We would really like to see Hugh Grant’s phone-taped audition to be Jerry Seinfeld’s Tony The Tiger
Despite being Hugh Grant, Grant apparently self-filmed himself portraying Tony actor Thurl Ravenscroft for Seinfeld's upcoming Unfrosted
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We’re still, at this point, only about two-thirds of the way to believing that Jerry Seinfeld’s upcoming directorial debut, absurdist Pop-Tarts origin story Unfrosted, is actually a real movie. That number doesn’t tick significantly upward, either, when we’re reminded that the film’s version of cereal mascot Tony The Tiger is being played by Hugh Grant, now deep into what appears to be well and truly the Oompa-Loompa phase of his illustrious career.
Okay, technically, Grant is appearing in the film as Thurl Ravenscroft, the veteran actor and actual human being who voiced Tony for Kellogg’s for 50 years. (He’s also the one singing on “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” You learn something new every day, doing this job.) But that hasn’t stopped Netflix from distributing the above press image of a deranged-looking Grant in a Tony costume, huh?
Or Seinfeld talking about his recruitment process, revealing that Grant, despite being Hugh Grant, still sent in a self-taped audition piece to prove he had what it took to embody a man who voiced the uptight vacuum cleaner in all three of the Brave Little Toaster films. (Sorry, we’re really on a Thurl Ravenscroft kick tonight.) Here’s Seinfeld’s writing partner on Unfrosted, Spike Feresten, talking about getting Grant’s self-tape with IndieWire this week, ahead of the movie’s May 3 release date:
He had a glass of wine in his hand and he was on the couch. We were just stunned on how homemade his audition was — and how good it was. Here’s Hugh Grant at 8 o’clock at night before he goes to bed, crushing the lines. Crushing. That’s when we said, ‘Jerry, close this for us. Get this guy.’
And got him, they did. Never let anyone tell you that Hugh Grant does not take even the silliest parts of his craft seriously.
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After seeing his masterful turn as “guy who does not give a fuck” on the Wonka press tour, I’m excited for Grant to do more weird ass roles that he might also not care much about
I hope the set builders on The Gentleman were paid double for all the scenery he absolutely chewed through. Hugh as scumbag Fleet Street tabloid hack? Oh, boy. And now he’s playing something called “Thurl Ravenscroft” (HOW THE FUCK IS HE NOT THE ANTAGONIST OF AN URBAN FANTASY YA NOVEL?) who was an actor who played an anthropomorphic feline in a sugar-slather corn flakes ad? Oh, boy. He’s gonna wipe the fucking floor with Jerry.
He’s been doing the “no fucks to give” thing for so long, and I love it. The cast of The Gentlemen did one of Portnoy’s pizza reviews before the movie came out, and it was so wildly obvious Hugh wanted absolutely no part of it.
…and YOU!
How is “Thurl Ravenscroft” the name of a real person, rather than an Elder Scrolls NPC?
I could see him owning a meadery, and giving you a quest to steal a mead recipe from those damned Black-Briars, or maybe just take them out so that he no longer has to deal with their dominance over the mead trade. Also, having the real Thurl Ravenscroft voice an Elder Scrolls dragon or a Daedric entity would have been awesome.
We’re still, at this point, only about two-thirds of the way to believing that Jerry Seinfeld’s upcoming directorial debut, absurdist Pop-Tarts origin story Unfrosted, is actually a real movie. That’s further than I’ve got. It just sounds like quite an amusing and elaborate hoax to me. It it hadn’t have been for Wonka, Hugh Grant as Tony would definitely have convinced me this was a joke.
It’s the “Battleship” of movies.
You’ve seen “Paddington 2″? “Dungeon’s and Dragons”? This has been Hugh Grant’s career move for a while.
Ravenscroft actually had quite a career. He was part of the vocal group The Mellomen which sang backup for everyone from Bing Crosby to Rosemary Clooney and Spike Jones. He also did vocal work on both Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons, sang Ken Clark’s Stewpot parts on the SOUTH PACIFIC film soundtrack and later bellows “No Dogs Allowed” on the Peanuts feature SNOOPY COME HOME. His voice can also be heard throughout numerous Disneyworld atteactions.
Most people remember him now for singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS although many have mistakenly clthought the voice was that of Ted Cassidy. Look up his credits. He was in seemingly everything.
He also voiced the Goblins in that 1970s Hobbit cartoon I grew up loving so much.
I know Thurl Ravenscroft was the voice of Tony the Tiger, but did he ever actually dress up in the suit? Feels like he would literally never have had to do that.
I’m over him. Read too many stories about him being a complete asshole to service workers and fans. He’s not amusing. He’s just a dick.
…voiced Tony for Kellogg’s for 50 years. (He’s also the one singing on “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”)…And, if you’ve ever seen Mr. Ed, he’s also the voice of the horse, of course.
He had a glass of wine in his hand and he was on the couch.Never let anyone tell you that Hugh Grant does not take even the silliest parts of his craft seriously.Unless Tony the Tiger is sitting on his couch, drinking a glass of wine, in the audition scene…uh, yeah…he didn’t take that very seriously.