Heather Graham talks ‘Norm of the North’ with Long Island kids

Heather Graham, who does the voice of Vera in "Norm of the North," with Kidsday reporters from left, Jake Ritchie, Ashley Dua, Jack Frycek and Ava Erdmann. Credit: Kidsday / Pat Mullooly
We recently watched the animated movie, “Norm of the North,” starring the voices of Rob Schneider as Norm the Polar Bear, Heather Graham as Vera, and Ken Jeong as the mean Mr. Greene, and found the film to be very funny!
There are certainly many underlining messages the director, Trevor Wall, tries to convey throughout; such as saving the Artic by stopping the construction of houses. We find this appealing with the relation to history and its irony that humans will ruin something they love. Additionally, there is a message to “Bear to be Different” or dare to be yourself, as the case with Norm and him not being normal. The secondary characters — the lemmings — were hysterical. Ready? Wait for it and laugh!
Overall, we give the movie 3.5 out of five smiles, and recommend for all ages to enjoy. We also believe that 10 years of age and older will fully understand the concepts and the secret message within the movie.
After seeing the movie, we met actress Heather Graham at the AOL offices in Manhattan. Here is part of our interview with her:
Do you think it’s harder to act in an animated movie compared to live action movie?
I think it’s easier. You just have to do your voice, you don’t have to do the physicality, so in some ways it’s easier.
In your real life do you know anyone like Mr. Greene?
I don’t know anyone exactly, but I have worked with some people that were pretty crazy.
Besides Vera who is your favorite character in “Norm of the North”?
My favorite characters are the lemmings.
What part of Vera’s personality do you like the most and how do you relate to her?
I think Vera really loves her daughter and that she really wants to help her get a good education and I think that she is very ambitious. I could relate to that.
You’ve never done voice in animated films. What made you choose this one?
They offered me the part and I thought it sounded fun and I liked that it was about how they wanted to save the environment and I like comedy. They had other really great actors in it. It’s fun like Rob Schneider, Ken Jeong and Bill Nighy, he’s really cool.
If you didn’t have to do interviews for “Norm of the North” would you like to do them anyway to connect with your fans?
It is fun to meet people. It’s really great to meet you guys and it’s fun to. I think the movie is really fun and it’s also fun to talk about the movie I directed. It’s a good opportunity. I’m really excited and it’s fun to talk about that.