Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Tika Sumpter Talks Maddie's Growth and Family Themes in Sonic 3!

Hey, I'm Allison with FlickDirect and I am here with Tika Sumpler to talk about Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Hello, how are you? I'm really good, how are you? I'm good. Third time's a charm. Third time is a charm. I'm very excited and happy and all the good things to be here, yeah. How has Maddie changed for you over the trilogy? Yeah, I think the first one, you know, she was, it was new.

This whole thing was like, wait, what is this thing? A hedgehog alien, huh? You need what? You know what I mean? You need, oh, I'm gonna trust you, Tom, okay? Which James Marsden plays my husband. But I think what I love about what the writers have done and what Jeff Fowler has done is made sure that Maddie became really part of the thread of the heart of the film.

A sense of direction, a sense of guidance, a sense of logic, a sense of like parental, a parental unit, a family home. And then also giving them a taste of some of the action. So I feel like it's grown over time and super excited for people to see how she is now. Especially this film, I feel like it's so much about family. How important is that for you as a person and as an actor?

Oh my gosh, my family is everything. My daughter is my walking heartbeat. And, you know, it's so inspiring to me when my daughter looks at me and she's super proud and she can go to see a film that I've actually done, not something I'm like, uh, she's like, where are you going off to work again? I'm like, she's like, you work where? Where's the film?

I'm like, uh, you can't see that film. But these, you know, she's so proud. And if I, if I, if I never do anything else, this is something that she's super proud of, of me. So yeah, it's important. That's great. Yeah. As an actor for you working against, say, a green screen, how, how difficult is that? And how do you make it unique every time? Yeah, I think the first one was definitely the most difficult out of all of them because we were using like tape and like a stick and like a tennis ball.

So, you know, I mean, the budget, I mean, I guess, I don't know. The budget obviously grew because now we have puppeteers and people who really know the voice of Sonic and all those people. And so we can connect in that way. But yeah, I mean, it was, it was another opportunity to use my imagination. And another thing my daughter has taught me is like using imagination, things that aren't there.

And so I think that's what I've learned is that you can't just do what you want to do. You can't just do what you want to do what you want to do. You can't just do what you want to do. You can't just do what you want to do. And so I was able to do that and kind of go back to being a kid again. And so that's kind of what these films have allowed me to be.

That's what we all are. We're big kids, like kids inside. What do you love and what do you hate about Sonic? I think hate is a strong word. I think there are things that he can learn. I think, I think he has a little smart mouth, right? Like, you know, I think he, his humor sometimes is like, his humor's really funny, but also sometimes inappropriate.

And I love that about him. But also it's like, okay, Sonic. And then his friends are a bit, I mean, Knuckles is a bit wild at times, you know, and uses his strength a little much. But we love all of them. And I think what's exciting about Sonic is that aspect of him, his charisma, his humor, his wanting to take action when he sees something goes wrong.

Those are probably some of the things that I love about him and his friends and to see the teamwork happening. They have a wholesomeness about them. There is a wholesomeness about them. All right. Last question. How do I get a Tom puppet? That was hilarious. Between his donut sweatshirt and the Tom puppet, I think Paramount is going to have some merchandise to sell. you Thank you.