Rita Ora knows more than a bit about glam.
The recording artist and style icon added a couple chic touches to Wandering Blade, the character she voices in the new animated series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. Wandering Blade is an English knight who accompanies Jack Black’s Po on his adventures.
The Dragon Knight is Ora’s first major voice acting role. It also marks the first Kung Fu Panda series that Black is participating in and the first time he will be returning to the role in over five years.
Tudum recently caught up with Ora to talk about her new role and how she found it both challenging and rewarding.
How did you react to seeing your character’s design for the first time? Did you get to give little hints about what is — and what’s not — Rita?
I was so impressed! I was like, “Can we give her some eyelashes? Can we make her a bit more blond?” But those little touches really did work. They made her a tiny bit more blonde like me. And they put a couple bit more lashes because I was like, “She’s a girl! But she’s a hard, strong one.” So it was really cool to just add those little touches.
What will your fans connect to with your character?
She’s definitely a hard worker. She definitely has a mission in life, and I feel like I relate to that a lot. She is not easily distracted. Even though Po eventually gets in there somehow, it’s really hard for her to let people in. Women, in general, we definitely have a lot of thick skin. And I love that about us. And so I didn’t want to get rid of that part of her femininity, but she’s definitely a very strong woman.
How are you different from Wandering Blade?
I don’t just wear one outfit. [laughs] But yeah, she definitely likes her warrior outfit and her sword. How am I different? I think she can fight better than me physically. I think that’s about it. Everything else was very similar!
How is doing voice-over for animation different from recording music?
It’s totally different! First of all, I don’t really talk. I never knew I could talk this much. While doing the recordings, I was like, “I’m definitely used to singing more than talking.” And my friends will definitely say that’s not true. But I have the best time going in there without any pressure. So it felt really easy to go and experiment with my voice a little bit.
I would say singing is easier than talking for me. But I had a good time really getting to know myself, weirdly. Because I think once you curate this character, you start to be like, “Oh, I’m pretty funny.” And also working alongside Jack, it was easy to be silly and feel that fun with him.
What was it like working with Jack Black?
He’s professional, obviously, but a whole lot of fun [with] sarcasm and jokes. He’s definitely one of the smartest people I know, but one of the funniest, and I couldn’t focus. He’s also the king of TikTok. He taught me a lot about TikTok, which really surprised me.
You have fans who’ve been with you for years. Some of them now have kids. What’s it like to get to connect with them on a new level?
I’m in the process of working on my third album, and I was literally thinking the fans I’ve had are now grown women. Some have had kids, some are married, which is so crazy to me. I always feel like there’s still a bit of a kid inside of me, and I always want to touch on that fun kid side that I love so much. And so, you know, I think for me it’s just been about growing into a woman making my own choices.
Do what you need to do. Make it happen. And more than ever, just support one another. I can’t preach that enough. I don’t want to get all preachy, but that’s what really helped me the most.
Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight is currently streaming.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Additional reporting by Ariana Romero.
