Even though Drac's finally getting a much-needed break in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, the Van Helsings are out to drive the grumpy vampire truly batty.
The new animated comedy (in theaters July 13) finds Drac (voiced by Adam Sandler), his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and pals like Frankenstein (Kevin James) and Wayne the Werewolf (Steve Buscemi) on a monster cruise. Joining the franchise this time around are a pair of new foes: the ship's captain/cruise director Ericka (Kathryn Hahn) and her great-grandfather, famed monster hunter — and Drac's arch enemy — Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan).
After boarding his vacation vessel, Drac quickly becomes smitten with Ericka, though there's definitely a difference between "her outside charm and her inner motives," Hahn says, describing her extremely flexible character as an "enthusiastic cheerleader with a dark underbelly (and) a cute blond haircut. She is like my circus flying-trapeze fantasy come to life."
But Ericka is also an outlier, a human in a world of monsters, Hahn adds. "She really believes in her legacy as a monster hunter and wants to fulfill her destiny. She doesn't anticipate feeling anything but hate toward these creatures. And, of course, she does."
Her great-grandpa Abraham is a little colder when it comes to Drac and pals, and Gaffigan sees a lot of humor in him. "Oddly, if you do research on Van Helsing, he almost comes across as a comedic villain with his obsessive, driven, overeducated personality," says Gaffigan, who changed up his natural speaking voice for the role. "My normal voice was too slow to capture (his) energy and drive."
A fun nugget for Gaffigan's fans: Van Helsing maintains his immortality by eating lots of kale, a subject of mockery in the comedian's stand-up routine. "I remember thinking, 'How ironic,' " he says. "It's funny because it's true: Kale is great for you. Personally, I find kale gross and the kale trend pretty hysterical, but I figured it makes sense."
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