The fun and the riot continues for Xian Lim as he lends his voice anew to one of Britain’s most beloved literary bears Paddington.
Xian played around and stretched his voice acting as he took front and center again in the second big-screen outing of the marmalade-loving bear in the Philippines. The Kapamilya actor’s foray as a voice talent began in 2015 when he lent his voice for the film’s first installment.
In the film’s second installment, beloved bear Paddington, now settled with the Brown family, picks up a series of odd jobs to buy the perfect present for his Aunt Lucy's 100th birthday, only for the gift to be stolen.
“I was very happy that they chose me again for Paddington 2. Siyempre it was a surprise for me, kase I didn’t expect nga na magkakaroon ng second part,” he said. “But I’m very grateful na ako yung napili nila to play the part. It just made me so proud to be part of that project.”
Although he’s no stranger to dubbing, working on the second installment, according to Xian, revealed just how much he really enjoys his newly-discovered skill.
“Since it’s my first animation na di-nub, the experience was so much different, yun nga, like what I said kanina it was a lot of fun kase nga you got to play around, I got to play around with the emotions,” he said.
While the first movie delved on the establishment of Paddington’s character, the second one unveiled the plucky, duffel-coated furball’s crazy side.
“For me, I enjoyed Paddington 2 more kase there’s more skits and more jokes than the first one kase parang dun nagpapakilala si Paddington sa mga tao but sa 2nd part it’s more katatawanan na talaga, pure comedy, and yung comedy niya kase is very Filipino yung pagpapatawa niya. So, it’s a lot of fun talaga,” he described.
Voicing Paddington in the first installment has made Xian appreciate just how tedious being a vocal talent is.
“I think yung pinakamahirap siguro is yung conserving your voice kase may mga parts na sinisigaw, may mga part na tumatawa, kase may mga ganun eh so parang dapat i-conserve para matapos yung buong film ng buo yung boses,” he ended.
Now that he was able to penetrate a certain niche, Xian hopes to be able to try dubbing for other characters abroad.
“And yeah oo naman, doing projects abroad it’s a plus, it’s like having another feather on my cap parang ganon,” he said.
Xian hopes that the moviegoers could enjoy the pawfect, adventure-packed family movie just as much as he did while dubbing it.
“All they have to do is sit back ang enjoy the film kase it’s really a good film. Tatawa lang sila,” he ended.
Directed by Paul King distributed by Captive Cinema, Paddington 2 starring Hugh Grant, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Xian Lim (voice of Paddington for Philippine release) comes out in theaters in January 31.
