Hollywood Movies

Shia LaBeouf and Mario Cantone Interview-Surf's Up Premiere

with Rebecca Murray

Shia LaBeouf, one of the busiest young actors in Hollywood, provides the voice of up-and-coming surfer Cody Maverick in the animated penguin movie Surf's Up. Mario Cantone plays a hyperactive sandpiper who helps him follow his dreams.

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Transcript: Shia LaBeouf and Mario Cantone Interview-Surf's Up Premiere

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the Los Angeles premiere of Surf's Up.

Shia LaBeouf (The Voice of 'Cody Maverick')

How much fun was it playing a penguin?

Shia LaBeouf: "It's the most fun I've ever had in my life. It was great. It didn't feel like I was playing a penguin; it just felt like I was having fun with Jeff Bridges."

Did they let you go off the script a lot? Did you come up with a lot of stuff on your own?

Shia LaBeouf: "Yeah, must of it's not the script. I mean, we would get script pages with like two paragraphs on it and then you would just go off. We had a really good cast and everybody's really skilled, so we just had a lot of fun."

What's the appeal of a movie about penguins who can surf?

Shia LaBeouf: "Well it's much more than just penguins surfing. This is a hybrid animation. This is a type of animation that's never been done before in this reality world type of, documentary/mockumentary type of thing. It's never been done. So the fact that it's a hybrid animation is more appealing, I would think, than the fact that it's penguins. I mean, it could be anything – honestly. It's in a cool world with the penguins and penguins are the new puppies, but you know, again, this is five years in the making and it's wild how many penguin movies have come out all of a sudden."

What can the audience expect?

Shia LaBeouf: "Something new, something fun, refreshing. It's really exciting for me to have my mother watch it who doesn't really like kiddie things, you know? And she's going to really enjoy it because it's not like any other animation ever made. There's a lot of adult things in there, too. You know, not crazy adults, not G-string divas… It's still an animation and people seem to really enjoy it."

Mario Cantone (The Voice of 'Mikey')

Is there going to be a sequel?

Mario Cantone: "Of Surf's Up? Yeah, I think so. I think they're definitely looking at a sequel for sure. Yeah, there needs to be a sequel because I need a musical number. I want a musical number in this movie. I begged them, begged them! They wouldn't do it."

Did you just start singing in the booth?

Mario Cantone: "I'm a mellowmaniac; I break into song. That's the definition of a mellowmaniac. I just break into song so, yeah. It was a blast to do this movie and it turned out brilliantly. It's amazing. I'm an animation buff. I know my stuff when it comes to animation. I've been obsessed with it since I came out of the womb. I can't draw but I know [animation] and it's the first CGI one that I think is beautiful to look at, besides the fact that it has a lot of heart and it's groundbreaking and it's improvisational and it's brilliant and funny. But it looks soft and it's gorgeous. And the way they handle the weight of the penguin and the muscularity of the animals, it's on the money and the backgrounds are gorgeous."

How easy was it to get into this character?

Mario Cantone: "I just had to be the neurotic me and I had to be told the plot because you're doing this as you're going along. You know, it's like, 'What happened here? Who is he? Who am I talking about?' You go in every so often so you forget kind of what's going on. But it was a blast."