Lee Majdoub says he was only meant to have a bit part in the first "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie.
But thanks to his onscreen chemistry with Jim Carrey — and some urging from the "Dumb and Dumber" star — the Lebanese-Canadian actor is now a key part of the successful video-game film franchise.
"Initially, for Agent Stone, there wasn't much there. He was kind of hanging around in some scenes," Majdoub says of his character, the grovelling assistant of Carrey's diabolical villain Dr. Ivo Robotnik.
However, from their very first scene together, he and Carrey clicked.
"We just hit it off. And through hitting it off, Jim started to come up with more ideas as far as, 'OK, cool. How do we develop this relationship?' And from us joking around and having a good time, he would throw a little bit of improv my way," says the 42-year-old.
"There were a few times when Jim would go up to (director) Jeff (Fowler) and say, 'You know what? In this scene, I think Lee should be in the scene with me."
The two share the screen once again in "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," out Friday.
This time, Sonic and his furry friends face off against Shadow the Hedgehog, a rogue military experiment on the loose, voiced by Keanu Reeves. Unable to stop him, they form a shaky alliance with Robotnik and Stone.
Ben Schwartz returns to voice the lightning-fast blue hedgehog Sonic, based on Sega's flagship video-game character. Also returning are James Marsden as Sonic's adoptive dad Tom Wachowski and Idris Elba as the voice of his friend Knuckles.
Majdoub says he, Carrey and Reeves have bonded over their Canadian connection during the press run for the film
"We chatted about it a little bit, like, 'Oh yeah! The three of us are Canadians and we're kind of more on the antagonist side.' It's really funny to have Canadians playing the bad guys," says Majdoub, who previously had small roles in TV series like The CW's "The 100" and Crave's "You Me Her."
But Majdoub's connection to Carrey goes back farther than the first film in the franchise.
Majdoub and his family left war-torn Lebanon and settled in Ottawa when he was nine.
As a child, he was picked on but found solace in Carrey's films. Channeling the Canadian star's characters from "The Mask" and "Ace Ventura," he began doing spot-on impersonations that turned him into the class clown — a role that kept the bullies at bay.
"Comedy is kind of what gets kids that are picked on through school. You make people laugh and they don't want to hurt you as much," he says.
"I think about it a lot: could I imagine talking to me as a 10-year-old and being like, 'Hey, things are going to be OK. You're going to end up working with this guy down the line and your wildest dreams are going to come true.'"
Now, Majdoub says he hopes to similarly inspire Middle Eastern and North African kids by appearing in a mainstream film.
"There's still a lot of work to be done with BIPOC representation, especially MENA representation. I think we're still struggling to be viewed as three-dimensional human beings."
But he believes roles like his in the Sonic franchise are making a difference. He recalls the moment a Middle Eastern mother approached him after Agent Stone got his own promotional poster for "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."
"She said her son came up to her and he was like, 'Hey, mom, he looks like me.' And she just started bawling and she just told me, 'I just want you to know that you're that generation now that is helping knock down the door for kids that look like my son,'" he says.
"I think anyone that looks like us in any way, shape or form is finally starting to get some good representation."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2024.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press