Actor Ben Whishaw just confessed that he has a “weird relationship” with the ‘Paddington’ movies. The 44-year-old actor voiced the titular bear in the popular family series but feels almost like it “has nothing to do with” him.
Paddington’s Appeal and Fan Impact
- Minimal Contribution: Speaking to Sunday Times Culture magazine, Whishaw explained his perspective: “I have a weird relationship to it. Because I am very aware that I just contribute one tiny part to it, I almost feel like it has nothing to do with me.”
- Finding Gratification: He expressed: “But the films are lovely and it’s gratifying to hear how much children love it.”
- Moving Fan Story: Ben shared an emotional encounter: “I bumped into somebody who told me about their very autistic grandson and how he finds lots of life quite difficult, but he is absolutely obsessed and, apparently, calmed by Paddington 2. He watches it over and over and goes into some other place. That’s wonderful.”
AI and the Extraordinary Human Voice
When asked about his opinion on AI potentially taking over voice acting, Ben asserted that nothing can replace the “extraordinary” impact of a human voice.
- The Essence of Voice: “A human voice is an extraordinary thing,” he said.
- Emotional Connection: He elaborated: “Like if you lost someone … When one loses someone, not hearing their voice again is one of the things that you are so pained about. Someone is completely present in their voice — I don’t think it’s a small thing at all. It’s an amazing thing, someone’s voice.”
Upcoming Project: ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’
The ‘Black Doves’ star can next be seen in ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’, in which he plays the acclaimed photographer. He was happy to shine a spotlight on the artist and his work in the Ira Sachs directorial.
- Hujar’s Artistry: He praised the photographer’s work: “Lots of people don’t know about Peter. Yet he was extraordinary. He didn’t like things to look self-consciously arty. He had this enormous sensitivity and way about him that enabled people to feel really intimate, because his photos have this amazing nakedness.”
- Documenting the AIDS Crisis: Ben, a gay man who grew up in the nineties, was fascinated by the changes in Hujar’s work, who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. He concluded: “Great art was made by queer people in that time, and what is sad about Peter is his images document that transition from the Seventies through to the Eighties. You see the fear and absolute tragedy of the losses of that period.”
