Exclusive Interview: Nick Wolfhard Talks Adult Swim’s “Smiling Friends” And The Bright Future For Canadian-Produced Animation

He’s still young, but actor Nick Wolfhard has already developed quite the resume having done voice roles on the English dubbed adaptation of World Trigger and most recently Adult Swim’s Smiling Friends.  But, it’s hard to deny the swell of animation coming in from Canada which turns on and off like a faucet it seems. In fact, there was a time when Adult Swim Canada wasn’t just acquired content from it’s American brethren, and instead had a hefty lineup. That said, Vancouver still remains a hot bed for producers and it’s only going to be a matter of time before someone follows the likes of Corner Gas Animated and the recently announced Doomlands and a wave of content can make it’s way to the United States.

All of this will make the likes of Nick very, very, busy in the years to come. So, we caught up with the budding star where we asked him about projects that he’d love to work on, some of his influences, and a whole lot more.

John Schwarz: Word on the street is that you have always been a huge fan of animation and anime, what are some of your favorite series growing up and what are you watching today?

Nick Wolfhard: Growing up my favorite animated series were SpongeBob, Teen Titans, Ben 10, Jimmy Neutron, Codename: Kids Next door,  Metalocalypse, The Boondocks, and so many more. Later when I was in middle and high school I went back and watched both old and new shows that I hadn’t seen before. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of my favorite TV series of all time to this day, for example. I was the perfect age when I was introduced to Invader ZIM as well (middle school) and that new movie on Netflix was spectacular, same with the new Hey Arnold! Movie, both knocked it out of the park. The Rocko’s Modern Life movie I still need to watch, I went to the panel for it, and since me and my brother are such huge fans, Carlos Alazraqui (voice of Rocko) was nice enough to send a video message in character since my brother couldn’t make it. As for anime, I’m not too picky when it comes to the genre, but my favorites seem to be very diverse in terms of content:  No Ippo (boxing/sports) Toradora (Romance) Cowboy Bebop (Space Western) Steins-Gate (Sci Fi) Gurren Lagann (Mecha) Gintama (Comedy) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Shonen Action) are all huge favorites of mine, just to name a few. In terms of anime movies, Redline and Akira are major faves, and you can’t go wrong with anything made by Satoshi Kon and Hayao Miyazaki, either.

How did you get into acting? 

In middle school and the start of high school I wasn’t very happy, thinking back on it.  I just felt stuck. But I loved doing improv, and drama class, and I always loved animation.  One day my parents told me that there were voice over classes in town, and I did more research into learning about how massive the voice acting scene in Vancouver was. So I took a couple classes with voice actors such as Kirby Morrow (my mentor in a lot of ways), Michael Daingerfield and Michael Dobson.  Kirby helped produce a demo for me and sent it to his agent, and from there the rest is history.

To segue into what I was talking about before, Gurren Lagann was also a huge influence in getting me motivated, cause the main message of the show is to throw logic aside in terms of your goals: if you want to do something then do it, and commit and even if you fail, even if you experience hardships, you’ll get stronger from them, and there’s nowhere to go but up. I always loved animation and video games, And what better job could I ask for than to be a part of them, ya know?

Vancouver over the last couple of years has become quite the hot spot for animation production. Having lived in Vancouver, have you noticed this and, if so, has that being a longtime fan of animation excited for the future?

Totally. I researched how massive the voice acting scene was in Vancouver back when I was just starting to figure out how I wanted to do it.It’s still so exciting to be in the same booth as so many actors I grew up listening to as a kid – just watching them do their thing is so inspiring. It took a while for me to get used to the fact that we are all peers now.

Canadian-produced original animation is rare but there have been some recent wins. Corner Gas has become super successful. Canadian-based producers like Mark Little (Gary and His Demons), Pete Williams (Undergrads), and others are starting to show up. Do you think there are people in Canada crazy enough to give us that next “Rick and Morty” or “Big Mouth”?

Absolutely, especially since streaming services are giving Canadian animation creators so much freedom. Clone High by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse, 21 Jump Street, Lego Movie) was originally a Canadian co-production with MTV, for example, and look how huge they are now! On top of that, Ed, Edd and Eddy was pretty much made all right here in Vancouver even while being a Cartoon Network original series. The Last Kids on Earth, which I’m part of, is a co-production with so many different people involved, both in LA and Vancouver. That’s not to say that there can’t be successful all Canadian animated series without co-productions (just look at the Total Drama franchise for example).  I just think its super cool that everyone is working together to create something super awesome.

Recently, you and your brother were part of the pilot episode of Smiling Friends pilot for Adult Swim, how did you guys come to be a part of the show and what were some of your takeaways?

Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack originally had dinner with us and a couple other people in the animation field (who are rad btw).  They said they wanted us to be a part of something they were working on. At the time it was still in the very early stages, but eventually an entire bible was written and about a year and some change later we recorded the pilot in my bedroom and at a studio in Vancouver, with Zach and Michael on the line. It’s by far one of the most fun recording sessions I’ve ever had, and the fact that we were such huge fans of their work growing up was also a plus. It’s so cool that we get to work together with them and even become friends (Zach even came to my birthday party as a surprise!).  I’m really hoping we get to do more.

Rumor has it that you and your brother are also working on another animated series that you would both star in. Can you give us any additional light on the series e.g. is this a series intended for adults? Animation style? Etc.

Everything is in the starting phases and plans are still being worked out; if it DOES happen, it’s gonna be awhile.

Aside from the previously mentioned, what are some upcoming projects that you can talk about that you are working on?

I’m waiting to hear back on a bunch of different projects since getting callbacks for them, and on top of that there’s some meetings I have to do regarding….some other stuff. It’s been pretty awesome despite the pandemic.  Like millions of other people, it’s almost impossible to make a living right now, but it’s going to end eventually, and we will all be back at it.

Do you have any dream franchises that you would like to guest voice on, anime or otherwise?

Honestly, as long I’m having fun and I get to work with super cool people, I’m fine with working on pretty much anything….but if I did have a choice, I would definitely love to be a part of a Ratchet and Clank game, Final Fantasy would be awesome as well, and in terms of anime, being a part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is definitely a bucket list role of mine.