Speaker 1: I Am all In again.
Speaker 2: Oh that's just you.
Speaker 1: I Smell Pop Culture with Eastern Allen and iHeart Radio Podcast.
Speaker 1: Hi everyone, this is Easton Allen. You heard Scott Patterson
Speaker 1: say my name just a few seconds ago, and now
Speaker 1: I'm saying my name. This is Easton Allen. This is
Speaker 1: the sound of my voice. This is the I Smell
Speaker 1: Pop Culture Podcast, a subsidiary of I Am all In
Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio on iHeart Podcasts, one eleven productions, iHeart Media,
Speaker 1: everything else. All those logos you see at the bottom
Speaker 1: of our screen. This is such an exciting week here
Speaker 1: we're talking to someone so cool and in case you're
Speaker 1: just joining us for the first time, here's what we do.
Speaker 1: You came here for Scott Patterson, You got me, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry you heard his voice at the beginning. He
Speaker 1: is not here. That's the last time you'll hear Scott
Speaker 1: Patterson's voice. But I promise you we're gonna have a
Speaker 1: lot of fun. We love the pop culture references in
Speaker 1: Gomart Girls. We go so much deeper than just listing
Speaker 1: them off. We are interviewing the people that created them,
Speaker 1: that brought them to life, that made them pop culture
Speaker 1: moments and this week, we are going under the sea.
Speaker 1: We are going to venture to a pineapple under the sea.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk to Carolyn Lawrence, who is the
Speaker 1: voice of Sandy Cheeks on SpongeBob square Pants. That's right,
Speaker 1: SpongeBob SquarePants and Nickelodeon Treasure for twenty five years. SpongeBob
Speaker 1: has been on the air in its fifteenth season. Here's
Speaker 1: why we're talking about SpongeBob. Okay, I know you're hearing this.
Speaker 1: You're going SpongeBob's cool. But why why Easton? Why tell me?
Speaker 1: And I'm going to tell you why. Just a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago, we talked to Robin Lively, who was in
Speaker 1: The Karate Kid Part three, because she was mentioned in
Speaker 1: season three, episode three application Anxiety Ladies and Gentlemen. We're
Speaker 1: going back to that same not just the same episodisode,
Speaker 1: this same scene. That's how jam packed Gilmour Girls is.
Speaker 1: There are sony pop culture references in every scene. There's
Speaker 1: like twenty per moment, so there's just an endless gold
Speaker 1: mine here. We're going back to the beginning of the episode.
Speaker 1: Rory and Laurel I are working on Rory's Harvard application,
Speaker 1: and if you remember this, Okay, visualize it. I'm going
Speaker 1: to act this out for you. They're sitting there and
Speaker 1: going through the requirements for the application. Laurel I says, Oh,
Speaker 1: they want a picture, how about the one of us
Speaker 1: sticking our heads through the carved out holes of Johnny
Speaker 1: Bravo and spongeboll SquarePants, And Rory says, there's the seriousness
Speaker 1: I crave. So SpongeBob SquarePants is the fourth longest running
Speaker 1: animated series of all time. And I should also note
Speaker 1: that at whatever event they took this photo of which
Speaker 1: I'd love to see. I don't think you ever get
Speaker 1: to see it, but I would love to see that
Speaker 1: picture of Rory and Laurel with the cartoon characters poking
Speaker 1: their heads through. Johnny Bravo is a Cartoon Network property. Okay,
Speaker 1: clashing brands here because we're going to the world Nickelodeon
Speaker 1: for SpongeBob. And if you haven't seen Specible SquarePants, it
Speaker 1: is a story of a lovable sea sponge living in
Speaker 1: scenic Bikini Bottom with his friends Patrick Starr and Sandy Cheeks,
Speaker 1: who is a Texan squirrel. Sandy Cheeks is a scientist.
Speaker 1: She is wearing like she's wearing like an astronaut outfit.
Speaker 1: So because she's a squirrel, she can't breathe underwater, but
Speaker 1: she's a scientist. She's a good friend, she's fun loving,
Speaker 1: she's such a fun character and an integral part of
Speaker 1: SpongeBob and I mean part of it since the beginning.
Speaker 1: So we're going to talk to the voice of Sandy here.
Speaker 1: This is Carolyn Lawrence. She has been Sandy Cheeks in
Speaker 1: every single thing Sandy's in, the video games, the toys,
Speaker 1: the movies, the TV shows, everything. Carolyn is Sandy, and
Speaker 1: we're going to talk to her right now. She is
Speaker 1: right here. Carolyn, thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you. It's so nice to be here.
Speaker 1: So the reason we're talking to you today Carolyn Lawrence
Speaker 1: the voice of Sat Cheeks and SpongeBob square Pants, I mean,
Speaker 1: one of the legendary characters in old cartoon history. In
Speaker 1: see oh, the compliments will be coming hot and heavy.
Speaker 1: So strap in here. You're a you're a hero to us.
Speaker 1: So in season three of Gilmore Girls, they they reference SpongeBob.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, Gilmore Girls known for their pop
Speaker 1: culture references, and Rory and Laura I on if you remember,
Speaker 1: but it's there. Rory's filling out her Harvard application and
Speaker 1: they want a photo and Laura I says, should we
Speaker 1: include the one of us posing in the SpongeBob like
Speaker 1: cut out? When you I mean, you must hear SpongeBob
Speaker 1: and Sandy get referenced like all the time on TV
Speaker 1: shows like that, Like how does that feel when you
Speaker 1: see that happen?
Speaker 2: It's always exciting, Like there's never a moment where that's
Speaker 2: not exciting. It's always such a shock too. You'd think,
Speaker 2: like twenty five years in it wouldn't be surprising, but
Speaker 2: I'm still like, oh, they just said us, like, it's very.
Speaker 1: Have you ever like, have you ever posed with like
Speaker 1: a Sandy like character like a theme park or something?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, Well, the one I remember the most is
Speaker 2: I went to a SpongeBob event at the Mall of
Speaker 2: America in Minnesota years ago, and they had all the
Speaker 2: brown characters there and whoever was in the suit with Sandy.
Speaker 2: I didn't get to meet the person inside the suit,
Speaker 2: but whoever, they were amazing and we had so much fun.
Speaker 1: Oh my, what a compliment. I mean Sandy herself saying
Speaker 1: that that complimenting that performance. I mean, I hope they're
Speaker 1: listening that performer out there. That's incredible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, whoever you are, please post.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So something I love is that like stars hollow
Speaker 1: does feel I mean, Sara's hollow in Bikini Bottom share
Speaker 1: so many similarities. I wanted to ask you, like, do
Speaker 1: you who do you think would be like the bikini
Speaker 1: bottom analog to some of our Gilmour Girl's characters. I mean, like,
Speaker 1: is Luke mister krabs? Is that what we're thinking here?
Speaker 2: You know what? As he was saying that, I was
Speaker 2: trying to think of it, and I was like, well, wait,
Speaker 2: or would he be kind of a less enthusiastic SpongeBob. Yes,
Speaker 2: everybody kind of circle around him. And my cat is
Speaker 2: now talking to us as well, because it's just that
Speaker 2: kind of day. And I thought, if you if your
Speaker 2: viewer saw anything it looked like a rat, it was
Speaker 2: my cat. She's hairless, so don't be worried. There's no
Speaker 2: rodents running by except squirrels. So and then I was
Speaker 2: thinking about Kirk, like could Kirk be he's kind of
Speaker 2: a squid word and that he's an enigma?
Speaker 3: Yes, I was having the same thoughts.
Speaker 1: I was like, who would be, who, Yes, that's a
Speaker 1: crossover I would love to see. But we'll get more
Speaker 1: into a more Gilmore stuff in in a minute here.
Speaker 1: But I'm I'm so curious. I was going back into
Speaker 1: your turning the pages of Carolyn Lawrence's life, and I was, I,
Speaker 1: I'm so curious, Like you, you have a dance background,
Speaker 1: and I don't know if a lot of people know that,
Speaker 1: but I mean, you're a classically trained dancer. How do
Speaker 1: you go from dancing to voice acting? I mean, how
Speaker 1: does that transition happen?
Speaker 2: That was one of those random moments in life. So
Speaker 2: when I was with Gus Giernano's in Chicago, that's a
Speaker 2: dance company, we used to have what is called a
Speaker 2: company class, So that basically is a class that's open
Speaker 2: for any traveling dancers. Dancers are in town doing a
Speaker 2: musical or they're whatever they're doing that they can come
Speaker 2: and take a company class to stay fit and on
Speaker 2: top of things and feel good. And there was this
Speaker 2: one man who used to come take company class and
Speaker 2: he was not a dancer, but he was always welcome.
Speaker 2: His name was Steve, and we just don't really liked him,
Speaker 2: Like even if the whole class is going this direction
Speaker 2: and he's going that direction where we're like what I
Speaker 2: read Seve. But he came up to me day and
Speaker 2: he said, I work at Universal Recording, and you have
Speaker 2: a really interesting sound, and we haven't been able to
Speaker 2: find a voice for this particular product. It was a
Speaker 2: line of stuffed animals and do you want to audition?
Speaker 2: And I was like sure. I had no idea what
Speaker 2: that even entailed. Honestly, I didn't know voice for something
Speaker 2: that people do. I didn't really even understand what he's
Speaker 2: asking of me. I was just like, it's an opportunity.
Speaker 2: Let's go, and and I booked that. I did like
Speaker 2: three or four different voices.
Speaker 3: I don't remember.
Speaker 2: I know I was a lamb and a duck. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I was anything else.
Speaker 1: Did you have to like say, did they give you lines?
Speaker 1: Like do you remember what you had?
Speaker 2: So it was like a stuffed animal that kids could
Speaker 2: cuddle with and it would say nice things if they
Speaker 2: were afraid to go to sleep, like if they were
Speaker 2: afraid of the dark or whatever. It was very sweet.
Speaker 2: I don't remember any of the exact lines, but it
Speaker 2: was probably something hopefully soothing. And when I looked that job.
Speaker 2: I was like, wait a minute, you can make money
Speaker 2: doing this because the life of a dancer is really
Speaker 2: really hard. And I was smart enough to know that
Speaker 2: while I have some talent, I wasn't going to be
Speaker 2: a version of call, you know what I mean. I wasn't.
Speaker 2: I wasn't going to be somebody who's like dancing for
Speaker 2: the rest of my life probably and making a great living.
Speaker 2: I might be working really hard the rest of my life,
Speaker 2: but it would probably be a struggle. So so yeah,
Speaker 2: that's how that came about. Total random you.
Speaker 1: Know, It's so interesting how the universe works that way sometimes,
Speaker 1: Like and I know that, like your your career kind
Speaker 1: of you did some acting in front of the camera
Speaker 1: before you became just this voiceover superstar that you are today.
Speaker 1: But when you were growing up, did you like make
Speaker 1: funny voices? Was that something you would do?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: No, So I'm the anomaly in the voice world, because
Speaker 2: I know a lot of voice actors are are They
Speaker 2: were like the Hams of the class, and they were
Speaker 2: always yeah, that was their trajectory. I was, well, people
Speaker 2: thought I was painfully shy. I wasn't. What I was
Speaker 2: was somebody who liked to observe. So I was somebody
Speaker 2: who really liked to watch everything going on around me
Speaker 2: instead of being engaged in it. So I was pretty
Speaker 2: quiet actually, which I think is why this thing worked
Speaker 2: for me, because I didn't have to talk to anybody,
Speaker 2: and I didn't have to really I felt protected in
Speaker 2: it somehow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense. It makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1: And also, I mean being an observer that helps me
Speaker 1: understand like how you're so in my opinion, how you're
Speaker 1: so good at creating these characters with your voice. I
Speaker 1: mean because you're like you're observing all these people around you,
Speaker 1: how they act, how they operate, and you can build
Speaker 1: that to make your characters. It's so fascinating.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and you tuck things away, right like you
Speaker 2: at the grocery you see somebody You're like, oh, I
Speaker 2: have to save that for later.
Speaker 1: So like when you were you come out to LA
Speaker 1: from you were grown up or in Chicago, dancing in Chicago,
Speaker 1: and then you come out to LA and like, you know,
Speaker 1: you score a role on Wings Carry in the City,
Speaker 1: the weird science TV show. Uh, what was that? Like,
Speaker 1: did you enjoy acting in front of the camera. Is
Speaker 1: that something that you were into yeah.
Speaker 2: So moving to LA I had that young like, oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, I should should pursue at all, right, because
Speaker 2: why not. I came out here to pursue dancing and
Speaker 2: instantly knew that that wasn't going to work because at
Speaker 2: the time, music videos didn't want a classically trained dancer.
Speaker 2: They wanted something that I wasn't, so so that dream
Speaker 2: got dashed pretty fast. But then yes, I had the
Speaker 2: opportunity to start doing some on camera stuff, and then
Speaker 2: I had that moment of like, oh, maybe this is
Speaker 2: a good path for me, right because it is fun.
Speaker 2: Even though I'll be honest with you, it was so
Speaker 2: stressful for me as somebody who kind of likes to hide.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, doing on camera work was really I was
Speaker 2: always so happy when it was done that I had
Speaker 2: done it, but the process of it was really challenging
Speaker 2: for my well being. I got really, I would get
Speaker 2: really really. I don't know about most of your listeners
Speaker 2: and viewers, but like when you're doing a sitcom and
Speaker 2: you're just a guest star, you're working with a cast
Speaker 2: that's been together, they know each other that there's like
Speaker 2: a certain rhythm, right yeah, and you're just coming in
Speaker 2: with your couple of lines and leaving. It's kind of
Speaker 2: like jarring.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like you don't you don't have a lead up.
Speaker 2: You're just in and you do your think and you leave.
Speaker 2: So I would be backstage like waiting for my moment.
Speaker 2: But then you've got all these people in your head.
Speaker 2: The director wants you to do this, the producers are
Speaker 2: standing there asking you to do something else. The writers
Speaker 2: sometimes come up and they have a different opinion, and
Speaker 2: they're all telling you different things right before you have
Speaker 2: to go in and do your moment.
Speaker 1: And you're your guest starts, so you want to do
Speaker 1: a good job. You know, you want to like nail it,
Speaker 1: and you have no power.
Speaker 2: You're a guest. You can't like, excuse me, I need
Speaker 2: clarity on my character or.
Speaker 1: What I like it, Like, what's my motivation here?
Speaker 2: And I think because I was young and insecure, I
Speaker 2: had a lot of struggle in that. I'm sure other
Speaker 2: actors don't. Like maybe other actors that are more secure
Speaker 2: in their being just go, oh, be quiet, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go do my thing. But that's not where I was at.
Speaker 2: So I loved it, but it was really stressful. Point
Speaker 2: being that when voiceover really started taking over. I was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah and it uh. I mean, it seems like you're
Speaker 1: ramped up pretty fast. How did you In nineteen eighty nine,
Speaker 1: you scored the role of Sandy Cheeks, the iconic Sandy
Speaker 1: Sandra Cheeks on Spendral SquarePants. How did that happen? How
Speaker 1: did you get that role?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: What was the process of bringing you into that show?
Speaker 2: All right? So as you were talking about the universe,
Speaker 2: because I truly that's how I speak about our world,
Speaker 2: right is the universe. Everything in my life has been random,
Speaker 2: every single thing, and SpongeBob was one of them. Because
Speaker 2: I had been auditioning and getting called back and doing
Speaker 2: well in the community, but not really booking that big
Speaker 2: thing that's going to give you, like consistency of income.
Speaker 2: When I met the casting director named Donna Grillo on
Speaker 2: a sidewalk in Lespheelz when I was with my friend
Speaker 2: Quentin Flynn, who's a big voiceover guy, wonderful talented, like
Speaker 2: incredibly beautiful man, and she said, you have an interesting sound.
Speaker 2: Are you an actress? And I was like, yes, everybody
Speaker 2: in LA is an actor. She said, long story short,
Speaker 2: we have a little conversation, and she said she'd call
Speaker 2: me in on something she was working on. And I
Speaker 2: didn't believe her because a lot of people talk a
Speaker 2: lot of whatever and it never comes to anything and
Speaker 2: soiling and it was SpongeBob. She called me in on SpongeBob.
Speaker 1: Wow. So okay, So when you like, when you come
Speaker 1: in to do that, do they I'm so curious how
Speaker 1: much of the character they had kind of figured out
Speaker 1: at that point, Like did they tell did they tell you, like, oh,
Speaker 1: she's a squirrel from Texas? We want that accident?
Speaker 2: Yeah, right, you get you get like it's a one sheet,
Speaker 2: So you get a one page piece of paper and
Speaker 2: it has usually a drawing of the character or picture
Speaker 2: of the character or whatever the artist sees in their mind,
Speaker 2: and then a little paragraph of dialogue and then like
Speaker 2: points about her. Yes, she's a squirrel, she's from Texas,
Speaker 2: she's a scientist, she knows karate, And they give you
Speaker 2: like all those pieces and then you use your imagination
Speaker 2: to come up with what you think that would sound like.
Speaker 1: I love it and developing the sound of Sandy is
Speaker 1: just such a great voice. I love the character so
Speaker 1: much and like you can't help but smile when you
Speaker 1: listen to Sandy Cheeks, where did you draw from in
Speaker 1: your own life to get like the accent is so
Speaker 1: good too. I mean, I thought you were from Houston, honestly,
Speaker 1: like funny, So how did you develop that character? Well?
Speaker 2: I thought about I thought about what she looked like first,
Speaker 2: because she's got book teeth, and so you got to
Speaker 2: have the teeth. And then I thought about what people
Speaker 2: from the South had like that that thing that sounded smart.
Speaker 2: I don't know how else to explain it, like trying
Speaker 2: to find like an example of something like and I
Speaker 2: thought of Holly Hunter.
Speaker 3: Wow, And so yeah, she was the inspiration.
Speaker 2: Hi, Holly.
Speaker 1: That's fascinating.
Speaker 2: But also it's interesting in that different actors work differently, Right.
Speaker 2: There are voice actors out there who have all these
Speaker 2: characters within them that they apply to a role, right
Speaker 2: that they have characters that they've been playing with at
Speaker 2: home that they just can't wait till the right role
Speaker 2: comes along that they can put it in, right. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And I'm the opposite Mine comes from. It has to
Speaker 2: be something in the script has to work for me interesting,
Speaker 2: or I've got nothing like.
Speaker 3: Yeah, wow.
Speaker 2: You can't just come up with a voice. They don't.
Speaker 2: It doesn't work that way for me.
Speaker 1: I mean that's so pure. I think like that. It
Speaker 1: feels like this like inspiration and the character itself kind
Speaker 1: of speaking to you and like helping you come over
Speaker 1: the way that I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I've had a lot of auditions where I
Speaker 2: have to be like, hey, guys, I got nothing. I
Speaker 2: got nothing, this one I don't have. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2: I can't just make something up. There's nothing for you.
Speaker 1: What were the early days of making SpongeBob, Like like
Speaker 1: the first season, you know, it kind of like recording
Speaker 1: those first few episodes, like did you have you? Did
Speaker 1: you have any idea of that people were gonna love
Speaker 1: it as much as they did? I mean, were you
Speaker 1: having a lot of fun?
Speaker 2: I had no idea. I was so focused on my
Speaker 2: enthusiasm for being employed and being awestruck at the talent
Speaker 2: around me because most people on the show had like
Speaker 2: a huge wealth of credits and like they were incredibly
Speaker 2: well known already in the industry well way right, So
Speaker 2: I'm this room full of like phenomenal people and I'm like, whoaw.
Speaker 2: But it was really fun because right from the get go,
Speaker 2: we just jelled really well, we just all got It's
Speaker 2: like when you meet friends at school or something like,
Speaker 2: it just felt good. It just kind of worked.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. I love to hear that. That makes me
Speaker 1: so happy. I was. I mean, it would also be
Speaker 1: fun if you're like, oh, Tom Kenny is the worst
Speaker 1: guy in the business. I hate him. I can't stand
Speaker 1: in the side of him.
Speaker 2: You don't know what No, honestly, you know what it is.
Speaker 2: It's like it's like your family, right, you love your family. Yes,
Speaker 2: you have those moments of like, ugh, uncle Joe, like
Speaker 2: we don't know him, right. So our cast after all
Speaker 2: this time is like that. We're like total family, all
Speaker 2: the love, but we definitely all have our quirks.
Speaker 3: Too, of course.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I mean you're in your fifteenth season,
Speaker 1: twenty five years of Spongebow. That's incredible. How and I'm
Speaker 1: curious how the experience for you has changed over those years,
Speaker 1: like and like has the character Sandy changed for you?
Speaker 1: Like have you like discovered different parts about her that
Speaker 1: you've brought to the role, Like how does that work?
Speaker 2: I think I think initially it would be interesting to
Speaker 2: see what the writers thought. But initially it felt like
Speaker 2: Sandy was there a lot to do exposition, Yes, she
Speaker 2: was there, like to connect the scene to that scene
Speaker 2: like that seemed to be her Like all she did
Speaker 2: was you know yeah. Like And as the years have
Speaker 2: gone on, she's gotten more life. Like you've just you've
Speaker 2: found out more about her and what she's and that
Speaker 2: helps me find out more about her. I mean, I'm
Speaker 2: still learning a lot about her now, which is kind
Speaker 2: of crazy. Like when we did the movie, I was like, Oh,
Speaker 2: I didn't know that.
Speaker 3: Oh that's that.
Speaker 2: You know, it's fun because I'm discovering at the same
Speaker 2: time you guys.
Speaker 1: Are That's that's so cool. I love that. That's that's
Speaker 1: a really fun detail. Do you ever slip into the
Speaker 1: Sandy voice like in your real life?
Speaker 2: I have been told by my children that I get
Speaker 2: really mad sometimes she comes out interesting. Dang, yeah, I
Speaker 2: don't know. I think it just happens.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, this is such a blasting. Carolyn Lawrence
Speaker 1: is with us. It's the ICEMOL pop culture podcast. She's
Speaker 1: Sandy cheeks. Everybody all SquarePants. But here's the thing. We
Speaker 1: have so much more to get into, we have so
Speaker 1: much more fun to have. And here's the deal. Carolyn
Speaker 1: and I are gonna sit here absolutely silent for a
Speaker 1: few minutes, and everyone out there is gonna listen to
Speaker 1: a bunch of commercials. That's the deal. Okay, We'll be
Speaker 1: right back. It's the Ice Mellow Pop Culture Podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Easton Allen. I'm sitting here with Carolyn Lawrence,
Speaker 1: the voice of Sandy Cheeks on SpongeBob SquarePants. We're having
Speaker 1: a lot of fun here on dry land. We're an
Speaker 1: auditor of the sea. We're on dry land, and I mean,
Speaker 1: one of the most iconic characteroon characters of all time.
Speaker 1: I've been saying that this whole interview, And Okay, Carolyn,
Speaker 1: I want you to resist any urge of modesty here, Okay,
Speaker 1: Like I'm gonna ask you a question and I don't
Speaker 1: want you to be modest at all. Am I right
Speaker 1: in thinking and knowing that you are ever version of
Speaker 1: Sandy Cheeks out there, like like you're in every video
Speaker 1: game or in every movie? Is there? Like there's no
Speaker 1: other Sandy Cheeks voice? Am I right?
Speaker 2: There's no other Sandy Cheeks voice that I know of. No,
Speaker 2: unless they did some weird I don't know, did they
Speaker 2: have somebody like have to throw in a word here
Speaker 2: or there. If I wasn't available, I don't know. I
Speaker 2: think it's all been me.
Speaker 1: That is. I was looking at your your credits list,
Speaker 1: and because like sometimes you know, I mean, you're you're
Speaker 1: a huge star, and so like sometimes like they'll have
Speaker 1: like yeah, I mean, you know, like Tom Hanks is
Speaker 1: famous for like I think his brother does all the
Speaker 1: woody stuff like in like the theme parks or whatever.
Speaker 1: So I was like, oh, on like the video games,
Speaker 1: I bet it's somebody else. No, no, no, it's you,
Speaker 1: like you are Sandy.
Speaker 2: That's incredible to the extent that I would don't tell
Speaker 2: the network. I would. I would work for free to
Speaker 2: do something to make sure that I was still her.
Speaker 1: I love that. I love that is and I think
Speaker 1: so special to the character and to uh and for
Speaker 1: the audience, you know, like like kids that loved the
Speaker 1: show are gonna every time they see Sandy, like they'll
Speaker 1: know it's the same voice. And it's like Sandy is
Speaker 1: a real character, breathing, breathing, living character. It's incredible.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I did have a funny moment Easan when they did
Speaker 2: the Broadway musical, and I was like, this is so insane.
Speaker 2: I was like wait a minute, why didn't I get
Speaker 2: to audition for her? Like oh, and then I'm like,
Speaker 2: oh Carolyn who, No, you're not Broadway.
Speaker 1: Hey you can dance, you can do it.
Speaker 2: But I've been in the background. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh my god. So last year you guys did
Speaker 1: something incredible. I don't think it's ever been done before,
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, the Live Super Bowl. I was watching
Speaker 1: some clips from that this morning. Uh like, so were
Speaker 1: you were just in character? What improving for like five
Speaker 1: hours or something? Is that right?
Speaker 2: Okay? So it's so funny too in our industry how
Speaker 2: things are explained to you and then how they turn
Speaker 2: out to be. So I had never done it's called
Speaker 2: motion capture. I had never done that before, where they
Speaker 2: put you in the suit and you have all the
Speaker 2: sensors and they digitize to you. That was new to
Speaker 2: me and something I've always wanted to do, so I
Speaker 2: was super excited about it. But then they were like, yeah,
Speaker 2: you're gonna be improving the whole game, and I was
Speaker 2: like okay. But then because of because of technology and
Speaker 2: timing and space and all these other things that came
Speaker 2: into play. Doug Lawrence, who plays Plankton, mister Lawrence and
Speaker 2: I wound up in a trailer in the parking lot
Speaker 2: doing our part, and Tom and Hill were in the
Speaker 2: stadium doing their part, and so they, I mean, they
Speaker 2: got all the pressure they had, like they were on
Speaker 2: in a big way the whole time. But mister Lawrence
Speaker 2: and I were in the control trailers, so like we
Speaker 2: could see and here if a director was going to
Speaker 2: throw to us, that means like we have a moment,
Speaker 2: right Carolyn, do something or not. So we were just
Speaker 2: like we just spent all those hours in a anticipatory state.
Speaker 2: Am I needed? Am I needed? Am I gonna what a?
Speaker 2: And we did pre record. They did pre record some
Speaker 2: stuff just in case they needed to lay something in
Speaker 2: or something went kafluey or we recorded some things a
Speaker 2: couple of days before. But that was crazy fun.
Speaker 1: It's so cool. And if anyone listening doesn't know what
Speaker 1: we're talking about. The super Bowl last year, the Chiefs
Speaker 1: and the forty nine ers on CBS, they did like
Speaker 1: an alternate you know, SpongeBob super Bowl, where like SpongeBob
Speaker 1: and Patrick were doing commentary and Sandy was doing sideline
Speaker 1: and report the filming or the shots from it. Are
Speaker 1: so funny because it's like it's done at the appropriate angle,
Speaker 1: like it's like the cameras like down on the ground.
Speaker 2: Yes, it was wild and those guys, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: that got The people on that team were just so amazing.
Speaker 2: And it was really fun too, because it goes to
Speaker 2: show the love for our franchise in that all the
Speaker 2: people backstage that we're working with us and all the
Speaker 2: sports commentators and like everybody was so geeked out to
Speaker 2: be doing it. It was really fun.
Speaker 1: I love it. It's so incredible. So, I mean that's
Speaker 1: that's definitely an anomaly for what you typically do. But
Speaker 1: I'm curious, like, oh no, every SpongeBob I'm putting on
Speaker 1: the motion capture suit.
Speaker 2: We did do it again though. We did it again
Speaker 2: for the Kid's Choice Awards.
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean you'll probably be doing this every year
Speaker 1: now for something, because.
Speaker 2: I would hope so I'll get better at it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, keep that mocap suit at the drug cleaners. Uh.
Speaker 1: When you when you do a typical episode of SpongeBob,
Speaker 1: like a typical recording, I'm curious how that works, Like,
Speaker 1: what's that process?
Speaker 2: Like so initially, for all the way up until COVID,
Speaker 2: we all record together like a play. We're all in
Speaker 2: the booth together and set up at Mike's and we
Speaker 2: have what's called baffles in between us so the sound
Speaker 2: doesn't travel. And Tom was always in a little booth
Speaker 2: within the booth, so he was isolated so he could
Speaker 2: improv as much as he wanted and not have to
Speaker 2: worry about stepping on any of our lines or any
Speaker 2: of us having like crosstalk or anything.
Speaker 3: Gotcha, had to be careful.
Speaker 2: But so the all those years we did it that way,
Speaker 2: and then when COVID happened, you know, it all fell
Speaker 2: apart and we were recording from our homes and that
Speaker 2: was a whole new experience, like we're not sound to engineers. Yeah,
Speaker 2: suddenly we're in our homes and the studio sent us
Speaker 2: like a mic and a and a laptop and we're like,
Speaker 2: okay now, but you know, we never missed an air date. Wow,
Speaker 2: it happens full time. And now it's kind of a hybrid,
Speaker 2: like words together as much as we possibly can be,
Speaker 2: but we also know if somebody needs to travel or
Speaker 2: Clancey's off doing you know, his big, big movie star
Speaker 2: things that uh that we can still work remotely, but
Speaker 2: together we can see people like the Brady Bunch, we
Speaker 2: see people you know on the screen.
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask if it's like, if it's like
Speaker 1: you do to resume, so you're still like interacting with each.
Speaker 2: Other whenever possible. We still all want to see each other.
Speaker 1: I love it, and I think that's why the performance
Speaker 1: is like so fun and it feels like friends hanging
Speaker 1: out because you hear sometimes like people just record their
Speaker 1: lines separately, like alone, they just read the sides and
Speaker 1: then wait.
Speaker 2: But then there's no magic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, And you can hear that.
Speaker 2: Right because if so nobody has an idea and they
Speaker 2: and they want to change something to be you know,
Speaker 2: even more humorous, then we can pick it up like
Speaker 2: everybody can play together.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, So.
Speaker 1: In those the early pre COVID when you would all
Speaker 1: be in there in the same room, was there This
Speaker 1: is probably a very naive question, so forgive me. But
Speaker 1: in Missus doubt Fire, I think he's like I think
Speaker 1: he's a voiceover. Rob Willims is like a voiceover artist,
Speaker 1: and they're like there's a part in the beginning of
Speaker 1: the movie where they have like it's like a tweety
Speaker 1: bird character or something like that, and they have like
Speaker 1: they're projecting the cartoon on a screen for him, and
Speaker 1: I remember thinking like, ohka, there's no way he's like
Speaker 1: sinking the voice his voice to that. But maybe for
Speaker 1: inspiration or something. Do they ever like show the cartoon
Speaker 1: in the studios? It just yeah, yeah, what.
Speaker 2: They're talking about. They're two different things. Okay. So we
Speaker 2: do what's called an original record, so we lay down
Speaker 2: all the sound and then the animators animate to us.
Speaker 2: Some shows are what's called dubbed. Some shows the animation
Speaker 2: is done and then the actor does have to match
Speaker 2: what's called the voice.
Speaker 1: Flaps oh man.
Speaker 2: So on our show, it's a hybrid. So we record
Speaker 2: everything they animate to us. But if anything needs to
Speaker 2: change for a reason the sound wasn't quite what they wanted,
Speaker 2: or they have to change the line for some reason,
Speaker 2: then we have to go in and it's called adr
Speaker 2: we have to replace it to the picture. So we
Speaker 2: do do both.
Speaker 1: Interesting. The cool craft of it is so fascinating to me.
Speaker 1: So my sister Kimberly is an animator. She works at Pixar,
Speaker 1: and she's a big fan of yours. I told her
Speaker 1: I was interviewing you today. She got very excited.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm a big fans already.
Speaker 1: She's on the other side of the of the process.
Speaker 1: But she's like, you know, she tries her hand at
Speaker 1: voice acting too. She's very good at it. But she
Speaker 1: wanted me to ask, like, what, uh, what do you
Speaker 1: practices do you do for taking care of your voice?
Speaker 1: Like a drinking tea? Do you like use a humidifier?
Speaker 1: Like do you have anything like that you use?
Speaker 2: I don't. I'm so like a wing it in life person.
Speaker 2: I think the biggest thing for me is is making
Speaker 2: sure you're warmed up, which could be anything. It just
Speaker 2: could be talking a lot at Starbucks or singing in
Speaker 2: the car on the way to the record, right, making
Speaker 2: sure that you're warmed up in some capacity, and never
Speaker 2: catching a cold.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so like if you do get if you
Speaker 1: get a cold, you just have to postpone recording, right,
Speaker 1: Like you have you ever like tried to just muscle
Speaker 1: through it or oh yeah, well a.
Speaker 2: Lot of times, a lot of times if they have
Speaker 2: to get something out and they have to get it
Speaker 2: recorded because the animators have to have it for timing. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you record anyway, even if you sound terrible, because you
Speaker 2: can come back and adr it later. Oh right, better
Speaker 2: to to do that to your own performance than to
Speaker 2: have someone else lay it in and then you're stuck
Speaker 2: with their rhythm and there the way they do it.
Speaker 2: But it is funny because actually we just recorded yesterday.
Speaker 2: So it was Tom and mister Lawrence and I is
Speaker 2: there another person? I think it was just the three
Speaker 2: of us, and we were talking about how the weather
Speaker 2: change in LA because it was like ninety degrees and
Speaker 2: then see we were all like raining, like like you know, everybody,
Speaker 2: have to take a break, clear your voice.
Speaker 3: Come back, do you ever?
Speaker 1: Okay? So I imagine fans are constantly asking you, like
Speaker 1: to do their voicemail or like things like that, or
Speaker 1: like you coming up to you and be like, hey,
Speaker 1: can you can you say this to my cousin? What's
Speaker 1: the thing people ask you to like say the most
Speaker 1: in the Sandy voice?
Speaker 2: You know What's funny? They seem to really mostly like
Speaker 2: her mad, which is so interesting to me because that's
Speaker 2: my mom. Despite is her mad? But I don't know,
Speaker 2: because it's always funny, Like dirty Dan, that's always funny,
Speaker 2: you know. Now take the name of Dix's. I don't know. Yeah,
Speaker 2: when she's when she's feisty, people seem to like when
Speaker 2: she's feisty spirited.
Speaker 1: Perhaps feisty Sandy is a lot of fun. I'm one
Speaker 1: of those people. I enjoyed that so much. For anyone
Speaker 1: who out there who is looking to get into voice acting,
Speaker 1: what advice do you have for them?
Speaker 2: You know, it's so hard because I was at a
Speaker 2: drive through not too long ago and the and the
Speaker 2: guy at the drive through had the most beautiful sound
Speaker 2: and I was like, dude, and he asked me about that,
Speaker 2: and honestly, it's so hard now, yeah, because when I started,
Speaker 2: the industry was completely different and now I really I
Speaker 2: really don't know. I mean, to me, performing is performing, yeah,
Speaker 2: So be a performer. Go be a performer, and all
Speaker 2: those things you can do in different mediums like a
Speaker 2: theater actor can certainly still do voice work and a
Speaker 2: voice work, you know, a voiceover can do live action,
Speaker 2: and I think it's just working on your craft. I
Speaker 2: would say, if you love it, a great place to
Speaker 2: start is just performing like community theater.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's fantastic advice and I think that
Speaker 1: also will you know that'll open your mind to all
Speaker 1: these different ways of expressing your creativity and things like that.
Speaker 1: That's well, that is great advice. This is a question
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask people like you that have had
Speaker 1: this iconic role. This this like role is so heavy
Speaker 1: in people's minds for such a long time. I know
Speaker 1: it's hard, but like, is there an experience or a
Speaker 1: memory that stands, like when you look back at all
Speaker 1: the years of being Sandy Cheeks and like everything you've
Speaker 1: gotten to do, is there something that kind of rises
Speaker 1: to the top of like, oh my god, I can't
Speaker 1: believe that, we can't believe this happened, or like anything
Speaker 1: like that.
Speaker 2: Well, being at the super Bowl was mind blowing. I
Speaker 2: never thought that. Sure, on a very basic, simple level,
Speaker 2: it sounds so dorky, but it's true. Like anytime I
Speaker 2: get a hug from a kid because they love the
Speaker 2: character so much, that just makes me want to sob profusely.
Speaker 2: I'm so grateful.
Speaker 1: I'm a I mean, I'm cheered up listening to that.
Speaker 1: That's I mean, what a special role to play in.
Speaker 1: How many generations of kids now have grown up with
Speaker 1: Sandy and like and also the fact that she's she's
Speaker 1: a squirrel, but she's still she's a strong woman in science.
Speaker 1: I think she's such a great role model for kids.
Speaker 1: And also she's so funny and and just a good friend.
Speaker 1: I don't know, it's just such a special role to
Speaker 1: have in entertainment and for children.
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially as a woman, it means a lot, and
Speaker 2: it is. It is shocking to me still, Steve Hillenberg
Speaker 2: created characters that are so deep on so many levels.
Speaker 2: And I love that he saw a woman. Well partially
Speaker 2: it's because his wife is amazing, but that that he
Speaker 2: would he would create a character as well rounded as
Speaker 2: her in animation because a lot of times the girls
Speaker 2: aren't right. I mean, we have the superhero girls, but
Speaker 2: I mean generally you know, and uh, And it's it
Speaker 2: has been an honor to play her, and I think
Speaker 2: it's especially meaningful that little girls do get to see
Speaker 2: someone who can do everything. Like you said, she's a
Speaker 2: loyal friend, she's super smart, she's athletic, she's funny, like
Speaker 2: she's she's awesome. I wish I was her.
Speaker 1: I don't know, just saying this because I'm on the
Speaker 1: call with you, but like when I first saw SpongeBob,
Speaker 1: I'm Sandy was the most compelling character to me because
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god, Like the other characters
Speaker 1: are like, you know, it's it's a starfish. It's like
Speaker 1: it's like things under the like she has a she
Speaker 1: has a you know, a diving out like she is
Speaker 1: from dry land and she came down right. But I
Speaker 1: just thought that. I was like, this is such an
Speaker 1: interesting character. I want to know more about her. I
Speaker 1: don't know. We love Sandy, Sandy is better than SpongeBob,
Speaker 1: but she'd be called the Sandy Cheeks show someday.
Speaker 2: Maybe maybe she'll get a spit off. I don't know.
Speaker 1: That was something else is gonna ask, would you if
Speaker 1: there was like the Sandy Cheeks movie or something like that,
Speaker 1: would you be interested in doing something like that?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: We did.
Speaker 2: We did Saving Bikini Bottom.
Speaker 1: That's right, Yes, the posters behind.
Speaker 2: You, but but it's Saving Bikini Bottom. The Sandy Cheeks movie.
Speaker 2: It says it in small print right underneath. It couldn't
Speaker 2: be called the Sandy Cheeks movie.
Speaker 1: Oh it could, it could.
Speaker 2: Thank you, But.
Speaker 1: Paramount Plus is desperate for content. I could there should
Speaker 1: be a Sandy Cheeks series right right.
Speaker 2: I would love to see something I'd love to see
Speaker 2: her do something. But more than that, I actually would
Speaker 2: love something that you know, we have a little Uh.
Speaker 2: There was an episode where they had the gal Pals
Speaker 2: what they named the female characters that were all hanging
Speaker 2: out suddenly and they called us the gal Pals, And
Speaker 2: then the Galpals were in the new Plankton movie that's
Speaker 2: also on Netflix. And uh, I would like to see
Speaker 2: personally women supporting women. I'd like to see a gal
Speaker 2: Pals spin off. Yes, yes, as much as I mean
Speaker 2: it would be amazing to have a Sandy Cheeks one.
Speaker 2: Obviously for me, it would be more fun to have
Speaker 2: all the girls.
Speaker 1: I love it. Carolyn Lawrence is with us, the voice
Speaker 1: of Sandy Cheeks. It's the I Smell pop Culture podcast
Speaker 1: where you're going to take a really quick break and
Speaker 1: then we'll be right back, So stick around, everybody. It's
Speaker 1: the Ice Smell Pop Culture Podcast. This is Easton Allen
Speaker 1: hanging out with Carolyn Lawrence, the voice of Sandy Cheeks
Speaker 1: on SpongeBob SquarePants, who lives in a pineapple under the sea.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: So, I was delighted to hear that you're a Gilmore
Speaker 1: Girls fan. You've watched the show and you have daughters,
Speaker 1: How what's something you love to do with your daughters?
Speaker 1: Because you know, Gilmore Girls is so much about the
Speaker 1: relationship to mothers and daughters. Is there something like special
Speaker 1: that you guys like to do altogether?
Speaker 2: Well, when they were young, younger, I had. I used
Speaker 2: to have fun family Fridays, which is when we would
Speaker 2: all pile in the bed and watch movies or TV
Speaker 2: shows together. I love it so that that was my
Speaker 2: favorite thing. Now I've got like a teenager and the
Speaker 2: other one and now it's different, right, she won't pile
Speaker 2: in and like, But yeah, I think I think family
Speaker 2: entertainment time was big, like watching things together, playing board
Speaker 2: games together. But we are we are a TV movie family.
Speaker 2: That's that's big for us.
Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite, like one that's like and
Speaker 1: then number one or top five spot or something like that.
Speaker 2: I think it changed depending on what age everybody was.
Speaker 2: There was a while where we watched The Book of
Speaker 2: Life over and over and over and over and my
Speaker 2: dog just had to bark and interrupt us. So that
Speaker 2: movie I think is amazing on a million levels. It's beautiful.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, it's the storyline is phenomenal. I like the
Speaker 2: the culture, and I thought I had such great messages
Speaker 2: in it for kids. So I thought that movie should
Speaker 2: have done way way way. I thought it was poorly publicized.
Speaker 3: But whatever, I completely agree with all my opinions.
Speaker 2: I'm a big I'm so sappy. I love when Christmas comes.
Speaker 2: I love when the holiday comes and I can watch
Speaker 2: all the like great but terrible movies.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, like like anything. I'm all Mark.
Speaker 2: Yes, I don't even names of them, like Christmas in Denmark,
Speaker 2: I don't know, like whatever they are. I love them all.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's all yeah, Christmas and Louisiana, Christmas in Montana.
Speaker 1: They're all great, and they all the same storyline and
Speaker 1: they're all fan you know, it's a great time.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. That's so funny because my youngest, because
Speaker 2: we watch so much stuff, she starts to know like
Speaker 2: the A story, the B story. She's nine, but she'll
Speaker 2: she'll already know, like she'll say, oh, I know what's
Speaker 2: gonna happen, and she'll like tell me like, well, this
Speaker 2: character's gonna meet that character, and then that character's gonna
Speaker 2: fall in love with this character, and then they're gonna
Speaker 2: have a big problem and then it's all gonna end
Speaker 2: up great.
Speaker 1: I'm like, yeah, that's impressive that she can recognize narrative
Speaker 1: structure at that level. That's awesome. So if you could
Speaker 1: visit stars Hallow, Like if you could be transported to
Speaker 1: the fictional town, I know you could you live in
Speaker 1: La right, Like you could just go to Bourbank and
Speaker 1: go to the lot, But if you could go to
Speaker 1: the fictional version of it in the universe. What is
Speaker 1: there a place you'd like to go? Is there like
Speaker 1: a would you like to take go to Luke's Diner?
Speaker 2: You want to hang out at Luke's?
Speaker 3: Yeah, hang out at Luke's. And I want to observe Kirk, Yes,
Speaker 3: And I.
Speaker 2: Want to be best friends with Lurlai. I mean a lot.
Speaker 1: I mean nothing's better than that. What is it about
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls that stands out to you? Like, like what what?
Speaker 1: What connection did you have with that show?
Speaker 2: You know? I think, like you said earlier, I really
Speaker 2: think it's a lot like SpongeBob. I think I connect
Speaker 2: to it because everybody I think anyway likes that idea
Speaker 2: of small town, like likes that idea of a community
Speaker 2: and the connectedness and and like there's something so deeply
Speaker 2: intriguing about.
Speaker 3: That, right, Yeah, absolutely, I think our.
Speaker 2: World is a bit fractured and we really miss having
Speaker 2: those connections. I was a neighbor where we actually all
Speaker 2: know each other.
Speaker 1: That's incredible, that's rare.
Speaker 2: And everybody always says to me, what's with your neighborhood.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I don't know, but it's so good, right,
Speaker 2: Like I actually know people here, and I know in
Speaker 2: big cities usually you don't. So I think part of
Speaker 2: Gilmore Girls is interesting. And I also think Gilmore Girls
Speaker 2: is so incredibly well written that we can all relate
Speaker 2: to the various characters because they kind of remind us
Speaker 2: of people in our own lives.
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, do you think like that. The thing with
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls is they they always saying, like, talk faster.
Speaker 1: They are the fast talking. It's such a signature of
Speaker 1: the show, which if Sandy Cheeks had to be in
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girls, would you be able to do, like to
Speaker 1: rattle off that dialogue that fast in the voice.
Speaker 2: If if we were just talking about like I could
Speaker 2: read it like I do want a record? Yes, if
Speaker 2: I was having to film it live New.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you, Oh my god, You're just the absolute best.
Speaker 1: Carolyn Lawrence. So SpongeBob in its fifteenth season right now,
Speaker 1: what else can fans look forward to? I mean, like
Speaker 1: your recording episode you said you recorded yesterday as we
Speaker 1: as we do this podcast, anything else on the way
Speaker 1: that fans can look forward to in the world of SpongeBob.
Speaker 2: We have a movie coming out at theaters next year.
Speaker 2: I don't know what it's called. It's secret, but yes,
Speaker 2: it will be at the theaters next year. We have
Speaker 2: two video games coming out which are also still under wraps,
Speaker 2: and I don't have a title for you, but I
Speaker 2: know they're coming.
Speaker 3: You know what.
Speaker 2: The crazy thing I would say to fans is much
Speaker 2: like the Super Bowl situation, things keep coming. Like we
Speaker 2: keep thinking, okay, so this is our right, this is
Speaker 2: the pinnacle, this is probably what this looks like. And
Speaker 2: then there's a new thing. So I know there's new things.
Speaker 2: I just have no forgure what they'll even be. And
Speaker 2: I'm excited. It's exciting to see because it seems like
Speaker 2: we just keep growing. It's really cool.
Speaker 1: It's it's true. I mean, the fandom just gets bigger
Speaker 1: and bigger. You're making new fans, the old ones are
Speaker 1: sticking around. It's it's really remarkable. Uh and and I mean,
Speaker 1: my god, the memes. The memes are so great for
Speaker 1: SpongeBob and they just never ending in always finding new versions.
Speaker 1: Uh So, there's so much to look forward to. There's
Speaker 1: so much to look back on. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for sharing your voice and bringing this character to life.
Speaker 1: It's just so special for so many of us out there.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to thank you for your art, like,
Speaker 1: thank you for making this goodness Easton.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. It's been it's
Speaker 2: been really fun. I could talk to you forever. We
Speaker 2: could talk for like five more hours. Y.
Speaker 1: Yes, seriously, you're the absolute best. This is the I
Speaker 1: Small pop culture podcast. Thank you so much, Carolyn, Thank
Speaker 2: You, hey everybody, and don't forget follow us on Instagram
Speaker 2: at I Am all In podcast and email us at
Speaker 2: Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com