‘Yogi Bear’ premiere: Justin Timberlake bares all about being Boo-Boo
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Justin Timberlake‘s role in the upcoming ‘Yogi Bear’ feature film isn’t exactly as weighty as his portrayal of Napster founder Sean Parker in ‘The Social Network,’ for which he’s been receiving industry praise. But although his cartoon effort might not earn him an Oscar nomination, the 29-year-old said the role of Boo-Boo required a fair amount of preparation.
‘It was one of those things where his voice actually -- if you really wanna know -- his voice is in a certain register, so it took me about 20 to 30 minutes to get my voice warmed up into that register,’ Timberlake said at the ‘Yogi Bear’ premiere Saturday in Westwood.
The actor was joined on a brown carpet by costars Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh and Dan Aykroyd, who tackles the voice of Yogi in the movie. Aykroyd, who said he had been busy working on a script for ‘Ghostbusters III,’ followed ‘Yogi Bear’ from its early stages of development because the program was one of his childhood favorites.
‘I grew up with it as sort a subliminal part of my character, watching it every afternoon between the key ages of 8 and 12 in Canada, where the sun left the sky at 3:45 in the afternoon in February,’ Aykroyd said. ‘I’d walk across the frozen creek, up the frozen stump trail, past the den of wolves. I lived on the edge of a national park, and I’d strip off the frozen snowsuit, turn on the little black-and0white TV, and there were Yogi and Boo-Boo to warm me up after my hard day at school and my rough commute.’
Cavanagh, who has a live-action role in the movie as a park ranger, said he was proud of the film -- though he joked that he was bothered by one of his costars: Timberlake.
‘Here’s what I think about Timberlake: He dominates the musical field, now he’s gonna dominate the acting field,’ Cavanagh said. ‘Good looking, great athlete. I mean, it’s extremely annoying.’
Had he ever voiced these concerns to J.T. himself? ‘Not to his face,’ the actor said. ‘He’s a very powerful man. I want to keep working.’
For interviews with Cavanagh and Faris, keep reading, and click the photo of Timberlake and pals, above, to see more pictures from the premiere.
‘Yogi Bear’ opens in theaters Friday.
--Amy Kaufman
Twitter.com/AmyKinLA