How Keanu Reeves joined the SpongeBob-verse
Writer and director of The SpongeBob Movie, Tim Hill, reveals how they got Keanu Reeves to join the cast.
Video Transcript
- Just call me Sage.
- Good name.
- I'm made out of sage and I am a sage, so it works out pretty well.
ETHAN ALTER: Well, Tim, to start with, we got to address the Keanu in the room. How did how did you get Keanu Reeves to be in "SpongeBob"? What was the story behind that?
TIM HILL: Well, he's a big fan of mine. No, actually, we wrote-- I wrote the part for him. Just had him in mind, because we wanted the spirit guide character who's a little bit of a sensei type character. And it just kept coming up Keanu in my head. So we started storyboarding it.
And then we started drawing pictures of Keanu and then we put photos of him. You know, because it was part of the live action. it just became a momentum thing.
One of our producers knew him and so reached out. And when he-- when he saw some of the stuff that we were contemplating for his role, he was like, yep, I'll do it. So we lucked out, honestly.
ETHAN ALTER: Did you have a backup plan in case he didn't come through? Like, did you have someone else in mind?
TIM HILL: No. Never have a backup plan, that's my motto. Just go for it.
ETHAN ALTER: Nice. So even if you would-- like, would you maybe have lost the character if he hadn't said yes? Or was it-- or you would've found some way to do it?
TIM HILL: We would find some way to do it, for sure. But it just was so him that we would have had to totally rewrite it.
ETHAN ALTER: Right.
REGGIE WATTS: I would have done it.
ETHAN ALTER: Same.
REGGIE WATTS: I mean, Keanu and I are so, so similar. And so it wouldn't have been that surprising. It would have been disappointing because it was such an obvious thing.
ETHAN ALTER: What was that like having Keanu in the mix? And did you get a chance to record at all with him?
TOM KENNY: Keanu is my spirit guide in life, for real. But, no, it's funny. Like one of the many irritating bummers about this pandemic, you know, is that, you know, the movie had to get put on hold for a long time and now it's being released, you know, streaming on March 4, like every movie is now. One thing that we didn't get to have was to meet Keanu at those screenings, and at those red carpet things, and at those junkets.
You know, I was looking forward to talking to him. But I still have not gotten to do it. Like a lot of times, the live action actors in a movie, you know, their stuff a shot in a different location and in a different place and we're doing voice over in the recording studio somewhere, where they would never really be.
So a lot of times that's when you meet them. You know, is like at the premiere go, wow, we worked together on this movie and I'm just meeting you for the first time. You know? But, yeah. I look forwarding to meeting--
RODGER BUMPASS: Well, at least you get to meet them.
TOM KENNY: --Keanu someday.
RODGER BUMPASS: I've never met any of the celebrities that have done cameos in our show.
ETHAN ALTER: Not fair.
TOM KENNY: You, come on.
RODGER BUMPASS: Not one.
ETHAN ALTER: Bill, for you, you get to have some scenes with Keanu Reeves in the movie. I know you weren't actually lead. To get a chance to work with him, were you happy to know that Keanu and his spirit guy was guiding you and SpongeBob in the film?
BILL FAGERBAKKE: It was so much fun. Because, you know, when we were reading it, the story at first, it was like, so this will be like a Keanu Reeves or something. It's like, yeah all right.
So you're always waiting for like, you know, very much not Keanu Reeves. And it actually was Keanu Reeves. So we were all delighted because it was so perfect.
CLANCY BROWN: Which pill did you take?
CLANCY BROWN: Right. What is it? The blue? I know. I haven't seen them in a long time.
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