Harvey Guillén Manifests Success With ‘Puss In Boots: The Last Wish’

Success never gets old for Harvey Guillén.

“When I walk down Times Square, and there’s a billboard for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, I’m still a tourist, and I go in front of it and take a picture of me pointing like, ‘That’s me. I’m Perrito,’ and send it to my mom,” he enthused, chuckling.

The actor provides the voice for Perrito, the enthusiastic canine companion of Antonio Banderas’ Puss in Boots in the sequel that arrives in theaters 11 years after the original film. The Shrek spin-off grossed $555 million at the box office.

I spoke with Guillén to discuss joining the franchise, keeping his casting a secret and the surreal honor of becoming merchandise.

Simon Thompson: Perrito is pure gold as a character. When you got the scripts, what did you think? There is so much in this little guy that you can play with.

Harvey Guillén: When I got the script, I fell in love with him. He was so full of heart and optimism; we all can use and deserve a little bit of Perrito in our lives. I wanted to keep it as pure, funny, and endearing as possible. We found the voice for him, which is a different octave than my natural voice, and it was nice to work on that with the director. I think the final product is amazing.

Thompson: I was impressed by how intelligent the script was. It’s a pretty existential movie, but the jokes are smart.

Guillén: It has taken what we’ve been introduced to with the world of Shrek and the first Puss in Boots movie, elevated it, and made it a bit darker. The animation is more advanced, the story and the jokes are very smart, as you say, and I think both children and adults can watch it and walk away with different takes. That’s the sign of a good project.

Thompson: You mentioned finding the voice, but how did you do that? Where do you go inside yourself to find the right sounds?

Guillén: My sister has these two dogs that are both lovely and loving. One is very calm and mellow, and the other is very energetic and spontaneous, full of energy and love. I wondered, ‘What would this dog sound like if I gave him a voice?’ That’s where it grew from, but then I also thought, ‘Perrito is very tiny, so a higher-pitched voice would be an appropriate octave for him,’ so we found it in a combination of all those things.

Thompson: You have done a few animated movies and shows, so that kind of thing is second nature to you now.

Guillén: Surprisingly, I’ve only started doing voiceover in the last two and a half years. I think my first voiceover job was through Disney. It was an offer. It was for an episodic show called The Owl House, and then shortly after that, I was asked to audition for another project, Mickey Mouse Funhouse, and joined that world. It all started there, and I think because of the state of the world and how we could make entertainment for a while, voiceover work was the best outlet. It was safely done through a studio, behind a glass window, and directed through the screen. I’ve managed to do quite a bit of voiceover work in the last two and a half years of voiceover, so now it looks like I’m an industry veteran (laughs).

Thompson: Did you have to audition for this? How different is auditioning for a vocal role from your physical roles?

Guillén: They asked me to audition for this, but the process is pretty similar. It was an honor just to be asked, obviously, because it’s a DreamWorks movie, and I’m such a fan. It was nostalgic for Shrek and Puss in Boots, so I wanted to blow them away. It was like, ‘If I can do a good job, then it’ll work, but if it doesn’t, I did my best, and I can leave it at the door.’ So I auditioned, had another callback, and met with the director, and that’s when they told me that I got it. It was a trick callback, if you will. We started production on it, and then a couple of years later, we are, celebrating it arriving in theaters.

Thompson: Was it a career goal?

Guillén: I’ve always wanted to be an actor, and I wanted to do voiceover as well, but it is actually really hard to get into. As an actor in Hollywood, you must always present yourself; you are the brand. When you walk into the room, you either have the right hair color or eye color, or you’re too short, you’re too tall, you’re too thin, you’re too round, so all those things come with that. With voice work, if you’re a good enough voice, then that’s the character, and you nailed it. Because of that, I feel more voices are trying to compete for that work because they don’t have to worry about external things or getting dressed up for an audition. All of that gets thrown out the window. In the last few years, where I’m at, I think I manifested it. I was like, ‘I want to do some voiceover work. I’ve always wanted to be animated,’ and in the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough to accomplish that.

Thompson: So it was a couple of years ago that you got it?

Guillén: They did it quicker than they usually do with animation because things can go on for up to four years with production, pre-production, and all that. I started my part about a year and a half ago. There was also that mentality of, ‘When is this going to go out?’ I’d done my bit, but I knew it wouldn’t see the light of day for a while because it is so time-consuming, and it’s not just one person making it. It takes a village to make something this wonderful, but this village is amazing. DreamWorks, Universal, the animators, and the cast were all phenomenal.

Thompson: It must have been a nightmare trying to keep that a secret. You must have been dying to tell people about it.

Guillén: Keeping a project a secret is always the hardest thing. Also, things change so quickly in Hollywood, and the industry can be fickle. You can be attached to something for the longest time, you may have filmed or recorded a role, and then something could happen, and they say, ‘You’re no longer doing that project. Even up until now, a little bit of you goes, ‘Oh, am I still the voice of Perrito?’ (Laughs) I’m glad to report that I made the final cut.

Thompson: You’ve played so many characters, but doing animation increases your chance of being merchandise. I see there is a Perrito plushie, but would you like to be a meet-and-greet character in a theme park?

Guillén: I just got my own very own Perrito plushie the other day, and it was the cutest thing. I also got a Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws. It blows my mind that this is a toy that represents my character, kids will love it, and adults will get it for someone for their anniversary, a honeymoon, Christmas, and so on. It’s funny to think that something you created as a character will be merchandise. I’m a big fan of that, and it never gets lost on me. When I walk down Times Square, and there’s a billboard for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, I’m still a tourist, and I go in front of it and take a picture of me pointing like, ‘That’s me. I’m Perrito,’ and send it to my mom (laughs). As an actor, every time you book something, it’s like you’ve won the lottery or your wish has come true, so you have to celebrate every moment.

Thompson: There is talk of an Oscar nomination for Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Are you aware of that? If so, has that sunk in?

Guillén: I never think about the accolades because this business differs from any other business. One day you get nominated for something; the next day, you do your best work, and no one sees it. Yesterday when I woke up, our wonderful publicists told us that we were nominated for a Golden Globe, and I was like, ‘What? I just woke up, and that’s what news to wake up to?’ This movie doesn’t even hit theaters until December 21, but they’ve already had a screener, they’ve watched it, and they think it’s good enough to nominate it. That’s already a good omen, I guess. If it comes our way, we welcome it, but it’s never the thing that’s like it has to win the Oscar. It’s better when you don’t have expectations, and it’s a nice surprise if it comes.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish lands in theaters on Wednesday, December 21, 2022