Tom Ellis and Sasheer Zamata Talk Playing GodCat and Devilcat in Netflix’s Exploding Kittens
God and the devil. Trapped in cat bodies. That’s what happens when the Exploding Kittens tabletop card game gets a Netflix adaptation. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke to actors Tom Ellis and Sasheer Zamata about leading the hilarious new series.
This series marks Tom Ellis’ first series regular role doing voice over in an animated series, which he called “liberating.” “It was a whole new experience for me doing an animation. I wasn't aware of the process to be honest with you going in. You do your lines on your own in a booth and there's no sort of interaction of a scene,” he told me. “It was something I found strange at first and then I really started to embrace it. It's an incredibly liberating experience as an actor ‘cause you always want to go big and go silly and you're never really allowed to. You always have to reign it in, but, on this, it was the opposite. I always felt good like I had a good workout when I got out the booth.”
Meanwhile Sasheer Zamata was able to explore a multilayered Devilcat. “It's funny ‘cause she's the devil, but she's not so cut and dry. She's not just evil. She's actually trying to be evil and it's pretty hard for her because she has a very vulnerable innocent spirit, which is not something you want when you are taking over Hell,” she shared. “It was a fun character to play because you get to see that vulnerability come out and her really trying to become something and reach her full potential.”
It’s no secret that both Ellis and Zamata have played versions of Lucifer. “We actually haven't, have we? We left that elephant in the room,” said Ellis about if they discussed that common ground together. “There are many, many, many versions of Lucifer and I really enjoy your one.”
When it comes to their favorite moments to bring to life, Ellis was thrilled to find the heart within the humor. “There were lots of great zingers. The thing that really surprised me actually is that it sets out […] being this very funny thing and then there's this heart at the center of it. There were some scenes that we got to do that were about that and not about the silliness,” he said. “I actually really enjoyed doing that ‘cause it's always a challenge to bring a big character and ground them in some moment. I didn't think we'd have an opportunity to do that on this and we did. I really enjoyed that.”
Zamata really enjoyed the over the top elements that Devilcat brought to the story. “My favorite parts to record were when I was trying to be as scary as possible, but over the smallest things. Really growling and screaming over like milk, or I smash something but it's like inconsequential and it's funny,” she laughed. “The character takes it so seriously, but no one else can take her seriously.”
In the finale, there’s a literal explosion of kittens as, spoiler alert, Devilcat gives birth to a whole brood of kittens fathered by GodCat. “There's a whole world that we could explore there, isn’t there? Angels and demons everywhere,” laughed Ellis about what that could mean for a second season, with the Zamata adding: “More family comedy, bigger family comedy.”
Exploding Kittens is streaming on Netflix.
