “Roswell, New Mexico” star obsessed over the films, practicing each of the voices. “That was my lifeblood growing up. They gave me the idea to become an actor eventually.”
To be part of something new, “a young Latina navigating the world…is so meaningful to me. I can’t wait for young people to watch it.”
And dancing? The “WondLa” star says she’ll keep doing it. “I couldn’t quit…even I wanted to.”
“WondLa” begins June 28 on AppleTV+.
Sioux City Journal entertainment reporter Bruce Miller talks with Teri Hatcher who voices the part of Muthr in the animated series WondLa.
Eva, left, voiced by Jeanine Mason, and Muthr, voiced by Teri Hatcher, explore new worlds in "WondLa."
Jeanine Mason provides the voice of Eva in "WondLa," a new AppleTV+ animated series.
