A local actor and singer-songwriter unleashes his dark side in LEGO Jurassic World: The Legend of Isla Nublar, a series on Netflix.
William Kuklis is the voice of the classic villain in the dinosaur world, Dennis Nedry, a character who was first brought to the big screen by Wayne Knight in the original Jurassic Park movie that debuted in 1993.
Kuklis is best known in Prince George for his music but in Vancouver his agent knows him best as an actor and brought the voice work to Kuklis last year.
I get the odd voice audition emailed to me," Kuklis said. "I have a recording studio here so that makes it easy."
He gets some random requests to be the spokesperson for things like cooking spray but when this one came in, his interest was peaked.
"This was LEGO - I have two kids at home - I can't not throw an audition out for a LEGO show," Kuklis said. "So I did and they liked it and so they got me to come and do it."
Fortunately the voice work took place before the pandemic so he went to Vancouver several times to join the other members of the cast in a big recording studio where they all read the script together.
This LEGO series Kuklis said is set in between the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World eras.
"And my character is actually dead because he died at the end of the first movie," Kuklis said. "So they're playing me back on old VHS tapes which is pretty cool and I've got a LEGO figurine now and that's pretty sweet!"
And how do the kids feel about you being in a LEGO movie?
"They don't care," Kuklis said with a sigh and a laugh.
So Kuklis is in the series and then appears again in the DVD set that includes a short film that shows Dennis Nedry as he is given the tour when he first visits Jurassic Park.
To bring what he needed to the part, Kuklis relied on his extensive acting experience.
"I've done a lot of stage acting and some film and I used to work at Barkerville, too," Kuklis said. "So it's weird because I haven't done a lot of voice work. So the guys and gals who are doing this stuff - it's a little intimidating because they're super pros and they're amazing. So I'm walking in there for the first time doing it and so they're cracking these things off and it's amazing to watch and it was just amazing to be part of it."
Kuklis is hooked and would love to do more work like this. He's hoping there's going to be a season two but right now with the pandemic going on so much has been shut down.
"So I'm crossing my fingers for that one and I'm always open to doing other stuff for sure but I mean this is LEGO!" Kuklis said.
There's not much that's cooler than that, he added.
