Sonic the Hedgehog 2’s Colleen O’Shaugnessey Talks Taking Tails to the Big Screen

Colleen O’Shaughnessey is the only voiceover artist from the video games to reprise the role for the movies as the voice of Sonic’s pal Tails.

Paramount Pictures

Moving from the video game world to a big screen blockbuster has been quite the experience for voiceover artist Colleen O’Shaughnessy. Previously voicing Tails in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise, O’Shaughnessey reprised the role for the new sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which just recently premiered in theaters. With Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic and Idris Elba debuting as Knuckles, O’Shaughnessey is the only voice actor from the video games to reprise her role for the live-action movies.

O’Shaughnessey opened up about the transition in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly to help promote the film. She says that it’s not only a big deal for her, but for the entire voiceover community as well. The voice of Tails mentions how rare it is for this to happen with any voice actor and makes it clear that she feels very fortunate to be in this situation. As O’Shaughnessey explains:

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“It’s really huge for me, and it’s huge for the voiceover community. I can’t tell you how many of them have reached out to me, and they’re genuinely excited. That is the best thing about the voiceover community: We are all rooting for each other. While it’s a huge win for me, it’s a huge win for all of us. I just got a text in all caps with a million exclamation points from one of my friends about it this morning. It’s just very exciting and unusual. I’ve been doing this for a really long time, and I had no illusions that I would get to do this movie. It just doesn’t often happen. I feel so fortunate; it’s amazing.”

Getting voice actors from video games into their movie adaptations happens rarely, but it also happened recently. In the film Uncharted, still playing in movie theaters, a cameo can be seen of actor Nolan North, who voiced Tom Holland’s Nathan Drake character in the original video games. While he was not playing the same character, it was a fun nod to the source material for the fans of the franchise.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Is Proving to Be a Hit Like the Original

Paramount Pictures

The first Sonic the Hedgehog film was a big hit when it was released just prior to the pandemic shutting down theaters in the early months of 2020. Directed by Jeff Fowler, the film sscored more than $319 million with mostly positive reviews, considered by many gamers as one of the best video game adaptations. This success warranted the sequel which just premiered in theaters. Reportedly, Sonic 2 has been approaching nearly $70 million for its opening weekend, which will by far put it in the No. 1 spot.

Fowler returned to direct Sonic the Hedgehog 2 along with screenwriters The sequel features the voices of Ben Schwartz, Colleen O’Shaugnessey, and Idris Elba. James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Natasha Rothwell, and Adam Pally also star. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now playing in movie theaters worldwide.

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