'Everybody Still Hates Chris' showrunner and executive producer Sanjay Shah and stars Terry Crews, Tichina Arnold, Tim Johnson Jr., Ozioma Akagha, Terrence Little Gardenhigh and Gunnar Sizemore chat with THR at San Diego Comic-Con. The cast and crew talk bringing the world of 'Everybody Hates Chris' into animation, reprising some of their roles and more.
00:00i saw deadpool jesus it kind of hurt my heart i was a little bit like
00:05we're gonna start confusing everything now there's gonna be iron man chapter one
00:09everybody's gonna be when uh deadpool died on the cross i was like oh man
00:14hey uh this is sanjay shah i'm the showrunner and executive producer of everybody still hates chris
00:26i'm here with the cast this is a reimagining of the iconic show everybody hates chris uh and uh and
00:35we're here with the hollywood reporter at san diego comic-con 2024 which parts of the live
00:40action show have been translated to this animated version and which parts are entirely new
00:45well uh we treated the original show as canon but this is a continuation of the original uh
00:54and what animation allowed us to do is really world build beyond what was capable in a live
01:00action show so you know the other you know beauty of and bringing this world into animation is being
01:07able to lean into the fantasy moments that this show is really known for so i hope that answers
01:12your question it's borrowing from the tone of the original uh and it's a continuation of the original
01:17while respecting the original but it is its own permutation of that show it's a brand new fresh
01:22version of that show terry and tashina you both are reprising your roles from the original show
01:29what made you want to come back to this world oh well what made me want to come back to this world
01:36was just everybody hates chris was an amazing show with amazing people not just in front of the camera
01:44but behind the camera as well and we had a great synergy we had lovely time working with each other
01:51but we actually were part of the process of these characters create being created and and culminating
01:58throughout the years the five five years four years we were on um amazing experience but go ahead
02:05terry no i gotta say this because what was very important to me is that we picked up picked up where
02:11we left off because i felt like it wasn't done when we were when that last episode aired we didn't know
02:19that was it like we were just going oh no like we were nervous and you you go 20 years and then
02:26to get the chance to do this again and when we read that script and i got to see all these people on
02:33our zooms together and i couldn't believe it i said we picked up right where we left off this is
02:40everybody hates chris but the next iteration and everybody still hates chris it's beautiful
02:45sanjay's done an amazing job at just keeping the the the no honestly keeping the the just the core the
02:54root the feel of what we already did and going in the booth with him i was just very excited because
03:02he was very just very conscious of what we had already laid down um as actors and here we are and it's
03:10very hard for me to try to do rochelle without moving so yeah because i was my character was so
03:18you know used to being physical so it was a little challenge but uh challenge very very much um uh you
03:25know accepted well i i want to also add the fact that you know tashina and i let me tell you it
03:34it changed my life forever because this is the woman who actually taught me how to act he loves
03:40me but that's his wife over there so he loves me i do love her i do love her and it was wild because
03:46she she uh hinted on this a little bit earlier but we developed these characters um these you know
03:52julius and rochelle came from our hearts yes and it's wild to me right now that i have grown men
04:01and women who come up to me all the time fully bearded men and women okay that are like hey i
04:08grew up on everybody i grew up on that show and i'm going what um and to see the impact over the years
04:17um and then another thing i have to mention is that the state of comedy has changed
04:21in a lot of ways um there were things we did on the show back then that was like whoa you can't do
04:27that now but in animation you can't in fact in animation you could push it you could actually
04:35get more in depth into what the show is like and let me tell you this thing is it's bigger than us
04:42uh it represents so much more i mean you're talking about chris rock his real family his real
04:50upbringing um and the good thing is you know he becomes one of the most famous superstars in the
04:56world so you could just be heartless when you when you go at him with comedy as a young man you know
05:03what i mean and i have to give it up everybody in this cast is it's so wild because as i hear it
05:09and i'm going oh my god these are like the same it just feels the same in every way shape and form
05:18for the rest of you what has it been like stepping into this world
05:20oh wow um well i mean for one it's an honor because well like these you know fully bearded grown
05:35men i as well grew up on that show so it's literally like a full circle moment now to
05:41be on the next part of it it's it's an honor to be able to work with such amazing people
05:47it's a surreal thing and i i can't feel anything but bless it's a blessing for real for real yeah i
05:53agree man it's a blessing it's crazy because this is one of my favorite shows and so like this is like
06:00a dream come true for me just paying homage to the original but like we go beyond that with look
06:06chris being 17 and everything like that following his journey and so i'm just look i'm excited for
06:12y'all to see it i'm excited i'm excited to get into the fun of it i mean the show in and of itself was
06:18always such and then it was it was nostalgic too because it's like okay that's that's exactly how
06:24i grew up like that's yes my dad all the jobs my mom crazy and then to you know to grow up watching
06:32it and then to come in and get to play in it and then get to share in this in this the this
06:38these legends these icons comic icon it's like
06:42i mean how
06:46he's okay he's okay but this icon especially as somebody who loves and enjoys doing comedy it's
06:54it's truly amazing yeah it feels so great adding to the legacy of a show that i feel
07:00everybody needs right now everybody still loves chris man no the show is um it's one of the few
07:07comedies that pushes the boundary but still has so much heart and you fall in love with the characters
07:12even if you're seeing them struggle you want to see them win um and there aren't a lot of comedies that
07:17are vulnerable like that so it's been fantastic feeling like we're adding to a great legacy tim
07:24you are voicing young chris have you gotten the chance to meet tyler and did he give you any
07:30advice on taking on this role i haven't got the chance to meet tyler tyler's the man
07:35he is the man oh look growing up watching him in the show um he inspires me as a performer just like
07:41watching him and all the other projects and you know he's killing it um so you know i i love that
07:48what he you know what he's doing and paying homage to him and what he's done um but yeah i think it's
07:54really cool that i got to you know do my thing in this and you know have my interpretation and i'm
08:01reprising this way did any of you get to record in the voiceover booth together or did you do all
08:05your scenes separately separate separate i gotta say you know we got together during the pandemic
08:13um our first time we actually read the first script together was all on zoom and to see you know a lot
08:21of people come back like jackie mazzarela um ernest thomas was on there jackie harry just you know
08:28there were there were a lot of established characters and beautiful actors and actresses
08:34that were all in you know that have been a part of this world that came back in that zoom and i was
08:40just like i was really emotional it was very very emotional but um we were just sitting here and
08:47talking like we all can we need to arrange where we can all get together and do it you know that way
08:53in person but now um having done so many episodes and we still have yet to actually look at everything
09:02you know what i mean so you know we're going to be seeing some things for the first time right
09:06along with the rest of the comic-con audience which is very exciting since we are at comic-con i want
09:13to have you answer some bucket questions from our wolverine bucket and you can just pull one out and
09:20answer it okay okay what's the best costume you've seen so far at comic-con i saw a costume but
09:36i think i think he was a homeless man so i don't know
09:39they dress nice over here so that may take it that may be the best
09:45it's eccentric it's interesting
09:49well i've said first of all i've seen a lot of deadpools but i i saw a mecca deadpool yesterday
09:56it was crazy this man like um and he had like like the prop guy written on the back of like his um
10:03his suit and i was like this is most definitely a prop person thing but like it it was crazy he had
10:08these stilts on he like you could tell he detailed the mechanics of the legs these ginormous so it was
10:14crazy he put i can imagine he put many many hours into that costume so i think i think that one that
10:21was probably the best costume i saw well i i don't know if it was the best but it was definitely the
10:25most memorable i saw deadpool jesus it kind of hurt my heart i was a little bit like i'm gonna start
10:32confusing everything now there's gonna be iron man chapter one everybody's gonna be when uh
10:37deadpool died on the cross i was like oh man we all gotta stop now you know what i mean i think we
10:43went too far
10:44put it in idiocracy too
10:48that hurt my heart it did what is your all-time favorite cinematic universe
10:57star wars that was the first big movie i saw like because yeah i'm born in 1969 so star wars the first
11:09star wars was pretty big for us pretty big x-men it was excellent for me the old school dun dun dun dun dun
11:17dun dun dun dun that's my that's my favorite for sure um i think mine is definitely avengers marvel
11:24avengers because um i remember i still remember the first time i went to the theater to see the first
11:29avengers i remember we were all in a circle and that music was playing dun dun dun dun dun du
11:35dun dun dun dun dun dun dun it was like half of america was like avengers assemble and they just
11:42went off yo yo crazy i think we got all the eras
11:46oh me
11:51see this is not a universe
11:53but anything spider-man
11:56Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Anything Spartan.
11:59Mine is a drum line. It's not a universe at all, but I wish they would make it one because my son's a drummer and I would like him to to have that.
12:08Everything Matt Groening, The Simpsons, Futurama, all that was like my childhood.
12:12It's a big reason why I do voiceover, because that like made that I still watch The Simpsons on repeat.
12:18We are so happy to be in this room and be at Comic-Con because it's just a wonderful world to be in.
12:23We get to be in the studio and just create, create, but not just physically, but through our voices.
12:30And if you think about it, sound is heard everywhere. So even if you don't see us, you'll always hear us.
12:36So it's fun. A lot, a lot of fun. And it's cool to be a part of this new world.
12:39This is new. This is my first Comic-Con, so I'm very excited.
Be the first to comment