During Summer Game Fest, Among Us made a surprise announcement that all ten episodes of its animated show are finally streaming on Paramount+ after three years of radio silence since its development and stacked cast announcements.
Based on Innersloth’s smash-hit video game, Among Us follows a crew of astronauts tasked with transporting ore across space. The only problem is that one of them is a killer alien whittling down their numbers one by one. Prior to the show’s surprise announcement at Summer Game Fest, io9 spoke with Among Us stars Elijah Wood, Yvette Nicole Brown, Randall Park, and Kimiko Glenn about becoming crewmates, their gaming history with the series, and their odds of making it out of its murder-mystery mayhem.
Isaiah Colbert, io9: Were you in the thick of Among Us mania back in 2020? If so, who’d you play it with, and did any of its unhinged gameplay make the offer to join the show’s cast an absolute yes for you, or was it something else entirely?
Yvette Nicole Brown: I was aware of the game. I’d only played like maybe two minutes of it because I got in and realized that I did not know what I was doing. But I was aware of what a phenomenon it was. So, by the time that they were doing the show, I could not say yes fast enough.
Elijah Wood: (Laughs) During the phenomena, I think I was building an island on Animal Crossing, so I was in another world. But I certainly knew about the game. For me, it was such an easy yes because of the proposition of a murder mystery animated series based on this beloved property and loving Owen Dennis’ work. The writing is so fun and funny.
Brown: And the cast!
Wood: And this incredible cast! The cast is amazing.
Randall Park: (Laughs) I did not play.
Kimiko Glenn: (Laughs) Yeah, unfortunately, no. But fortunately, the show holds well enough that the actual material was intriguing enough. I was very excited to sign on knowing nothing about it.
Park: Yeah, I didn’t know anything about it, either. I’m not much of a gamer, but I was pleased to learn how popular the game was, and really pleased to see how they adapted it into an animated show because they really had to flesh out these characters. And they were all so specific and so fun. It definitely became a “Yeah, of course, I’ll do it because it’s just a fun show.”
io9: Voicing characters who are essentially tiny beans in space obviously presents its own special challenge. Did you stick with your natural voice, or did anyone go full Robert Pattinson with wacky voice changes (or wearing wigs) to bring your characters to life? What was your ritual for getting into the booth?
Wood: (Laughs)
Brown: Y’know, my character is a little wacky. She’s a person in HR, and anyone who’s worked in corporate America, as I did for many years, I know them very well. So I didn’t have to prepare. I just got the copy and just made her as happy and joyful and weird as I possibly could. And I think Orange is crazy.
Wood: Yeah, and my character’s really just very eager to please and quite kind of plucky and comes from a farmland, and very innocent and kind of Green.
Brown: Ha!
Wood: There’s a lot there to play with. Not necessarily doing a specific different voice, but in characterizing something like that, there are aspects of your own voice that come out that wouldn’t otherwise.
Glenn: (Laughs) Ritual, I mean, I don’t know. Just looking at her, sometimes, I think it’s really helpful to actually see what the character looks like. It really does help inform it. So having that just as a side thing is really helpful.
Park: Yeah, I do think they were very thoughtful about the personalities of each of these characters in accordance to their colors. And a lot of it was there in the writing in terms of who these characters are and where to take these characters. I think for us it was really just a matter of going in there and having fun, just letting loose and giving them opinions in terms of line reads and little improvised moments and just really having a blast in there.
io9: Murder mysteries are having a big pop‑culture moment thanks to films like Knives Out and the Poirot films, as well as Among Us. How do you think you’d fare in a real‑life Among Us scenario? Do you think you could suss out the culprit, or are you bound for the vent before the first team meeting even happens?
Brown: (Laughs) There’s a part of me that thinks that I would be really good at it, but in reality, I’d be dead first. I’d be outta there because I’m too trusting. “We wanna walk down this hallway together? Sure!” I’m dead.
Wood: I think I am, too. I’m somewhere in between, I feel, but I’m also quite trusting. I’ve played Mafia a bit. I’m not great at it, so I don’t know how I would fare, actually. I’m not confident.
Park: I’m terrible at it. I’m terrible at it. I watch a murder mystery or a true crime series, and the first red herring, I’m like, “That’s the one. That’s the one.” I’m one of those, so I would not fare well in this situation.
Glenn: I’m similar. I feel like I am very true to Cyan in that I’m vibes-based. So, if I sense a little thing off, it doesn’t matter if the person is an impostor or just a weirdo; I’m like, “That’s the guy.” But I feel like it’s so easy for me to say how I would be in these scenarios as an onlooker. But I think ultimately I would go find a place to hide. That would be my M.O.
All 10 episodes of Among Us are streaming now on Paramount+.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
