Posted in: Amazon Studios, TV, Warner Animation Group | Tagged: Bat-Fam

Bat-Fam: Yonas Kibreab, Haley Tju on Bringing Damien & Volcana to Life

Bat-Fam stars Yonas Kibreab (Damien/Little Batman) and Haley Tju (Claire/Volcana) discussed Prime Video's animated Batman family series.

Bat-Fam is the kind of Batman show that's more commonplace these days, where the Caped Crusader plays a supporting role rather than the primary one, following the trend set by other projects, including Harley Quinn and Teen Titans on the animated front. Luke Wilson voices Batman and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, in a series that sees him more in the latter role as family man than crimefighting, trying to keep Wayne Manor from falling apart expanding the household, which includes his faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth (voice of James Cromwell), Alfred's niece Alicia Pennyworth (voice of London Hughes), Man-Bat (voice of Bobby Moynihan), the ghost of Ra's Al Ghul (voice of Michael Benyaer), and the youngest in his son Damien Wayne (voice of Yonas Kibreab), who embraces his moniker of "Little Batman"; and supervillainess-turned-12-year-old Claire (voice of Haley Tju), the formerly Volcana, who struggles to be accepted. Kibreab and Tju spoke to Bleeding Cool about how Bat-Fam expands on 2023's Merry Little Batman, working with creators Mike Roth and Jase Ricci, and navigating through Damien and Claire's world.

Bat-Fam Stars Yonas Kibreab and Haley Tju Navigating Through Damien and Claire's Zany Adventures in the Batman World

What do you like about working on Bat-Fam?

Tju: I learned so much about the DC universe through Bat-Fam, to be honest, which made me feel like a fan. I didn't really know much about Volcana, and I came out of the show really loving her, so I'm grateful for that experience.

Kibreab: Yes, same. I definitely got more into Batman because of this show, and working on Merry Little Batman was a really fun experience, just also getting to meet new people as well.

Did Mike and Jase instruct you to investigate any specific Batman issues, TV shows, or films before taking on this project?

Tju: Surprisingly, no, but I feel like that's what makes this show such a good entry level for all viewers, whether you're a longtime Batman fan or a new fan. You can learn who these people are by watching the show. It's pretty easy to pick up, and then, after watching this, you can get more interested in the characters and watch all their origin stories.

Did you take any inspiration externally, playing Damien and Claire before recording the lines?

Tju: Yonas had Merry Little Batman [laughs], you had so much going for you. With Claire specifically, she didn't have a lot of shows or screen time before this, so I didn't have too many references, and I had more room to play, which was nice. I got to create her a little bit more.

Yonas, what inspired you in your role as Damien?

Kibreab: Like Haley was saying, you get a lot of time to like room to play, because Damien or "Little Batman," is a new character. Damien was Robin (as in the comics), but now he's Batman's son, "Little Batman," so I definitely went off what I did on Merry Little Batman, with a little bit of flavor.

Did you record your sessions individually with the director or with your castmates?

Kibreab: Yeah, we recorded separately on this one. I recorded in New York, actually, so I was separate from them, but thankfully for our director, it didn't feel like that at least. [Kristi Reed] helped us kind of fill in the blanks, because we didn't really get to meet each other beforehand.

What was it like building that dynamic between Damien and Claire/Volcana, and the way you grew in the series when you're recording your lines?

Tju: Yonas, do you want to take this one?

Kibreab: Yeah, I'll say when recording by yourself, it can get…not boring at times, but like it's almost hard to play off, because you're not really recording with any of the other actors. With Kristi and Mike [Roth], they are so good at portraying these other characters, helping you go into your lines, whether it's reading you in. They're great, bringing you into the scene and briefing you on what the scene is about, so you know what you're stepping into before you record.

Tju: Yeah, I imagine this was harder for you, Yonas. At least with me, I had Merry Little Batman to watch, so I was like, "Okay, I know who your character's this and that," but as Claire, I had nothing to go from.

Kibreab: I heard some of your lines early on.

Tju: They're good.

Kibreab: Pretty much, yeah.

Did you get a chance to interact with any of your co-stars beyond production, like Luke, James, Michael, London, or Bobby?

Tju: I'd say animation from my experience; it's been rare that I ever get to meet the crew and or the cast while shooting it. Maybe if we're lucky, like at an after-party. Since I live in a different state, I didn't get to meet anybody, unfortunately. I based everyone on what I watched in the show, but they're all so talented, and they brought the characters to life, so you wouldn't even have known.

Did you find any advantages in delivering performances in voiceover compared to something that you wouldn't be able to do in live action?

Tju: Well, you can show up in your pajamas.

Kibreab: With me, you can do different voices, and [voiceover] gives a place to play around with the character. For this show, they animated it based on your voice, so it's almost like a guideline for the animators to animate off. Whatever you do, it's not that you don't have to fit a certain…you don't have to because the animation was not done yet. There are no strict rules.

Was there a standout scene for your respective characters, as Damien and Claire, or one that had a little difficulty going through?

Kibreab: I think the more emotional scenes are with Damien, because he's such a high-energy kid, and he's never really sad. Most of the time, he's very happy, excited, and high-energy. I would be doing a super exciting scene, high energy, and then switch to this very emotional scene, which was a bit of a challenge.

Tju: I hear that. There is an episode that touches base on Claire's origin, and I felt like that was the most eye-opening for me to understand her and both sides of her past life and her current one. That was refreshing and nice. I felt I understood her the most in that episode.

Haley, as Claire/Volcana, you have two different father-type figures in your life, with Bruce taking your character in and seeking acceptance. Then, of course, you have Ra's Al Ghul. Can you discuss the relationship between trying to navigate those two things and those two worlds?

Tju: Right. She's definitely trying to prove herself for sure. I think she doesn't really trust anybody. The only person who gets close to her is Damien, at first, but she wants to prove herself and let people know that she's here to stay. Even though she doesn't want to call herself a hero, she's here for good reasons, and she wants to do good things, whether she wants to admit that or not.

Bat-Fam, which also features the voices of Reid Scott, Kevin Michael Richardson, Diedrich Bader, and Natasha Leggero, premieres November 10th on Prime Video.

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