Sean Penn is turning over a new leaf. For the first time he’ll be voicing an animated character for Sony Pictures Classic’s Persepolis and joining a cast comprised of Iggy Pop, Gena Rowlands, and Catherine Deneuve. The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter.
Persepolis tells the story of a young girl (Deneuve) struggling with life in Iran during the fall of the Shah in 1979. The film is based on autobiographical graphic novels by co-director Marjane Satrapi. Penn will voice the little girl’s father, opposite Rowlands as the girl’s mother. Iggy Pop, near typecast, plays the girl’s dissident uncle.
The animated movie is a French film, so these voices will be for the American release of the movie. That brings a little concern for me. Typically animated movies that have voices changed or added later lose something. Having Deneuve in the lead, who voices the main character in the French version as well, may help that transition though. A talented cast with actors like Penn can’t hurt either.
