Marcus Scribner, who plays D’Angelo Baker, and Executive Producer John Tellegen sat down with me to talk about DreamWorks Dragons The Nine Realms now streaming on Peacock and Hulu.
Set 1,300 years after the events of How To Train Your Dragon, dragons are now just a legend to the modern world. When a geological anomaly opens up an immense, miles-deep fissure in the Earth’s surface, scientists from all over the world gather at a new research facility to study the mysterious phenomenon. Soon a group of misfit kids, brought to the site by their parents, uncover the truth about dragons and where they’ve been hiding — a secret they must keep to themselves to protect what they’ve discovered.
What is it like getting to expand on such a beloved franchise, like how to train your dragons into a modern era for dragons and the nine realms?
John Tellegen – Well, it’s amazing. I’ve been in the franchise for years. I was on Race to the Edge, which was an early iteration show, and then Rescue Riders which was a show for younger kids in the Dragons world. Now I get to play in this playground of Dragons in the modern world, which has just been completely exciting to approach it from a place of character and how these modern-day kids have modern-day hopes and dreams, how meeting a dragon and bonding with a dragon in similar ways and in different ways than the Viking kids did previously. It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s been an exciting adventure for all of us creatives on the show as well as for the characters that we’re putting in the show, so I think that it’s been really wonderful.
Marcus, as you mentioned before, in your filmography, you’ve done a lot of animation, as well as live-action. Do you prefer being in the studio as opposed to being on a soundstage?
Marcus Scribner – I think I honestly don’t have a preference. I will say that one thing that I love about animation is being able to really just let loose. You can pull up look in any way you want, and the only thing that matters is that you’re really connected to the character, and you’re ready to deliver an experience vocally, which is so important because you’re constrained by the fact that people can’t see your face they can’t see your movements, so how do you portray that through your voice and that’s always an exciting challenge. Something that I look forward to and me being somebody who grew up watching a ton of anime and cartoons like I take cues from all of my favorite shows and all my favorite movies and try to bring them into my work, so it’s like a dream come true for me anytime I get to step into the voiceover booth.
Marcus, you mentioned earlier about your character D’angelo being a rule follower. Are there any things that you can think of in your life that you have in common with D’angelo? Were you a rule follower growing up, or were you someone who tested boundaries like some of the other crew?
It’s kind of funny because now I feel like I’d relate myself to some of the other characters but growing up, I definitely was a rule follower. My parents always talk about how easy I was because I always listened to whatever they said. I think D’Angelo I definitely relate even to the father-son relationship that D’Angelo has shared that similarity with my dad um growing up, but nowadays I feel like I’d be more towards the tom like, ‘Nah, let’s just go do it. Let’s explore!’
