Interview with Steve Blum & Taylor Gray #StarWarsRebels #DisneyInHomeEvent

Have you seen Star Wars Rebels on Disney XD at 8pm CST yet? It is amazing if you haven’t caught it yet. You can also get the Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion movie anywhere now!  Being part of the #StarWarsRebels interviews, I got to talk with the cast of the show including Freddie Prinze, Jr and Dave Filoni.  I also got the scoop on the awesome female characters, Tiya Sircar and Vanessa Marshall. Steve Blum (voice of Zeb) and Taylor Gray (voice of Ezra) were a really fun duo to interview because they had a ton of chemistry together. I don’t know if it is because of their characters are always butting heads in the show or if they just mesh that well in person but it was great to watch.

Obviously my first question to Steve Blum was if he ever played any pranks on the other cast members. He is a hilarious guy that I really look up to especially since he voices so many video game characters in games I love to play. We already found out from our other interviews that unlike some voice actors, they all sat in a group and did their lines.  I do think it made their characters really seem in sync.  That also helped with the family togetherness of the whole group.  He said that every time that Taylor Gray made an effort sound (like UGH when you get hit) he would make a funny noise to mess him up.  Someone also mentioned that they loved the Steve/Taylor dynamic  or really the Ezra/Zeb dynamic.

Steve Blum – I love our relationship. 

Taylor Gray – He doesnt ever hit me.

Steve Blum – I teach him a lot. Mostly bad things.

We all laughed because they were rough housing a little bit. They really do a great dynamic in person and in the show.  Taylor Gray is so young but he seems like he fits right in with Steve Blum who is a veteran of voice acting. I was totally fangirling over Steve Blum being in the room with me.  I was cool though.  I totally tweeted that I was going to go up to him and say, WOW.  And be funny with it.  Since he voiced a bunch of characters for WOW games.

Q.  How have you embraced the hardcore Star Wars fans?

Taylor Gray – I think it’s awesome. The first little taste of it we got was, they sent us this thing called Star Wars Weekends in Florida. And I had no idea what to expect. I was like “oh, it will be fun to like hang out with a couple people who like Star Wars and go on some rides.” There were like 60 thousand people who all had Star Wars shirts or full on costumes, wardrobe, outfits, everything and light sabers. And just seeing that, I realized oh, wow, we’re in something much bigger than I thought.It’s been so much fun and they’re saying there’s so much more to look forward to, and I can’t wait.

Steve Blum – Yeah, I’ve been doing the convention circuit for the last 10 years for my other work and going to that weekend in particular seemed, you know, there was 20, 30 thousand people on the parade route, and they put us in convertibles and we’re waited on. It’s great, and I’m thinking the show hasn’t come out. Nobody’s gonna know who we are, and they’re chanting our names, you know. It’s my name. They had researched and knew everything that we did and people were bringing stuff up to me from my whole career.

It was amazing, and seeing the families, too.There was this one family where there was a grandma in a wheelchair in her 90’s, and the way down to like a 2-year-old, and there are like 50 of them and they’re all together cheering for us as we’re coming out of the parade route, and they’re in first position right there, and they’re everywhere in the park that we were.  And they had us take a family photo.

Taylor Gray – They all had code names. They were, there was Red Leader [LAUGHING]. They, they knew what they were doing. Yeah, and it’s so fun.

Steve Blum – Yes. It’s been awesome. It’s a whole different level of fandom too, and so show-specific. It’s just amazing to me that after all these years, that the fandom is stronger now than it’s ever been. It’s incredible.

Taylor Gray – With all the media, it’s crazy. It’s on Twitter. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been telling people, I’ve had a Twitter before I’d gotten this, and I felt like half the people I see on Twitter somewhere in their little description of themselves, it’s like “coffee enthusiast. I like my hair. I’m a Jedi.”  So I see the word Jedi in more of those biographies than anything and I understand why. They’re the coolest type of person you could be.

Steve Blum –  Hey, you’ve got Freddie Prince, Jr. Yeah, he’s on Twitter and he’s going crazy about it. It took Star Wars to do that.

 

That just makes me so happy. Being a Star Wars fan myself, I know how people can get with their loves, their obsessions. Star Wars can definitely become a part of your life and for so many, these new shows are an amazing way to pass that on to their children with a new generation of Star Wars fans.  They both laughed when we asked what drew them to the role because actually no one knew it was Star Wars before they auditioned. Well except Freddie Prinze, Jr and Vanessa Marshall.  So it was hilarious when Steve Blum said, um, they cast us.

What drew you guys to the film?

Taylor Gray – I love it. I think it’s so cool. My favorite part about it is all the action. I think that’s so fun. I think kids are gonna enjoy all the characters and their multiple layers and how they run around firing off blasters and taking down troopers. I think it’s all a lot of fun.

Steve Blum – I was drawn when I was a kid when I first saw it {Star Wars}. I was seventeen. I was fresh out of high school, and I went to the premiere in 1977, and I was one of those kids in the theatre whose head snapped back when the imperial star destroyer comes across the screen and the whole theatre rumbled. So, I get to relive this on a cellular level. It activates all of those memories from that time and when I was graduating high school, I was one of those apathetic youth and I didn’t go to my own graduation. And to get to go and see something like that that was brand new. It was stuff that we hadn’t seen before.

It woke up something in me and kind of gave me a new hope.  But to get to work on something like that now where we’re bringing this to a whole new generation. It’s really exciting for me, and I’m a dad. And so I like working on quality programming that’s safe for kids and it’s really got a great underlying message. It does offer a notion that there’s something bigger than we are and that we can strive to be better than we are and that a small group of people can be just as powerful as a large army against injustice.

Taylor Gray – And a little bit of the force.

Steve Blum – And a little bit of the force, yes.

I was one of those kids in the theater too. Not quite that long ago though.  I think it is so wonderful that they have embraced this culture and ran with it.  ‘Something bigger than we are” and I know that I will continue to watch them strive to be better, to fight against the injustice every Monday night.

Q.  What was your favorite scene to voice over?

Steve Blum – Well, pretty much, I don’t know.  I love all of it for so many different reasons. I think one of my very favorite scenes that I’ve seen so far was Ezra’s realization that he was doing something of value. After our first initial struggle, and then stealing stuff, and he’s sitting there and we’re giving away food, and that was the whole purpose of our mission. And we’re risking our lives to do that. And to see that look of realization on his face where he’s just going, well, I didn’t do anything.It’s like he didn’t deserve the praise and you see a little bit of a transformation in him and that was a very powerful moment for me.

 

Q. Another moment is when he realized you came back for him, another strong turning point.

Steve Blum –  And for me actually not taking care of him and letting him go, that was a really hard thing for me to play as, as a dad. It was really hard for me to, to just say see, you’re on your own, and leaving him with the empire. I mean, that was, that was terrible, but thank God we resolved that. I can sleep now.

My heart melted. That was a sad scene but I knew they would come back for him. Kanan wouldnt have left him and Zeb totally felt bad for having to let him go.  These guys are going to be the death of me.  Honestly, this was so awesome and I know that everyone is anxiously awaiting Monday nights now to see what is going to happen.

 

Don’t forget you can buy  Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion NOW!  And you can catch the Star Wars Rebels every Monday night on Disney XD at 8 pm CST.