Posted in: Apple, CBS, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: AppleTV, central park, Eugene Cordero, exclusive, interview, paramount, Simply Beverages, star trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: LD Star Eugene Cordero on Voice Acting & Simply Beverages

Eugene Cordero is as versatile as they come in Hollywood with his share of live-action and voiceover roles. The Loki star's latest is the face behind the Simply Beverage line and its new platform 'Say Yes to Simple'. While promoting his latest opportunity as a juice man, the actor spoke about becoming a company spokesperson, familiar faces he's worked with in their ads, the differences between live-action and animated projects, and his current voiceover roles in Paramount+'s Star Trek: Lower Decks and AppleTV+'s Central Park.

Bleeding Cool: How does it feel to be the spokesperson for Simply Beverages?

Eugene Cordero: It feels great. There's nothing like being part of something that people love to wake up to in the morning and drink and enjoy. I absolutely love the fact that I get to be the face for Simply for the first time that they're seeing a face. I get to be that face, smirk, be fun, and enjoy every moment of it. Shooting it was great. So it feels very natural and a good fit for me. So I'm happy that they're leaning towards the comedy and I think that's hopefully what I bring?!

BC: Did you have creative input or is it something that they just pitched to you and you worked off of them

Cordero: They pitched it to me and I was already on board. The team behind Simply were so great at collaborating with me on the days we were shooting to keep it more natural and keep it fun to play with. The various people that I got to do the ads with Neil Casey, a buddy of mine that I've done a lot of comedy with through the years. Meryl Hathaway is also somebody that I've worked with a bunch, and Jocelyn and John, the directors I have worked with numerous times. So they put in a great group of people that have already worked together and made it really relaxed and fun. Simply was also on board to play with all the choices that we're making. So I'm really excited and I'm hoping that just keeps going in the way that that. Mr. [Donald] Sutherland got to rock it for 20 years [laughs]. Let's see what happens.

BC: Living in both the live-action and the animation worlds, how do the experiences performing on set compare to stepping into a recording booth to perform? Is it easier to do one thing versus the other, about the same, or too different to compare?

Cordero: [Each project] differs in various ways. There is doing things on camera. There's a mix of depending on what the show or movie is, the directors will change up how subtle a performance would be, or how big it's going to be. With animation, it's funny. They also play it based on how big they want it to be, how natural they want the voice to be, but it takes a different kind of…the fact that I don't have to worry about what I also look like in the moment. To be honest, I don't ever worry what I look like. If I can wear a hoodie and everything, I would wear a hoodie, a T-shirt, and a pair of joggers. Obviously, that's not going to go over well in some of the films.

When I do a voiceover, there is more focus on intonation in a different way. Animation lends itself to more speed. There's definitely something that happens with the pace of things in animation that's a little quicker than anything that you're going to do on film or television. Also, the edits done for voiceovers are a little bit easier to cut, because then they'll animate it afterwards or you're matching voice before. It does have a different feel. I enjoy both, because they challenge me in different ways. It's still kind of trying to get my point across from my character's point across through my voice and even my movement. When I'm doing voice stuff, I still move around a lot in the booth. As long as the booth is big enough for me not to knock over expensive stuff, I'm going to do it.

BC: How do you compare the humor of when you're doing "Star Trek: Lower Decks" versus "Central Park"? Is there more of accommodation to what your kind of humor is? Or is it just sort of like a glove fitting where everything works out?

Cordero There's a mix. With 'Lower Decks', for instance, it is a very fast-paced show. My character, Rutherford has to get a lot of technobabble across correctly. He's also bright and really good at his job. It is a fast-paced know-it-all excited way of playing whereas when I do 'Central Park', it's a little bit more of like a 12-13 year old who hasn't figured out where he stands in life yet. So it's slower in the sense of not having everything figured out yet and still nerves of life. Being able to differentiate it that way in my brain even before I record, I think it changes the way that I approach the text.

It's also the different way that I'll add the inflection on my voice, I think with a kid in 'Central Park'. Also, the fact that I'm going to have to sing a few songs makes it a little bit lighter in the way that I'm speaking, where I feel like with Rutherford, he's been through the academy and stuff. He's set in what he loves and what he likes to do. So I think that there's more of a drive with Rutherford that doesn't necessarily happen with 'Central Park'.

BC: Is there anything you can preview into season three for "Star Trek: Lower Decks" and what we can expect from Rutherford and is there's some form of dramatic change we can expect or anything?

Cordero: There is some dramatic change with Rutherford. You're going to see more of his past. You're going to see more of why he's even who he is and why he is in the positive light he's in to a certain extent. Also, you might get a little bit of what happened in the Oculus situation and what were some of the memories that he had with and without that. So that's what you can look forward to in season three as well as a lot of great engineering by him. You're going to watch him do the best that he can do with his best friends on the Cerritos.

Star Trek: Lower Decks season three will stream on Paramount+ in 2022. Central Park season three will stream on AppleTV+ in 2022.

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