Summary

• Chris Jenkins' new animated movie, 10 Lives, tells a heartwarming story about a cat who learns the value of life.
• Jenkins, known for his work on Disney projects, assembled a stellar ensemble cast for the independently financed film, including Bill Nighy and Zayn Malik.
• The film follows the bond between Rose, a bee scientist, and Beckett, the cat who must navigate a series of reincarnations to protect her from a villainous professor.

Chris Jenkins’ new animated movie, 10 Lives, is a heartwarming tale about a cat who learns the value of life after using up all nine of his. After having worked on several Disney projects, such as Aladdin and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Jenkins struck out on his own as a filmmaker — first writing Surf's Up and then directing Duck Duck Goose. His latest effort, while independently financed, boasts a stellar ensemble cast that ranges from Bill Nighy to Zayn Malik.

10 Lives stars Bridgerton's Simone Ashley as Rose, a diligent bee scientist who finds her world turned upside down when she encounters a kitten named Beckett (voiced by comedian Mo Gilligan). While the feisty feline is an indolent and selfish creature, he and Rose form such an impenetrable bond that he begs for another chance at life when he accidentally wastes his ninth one. Instead of making his way back to his previously pampered life, however, he must now power through a series of awkward reincarnations to protect Rose from the bee-killing machinations of Professor Craven (Nighy).

Screen Rant interviewed the director and stars of 10 Lives while at Sundance Film Festival, and the trio was enthusiastic about the movie. Ashley shared some of her fondest memories from the recording booth, Gilligan explained how he felt going from stand-up comedy to voice acting, and Jenkins revealed how his Disney animation background shaped his directorial work.

Simone Ashley, Mo Gilligan & Chris Jenkins Talk 10 Live

Screen Rant: I really enjoyed 10 Lives. I had no idea that was what it was going to be about. At first, I kept calling it 9 Lives because I was like, "It's obviously about a cat, 9 Lives." And then I realized it’s about what a cat does when nine lives are used up. How did you come up with this?

Chris Jenkins: There's the novelty of the title itself. But as we have been talking about with everybody pretty much, the idea of our pets and how we love our pets and wondering about what their inner lives are. You can imagine that with a cat, and I think he just grew out of this whimsical whatever that goes on in my head, and it is strange in there.

Equally surprising, Mo, was that you don't do acting mostly. You're a comedian. What was it like to step into this role and have this first big acting experience be voice only?

Mo Gilligan: I do standup. I think, because there's a lot of improvisation in it, that kind assists me in some ways. I come from a standup background as well, but then I had to put everything aside and I'm voicing this cat, so I already have preconceived notions of how maybe it should sound like this or is it going to move like that.

But I think once you read the script and you get to see a little bit of the animation or the storyboard, then I get to give the cat its personality in some ways, which was so fun. It was a brand new experience for me, but really fun at the same time. So if this was my first major acting thing to get into, I started on the right thing because it was just, I had a lot of fun. So, that was really cool.

Simone, what do you think it is about this cat's personality that brings out the caregiver in Rose who tends to be more interested in bees?

Simone Ashley: I think we see Beckett on the journey of maybe learning to be a bit more generous and present and grateful for the life that he has and opening his heart up to Rose and to the concept of love. And I think it's the same for Rose. I think we were discussing earlier. Initially, she didn't really want to have a distraction from everything that she had been working towards her whole life. And then she is taking down a new journey of opening up your heart to an animal, which can be quite a scary thing to do because I have a dog. I think any pet owner can say this, we live longer than our pets. So I think Beckett helped Rose learn more about herself and what it is to love than she realized.

The cast is stacked, with a wide range from Zayn Malik to Bill Nighy. How did we get them all? What did we have to do?

Chris Jenkins: It's a stellar cast thanks to our fantastic casting director, Robyn Klein, who I've known for a while now for several years. When I was first putting this together, because it's low budget, I didn't think that we had the latitude to have this kind of talent. But Robyn came in and said, "Let me take over, see what I can do." She always does that.

Then I met both these guys over Zoom and told them a series of lies. Actually, what I did do is an old trick – but it's not a trick. It's just a beautiful thing. If you take a clip of anything you’ve said and just animate to that with the character, you can see your voice coming out of a character's mouth. It's spooky. It does something.

Simone Ashley: I remember that. It was the first time I'd seen anything like that before. And you are in it and you're like, "Oh, I want more. I want to make the story around this character now."

Mo Gilligan: It is the coolest thing ever because when you watch animation, you understand what goes into it, but when it's your voice into something that you've never seen before, you're like, "Oh my God, it's moving and speaking and moving its lips, you're like me that's so surreal." And I think that early process was exciting just to see.

And then I think the beautiful thing I found with voicing this cat Beckett is the layers of like, "Okay, cool, now I get to voice it." And then you do another record and they get to show you, and then you get to see the cat interact with Rose and so many sequences. So each time you get to see something you haven't seen before as well, which is really nice.

Mo, you mentioned that there's a lot of improvisation that goes into it. For both of you, were there any moments during the recording process that stood out to you as having evolved very far from when you first came in?

Mo Gilligan: Because a lot of the process in the beginning was understanding Beckett and understanding his relationship with the world around him and how he treats the world around him. And then towards the end of the movie, it's how he starts changing. And I think as I've got to see you have this care for Beckett, and at first, I'm like, "Oh, this cat is not a nice cat really."

And then, as it goes on towards the end, you're like, "Oh, wow, he's got compassion." He goes in not really caring about the world around him, but then you watch it, and he does care because he gets to be loads of different creatures up until the end of the film and stuff. I think that, for me, I was like, "Oh, wow, I love how it's evolving," and how I had to become more compassionate for Beckett a little bit as well.

What stood out most about the recording process for you, Simone?

Simone Ashley: Gosh, it's hard to find one moment. I think there were just so many. It was a real journey. I think there was one scene, when Rose was making the phone call, and that's quite an emotional scene. We were both talking about it and just getting into the tone, just really believing that you've lost your pet. My dog's never gone missing, but when that happens, it's just the most awful thing.

To contrast to that, there are obviously moments of so much joy in this movie. When you're seeing the montage of Beckett and Rose getting to know each other, and he's introduced into the house and he's doing all of this mischievous stuff. It's hard to find one moment. I think every day when I was in the booth and every moment of each scene, there's just something new and a completely different energy to the experience.

Chris Jenkins: They’re so good at what they do that it's not just the effect of acting, it's the soul that they bring to the process that then inhabits the characters. And the animators take that and run with it. They can feel it. There's a difference. It's almost like you put in a nuclear power cell in the middle of the animated character, so it will feed off that all the way through and beyond.

It feels like magic at times, but it's really just down to the talent that these guys have. And my job is just to open up some space and let them feel comfortable to contribute.

You also have a lot of experience in Disney animation before this. How did the animation side help shape your directorial style?

Chris Jenkins: Oh, totally. I knew some of the older guys who were there for Pinocchio and Bambi, and met them and talked to them, and you can't not think about that. And there's a legacy you want to, for the many that have now passed on, you want to do well by them. There was one dear old friend I met Joe Grant, who was 90-something when I first met him, and he lived a few years. He was just a wonderful mentor. He was my Obi-Wan, and was so encouraging that when the author of Dumbo tells you, "This kid's got something", you're like, "Oh, all right. I either stop now or keep going and make it work."

Simone, I obviously love you in Bridgerton. Will there be riots in the street over Kate and Anthony in Bridgerton season 3, or will fans get to soak up your domestic bliss?

Simone Ashley: No, I think they will be. Gosh that is an intense quote, that is. No, I think they’ll be really happy. I think both Johnny and I had so much fun exploring Kate and Anthony post-season 2. And we had a lot of fun enjoying the blissful domestic life, as you just really beautifully put it. It’s Luke Newton’s and Nicola Coughlan’s season and, if anything, I’m just really proud of them and the episodes; for the world to see them tell the story.

Finally, Mo, you just did a great job as Beckett. Are we going to get some more acting from you?

Mo Gilligan: Hopefully. I start my world tour next month in the States. So I've got a stacked year prepared for me now and then it's 2025. But a hundred percent. I've enjoyed this process a lot. I've working alongside Simone and taking Chris's advice has been amazing.

It's been a brand new experience and you have to drop ego aside and just be like, "Cool, let's just find something that's brand new. I've never done it before." You've got to learn to be silly, if that makes sense. You're voicing a cat, a horse, and a cockroach as well. I think that there's no end to where your imagination can go with this. It'd be great to explore other stuff like this, which has been a lot of fun at the same time.

About 10 Lives

A pampered cat takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose, a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.

10 Lives premiered at Sundance Film Festival on January 20 and is currently seeking U.S. distribution.