Peter Dinklage & Nick Frost Interview For ‘Ice Age 4: Continental Drift’

One of filmdom’s most beloved trios – ‘Ice Age’s’ Manny, Diego, and Sid – embark upon their greatest adventure after cataclysm sets an entire continent adrift. Separated from the rest of the herd, they use an iceberg as a makeshift ship, which launches them on an epic seafaring quest. Manny and the gang are challenged like never before to become heroes and do the impossible, as they encounter exotic sea creatures, explore a brave new world, and battle ruthless pirates. Scrat’s reunion with his beloved but cursed acorn catapults him to places no prehistoric squirrel has gone before. Opening in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D cinemas July 13th,  ‘Ice Age 4: Continental Drift’ is directed by Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier. The voice talents of Ray Romano, Denis Leary and John Leguizamo are reunited with Queen Latifa and Seann William Scott in this new instalment of the award-winning and Oscar-nominated animated series. They are joined by new voices Jennifer Lopez, Nick Frost, Aziz Ansari, Alan Tudyk, Josh Peck, Peter Dinklage, Wanda Sykes, Keke Palmer, Drake, Heather Morris, Joy Behar, Nicki Minaj, Josh Gad, Kunal Nayyar, Alain Chabat and JB Smoove.

In your own words, how would you describe your character Captain Gutt?

Peter Dinklage: Captain Gutt is the leader of a group of rag-tag pirates, sort of the ‘Ice Age’ version of pirates. They tour around in a boat made of an iceberg, which is a brilliant visual in the film. Captain Gutt is definitely the leader of the group. He has a bit of an anger management issue, just a bit (laughs). He is definitely quick to remind everyone who’s in charge. And he takes Mannie, Sid and Diego hostage because they aren’t willing to join his family. They take the opposite take on “if you can’t beat them, join them.”

How about your character Nick?

Nick Frost: I play the character of Flynn, who’s a very kind of jolly, naïve, child-like, 4000 pound Bull Seal. He’s a lot of fun. He often doesn’t think before he speaks, it just comes out. He’s very positive. I think he always sees the best in people – even with Captain Gutt, which is quite a difficult thing to do. I think he just enjoys being a part of something, no matter what that is. He’s happy to be on the ship, he’s happy to be a part of a crew. He’s kind of the moral giver, and I think often the butt of jokes – but he never sees that, he just enjoys the pirates laughing.

Playing or voicing a villain, I can imagine that being fun? You don’t have to follow any moral codes….

Peter Dinklage: Oh yeah. What I enjoyed most about playing Gutt was that it’s fun to be the villain. Everybody loves a good villain. There’s a recklessness about it and I always think it’s more fun to play the villain than the hero. Just like you said, you don’t have to follow the moral codes and you can get away with a lot more, you can push it a bit more. I have fun playing those sort of things. Gutt was a lot of fun, definitely.

How did you go about identifying the voice for Flynn?

Nick Frost: With the voice, I think the go-to place for a character who weighs 4000 pounds would be something quite deep and tired sounding. But I thought it might be a bit nice to give him a nice, high-pitched voice. And I think the voice comes after the fact of you understanding what he is and why he is what he is. With his positiveness, his jolliness. Him being full of childish sunshine, that’s how I pictured the voice (laughs) – despite the fact that he weighs as much as a statue, a heavy statue.

You got to showcase your pipes in ‘Ice Age 4: Continental Drift’?

Peter Dinklage: (Laughs) I did. Gutt sings a sea-shanty with his mates. Which was a little daunting because there’s a bit of duet with Jennifer Lopez, although we didn’t sing together in the same room. They played it to me back. It was a little bit of a thrill. That was probably the only time that that will ever happen in my lifetime(laughs). I’m not a professional singer, I can hold a note and I sung when I was a kid, in musicals and all of that. I can sing, but I really can’t “sing”. But it was a lot of fun. They allowed me to cheat it a bit by half singing and half speaking. Which thank god worked for the character!

Look out for a more in-depth interview with both Peter Dinklage and Nick Frost closer to the release date of ‘Ice Age 4: Continental Drift.’