ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Lee Majdoub about reprising his role as Agent Stone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The actor discussed shaving Jim Carrey’s head in the new sequel movie, how Agent Stone and Robotnik’s relationship has evolved, and more.
“Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails are back for their most epic adventure yet. The team reunites to face a new formidable foe, Shadow, a mysterious hedgehog with powers unlike anything they’ve ever seen. Team Sonic must secure an unexpected alliance if they hope to stop Shadow and save the planet. Keanu Reeves joins the all-star cast as Shadow the Hedgehog,” the synopsis reads.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is now available on digital and will arrive on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on April 15, 2025. The 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo will also be available in two collectible SteelBooks while supplies last.
Brandon Schreur: I kind of want to rewind the clock for a little bit real quick back to the first Sonic movie. Sonic has been such a huge thing for so long but, with video game movies, you kind of never know exactly what you’re getting. There have been some good ones, but there have also been a lot of bad ones. Sonic comes along and it’s great, everyone loves it. I’m wondering, back when you were first getting involved with this franchise in the first movie, did you have any idea it was going to blow up the way it did? Is it still a shock every time you get the call saying, ‘We’re doing another Sonic the Hedgehog and we want you back?’
Lee Majdoub: Yeah, I mean, for Sonic 1, I think we were so focused on just doing a good job. We just wanted to do a good job, we wanted to do right by the fans, and we wanted to do right by the story. We all kind of are from the same generation, so we grew up playing Sonic games. I never assume anything. As we were filming and seeing Jim [Carrey] do his thing and what they were doing as far as the story of Sonic, I knew it was going to be a good movie. I had a feeling it was going to be a good movie.
To be invited back for Sonic 2 was incredible. The thing with Stone, in my mind, I could have easily seen them being like, ‘Okay, he was great for the first, maybe we’ll have him for one scene as a cameo in the second.’ But they didn’t, they brought me back and they really love the rapport that Jim and I had and have, and they wanted to see more of it.
For Sonic 3, again, they never told me in Sonic 2 that there were ideas for Stone in Sonic 3. So I never assume. I always have faith, but I never assume. And I’m never told until, like, the contract is coming in. That’s when I’m like, ‘Oh, okay! Cool!’
You’re doing it again! No that makes sense, that’s really interesting. Bouncing off that, your rapport with Jim Carrey is really just incredible. Everyone loves it, it’s so fun to watch the two of you interact. I feel like the energy you guys have together just comes off the screen so well. Even beyond that, your interactions are hilarious, but it’s cool to see how that relationship evolves over the course of these three movies. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 takes that to some different places that wasn’t totally expecting but made me go, ‘Uh, I love this!’ What about Sonic 3 and working with Jim Carrey again excited you most? What were you most excited to explore in that relationship this time?
I was interested in seeing how much further the relationship was going to go as far as story-building. The introduction of Gerald definitely throws a wrench in there for Stone, but I think it fed more into story development as far as their relationship. There was definite jealousy there, for sure. Feeling like a third wheel — maybe he’s not even good enough to be a third wheel, you know what I mean? But I definitely think Stone had a feeling about Gerald, also, in regards to not trusting him. So I think it was more than jealousy. I think it was, ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this guy.’
Then finding out that I was going to cut Jim’s hair was a welcome surprise. I was like, ‘This is really cool, this is awesome, we’re going to try something new. Jim trusts me with it.’ It was Jim’s idea. So that really kind of took that relationship to another level, too.
That’s literally what I was going to ask you about next. I saw that featurette they put out before the movie was released and you look so excited to actually be cutting his hair. I’m sure that was wild. How nervous were you? Was that intense or scary to do?
Yeah. Definitely nervous. More than performance, I was nervous because you don’t get too many takes, right? It’s his real hair. If you mess something up, that patch is gone and you can’t grow it back in 30 seconds for another take. In those moments of, ‘Oh, I hope I do a good job, I hope I don’t mess it up,’ for me, it was reminding myself to trust in Jim’s trust in me. He’s been doing this at such a high level for such a long time, he’s not going to be like, ‘Yeah, let so-and-so just cut my hair.’ It was reminding myself that he wants you to do it for a reason and that he trusts you, so you got this and let’s just have some fun.
Sure. Kind of continuing with that, I was thinking about it and wondering — obviously, it wouldn’t make total sense for the story, but if that scene had been in the first Sonic the Hedgehog movie, would you have been still game for it? Or do you think it’s because we’re in the third movie, now, and you’ve worked with Jim for two movies before this that the trust was there?
I would’ve been game for it because, again, if Jim suggests an idea, there’s always a reason for it. In the first film, the first real gag we did was the grab by the inside of the mouth. That was born out of — it wasn’t on the page. Jim was like, ‘I feel like Robotnik would be more aggravated and want to do something to Stone in that moment.’ I was like, ‘What do you have in mind?’ He was just kind of looking at my face, looking at my mouth, and I was like, ‘You want to grab me by my mouth, don’t you?’ And he was like, ‘I kind of do! What if I grab you by the inside of your mouth?’ And I was like, ‘I’m game for it.’
I think what makes it so easy for me to be game for it is Jim isn’t going to ask me to do something that I know he’s not down to do. Or hasn’t already done in one of his previous films, you know what I mean? I think that, alone — being familiar with his work, and knowing his work ethic. I’m always down. I’m down for anything he suggests.
Sure. That makes total sense. And, again, it’s just so much fun to watch the two of you.
It’s insane! It’s insane. It’s insane to talk about. I just had a moment of, ‘Do you realize the conversation that you’re having right now?’
I’m sure that probably happens all the time on set, too, where you’re just watching Jim Carrey do his thing and it suddenly becomes so surreal.
Yeah, just a moment of, ‘Oh, right. I’m here right now. Back to work.’
I also have to imagine that filming Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is probably a totally different experience than watching the movie just because there’s so much CGI and special effects with the hedgehogs and everything. How does it compare, to when you are on set, filming these scenes with Jim, to when you’re actually sitting down to watch it for the first time? Is it surreal and a totally different thing — suddenly you’re watching this whole world having been brought to life?
I think what’s different is that you shoot so many different takes at times. Then new ideas are born, you try those out, and you never really have any idea what’s going to make the final edit. There’s always an element of, ‘What made the cut? What’s going to get cut? What idea did they go with?’ There was like a little moment that I shot in the Tails scene where we’re both screaming; I think, initially, we shot it where Tails wasn’t over my shoulder. Seeing those little differences and how they work is cool. It’s like, ‘Oh! We didn’t shoot it that way, but that’s how it turned out and that works so much better! That’s so awesome!’ There’s always nice little surprises like that.
Thanks to Lee Majdoub for discussing Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
