Ron Funches, Melissa Villaseñor, and More Talk New Nickelodeon Series Rock Paper Scissors
The beloved childhood game is coming to life in this new Nickelodeon series Rock Paper Scissors starring Ron Funches, Thomas Lennon, Carlos Alazraqui, and Melissa Villaseñor. Pop Culture Planet contributor Paola Cardenas spoke with the cast about this exciting project.
The cast had a blast lending their voices to Rock Paper Scissors and each could relate to the core of their character. “As the person who’s the most dead on their character, every once in a while, it felt like, ‘When they write these scripts, they’re not making fun of me specifically, right?,” laughed Thomas Lennon, who voices aspiring inventor Paper. He also pointed out that they’ve all known each other for a long time which added to the fun of working on the show together.
Ron Funches voices the emotionally open and big-hearted Rock. He shared that playing Rock was an emotional rollercoaster, but thinks, for him personally, he’s just in touch and able to access his emotions. “Before I started comedy, I looked up to Tom and Carlos and, to be able to work with them, I genuinely have a love for them. When they’re bickering and I’m able to be that peacemaker or be joyful about it, that’s how I feel at work,” said Funches about working with his idols. “I’m just happy to be involved with this project. I love it.”
To round out the trio, Carlos Alazraqui voices Scissors, the confident and cool guy. “They’ve captured my desire to really want to be liked, my sense of rage when I don’t get my way,” Alzaraqui shared. “They’ve stitched together so well that these two characters love a guy that’s basically kind of prickish. I think they captured that part of me that gets a little edgy and desperate. That’s how that character mirrors some of my qualities that I’m working on.”
For Melissa Villaseñor, who voices the trio’s smart neighbor Pencil, she finds such joy with her character. “I always want to be a part of a fun group and in real life, even with comedy, if there’s a pack of guys, I want to hang out,” she said. “I think Pencil, living down the hall wanting to be friends, that feels so me.”
Although the animated series can be silly and quirky, there are important and relevant themes explore within the show as well. “No matter how much they bicker, no matter how much they argue and want to get their way, they are loyal to each other as flatmates,” Alazraqui said. Meanwhile, Lennon shared that their characters have moments where they’d like to break from one another, but ultimately get sad, which showcases their dependency.
What stands out for Funches is a specific episode and its message. “Paper is dealing with the amount of stress and anxiety that comes from lying and [his] brain is telling him so much. ‘You’re going to end up becoming a mess and have all these problems if you’re a liar.’ I think that’s such a great message to give kids in this day and age that the best thing you could do is be yourself and be honest and if you make a mistake, admit to it,” he said. “That show is littered with messages like that and that’s one of the things I enjoy about it.”
When it comes to the best strategy to win the game, Lennon said his choice is to throw rock. Villaseñor would also throw rock, but repeats the same move throughout the game since people tend to switch. An unconventional, but comedic take comes from Funches as he explains his dark strategy. “I like to come in with no plan and just blank and look you in the eyes, break you down, learn about your history. It doesn’t matter what you throw, you’re already defeated,” Funches explained. Alazraqui took note of the statistic that states men throw rock first as a way to win the game. “The more that information gets out that most people will go with rock on the first throw, that means the knowledge of that will make people choose paper to cover rock so therefore the best move would be scissors,” he shared.
Rock Paper Scissors premieres February 12 at 5:30p.m. ET. with new episodes dropping weekly.
