The veteran actors discuss their work as a young Abe Lincoln and Joan of Arc in the series refresh of Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence’s original 2002 animated comedy that follows the teenage clones of the greatest minds in history who must tackle modern-day high school challenges; 10-episode sophomore season now streaming on Max.
Popular comedian and actor Will Forte is well-known for his Abraham Lincoln voice, having lent his talents as the historic president for films like The LEGO Movie, America: The Motion Picture, and The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. He also performed in a Drunk History episode about the assassination of Lincoln. The presidential trend began for Forte when he first voiced Honest Abe in the 2002 animated TV series Clone High from Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Bill Lawrence. So, it’s no stretch for the actor to continue in that role in the recent revamp of the show now streaming its newest season on Max.
“This was my very first acting job back when we were doing the original season of Clone High,” remembers Forte, who has since voiced on films like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken and shows like Bob’s Burgers and The Great North. “Up to that point, I had been working for a couple of years as a writer, and then I became friends with Chris and Phil. Over time, we got to know each other and when they asked me to be Abe Lincoln, I was very excited, but also really nervous. I had never done anything like this before. It was a real honor to be one of the voices, but I was terrified and overthinking it, and I kept thinking that I wasn't good. There was a wrap party, and we watched the first episode as it showed on MTV, and I just was like, ‘Oh, I'm not as good as the other people.’ And I was just really in my head about it.”
He continues, “Coming back 20 years later after having so much experience working at SNL and doing different things, you just are in a different place with your confidence level. So, when we got in the room this time, it was so different. I was able to have fun and just laugh at these guys.”
The science fiction adult animated sitcom is set at a high school populated by the clones of well-known historical figures – such as Abraham Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, JFK, and others –a funny, astute parody of teen dramas like Dawson's Creek, Degrassi, and Beverly Hills, 90210. Every episode is introduced as a "very special episode," with narration provided by Forte.
Forte’s original co-star, Nicole Sullivan, who voiced Abe’s intelligent, cynical, and angsty goth friend Joan of Arc, also reprises her role in the series revival, now in its second season (third season overall).
“When I started the show 20 years ago, I didn't understand the show,” admits Sullivan, who is well-known for her voices in Family Guy, DC Super Hero Girls, Teen Titans Go! and Disney’s Kim Possible franchise. “I didn't get it. For the first five episodes, I really didn't know what I was doing. I was playing an angsty teenager who's eternally frustrated and can't make up her mind on things. And so that's what I played. 20 years later, again, it's right on the page and she was just as easy to play. But I also understood the show a lot more, so I felt much more relaxed in my character.”
While both actors say their experience on the series this time around was more fun and fancy-free, they credit a lot of that to not only their additional industry experience but to the show’s talented writers, who include Lawrence, Lord and Miller, as well as Mark Mayerson, Judah Miller, Murray Miller, and Erica Rivinoja.
“There are shows that I've worked on where you're really trying to figure out how to do these voices and how to navigate the character and it's a bit of a trudge,” says Sullivan. “This is not one of those shows. It's all on the page. These guys have figured out the stuff for you and so it's not hard at all to do this. And because it's so well-written, it gives you space to improvise because it's so well set up that you get room to sort of play, which I love to do.”
Clone High voice actors like Sullivan and Forte say they will sometimes make little additions to the ends or beginnings of lines as well as improvise in the middle of a monologue. But as much as the writers allow the actors to loosen up and have a ball, the scripts, according to Forte, are sometimes too perfect to mess with.
“The way these guys write, everything fits in like a puzzle, so it almost hurts it sometimes if you improvise,” he says. “So, it's the best job because they have everything painstakingly laid out. They've worked so hard on it, and it really shows when you get in there because you don't need to fix anything. A lot of times, when you improvise, it's because something's lacking in some way. And this stuff is just always so well-written, so high level, that there's no need for it. Certainly, sometimes they'll tell you to riff on something or we’ll say something just because, as I said before, we're so comfortable now because we've known each other for so long that you feel like you have that freedom. But oftentimes you don't feel the need to go off-script because it's all there.”
From embarrassing wet dreams and mental health mascots to a catastrophic missile crisis, Clone High doesn’t pull any punches and isn’t afraid to aim high with their plots. For a show that covers so much dramatic material, it’s impressive that the series can not only pick up the torch again after two decades, but run just as well, if not better, as it did with younger legs in 2002.
“It's just a dream job,” says Forte. “It really is. Any voiceover job is a dream job, but this specifically is a real double dream. These were characters that we had blazed the path on back in the original season. So, even though we hadn't done them for a long time, we knew it was still lurking inside us. We just had to activate it. It's just such an amazing team of writers and creators. Through their scripts, the path was pretty easy to follow. It was pretty seamless. It just felt like everything lined up when we jumped back in. It was almost as if we had recorded the end of season one a couple months before.”
Sullivan adds, “It's easier than live-action. I'm very comfortable doing voiceover. I really enjoy it. I don't have to worry about if I look fat in these jeans, so it's a dream.”
In fact, when pondering their biggest challenges on the show, Sullivan could only come up with one answer. “The hardest part for me was making sure, when I finished, I had time to go get ramen across the street because that ramen place across from where we record is just delicious.”
Forte interjects, “Oh my god, Nicole. I'm so sorry you're going through that.”
In all seriousness, the co-stars note that, perhaps, the true challenge is not taking their good fortune for granted.
“Animation is a long process,” notes Forte. “So, you'll go back in and have to rerecord something that you did a bunch of times the time before, and sometimes you're working on one line for a while. But, at the end of the day, we are so lucky to have these jobs and so many people would kill to be in this position. We all are pretty blessed – hashtag blessed – to do any voiceover job. Especially Clone High, because it really is just a delightful show with delightful people.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
