The pair also reflect on having very unique voices and reveal what they collect as they voice sneakers in a new animated film.
Keith David and Macy Gray are ready to venture out of their comfort zones.
The pair voice shoes in the new animated film Sneaks, in which a designer sneaker (Anthony Mackie) goes on the hunt for his sister after she’s stolen by a collector. Along his treacherous journey, Mackie’s sneaker learns to distance himself from his swanky past and embrace living “outside the box.”
It’s a position with which both voice actors can relate.
“Oh, sure. I remember playing Dead Presidents, that pushed me out of my comfort zone,” recalled Keith, citing the 1995 heist film as one that really brought him into new territory as an actor. “And then it took me a little while to get out of it,” he added with a laugh.
“I love that movie,” interjected Gray, who went on to say that she’s “always outside of my comfort zone.”
“I’m just a generally uncomfortable person, but, you just gotta know how to use it. You know, gotta know what to do with it,” she added.
While David is a respected actor — having appeared in classics including The Thing, Platoon, There’s Something About Mary and Requiem for a Dream and voice work for The Princess and the Frog, Gargoyles and, most recently, Mufasa: The Lion King — he hopes to push his horizons even further.
“Directing one of these days,” he said when asked whether there’s something in his career he still wants to tackle. “I got a chance to do a comedy once. I’d still like to explore that,” he added.
Of the same question, Gray, meanwhile, revealed she’s studying standup!
“I don’t want to be a comedian. You just have to really have this level of confidence and learn how to tell stories and you’re up there by yourself,” she explained. “Everything else, like acting is 50 people around, and when you make a record, you have a band and a producer. But comedians are all by themselves, and I just have been just trying to kind of master that, because I figure if I can do that, I can do a lot of other stuff.”
While Gray is primarily a musician and David has always been an actor, the two have one thing in common: Their very distinct voices. That, of course, helps pop when doing work like Sneaks — and is something they say has always been an asset.
“Of all the things you can have a reputation for, it’s one of the better ones, I guess,” quipped David.
“I think everybody’s voice is unique, like when you talk to people, your friends call you, you know their voice, whether they’re known for it or not,” added Gray. “So people have different inflections and they talk in different, you know, rhythm, a different speed. So everybody’s voice is unique, really.”
Check out the video above to see what they shared about what they collect in their own lives.
Sneaks is in theaters April 18.
