Chew Writer On David Tennant: "People Are Gonna Be Blown Away By His Performance"



John Layman, the writer of the new animated feature Chew, has been speaking out in praise of the project's newest cast addition, David Tennant. David will take on the role of Mason Savoy, the former mentor of lead character Tony Chu who becomes his greatest adversary.

The movie is based on the Image Comics series Chew, created by John Layman and Rob Guillory and is set in a world where bird products are banned following an epidemic of avian flu that killed 23 million Americans. Tony Chu, a Philadelphia-based cop is a cibopath, meaning that he can take a bite of food and know the whole history of its ingredients. He can also take a bite of human flesh and learn the whole history of that person. The imposing Mason Savoy is a fellow cibopath who recruits Tony to the US Food and Drug Administration a shady organisation seeking out black market traders in banned chicken products. However, Tony's investigations lead him to uncover some unsavory facts about his new partner and to question whether the bird flu story was just a cover up for something much darker. 




David was in the studio in New York yesterday to record his voice role. Layman, who has described Mason as "...the lovechild of Orson Welles and a grizzly bear" confirmed that David's vocal work exactly reflected his vision of the character and later told Comic Book Resources:


"David recorded for 'Chew's' Mason Savoy character yesterday in New York and was phenomenal. He came in with a really strong idea of how he wanted to approach the character and just nailed it from the first line reading. I can't express how awesome it is to be there in the recording sessions, being there as the words you wrote to be printed on a page are brought to life in an entirely different way. Especially when it's being done by an actor the caliber of Tennant."

"The cartoon is going to be a direct adaptation of the first trade, which introduces and really focuses on the relationship between Tony Chu and Mason Savoy," he added. "There's a violent and intense falling out between the two characters at the end of the book."


Layman also spoke to Fanboy Planet, telling them,  
"I can't tell you what a weird, incredible, awesome experience it is being in a studio and seeing somebody awesome, whose work you've enjoyed for years on TV and the big screen. David Tennant came in there with a strong idea for the character and his interpretation of Mason Savoy and totally knocked it out of the park. It was amazing. When the cartoon finally comes out, people are gonna be blown away by David's performance."

The movie, which will be released in digital and home entertainment formats later this year, will star Steven Yeun as Tony Chu and Felicia Day as food critic Amelia Mintz, whose powers as a saboscrivner mean that she can write about food so that her readers can actually taste it. Both actors recorded their voice parts last year before the production was halted following the death of Robin Williams, the original voice of Mason. Jeff Krelitz directs and also co-produces with David Boxenbaum, his partner in the multimedia group Heavy Metal.


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