There’s a new Disney princess in town and by her side is a sassy rabbit named Clover! On Saturday, Disney Junior Canada debuts the new animated series SOFIA THE FIRST! The show follows the adventures of Princess Sofia, voiced by Ariel Winter (MODERN FAMILY, PHINEAS AND FERB) as she balances her new royal life. Along the way, her furry sidekick Clover, voiced by Wayne Brady (LET’S MAKE A DEAL) offers some much needed comic relief. The Magazine caught up with Wayne Brady to chat about the show, his acting career and improvisation.
How would you describe your character?
Clover is an incredibly cute bunny. When you look at him, he has this big beautiful eyes and his nose is so shiny. He looks like the typical friendly animal. When you touch him, he freaks out and this voice comes out of him that sounds like a dude who drives a cab in New York City. He has 15 lbs of attitude on a 1 lb body. It made for a great comedy. At the end of the day, he talks a big game, is really brash and is always hungry, but as the series goes on, he loves Sofia and turns out to be her constant sidekick.
You’ve done some voice acting before. What keeps drawing you back into the voice acting world?
Well, A… it’s great when someone calls you to give you a job and B… as an actor, voice acting is one of the biggest tests. It’s one thing to be able to be on camera and have the audience laugh at you because of your face or body, it’s another thing to have to use your voice and the nuances combined with a cartoon.
Were there any moments of improvisation?
A lot of Clover’s dialogue came out of improvising off what was already on the page. The writers did such a great job on it. They trusted me enough for me to be able to take things about Clover’s attitude and improvise their lines with my own take on it. They took all of the ad libs and would leave big gaps for me. I think it was 50/50.
Being a longtime Disney fan, what is your favourite Disney movie?
I love the ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS! You don’t grow up in Orlando, Florida and escape being a fan of Disney.
What advice would you give to an aspiring actor?
First and foremost, the biggest thing that you have to do is be fearless. There are plenty of things to be scared of in real life. The stage is actually one of the safest places you can be, so I would just embrace that. Just be completely fearless and jump out there. Be prepared. Throw ego and looking stupid right out the window. As long as you’re not afraid of looking stupid, you’ll have the best time ever and probably prosper because of it.
Do you have an area of entertainment that you still want to explore or revisit?
Absolutely. I was on Broadway a few years ago in the musical CHICAGO playing Billy Flynn. As a kid, I trained my entire career to go to Broadway. It was all I ever wanted to do. I want to go back to Broadway, I want to originate a role and I want a Tony nomination. I have four Emmys and a bunch of nominations, including a Grammy nomination, but I think the thing that would really mean the most to me is a Tony. I’ve done a lot of sitcom work, but I’ve never had my own Sitcom, so I’d love that. That’s stuff that’s on my life list. Knock on wood, I hope I have a long time to make them happen. I am going to start checking them off one-by-one.
Thank you, Wayne Brady!
Be sure to check out SOFIA THE FIRST when it premieres in Canada on Saturday, January 19 at 7 p.m. ET on Astral’s Disney Junior! Following the premiere, SOFIA THE FIRST will air in its regular timeslot, weekends at 11:30 a.m. ET!