Sonic the Hedgehog 3: We interview Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter & more!

We had the chance to sit down with the cast of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and even ask them what their favorite Sonic games are!

By Jay Saint G

December 20th 2024, 12:02pm

Last Updated on December 26, 2024

Growing up as a fan of video games, I never thought I’d live to see the day when Sonic The Hedgehog would become a box office star and a household name (especially in the years when the “Blue Blur” had all those bad 3D outings). It felt like it was yesterday when we got that awful first trailer with Coolio’s Gangsta Paradise with Sonic himself having that horrendous design. Then when the internet rightfully so lost their damn minds, Paramount and Sega actually listened to us fans!

Sonic is a character that on paper SHOULD NOT WORK but somehow Paramount Pictures made it work. And I have been a diehard fan of the films from the jump. So fast forward to now when Paramount Pictures reached out to us here at JoBlo I was stoked at the opportunity to attend the premiere at the AMC Theater in New York City.

As movie fans, it’s very common for us to expect a third outing of a trilogy or franchise to be a letdown. But that was not the case for Sonic The Hedgehog 3 which I can confidently say is the best of the franchise so far (check out our review)! Mainly due to the addition of Keanu Reeves as Shadow The Hedgehog in what was adapted to screen faithfully.

So after the premiere of Sonic The Hedgehog 3, I was able to sit down with the cast of the film including Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, and director Jeff Fowler.

Schwartz, whom other staff members of JoBlo interviewed in the past was a blast to talk to, shared with us his excitement of working with Keanu. I also had to ask him, as one of the definitive voices of Sonic, if he had ever spoken with Jaleel White, who famously voiced him in the 90s cartoon. James Marsden and Tika Sumpter who have become staples of the franchise play Sonic’s adopted family Tom and Maddie shared with us what their characters went through in the third movie, even joking around about the character “Little Tom” which I don’t want to spoil too much here. Finally, I had the opportunity to chat with director Jeff Fowler who went into the details of casting Keanu Reeves and the return of Jim Carrey. Of course, I had to ask him if there are other Sega properties he could take on and I asked the entire crew what their favorite Sonic game was.

Check out the whole interview embedded above!