Among Us Cast Breaks Down the Animated Series' Clue-in-Space Murder Mystery (Exclusive)
Among Us, the game that took the world by storm during the pandemic, is now an animated TV series featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, Yvette Nicole Brown, Randall Park, Kimiko Glenn and more.
EMERGENCY MEETING!
The animated Among Us TV series announced back in 2023 just dropped all its episodes in a surprise move by Paramount+.
Based on the hit Innersloth game that took the world by storm during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, the show centers on the crew of a spaceship (the Skeld) as they attempt to weed out a murderous, shape-shifting alien imposter in their midst.
"I was a huge fan of the idea of what this game meant to people during the pandemic," Yvette Nicole Brown (Orange) recently told SYFY Wire. "And the fact that they were making a [show] to continue this journey made me very happy."
"It’s a comedic murder mystery," she added. "So, you get to root for people, you get to try to figure out the whodunit of it all. It's like a cartoon version of Clue."
Co-star Kimiko Glenn (Cyan), on the other hand, didn't learn about Among Us until joining the project. "I heard about Animal Crossing, and that's about it," she confessed. "And, unfortunately, I was not a sourdough bread person. I didn't know much about it, and I'm glad I was introduced in this way. It's honestly so intriguing, because now I want to play the game."
The same goes for Randall Park (Skeld Captain Red): "I was just shocked at how many people love this game and played it, particularly during the pandemic. So, it was a very exciting thing to be a part of."
As many fans know, the source material was heavily inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing, which greatly appealed to hardcore horror fan Elijah Wood (Green). "The Thing is one of my favorite films of all time," said the Lord of the Rings star. "So, yeah, it certainly wasn't lost on me that there was a nod to that idea that one of us could be an alien."
What to expect from the Among Us animated series
Created by Owen Dennis (Cartoon Network's Infinity Train) and animated by Titmouse, the adaptation places a light-hearted twist on the game's objective of exposing "sus" individuals and jettisoning them from the ship.
"I haven't seen anything quite like this show in animation and I think the comedy has a lot to do with it," Park shared. "There’s something for everyone in terms of the jokes being told and the intensity. It's scary. There’s just so much going on, and I think it makes for a very unique viewing experience, and highly entertaining."
In addition, the series adds more meat to the game's bare bones premise. The Skeld is framed as a mining vessel for the greedy MIRA Corporation, while each monochromatic character gets a wacky personality of their own.
Orange, for example, is a human resources delegate committed to protecting the company at any cost.
"She wants to do everything by the book," Brown explained. "She may smile in your face, [but] you don't know whose side she's on. She's wacky and weird and so pro-company. I really enjoyed getting to create this foolishness that she is."
Green, on the other hand, appears as a naive worm farmer turned unpaid intern who is a little too willing to throw himself into the proverbial meat grinder if a superior asked. "He's new, he's plucky, he wants to please," Wood explained. "He’s very innocent, very stoked about everything and just wants to do a good job. Very sweet and fun to play."
Park described his character as "highly incompetent, but very much wants to be seen as competent. He’s very much a people-pleaser, very much wants to be liked, and is a bit of a mess."
Cynan, one of the ship's resident geologists, brings "a lot of vibes, a lot of energy, a lot of feels, a lot of emotions" to the party, Glenn shared. "I think people are gonna love how wonderfully useless she seems."
Because none of the crew have faces, the cast "had a blank slate" when it came to their performances, Brown said. "One, because there's no voices in the game, and two, because they don't have faces. They all look the same. Different colors, but they look the same, so you could really just make it whatever you wanted to make it which was a lot of fun."
Agreed Wood: "There was a lot of room to play, and the characters are just so well-written. We had really great defined characters to play with in a very absurd set of scenarios."
Park noted that a lot of trust was put into creator Dennis and the rest of the creative team, "in terms of how they were going to pull this off," he noted. "Our job is just to be these characters and have fun in the booth."
Among Us also features the voice talents of Liv Hewson (Black), Ashley Johnson (Purple), Wayne Knight (Lime), Phil LaMarr (Brown), Dan Stevens (Blue) Debra Wilson (Yellow and “Computer), and Patton Oswalt as (White).
All 10 episodes are now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
