Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is an animated action comedy movie with a voice cast full of well-known names. DreamWorks Animation continues to expand and explore different stories, characters, and settings, and one of its 2023 releases was Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken. Directed by Kirk DeMicco, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken takes the audience to a world where krakens and mermaids exist, and though they can coexist with humans, they can’t reveal their true forms to them.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken introduces the title character, who lives among humans with her family and is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High. After an incident in which Ruby broke her mother’s rule by going into the ocean, Ruby learns she’s a direct descendant of warrior kraken royalty, who have protected the sea from evil mermaids for generations. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was a box office flop and received mixed reviews from critics, but one of its most praised elements was its voice cast.
Lana Condor as Ruby Gillman
Lana Condor voices the title teenage kraken.
Actor: Lana Condor was born on May 11, 1997, in Vietnam. Condor was adopted by American parents and grew up in Chicago, Washington, and New York City. Condor made her acting debut in 2016 when she played Jubilee in X-Men: Apocalypse, but her big break arrived two years later when she starred as Lara Jean Covey in Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Condor played Lara Jean in two sequels, To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You and To All The Boys: Always and Forever, and in 2022 she played Sophie Tsukino in Moonshot.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018), Alita: Battle Angel (2019), BoJack Horseman (2019), To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020), To All The Boys: Always and Forever (2021), Boo, Bitch (2022).
Character: Ruby Gillman is a 16-year-old kraken living among humans with her family and who lives under the strict rules of her mother, and thus is unaware that she’s part of kraken royalty.
Toni Collette as Agatha Gillman
Toni Collette plays Ruby’s mother.
Actor: Toni Collette was born on November 1, 1972, in Sydney, Australia. Toni Collette made her acting debut in 1990 in one episode of the Australian soap opera A Country Practice, and her big screen debut arrived two years later with the comedy-drama Spotswood. Collette’s big break happened in 1994 when she starred as Muriel Heslop in the comedy-drama Muriel’s Wedding, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Since then, Collette has appeared in movies from different genres, but she has become best known for her work in the horror genre, in movies like The Sixth Sense, Krampus, and Hereditary.
Notable Movies & TV Shows: Muriel’s Wedding (1994), Emma (1996), Velvet Goldmine (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), The Hours (2002), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Fright Night (2011), Krampus (2015), Hereditary (2018), Knives Out (2019), The Staircase (2022), The Power (2023).
Character: Agatha Gillman is Ruby’s mother, who works as a real estate agent among humans and is overprotective of Ruby, forbidding her from going into the ocean, and she also has an estranged relationship with her family.
Annie Murphy as Chelsea Van Der Zee
Chelsea was keeping a big secret.
Actor: Annie Murphy was born on December 19, 1986, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Annie Murphy’s acting debut was playing Sarah in the TV movie Lethal Obsession, in 2007, and the following year, she made her big screen debut in Story of Jen. After various minor roles on different TV shows, Murphy got her big break when she played Alexis Rose in the sitcom Schitt’s Creek. In addition to this project, Murphy also played Ruth Brenner in Russian Doll, Joan Tait in the Black Mirror episode “Joan Is Awful”, and voiced Petey St. Barts in Praise Petey.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:Schitt’s Creek (2015), Kevin Can F**k Himself (2021), Russian Doll (2022), Fairfax (2022), Black Mirror (2023), Praise Petey (2023).
Character: Chelsea Van Der Zee is the popular new girl at Oceanside High who, just like Ruby, hides a secret: she’s a mermaid, but that’s not the only secret she’s keeping from her new, kraken friend.
Jane Fonda as Grandmamah
Jane Fonda plays Ruby’s grandmother and Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas.
Actor: Jane Fonda was born on December 21, 1937, in New York City, and she’s the daughter of actor Henry Fonda. Fonda’s acting career began in theater, in the 1960 Broadway play There Was a Little Girl, and that same year, she made her big screen debut in the rom-com Tall Story. Fonda’s break came with the Western comedy film Cat Ballou. Fonda has won the Academy Award for Best Actress twice: in 1971 for her performance in Klute, and in 1978 for Coming Home. From 2015 to 2022, Fonda starred in Netflix’s Grace and Frankie alongside Lily Tomlin. Fonda is also known for her fitness videos, produced and released in the 1980s.
Notable Movies & TV Shows: Cat Ballou (1965), The Chase (1966), Barbarella (1968), Klute (1971), Coming Home (1978), Monster-in-Law (2005), The Newsroom (2012), Grace and Frankie (2015), Book Club (2018), Book Club: The Next Chapter (2023).
Character: Grandmamah is Agatha’s mother and Ruby’s grandmother, as well as the Warrior Queen of the Seven Seas, whose mission is to protect the sea from mermaids.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Supporting Cast & Characters
Meet the rest of the voice cast of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.
Sam Richardson as Brill: Ruby’s uncle. Sam Richardson voiced Lee the Office Nerd in Ralph Breaks the Internet, played Paul in Promising Young Woman, Gilbert in Hocus Pocus 2, Richard Splett in the TV series Veep, and voices Shaggy in the 2023 animated show Velma.
Colman Domingo as Arthur Gillman: Ruby’s supportive father. Colman Domingo played Private Harold Green in Lincoln, Ralph Abernathy in Selma, Principal Turrell in Assassination Nation, Joseph Rivers in If Beale Street Could Talk, William Burke in Candyman (2021), and Albert Johnson in The Color Purple (2023). On TV, he played Victor Strand in Fear the Walking Dead, Dr. Russell Daniels in The Knick, and Ali in Euphoria.
Will Forte as Captain Gordon Lighthouse: a sailor working as a tour guide. Will Forte played MacBruber in the movie of the same name, Mitch Miley in Rock of Ages, Phil in That’s My Boy, David Grant in Nebraska, Tomas in the TV series 30 Rock, and Phil Miller in The Last Man on Earth. Forte was part of the cast of Saturday Night Live from 2002 to 2010.
Jaboukie Young-White as Connor: Ruby’s crush. Jaboukie Young-White has voiced characters in the movie Strange World and the TV shows Big Mouth, BoJack Horseman, Baymax!, and Bob’s Burgers.
Liza Koshy as Margot: Ruby’s best friend. Liza Koshy is best known for her work on her YouTube channel, but she has also been building an acting career. Koshy voiced Arcee in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, played Wilma in Good Burger 2, and Ashley in Netflix’s Players.
Eduardo Franco as Trevin: Ruby’s best friend. Eduardo Franco played Theo in Booksmart, voiced DJ Catnip in Gabby’s Dollhouse, and played Argyle in season 4 of Stranger Things.
Ramona Young as Bliss: Ruby’s best friend. Ramona Young played Ramona in the TV series Santa Clarita Diet, Mona Wu in Legends of Tomorrow, and Eleanor Wong in Never Have I Ever.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
DreamWorks Animation presents Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, an animated action-adventure film that follows high-schooler Ruby Gillman as she tries to fit in at Oceanside High. When Ruby finally discovers that she’s directly descended from the protectors of the seas, the Krakens, she’ll have to dig deep to protect her school and the oceans themselves from the popular but dangerous mermaid, Chelsea.
- Director
- Kirk DeMicco
- Release Date
- June 30, 2023
