Mufasa: The Lion King is nearly upon us, just in time for the holiday season!
With Barry Jenkins behind the camera, Mufasa will surely be one of the more beloved Disney live-action adaptations. In addition, it boasts a great voice cast, including Aaron Pierre as the titular character and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka (eventually known as Scar).
Before the movie’s theatrical release, I had the opportunity to chat briefly with the film’s co-leads. During our discussion, the duo reminisced about their first experience with the animated The Lion King, including owning it on VHS (hopefully, some of you still remember what that is), working together on multiple projects, and how they enjoyed working in voice acting.
Check out the full interview with Aaron Pierre and Kevin Harrison Jr. below:
Not to age myself, but The Lion King animated film was the first movie I saw in theatres. As such, I wanted to know if the dynamic duo who now contribute to the voice-acting tapestry of the films remembered their first time seeing it.
“Yeah, I think my first time experiencing The Lion King might have been on VHS when I was maybe two or three, so probably in ’96 or ’97 and it was definitely my favorite Disney VHS,” Pierre shared. “You know, I think you know, a viewing of that for me at that age probably lasted three hours, even though it’s not that long, because I would rewind certain songs and certain moments, like ‘Be Prepared,’ and, you know, all of that good stuff.”
“So yeah, I probably was like six maybe? And then I started watching it, and then I had a similar experience. It was the VHS, pop it in there, run it back, play it again, memorize the lines, quote it, make my sisters pretend to be Mufasa and I was going to be Scar – poor my sisters, because that was a brutal recreation. I’m a great big brother,” Harrison Jr. said with a laugh.
Mufasa: The Lion King is the second project released this year to feature a collaboration between Pierre and Harrison Jr., the first being Genius: MLK/X. The two were grateful to be able to work together on both projects, forming a brotherhood throughout each.
“It was literally, well, we kind of met on this movie. So it was like we met in the booth. I was in Prague, he was in Toronto, Barry was in Hong Kong. We connected over there. I remember just being like, ‘Hey, what’s up, Aaron? Nice to meet you,'” Harrison Jr. recalled. “And we went from there. And then I think it was MLK/X that we actually got to meet in person, and I got to see the real life Aaron Pierre. I was like, ‘What’s up?’ It’s different. It’s different in real life. Man, I felt like real life Taka for a second.”
Pierre chimed in with, “It was beautiful. It was, you know, it was like, it was beautiful to, like, any opportunity I am gifted with to collaborate with Kelvin is one that I cherished. You know, we, although we’ve done, you know, a feature film and a limited series together, we haven’t actually spent that much time in the same exact space on those respective projects, but it’s always still been a blessing. And I think actually, as Kelvin put really beautifully, I think God brought us together for a greater purpose, which was to be outside of the context of work and being artistic collaborators and just being dear friends and chosen family and brothers.”
For both actors, this was their first significant foray into voice acting. The pair seemed to enjoy it and were keen to do more voice work in the future.
“100% I would love to. Are you kidding me? I would love to do something like this again. It’s so much fun,” Pierre said enthusiastically.
“Easy money. I’m just kidding. It’s not about the money, it’s about the work,” Harrison Jr. joked.