Ben Schwartz on playing Sonic the Hedgehog, Jean-Ralphio, and more

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2020

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Parks and Recreation's Jean-Ralphio! Star Wars' BB-8! And, now the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog! We're joined by Ben Schwartz. Ben's big break came in 2010 with a small recurring role on Parks and Recreation. Jean-Ralphio was a character who only showed up a few times a year – but he was one of the most memorable characters on the show. We'll chat at length about his role on the show. You can hear his voice work alongside Jim Carrey and James Marsden in Sonic The Hedgehog, the new blockbuster that just hit theaters. We'll chat about his long time fandom of the video game series. Plus, we'll have him describe some truly cursed Sonic the Hedgehog online fan art.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:13.6	I'm Jesse Thorn, it's Bullseye.
0:22.6	So far in his career, Ben Schwartz has seen two big bricks.
0:26.0	The first one came in 2010.
0:28.4	He got a little part on the show Parks and Recreation.
0:31.3	He played Jean-Ralfillot Sapperstein, an underachieving club kid who personified both confidence
0:38.5	and chaos.
0:40.8	Within a couple years, Ben's character went from a beloved guest star to a genuine sensation.
0:46.5	He is in gifts.
0:47.8	He is in clips.
0:49.2	Our production fellow Jordan Cowling has told us he is a TikTok meme.
0:54.2	Then a couple of years ago, Ben got another big break this time.
0:58.4	It was an opportunity to play one of the most iconic fictional characters of all time.
1:04.0	Sonic the Hedgehog.
1:05.7	Yeah, that's right.
1:07.0	Ben is starring alongside Jim Carrey and James Marston in Sonic the Hedgehog, the new blockbuster
1:13.2	that just hit theaters.
1:15.0	It's truly the role of a lifetime.
1:18.8	Or perhaps the spin dash of a lifetime.
1:22.8	In the film, Sonic comes to Earth.
1:25.2	It's hard for me to say this next paragraph because of shame at that last sentence I said.
1:29.6	In the film, Sonic comes to Earth from another planet, arriving in a town in rural Montana
	...

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