Originally featured in the DreamWorks motion picture Abominable, Everest, Yi, Jin, and Peng are back for more adventures in a new animated series, Abominable and the Invisible City. The ten-episode show is currently available to stream on both Peacock and Hulu, and follows Yin and her friends as they set out to find and save more fantastical creatures.
Tenzing Trainor is best known for his role as Parker Rooney in Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie. As the voice behind Jin, he had a starring role in the 2019 Abominable film, as well as the recently released streaming show. The cast also includes Chloe Bennet as Yi, Ethan Loh as Peng, Michelle Wong as Mei, Karen Huie as Nai Nai, Darin De Paul as Everest, and Alan Cumming as Burnish.
Screen Rant chats with Tenzing Trainor about the similarities between himself and Jin, and his character's grand return to the world of Abominable.
Tenzing Trainor Talks Abominable and the Invisible City
Screen Rant: I absolutely adore Abominable as a film. I was so excited when you came out with this series. What was your reaction when you found out you were going to return to this world as Jin?
Tenzing Trainor: Oh, so excited. Just pure, pure excitement. I love playing this character so much. It's always so much fun to do. Every single scene, all the way down to every single line, is so much fun just playing this character. So all I can say is I was just full of excitement.
He's such a fun character. I mean, the whole movie makes me smile, but Jin has such a nice arc over the course of it. Is the series going to continue to build on that?
Tenzing Trainor: Oh, one hundred percent. I think that you can even say that he learns more about himself and builds his character more in the show than he does in the movie. I can speak for his character and the relationships with the other characters as well. I would say they grow more in the television show than the movie.
What's it like voicing a character who has so many different sides? He's got a big ego, but he's also got a big heart. It seems like there's a lot of opportunity in there.
Tenzing Trainor: It's really fun as an actor, especially, I can say that me and Jin relate as people or characters in a lot of senses. So it's not that hard because I can also pull from my own life and my own emotions in playing him. But as an actor, it's a lot of fun. Because you know, like you said, he goes through a lot of character building. So it's really fun to play.
Do you have a favorite thing about Jin?
Tenzing Trainor: His obsession with shoes. I am a huge shoe person myself, so that's one of the things we'd relate on. But his obsession with shoes I can one hundred percent relate to.
Was that just a happy accident?
Tenzing Trainor: It was. I remember the very first scene when he jumps in the mud and it gets all over his shoes, and he's like, "Oh no, my shoes!" I was like, "That's me. That's not Jin. That is Tenzing."
That's so awesome. Well, what about his friendship with Yi? They had a bit of a rough patch, but they've been through so much together. What do you like most about their dynamic?
Tenzing Trainor: I think that it's a real brother and sister dynamic. I have two younger brothers myself, so I never had got to experience life with a sister. But playing this character has been so much fun because they butt heads all the time. I think through the show, you see that they start to appreciate one another because they both bring something different to the table in their journeys and the issues that they have to resolve with these magical creatures. I think that it's a lot of fun—more getting to play that brother and sister sort of side of things.
The series is about Yi helping these creatures as they did for Everest. I'm taking a consensus with the cast—do you have a favorite magical animal this season?
Tenzing Trainor: They're all great. They're all so cool. I remember going through each episode and I was excited to come in and hear about what the new creature was going to be. Like, "What could his name be? What could his powers be?" It could be literally anything, but I would have to say—it goes along with one of my favorite episodes—Morty, the one that licks and makes things invisible. That one has to be one of my favorites, because it's also one of my favorite episodes, because it really makes Jin look like a fool. Yeah, I'd probably say Morty.
I know Jin isn't the biggest fan of this, but if Everest offered to use his cloud magic, would you go for a ride? Where would you go?
Tenzing Trainor: See that's where we differ because I would one-hundred percent do it. Actually, you know what? Now that I'm thinking about it—I say that now, but I feel like when the time comes, I would probably chicken out. But if I were to do it, I would go to...I would go to China. Honestly. I've never been to China myself and I would love to see all the beautiful places that we went to in the film that aren't really their big tourist destinations, like the big cities. They're kind of the more nature sort of things and I've never been. So I would say that.
This was a voice-acting role, but you've also done live-action. Do you have a preference between one or the other?
Tenzing Trainor: I really don't. I'm so happy that I got to experience this film and this show because it's like the first major sort of voice acting thing I've done, and after doing it, I can say that I don't really have a preference. They're both super fun. They both have their perks and they're both difficult in certain ways and they're both fun in certain ways. But I love both. I'm grateful to do both.
Do you notice a big difference between the two at all? Or is it a pretty similar approach?
Tenzing Trainor: You know, surprisingly, voice-acting is tiring. It pulled a lot out of you because when you're doing these things on camera, you're actually doing these actions. Like I'm actually running, I'm actually driving, I'm actually doing all these things. But when your voice acting, you're just standing there, and you sort of have to build all this energy just from being in a straight position. And I know me, personally, as an actor, I like to act everything out as if I'm doing it. I don't like to just stand there and that's it. So I get in trouble a lot, actually. They're like, "You're moving too much." I'm like, "I'm sorry." So that's one thing that I would say is surprising about voice-acting.
About Abominable and the Invisible City
Abominable and the Invisible City is a comedy adventure series that continues the wild and wooly fun of DreamWorks Animation's Abominable. Through Everest the yeti, Yi, Jin, and Peng know that there's a whole magical world out there, and now it's even closer than they think.
Check out our other Abominable and the Invisible City interviews:
Abominable and the Invisible City is available to stream on Peacock and Hulu.