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SpongeBob: Matty Cardarople on Living the Dream in "Sandy Cheeks" Film
Matty Cardarople spoke with us about entering the SpongeBob SquarePants universe with Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie.
Matty Cardarople is as laid back as they come, having the time of his life as an actor. Since breaking into the scene in 2005, the actor has been a natural for comedy with roles in Drillbit Taylor (2008), Scrubs, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Fox's The New Girl. He's also had his share of more serious films like Jurassic World (2015), Ray Donovan, The Big Sick (2017), and NCIS. In recent years, he's landed recurring roles on Netflix's Stranger Things, A Series of Unfortunate Events, the Archibald franchise, Fallout, and Reservation Dogs. Cardarple spoke to Bleeding Cool about his role in the SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff film Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie from Nickelodeon and Netflix.
Sandy Cheeks: Matty Cardarople on Living the Fan's Dream in the 'SpongeBob Squarepants' World
Saving Bikini Bottom follows the story where Bikini Bottom is suddenly scooped out of the ocean. Sandy Cheeks (Carolyn Lawrence) and SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) journey to Sandy's home state of Texas, where they meet Sandy's family and must save Bikini Bottom from the hands of an evil CEO. Directed by Liza Johnson and written by Kaz and Tom Stern, the spinoff marks the fourth film of the Stephen Hillenburg franchise based on the original Nickelodeon series SpongeBob Squarepants, running since its debut in 1999.
Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with 'Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie?'
That came in because I worked with Liza on 'A Series of Unfortunate Events.' She was one of the directors on the show, and she thought of me for this role of Kyle. I auditioned, next came a director's session, and it clicked. It was an incredible experience being able to work with Mr. SpongeBob.
What's your experience with the franchise? Did you grow up watching it?
Oh, yeah! I watched it a ton. I was a huge fan of 'SpongeBob.' He made me laugh. He was hysterical, and I loved the world. It is such a funny concept, and became a huge fan. My sister made fun of me because I liked SpongeBob, but I always found him hilarious.
Why do you think the SpongeBob franchise has endured for so long?
Because he's so funny. It's such a fun story about a sponge that lives in the ocean, and I know the creator originally studied biology, so it teaches kids about the ocean. It also has a lot of humor, and people love to laugh. That's why it's lasted so long.
How does this project set itself apart from your other work?
We filmed in New Mexico on a set, which was a blast. How it differs working with SpongeBob, he had his trailer, loved to eat pizza, and was such a good sport to work with [laughs]. Working with animation, he's not there. That differs from having to… there's a scene where I'm holding him, so I had to pretend I had him in my hand. That was fun because I'm such a huge fan. Using your imagination to picture SpongeBob, Patrick, and Sandy Cheeks was fun.
Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie, which also features the voices of Clancy Brown, Bill Fagerbakke, Mr. Lawrence, Mary Jo Catlett, Rodger Bumpass, Dee Bradley Baker, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson, Grey DeLisle, and also stars Wanda Sykes, and Ilia Isorelýs Paulino streams on Netflix on August 2nd.