{"id":113010,"date":"2024-07-20T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-20T17:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/20\/tom-ellis-says-a-tough-audience-loves-exploding-kittens-his-family\/"},"modified":"2024-07-20T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-20T17:28:09","slug":"tom-ellis-says-a-tough-audience-loves-exploding-kittens-his-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/20\/tom-ellis-says-a-tough-audience-loves-exploding-kittens-his-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Ellis Says a ‘Tough Audience’ Loves Exploding Kittens \u2014 His Family"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Kids might be the most honest critics there are, so Tom Ellis<\/strong> was delighted to hear his daughters laughing as they watched his new animated Netflix series, Exploding Kittens<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched it with my kids and my wife, who are a tough audience, and they were laughing all the way through, so I thought, \u2018OK, this is good,’\u201d Ellis, 45, exclusively tells Us Weekly<\/em>. (The actor welcomed a baby with wife Meaghan Oppenheimer<\/strong><\/a> last November, and he has three daughters ages 12, 16 and 19, from past relationships.)<\/p>\n

The Lucifer<\/em><\/a> alum, who voices GodCat on the comedy, said he was surprised when his daughters understood more of the adult humor than he expected. \u201cSome of the more irreverent adult jokes, I think they got, which I was a bit like, \u2018Hmm, OK,’\u201d he said with a chuckle. \u201cBut I think they just like the whole world of it. It\u2019s silly and it\u2019s fun and you can\u2019t help but laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the mature humor is what makes Exploding Kittens<\/em>, which is streaming now on Netflix and rated TV-MA, enjoyable for families with teens. \u201cThis is the sort of show that caters to kids and adults in the best way that animation does,\u201d Ellis told Us<\/em>. \u201cYou think about the good old Pixar movies, and there\u2019s always jokes in there for the adults, and there\u2019s jokes in there for the kids. This is exactly what Exploding Kittens<\/em> is like.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Summer TV Preview 2024: Inside Must-Watch New and Returning Shows<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tSummer is officially upon Us and TV fans are in for some exciting content with shows such as The Bear and Only Murders in the Building. The Bear, which debuted on Hulu in June 2022, introduced viewers to The Beef restaurant, which was taken over by Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) following the death of his [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Inspired by the card game of the same name, the TV series follows God (Ellis) as he gets fired and sent to Earth as punishment trapped in the body of a chubby cat. He moves in with a dysfunctional family and must help them solve their problems as part of his rehabilitation, but he gets distracted when he learns his nemesis, the Devil (Sasheer Zamata<\/strong>), is trapped in the body of the cat that lives next door.<\/p>\n

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\n (L-R) Kenny Yates voices Travis and Tom Ellis voices GodCat in \u2018Exploding Kittens\u2019 season 1.<\/span> Courtesy of Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though it\u2019s considered an adult animated series, Ellis couldn\u2019t exactly stop his kids from watching it when they were the ones who knew the card game to begin with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a call about it [and was told] \u2018Netflix are doing a new animated series based on the very popular card game Exploding Kittens.\u2019 And I was like \u2018I\u2019ve never heard that game,\u2019\u201d the British actor told Us<\/em>. \u201cSo I talked to my children about it and they were like \u2018Dad, I can\u2019t believe you\u2019ve never heard of this, it\u2019s, like, super popular.\u2019 So I was like, \u2018Oh, wow, OK.\u2019 And then they sent me some scripts through and I was like, \u2018Oh, wow. This is really funny.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

While fans of Lucifer<\/em>, in which Ellis played the Devil from 2016 to 2021, know the actor certainly has comedic timing, getting to throw out punchline after punchline was something he hadn\u2019t done in a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked a lot in comedy in the U.K. before it came out here [to the U.S.]. Miranda was the first live audience studio sitcom that I had been part of \u2026 and I learned a lot through that experience,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

However, Ellis often ended up playing the straight man rather than the one saying the punchline.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>Which TV Shows Are Renewed, Which Are Canceled in 2024-2025?<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tAs networks make decisions about their programming, Us Weekly will continue to track what has been renewed and which TV shows have been canceled. Slow Horses was the first show to score a renewal in 2024. In early January, Apple TV+ picked up the series for a fifth season, which will be based on Mick [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI\u2019d learned over the years how to deliver things like that, and I\u2019ve not always had the opportunity \u2014 like in Miranda, I was the straight guy so it wasn\u2019t my job to be funny,\u201d he recalled. \u201cIt was my job to be the sounding board whereas in this I think GodCat is very much the funny character with the punchlines and so I got an opportunity to sort of use that skill set, and it is a lovely skill set to be able to use, so I would love to do more of it in the future absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Tom Ellis<\/span> Michael Tullberg\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next up, however, are some more dramatic roles. He\u2019ll play a professor on season 2 of Hulu\u2019s Tell Me Lies<\/em><\/a>, where his wife is a showrunner, and he just started filming Netflix\u2019s Thursday Murder Club<\/em> movie.<\/p>\n

Based on Richard Osman<\/strong>\u2018s 2020 crime novel, the cast includes Helen Mirren<\/strong>, Pierce Brosnan<\/strong>, Ben Kingsley<\/strong>, David Tennant<\/strong>, Naomi Ackie<\/strong> and more.<\/p>\n

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