In our Last Call Q&A series, we get to the bottom of every last thing with some of our favorite celebrities – from the last time they got starstruck to the last song they listened to. This week, Lyric Ross is taking our call.
Lyric Ross voices Kat in “Wendell & Wild,” Netflix’s new stop-motion horror film laced with social commentary. The feature, which premiered October 28, sees Ross’ Kat literally go to hell and back while battling corruption in her hometown and rocking a great sense of punk-rock style.
At just 19, Ross — who you might recognize as Deja Pearson from “This Is Us” — stands out in “Wendell & Wild.” Her performance adds a singular sense of heart and angst to her character, who loses her parents and is sent to a Catholic foster home. There she finds herself haunted by a couple of local demons who tell her that if she gets them out of hell, they will bring her parents back to life.
To get into character, Ross drew inspiration from the people in her life. “I took people very close to me, friends and family who went through certain things in their past,” she told POPSUGAR as she prepped for the role. “They were generous enough to tell stories.” Starting his career with such a big role in an animated feature film was a challenge for Ross. “A lot of actors…get into animation later in their career, and by then they’re very comfortable with their voice,” Ross says. “And I had no idea how to do that. Imagination was a big thing for me in this process.”
“Wendell & Wild” required a lot of imagination from Ross. The film is the brainchild of director Henry Selick, who came up with the idea to tell the story of two demons after observing his two young sons at home, according to The New York Times. It started to come to life when Selick teamed up with the horror icon Jordan Pele. At the time, however, Peele was still best known for his comedic routines with Keegan-Michael Key and feared his upcoming film “Get Out” could hurt the success of “Wendell & Wild” if it performed poorly.
Five years later, Key and Peele reunited in “Wendell & Wild” to voice the film’s titular demons. Although she appeared in numerous scenes alongside them, Ross says she didn’t actually get a chance to have a chat with the duo until nearly four years after she began working on the project. “I have to talk to them at TIFF [Toronto International Film Festival] first, actually,” she shares. “It was the first time we really had conversations about this project, which is crazy.”
While the demons’ names appear in the film’s title, “Wendell & Wild” is really Kat’s story. At its heart, it’s a tale of her grief and trauma embedded in a story about capitalism – the main villains aren’t the demons but rather a pair of wealthy politicians who want to build a private prison in Kat’s hometown. . Ross, for his part, sympathizes with the demons. They “lived such a miserable life”, she says, “and in that sense they would do anything and everything to get by, because they also have dreams, just like anyone else”.
All of these stories exist in a dazzling animated depiction of underground amusement parks, creepy neon critters, and possessed nuns, whose leader is voiced by a very convincing Angela Bassett. Essentially, “Wendell & Wild” has something for everyone, but Ross’ performance is the driving force through it all.
Keep reading to see what Ross has to say about her last day on set, the music she listened to and more.
How was your last day working on “Wendell & Wild”?
By then it had been a very long time since I had seen or spoken to Henry [Selick], so it was really good to see it. We talked a bit before our session, and he heard about some things I was working on at the time, [and we were] just catch up. We really didn’t have much to do during this session. I think it was maybe two or three lines that I had left from the whole project.
After going through all of this, he wanted to show me some clips they had made of the movie. They played it, and it blew my mind. You really don’t know how much tedious work these types of films require. Stop motion is so strategic, and that’s what makes it so beautiful. They put so many things in there. If you really look at the details, you can’t get them all in the first watch, which is so dope for me. Just watching those scenes and being like, “Wow, I’m really a part of this. That’s me over there,” was a wonderful moment for me.
What’s the last book you read?
“Children of Blood and Bone” by Tomi Adeyemi.
What was the last show you binge-watched?
“South Park.”
What’s the last song or album you listened to?
“Matinée” by Smino. He’s the coolest artist.
When was the last time you were starstruck?
The last time I was starstruck was in 2019. I don’t get starstruck like that very often, but I remember I was at the SAG Awards, actually. It was around this time that I met Angela Bassett. I was frozen for a minute, and my mom said, “Get up to her. Go up to her.” I was like, “I know you’re lying. I never will, I won’t.” Eventually I went to her, and I couldn’t get my words together, then I started to have tears in my eyes and to shake. She just hugged me and said, “You’re doing great,” and I was – god, yeah. It was definitely a starry moment for me.
What’s the last thing you did to take care of yourself?
The last thing I did was go shopping. I love shopping, and it’s kind of a very therapeutic thing for me. I don’t know why or how it happened, but it’s always been that way.
What’s the last photo on your camera roll?
It’s a birthday cake. It was someone’s birthday on set, one of the people in the makeup department, and we were celebrating, so I just took a picture of it.
What is the last gift you received?
Merch from the last project I worked on. It was like a parting gift. It was a small hat and matching socks.
What is the last piece of advice you received that changed your life?
“You have to take the time and find the time to have fun.” It changed my life because it’s very hard to do that when you’re being pulled all over the place, especially in the industry I work in, because there’s a lot of people who are going to take advantage of you as much as possible. You just have to take your time to be free and do what you want and have a good time, because no one else will. You can’t rely on someone else to give you that space, because they just don’t care about you. You need to watch out for yourself, whether it’s making sure no one is passing you by or just making sure you’re mentally fit. You have that break from time to time, especially in times when you are constantly working, because it weighs on you.
“Wendell & Wild” is now streaming on Netflix.
Image source: Courtesy of Lyric Ross