Fans ofNick Wolfhard probably know that he voices Jack in Atomic Cartoons' excellent and action-packed animated Netflix seriesThe Last Kids on Earth. Those savvy fans likely also know that Season 2 of the adaptation ofMax Brallier's epic book series, from showrunnerScott Peterson, returns to the streaming service on Friday, April 17th. But what you mightnot have known is that Wolfhard teamed up with brotherFinn Wolfhard for a completely bonkers animated short for Adult Swim from co-creatorsZach HadelandMichael Cusack, and it's definitely not for kids.
The first (and only, for now) episode ofSmiling Friendstells the story of "Desmond’s Big Day Out", in which a small company dedicated to bringing happiness to the world receives a simple request to help a woman’s unhappy son smile again, but the job turns out to be more complicated than it seems. Nick gave us the inside scoop on how he and Finn came to be involved with the show during our chat aboutThe Last Kids on Earth;look for more on that shortly. In the meantime, you canwatch the insane 14-minute animated shortSmiling Friendsover at Adult Swim now, and I absolutely recommend you do so. Not only do you get to treat yourself to some nutso storytelling, you'll have some context for the chat snippet with Wolfhard, which you can read below. Stay tuned for the full interview--including audio, which you won't want to miss--tomorrow!
Smiling Friends. You teased it the last time. Now, it was out on Adult Swim very recently. How did that come about, and what exactly did you and your brother play in that short?
Nick Wolfhard:Smiling Friendshas been in the works since before I gotLast Kids on Earth. I remember, two or three years ago, we were talking to Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack at a dinner. They wanted to do a project together, they weren't really sure what [but] they wanted to have us involved. They were just kind of spitballing ideas to us. Eventually, the bible toSmiling Friendswas written. They got us involved. I remember we recordedSmiling FriendsJanuary of last year. We got involved because we're huge fans of Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack. They laid out the groundwork, they showed us the script, they gave us our characters.
We played the Bliblies together. We played the purple creatures that end up invading everything and going nuts. We originally recorded way more material for the Bliblies. Hopefully there'll be more and they'll use more of the Bliblies stuff we recorded. I remember I actually ended up recording a lot. And then Finn plays the guy in the wall who's on the computer. What's funny is they actually pitch-shifted Finn to be lower, so you can never tell it's him; my mom couldn't even tell it was him until we told her. I play Pim's cousin Graham Nelly; he used to be a Tech Deck champion, but he's fallen on hard times.
It was a lot of fun. It was one of the most fun recording sessions I've ever had. I just recorded it in my room, actually. I remember, we had to record some drowning sounds, electrocution sounds, so I had a bottle of water, and I would just like gargle the water ... I was a mess. We were just laughing, cracking up; it was so much fun. We got more than that, we got more crazy situations, but that's all you're gonna get for now!
Be sure to check out Smiling Friends on Adult Swim, return here tomorrow for more from Wolfhard on The Last Kids on Earth, and tune in to Netflix tomorrow for Season 2 of the Atomic Cartoons series!
