Lightyear star Chris Evans reveals he found Buzz Lightyear's iconic "to infinity and beyond" line intimidating at first. Pixar's Lightyear movie story is set to detail the in-world, fictional astronaut who served as the inspiration behind the Buzz Lightyear toy, who was first introduced in 1995's Toy Story and voiced by Tim Allen. The film follows Buzz on a heroic mission to get him and his Star Command crew back home, after becoming stranded on an alien planet. Lightyear will also welcome back a Toy Story 2 villain, the evil Emperor Zurg.
Lightyear sees director Angus MacLane at the helm, having previously worked on a number of Toy Story spinoff specials, as well as co-directing 2016's Finding Dory. With Evans set to lend his voice to the film's titular character, the Lightyear voice cast will also feature ta number of big names, including Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi, Uzo Aduba, Dale Soules, James Brolin, and Peter Sohn. The film's highly anticipated trailer offered a tease of Evans' voice for his character, with many fans eager to hear the difference between both his and Allen's iterations of Buzz.
During an interview with Variety at the Los Angeles premiere of Lightyear, Evans discusses creating his own version of Buzz Lightyear and taking over from such a seasoned actor as Allen. The star opens up about the first time he delivered Buzz's iconic line, "to infinity and beyond," revealing his initial instinct was simply to do a "shameless Tim Allen impression." Evans went on to say, however, that both MacLane and the team at Pixar were incredibly collaborative throughout the process, which ultimately aided him in discovering his own voice for Buzz. Check out his quote below:
It's tough, I mean, the first time you have to do that iconic line, 'To infinity and beyond,' you kinda just do a shameless Tim Allen impression, 'cause it's intimidating. But Angus and everyone at Pixar was so collaborative and you kinda let them guide you, and eventually you feel comfortable enough to try and make your own tracks in the snow and find your own interpretation, while still using Tim Allen as the blueprint.
News of Evans' Buzz Lightyear casting initially led to some considerable confusion among audiences, who wondered why Allen had been replaced as the voice of Buzz. Evans later took to Twitter to quell any concerns, confirming that he was not replacing the actor, since the film itself actually serves as an in-universe origin story for the creation of Allen's character. Throughout the movie's promotional run, the star has discussed his gratitude for the role at length, with Lightyear's producer Galyn Susman previously revealing that the studio "couldn't be happier" about their collaboration with the star.
It's certainly understandable that Evans would find it intimidating to step into a role of such renown, but it seems as though audiences will truly get to see the actor come into his own upon Lightyear's release. Early reviews for Pixar's latest film have been largely positive, with many praising it as a fun-filled space adventure, that draws inspiration from the Star Wars universe. For now, audiences do not have long to wait as Lightyear releases in theaters next week.
Source: Variety