Actor Tom Kenny, the former voice of SpongeBob, has revealed that his character is autistic.
During his recent appearance at Detroit's Motor City Comic Con, Kenny recalled an interaction with a fan in which he confirmed that SpongeBob is neurodivergent. “SpongeBob is also on a spectrum, as a character,” he said in a Video originally posted by @DominoDeerGirl On twitter.
“The last convention I did in McAllen, Texas, was the first time I was asked this question,” Kenny explained. “A person who was obviously on the spectrum came up to me and said, ‘I have a question for you, Tom Kenny. Is SpongeBob autistic? Is SpongeBob himself autistic as a character?'”
The actor recalled: “I said, ‘Yeah, right. Of course he is. You know what? That’s his superpower, just like it’s your superpower.’”
This isn't the first time Kenny has spoken out about SpongeBob's autism. “I don't know what it is about that show that speaks to kids who are on the autism spectrum, but more so than other cartoons… because SpongeBob as a character is a little bit autistic,” he said during a 2012 appearance on Marc Maron's show. What the fuck? podcast. “Obsessed with his work, very hard-working, he gets very involved in something.”
In 2019, Kenny spoke about feeling connected to his character. “I felt like I just went crazy. [SpongeBob],” he said Entertainment Weekly“You think, ‘Oh, I know this guy. I can embody him. ’ I feel like there is a shared DNA between me and this character… That’s part of Steve. [Hillenburg]”The brilliance of him. He seemed to be pretty sure of his decisions once he made them, and there was no dissuading him.”
Kenny has voiced SpongeBob and several other characters in Sponge Bob Square Pants since it premiered on Nickelodeon in 1999. She won Daytime Emmy Awards for the role in 2018 and 2020.
sponge Bob is in the middle of its 14th season. It was cast in season 15 last year.
Tom himself said that Spongebob was on the spectrum at Motor City Comic Con! I was able to watch the panel and my dad got this video which I had to record because it was on Facebook 😭 Tom was so nice to everyone and made sure everyone got to ask their questions! image.twitter.com/hpAtPKFaby
— Domino (@DominoDeerGirl) July 22, 2024
thanks to our partners at consequence.net
