In 1996Hey Arnold!debuted on Nickelodeon starring Lane Toran as the voice of Arnold.
In the series, Arnold is kind of a mini philosopher.
Man, back then I kind of did have a lot of life experience.
I lived in Peru for a few months.
I dont know man, I think I was a very mature 12 year old.
My friends were all way older than me back then.
I think it was just having older friends.
My mom had a theater company and so I was involved in that.
Its not like going to school where everyones your age.
In the theater company it was all different ages.
So that was really why I had older friends on a consistent basis.
(Toran during the production of the original Hey Arnold!
What happened the day you realized your voice had changed and couldnt play Arnold anymore?
There wasnt a specific day that it happened.
It was kind of over time.
Over that time, I tried pitching my voice up a little bit.
They tried digitally making it go up with the computer.
It just didnt work.
Thats just what happened.
Obviously, the first time when I got the call saying, All right, its time.
We have to find someone else.
Obviously, it sucks.
I was probably 13, I forget if I was 13 or 14 when it happened.
But yeah, its not a call that you want to get.
I got really into music and I co-wrote a song for Hilary Duff called Sweet Sixteen.
It ended up selling, I think it was over 5 million copies.
It was the theme song forMy Super Sweet 16on MTV.
So, honestly I kind of lived on that for a few years.
What happened after that?
More music stuff and then I finally moved away from LA.
So, I moved to North Carolina and bought a house here.
It was built in the 1900s.
I spent about a year remodeling it with my dad, which has been really fun.
And, the whole Instagram thing happened.
Tell me a little bit about the whole Instagram blow up.
Yeah, when I first made an Instagram, it was kind of for my music.
I wanted to make something and just get that out there.
And then, it just turned into a whole different beast itself.
I wasnt planning on this at all.
But, when I first started my Instagram it was when beards were really popular.
It was cool back then to have a beard.
Then, I started doing some fashion stuff, some shoots and doing clothing brands.
After that, then I gained a good amount of followers.
I think I was at like 70-some thousand.
How do you go about interacting with your fan base?
Youve obviously got a large group of Hey Arnold!
fans but now youve got the beard fans.
Whats the right amount of interaction that you have a go at do with the fans?
When Arnold gets to be your age, what do you think Arnold would be wearing?
The beard and how I dress and stuff.
So, thats been pretty fun.
I mean it looks believable to me.
What have you been doing in the last few years specifically?
Last few years Ive been remodeling the house and thats kind of it.
I kind of liked to stay quiet.
Its kind of … Im not really into the whole Hollywood scene.
So, its nice to be out in North Carolina and just kind of relax basically.
I almost feel like Im retired out here which is funny.
Can you tell us about that film?
Its based in North Carolina which is where we filmed it.
I dont know what else I could really say about it without giving anything away you know?
I can tell you it is in post production right now.
It is so close to being done.
The soundtrack of Hey Arnold!
is so well loved and so well regarded but what is your favorite music to listen to?
Its kind of changing all the time.
I love older music by Johnny Cash and the Stones and Bob Dylan.
Those are always my go-tos.
But, Im really into ambient sounds and bands like Sigur Ros.
So youre back for the new Hey Arnold movie.
Can you give us any hints about what your role is?
Yeah, I can tell you a couple things.
The role that Im playing, his name is Che and he appears in the movie.
Hes on the ship in San Lorenzo.
Thats where he shows up.
I dont think its natural for me to be in the spotlight.
But, the good part about that is the people are so nice and the fans of Hey Arnold!
are like the coolest people.
So, they make it very easy.
But yeah, its definitely not second nature to stand on stage and talk to that many people.
Looking back at the whole Hey Arnold!
phenomenon, what do you think is the biggest takeaway that you have from it?
I mean just in general how caring Arnold was.
Just take the episode with the turtle.
He loved animals and he was always just trying to do whats best for everyone.
Yeah, thats a good lesson.
as a show coming back?
Man, I sure hope so.
That would be great.
Cause yeah, a lot of new cartoons are so different.
Theyre so fast paced and its just all in your face.
I dont know if you really takeaway anything from it.
Its just kind of pure entertainment for kids and loud noises you know?
So, its going to be nice to get back into the Hey Arnold!
And, when you say the Hey Arnold!
storytelling what do you mean by that?
Where it just sort of sticks with you and you take it in?
Yeah, I think so.
I think its just like you would learn.
When did you first realize that Hey Arnold!
wasnt just a product of a time but that it really had true staying power?
You know, I think its still sinking in honestly.
Its like a crazy feeling.
And, obviously back then we had no idea the impact.
