Colin Hanks talks all things ‘Orion and the Dark’, what he learned from his character, future projects, and more.

Photo credit: Getty Images

Written by: Gracie Lowes

Get ready to face your biggest fears in this latest Netflix movie. Set to release on February 2, Netflix’s new animated film ‘Orion and the Dark’ includes a heartwarming story as well as a star-studded cast with names like Jacob Tremblay, Paul Walter Hauser, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Ike Barinholtz, and more.

The film follows a young boy named Orion whose biggest fear is the dark. “When the embodiment of his worst fear pays a visit, Dark whisks Orion away on a roller-coaster ride around the world to prove there is nothing to be afraid of at night.”

I had the chance to sit down (virtually) with actor Colin Hanks who plays “Adult Orion” in the film, to talk about what drew him to this character, what the release process has been like, future projects, and more.

You can read the full interview below.

Gracie Lowes: Congratulations on the upcoming release of the film ‘Orion and the Dark’, what has it been like building up to it and soon having it out in the world on such a global platform like Netflix?

Colin Hanks: “It's a little bit of a new experience. I've never had something that I have been in released on such a scale, I mean I’ve had things that have been out and then eventually ended up on the platform. But this is my first time where it’s something brand new, and it's really exciting.”

Gracie: In the film, you voice the adult version of Orion. I’m wondering, were you able to talk and collaborate with Jacob Tremblay when bringing this character to life, or did you have creative freedom on your part?

Colin: “I pretty much had a lot of creative freedom. The script was so interesting, and the sort of twists that it takes, it became very evident what the roles entailed, so I just stuck with that. I mean, I didn't even meet or see Jake up until the premiere a couple of nights ago.”

Gracie: Oh really, how was that?

Colin: “That was great, it was a lot of fun.”

Gracie: That’s amazing I’m glad you all got to enjoy it. You said before that the script was very interesting, but what ultimately drew you to want to be a part of this project?

Colin: “Well, Charlie Kaufman is a massive, massive, massive part of that for sure. I'm such a fan of his work and the idea of him doing a kid's animated movie just seemed fascinating to me. And once I read it, it actually didn't disappoint at all.

Again, the sort of the choices that he made of where to take the story, and how he adapted it from the book is really sort of unique and different and not really something that I'd seen before. So that was sort of the thing that was most exciting to me.”

Gracie: Definitely and even from the trailer alone, people can see that it's such an original concept to bring to life.

Colin: “Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest aspects of the story that I love is there is no bad guy. It is about something that everyone can relate to at some point in your life or in all stages of life, it’s about how you face your fear. When you're a kid, it's the dark and learning about the big scary world and all that, but even as adults, you still have fears.

So I was really drawn to the fact that there wasn't some bad guy pushing the plot forward, it was incredibly appealing to me, it was that in and of itself that made this story stand out and kind of all I needed.”

Photo credit: Netflix

Gracie: Definitely. And you've had a wide range of projects from voice acting to live-action films. Have you found that you prefer one over the other and has either of those taught you something about yourself as an actor?

Colin: “Well, I think every project is a little bit different and you learn something on every job, even if it's what not to do. But what I’ve enjoyed is that I've been able to sort of keep out a little corner of the sandbox where I can do live-action stuff, I can do voice and animated projects, and also direct documentaries, so I've been able to sort of do a bunch of different things.

What i've enjoyed most about having my toes in all of these different areas is that it all just reinforces what my job is as an actor and what can I do to help tell the story. It's not about ego, it's not about looks, it's not about any of those things, it's what can I do on the day that helps solve the problem of ‘How do we tell this story?’ That's the most important thing.

I've learned just as much from directing documentaries as I have from voicing a cat or playing a lawyer, you learn a little something from each job.”

Gracie: Speaking of the projects that you've done, do you have any future ones that you could hint at or talk about?

Colin: “We're still very early stages of a long, long-gestating documentary about John Candy, which is near and dear to my heart. Hopefully, we'll be able to really film most of that in the coming year. And then, you know, a couple of other things that may or may not happen on the acting front, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I'm going off of Budapest in a few weeks to film a movie, which is exciting. So yeah, it looks like it's going to be a good busy year for me that I’m very grateful for.”

Gracie: I’m glad to hear you’re keeping busy and enjoying your work. My last question for you is, if you could describe ‘Orion and the Dark’ in three words, what would they be?

Colin: “Oh, geez, straight into the hardest for last. You know what's funny is that the first three words that came to my head were ‘feel good movie,’ but they say that about almost every movie so I’ll pick different ones. Three words to describe the movie would be delightful, beautiful and relatable.”