Get ready for a whole new kind of superhero adventure today, as Disney+ has officially launched its latest original film, Flora & Ulysses. Based on the children's novel of the same name, the movie follows a young girl named Flora Buckman (Matilda Lawler), an avid comic book fan and self-avowed cynic dealing with her parents' separation, who adopts a superpowered pet squirrel named Ulysses.
Ahead of the film's release, we were able to sit down with star Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation; Sonic the Hedgehog), who plays Flora's father George, to chat with him about the heartwarming film which, for the first time in his career, will see him play a father. As for the unique challenge that presented to him as a performer, he tells us:
"I think there’s a little bit of yourself that’s like ‘I’m not a dad yet, I can’t play a dad yet, I was just playing Jean-Ralphio who is a 12-year-old cartoon,’ but, the script was so good and the age would make sense that I could have an 8-year-old, I forget how old Flora’s supposed to be in this, maybe 10. I filmed it when I was probably 37, so all of it made sense, and I was like ‘Let’s go for it!’
I love family movies, I’m a huge Disney fan, so when the opportunity arose that maybe I could do this role, I was like ‘I’m on it! I can’t wait, I can’t wait to see that castle at the beginning of the movie, I can’t wait to see everything go above it’. So, I was very excited, but there was a moment at the beginning where I was like ‘Am I going to start playing dads now? Am I a dad guy now?’ Maybe, maybe I play a couple dads for a second, but I was happy to do it and Matilda’s a superstar. It was so fun."
While it may feel weird to see Jean-Ralphio play a dad, Schwartz does an admirable job and his chemistry with both Matilda Lawler, who plays his daughter Flora, and Alyson Hannigan, who plays his wife Phyllis, is fantastic.
Schwartz also says that even though George may seem unlike any character he has played before, there's still plenty of his trademark personality infused in the Buckman patriarch.
"Any character I do, I kind of find aspects of myself in them. So, Jean-Ralphio - I’m obviously nothing like that - the goofy nature of myself, I find that part and just push it that way, so for George Buckman, at the beginning of this film, he comes in pretty down, pretty sad, pretty giving up on himself, so you find those moments of despair in your life, you just find those moments of total this (gives a depressed look) and you push that.
While I was filming that, I could not wait to get to the second half of the movie where I get to be excited and fun and inspiring. I always love kind of flexing different muscles and trying different things. If I do too many comedies in a row, I’ll try a little drama. If I do this type of animated character, I want to try this type of animated character. I feel very lucky that I get to take a stab at different things, so I really wanted to do a family movie and this was perfect, so it worked out great."
Another unique challenge the film presented was the opportunity to act opposite a CGI character, something he admits is a lot more difficult than it looks. He gives props to his Sonic the Hedgehog co-star James Marsden for making it look so effortless and details what it's actually like on-set.
"It's funny, for this movie, Sonic was the last movie I did before this one came out and when the trailer came out, people asked me ‘Oh, are you a squirrel in this one?’ and I’m like ‘No, no, no, I’m a human being!’ and them being like ‘Really?’
Yeah, it was fun, and also you see how difficult it is. You see how good Marsden is by the way, Marsden did Hop and did Sonic, he’s so in the zone. He’s so good at that stuff because you have to just pretend, you literally are holding nothing, and have to pretend you see squirrels and stuff everywhere, so it was really fun to do and you get to see how difficult it is to just pretend that things are happening."
Check out our full video interview with Ben Schwartz below and don't forget to like and subscribe!
Flora & Ulysses is based on the Newbery Award-winning book about 10-year-old Flora, an avid comic book fan and a self-avowed cynic, whose parents have recently separated. After rescuing a squirrel she names Ulysses, Flora is amazed to discover he possesses unique superhero powers, which take them on an adventure of humorous complications that ultimately change Flora's life--and her outlook--forever.
Flora & Ulysses premieres exclusively on Disney+ on February 19