Sony's film adaptation of the popular children's picture book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, brings together an impressive cast of talented performances. Released in theaters on August 2, 2024, Harold and the Purple Crayon broke into Netflix’s top 10 after an October 31 streaming release. The Oscar-nominated director Carlos Saldanha utilizes the actors expertly, ensuring that their background experiences fit perfectly with their Harold and the Purple Crayon characters.
Although there are some crucial differences, Harold and the Purple Crayon shares the same basic premise as the book. When Harold and his friends draw a portal into the real world, they must seek help to return to their magic homeworld. While waiting for the portal to open back up, Harold, Moose, and Porcupine set out to draw magic in the life of a family of two. Despite, the movie's middling reviews, Harold and the Purple Crayon's biggest strength is undoubtedly its impressive cast, all of whom give fully-committed performances..
Cast of Harold and the Purple Crayon
Picture
Actor
Character
Zachary Levi
Harold
Lil Rel Howery
Moose
Benjamin Bottani
Mel
Zooey Deschanel
Terry
Tanya Reynolds
Porcupine
Jemaine Clement
Gary
Alfred Molina
Narrator
Zachary Levi As Harold
Date Of Birth: September 29, 1980
Active Since: 2001
Actor: Zachary Levi was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and broke big in the ABC TV series Less Than Perfect, playing Kipp Steadman. The actor has remained pretty active in television since his start, acting in approximately two projects a year. Notably, he starred in NBC’s American spy drama, Chuck, and voiced Flynn Rider in Disney’s Tangled. Since then, Levi has gotten several lead roles in family movies, including DC's Shazam, Terrence Tango in Spy Kids: Armageddon, and Rocky in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
Notable Zachary Levi Movie/TV Show
Character
Big Momma’s House 2 (2006)
Kevin
Less Than Perfect (2002-2006)
Kipp Steadman
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)
Toby
Tangled (2010)
Flynn Rider
Chuck (2007-2012)
Chuck Bartowski
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Fandral
Heroes Reborn (2015-2016)
Luke Collins
Tangled: Before Ever After (2017)
Eugene
Thor: Ragnarök (2017)
Fandral
Tangled: Short Cuts (2017-2018)
Eugene, Feldspar
Shazam! (2019)
Shazam
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018-2019)
Benjamin Ettenberg
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (2017-2020)
Eugene Fitzherbert, Feldspar
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Shazam
Spy Kids: Armageddon (2023)
Terrence Tango
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
Rocky
Character: In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Zachary Levi continues his leading streak by playing Harold. The character comes from a fantasy world that he can create to his heart’s content using a magical crayon. Similarly to Giselle in Disney’s Enchanted, Harold is naive to how the real world works — which contributes to the movie’s comedic elements and conflict as he draws up unusual things that cause mayhem and unwanted attention.
Lil Rel Howery As Moose
Date Of Birth: December 17, 1979
Active Since: 2008
Actor: Lil Rel Howery was born in Chicago, Illinois, and had his break-out role as Rod Williams in Jordan Peele’s acclaimed directorial debut, Get Out. Howery got his start in comedy and has written most of his notable television work, including Friends of the People, Fox’s sitcom Rel, and two HBO stand-up specials. He had supporting roles in the Netflix hit Bird Box; Judas and the Black Messiah; the Warner Bros live-action adaptation of Tom & Jerry; and Netflix's Fatherhood. The actor recently starred in several well-received Disney+ and Hulu TV movies, which include Vacation Friends and the Christmas movie Dashing Through the Snow.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
Notable Lil Rel Howery Movie/TV Show
Character
Friends of the People (2014-2015)
Various, Rel
Get Out (2017)
Rod Williams
The Carmichael Show (2015-2017)
Bobby Carmichael
Bird Box (2018)
Charlie
Rel (2018-2019)
Rel, Various
Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Wayne
Tom & Jerry (2021)
Angel, Devil Tom
Fatherhood (2021)
Jordan
Vacation Friends (2021)
Marcus
Vacation Friends 2 (2023)
Marcus
The Mill (2023)
Joe
Dashing Through the Snow (2023)
Nick
Reunion (2024)
Ray Hammond
Character: As part of Harold and the Purple Crayon’s main cast, Lil Rel Howery plays Moose, one of Harold’s best friends. The character comes from Harold’s imaginary world and used to be a drawn moose. He becomes a man when he exits the drawn world. Howery displays his comedic prowess alongside Zachary Levi, playing the nervous sidekick who transforms into a live Moose whenever things get scary.
Benjamin Bottani As Mel
Date Of Birth: September 12, 2009
Active Since: 2021
Actor: Benjamin Bottani was born in Phoenix, AZ, and his performance as Mel in Harold and the Purple Crayon constitutes his first starring role. The young actor started out in theatrical productions before moving on to movies and TV. He appeared in one episode of Apple TV's original show, Puppy Place, and The Chosen, a drama depicting the life of Jesus Christ. In 2023, he voiced Kabir in Adam Sandler’s Netflix animated film, Leo.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
Notable Benjamin Botanni Movie/TV Show
Characters
The Chosen (2021)
Jesse
Bromates (2022)
Tommy
Leo (2023)
Kabir
Character: In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Benjamin Bottani plays the character of Mel, a young boy who befriends Harold and his friends. Mel is the only son of a single mother and plays a big role in helping the fantastical characters adapt to the real world. Likewise, Harold’s imagination helps Mel and Terry’s relationship grow.
Zooey Deschanel As Terry
Date Of Birth: January 17, 1980
Active Since: 1998
Actor: Zooey Deschanel was born in Los Angeles, California, and broke out in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous , where she played Anita Miller, the lead’s big sister. She appeared alongside Will Ferrell in the iconic Christmas movie, Elf, featured in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening, and co-starred with Jim Carrey in Yes Man. Deschanel is most popular for playing the awkward and optimistic Jess Day in Fox’s sitcom, New Girl, as well as for her portrayal of the charming heartbreaker in Marc Webb’s acclaimed movie, 500 Days of Summer. She has reprised her role as Bridget in the Trolls franchise several times.
Zachary Levi's new movie, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is a fantasy adventure that is weirdly similar to a popular SpongeBob SquarePants episode.
Character: As part of Harold and the Purple Crayon’s cast, Zooey Deschanel plays Terry, Mel’s struggling mother. Terry sets out to help Harold and Moose after she almost runs them over. As she soon finds out the strange group is not from her world, and encouraged by her son, she lets them stay at her house and gets them jobs in the convenience store where she works. The reluctant character serves as the group’s mature voice, advising against creations that will attract unwanted attention. However, through her interactions with Harold, Terry regains her imagination and optimism.
Tanya Reynolds As Porcupine
Date Of Birth: November 4, 1991
Active Since: 2014
Actor: Tanya Reynolds was born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England, and had her break-out role in The Delivered , acting alongside Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance. The actress made minor appearances in several TV series before landing her role as the quirky and artistic Lily Iglehart in Netflix’s popular teen comedy-drama, Sex Education. Reynolds portrayed Mrs. Elton in Autumn de Wilde’s Oscar-nominated adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, which starred Anya Taylor-Joy. Since then, she led Robert Popper’s miniseries, I Hate You, and acted in Netflix’s successful The Decameron adaptation.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
Notable Tanya Reynolds Movie/TV Show
Character
Delicious (2016-2019)
Teresa Benelli
The Delivered (2019)
Rebecca Henshaw
Emma (2020)
Mrs. Elton
Sex Education (2019-2021)
Lily Iglehart
I Hate You (2022)
Charlie
The Decameron (2024)
Licisca
Character: In Harold and the Purple Crayon, Tanya Reynolds portrays Porcupine, another of Harold’s friends. Porcupine also adopts a human form once in the real world. After arriving on earth, she is quickly separated from Harold and Moose and goes on to have an adventure of her own — until reuniting with the group again for the final confrontation with the movie’s villain.
Jemaine Clement As Gary
Date Of Birth: January 10, 1974
Active Since: 1995
Actor: Jemaine Clement was born in Masterton, New Zealand, and broke out on the sitcom Flight of the Conchords, where he and Bret McKenzie portrayed themselves as musicians wanting to make it big in the industry. Clement has starred in several movies throughout the years, playing a range of characters. However, he has acquired a reputation for portraying the antagonist with roles like Boris The Animal in Men In Black 3, Tamatoa in Disney’s Moana, and Dr. Garvin in Avatar: The Way of Water. Clement also worked with Taika Waititi on What We Do in the Shadows.
Notable Movies & TV Shows:
Notable Jemaine Clement Movie/TV Show
Character
Flight of the Conchords (2007-2009)
Jemaine, Albi, David Bowie
Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
Chevalier
Despicable Me (2010)
Jerry the Minion
Rio (2011)
Nigel
Men in Black 3 (2012)
Boris The Animal
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Vladislav
Rio 2 (2014)
Nigel
People Places Things (2015)
Will Henry
Moana (2016)
Tamatoa
The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Sauron
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Dr. Garvin
Kiri and Lou (2019-2024)
Lou
Character: As part of Harold and the Purple Crayon’s cast, Jemaine Clement plays Gary, the movie’s villain. At first, the odd character seems to want to help Harold as he knows a lot about the world where he comes from and the power it holds. However, Gary's true intentions quickly come to light when he takes possession of the magic crayon and uses it for his own devices.
Harold And The Purple Crayon Supporting Cast & Characters
Harold And The Purple Crayon Benefits From A Talented Supporting Actor
Alfred Molina as Narrator: the actor is mostly known for his portrayal of Dr. Otto Octavius in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 and Diego Rivera in the Oscar-winning Frida biopic by Julie Taymor. In Harold and the Purple Crayon,he fulfills the role of the Narrator, who tells the story in a voice-over.
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a fantasy film based on the book of the same name by Crockett Johnson. Zachary Levi stars as Harold, alongside Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, and Jemaine Clement. The film revolves around Levi's character, who can make his drawings come to life with his purple crayon.
Custom image by Cece Montemayor
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