• Alison Brie: voice of Unikitty • Chris Pratt: voice of Emmet • Will Arnett: voice of Batman
Favourite film. Last book that you read. Last film you saw? Oh my, I have such an eclectic taste in films everything from Toy Story( 3) and The Little Mermaid, to ARGO to Silence of the Lambs. I’ m a bit all over the place, but I generally like anything that sparks an emotion or hits a nerve … I like a good giggle, to be scared senseless or to blub into a tub of Ben & Jerry’ s( preferred flavour Vermonster) in my PJs. I also love musicals like Moulin Rouge, and Star Wars has a very special place in my heart too. Controversially,‘ Return of the Jedi’ is probably my favourite Star Wars Movie – I was always obsessed with Leia, I love Jabba and I am also pro-Ewok( told you it was controversial!) When it comes to books I’ m also ashamed to admit I love a trashy celebrity auto biography – last one I read was probably Scarlet Moffatt’ s( Sorry Scarlett Moffat if you are reading this! I am not at all suggesting you are trashy – I love you to bits!) Last movie I saw was The LEGO Ninjago Movie. It would have been rude not to as a lot of my friends and colleagues worked on it!
What was the best piece of advice that you have been given? Stop worrying about what people think of you!( It hasn’ t really worked, as I am still worrying what people think of me … in fact I think I have probably made the situation worse by sticking myself on telly, so now I worry what even more people think of me!)
Do you get back to the Wirral often and what do you like to do when you’ re here? I try to come back to the Wirral to visit my parents whenever I can and if there are any family events happening. I am home every Christmas, and a couple of times throughout the year, it’ s mostly social stuff, catching up with relatives and people from school, or popping to the local garden centre for a cream tea or a piece of cake with my mum.
Are you a collector and what are your favourite things( art, watches, cars, etc)? Being a toy designer, it’ s probably not going to come as a great surprise to many people that I actually collect toys – anything from my childhood favourites from the 80s to collector vinyl toys. The dream is to ultimately have a nice display room where I can showcase all my favourites, but unfortunately most of them are in storage or squeezed into my spare room toy-tetras style. Anyone who visits is pre-warned to open the spare room door at their own risk, unless they want to be buried alive under an avalanche of plastic bricks, robots in disguise, or rainbow-maned plastic ponies … yes that’ s right people, I’ m an extreme herder!
Do you have a bucket list and if so, what’ s on it? I think I’ m doing pretty well as far as my list is concerned. It would be lovely to have some time to take a proper cooking class, but that will have to wait for now. In the meantime, I just want to have the odd surprise and challenge thrown my way occasionally to keep things fresh and exciting so I am always on my toes!
If you weren’ t a toy designer, what other job would you like to do? Probably a wedding planner! I love a good wedding, and have been to so many now …‘ always the bridesmaid never the bride!’ I love organising parties, and decorating and all that kind of stuff and I also think I am capable of handling the odd Bridezilla too! I have probably been planning my own wedding since I was about 7 years old( Muriel style), but as I haven’ t met my match yet, I would be more than content making other people’ s marital dreams come true. If not a wedding planner then maybe a costume designer or a chocolate taster!
What’ s your favourite food and do you like to eat out or prefer to cook? I do like to cook, but with my busy schedule I don’ t have that much time. Also, cooking for one can be quite monotonous, so I tend to eat out quite a bit with my friends. There isn’ t a lot of choice for food in the town I live in so we usually default to our favourite restaurant, which does a variety of different specials all with a Danish twist! But when I am travelling I do love a bit of sushi. When I am in LA, I always pop to Katsuya for Albacore with Crispy Onions and Yellow tail sashimi with jalepenos! Living abroad means I really miss real comfort food, like my mum’ s Sunday Roast, so when I’ m back in Britain I love a good old British pub lunch like Sausage and Mash, with a good old dollop of wholegrain mustard. I also have an incredibly sweet tooth too- I’ m a bit of a chocoholic and love anything salted caramel, especially ice cream! So yes all the good healthy stuff, which then means I need to go on a crash diet before I appear on telly!
Where do you like to go on holiday and why? For a proper relaxing holiday, it’ s probably Bali. I have been there twice and it is beautiful. One year I thought, right, I’ m still single and may never get married, so I decided to splash out on a lavish‘ honeymoon for one’ and stayed in the most wonderful Spa Resort in Ubud, with breathtaking manicured grounds set in the heart of the lush jungle with a view over the layered rice fields. It was the most tranquil, relaxing, zen place I had ever been, the moment I walked through the gates I was hit by a wave of calm for the first time in my life- it was so beautiful I wanted to cry!
You have family here in UK – will you be spending Christmas here or in Denmark – or somewhere else? Yes I will be back on the Wirral over Christmas and the new year catching up with my family and old school friends.
We all want the LEGO Millennium Falcon( no really, we do) but what’ s top of your Christmas wish list( for yourself!) … A break? While my job is amazing, it is pretty full-on; overseeing toy development as the day job, travelling lots while assisting making a movie and filming a TV show at weekends can take its toll- so I really just want to wind down and spend some time with the people I love and don’ t get to see very often.
If you would like to follow Matthew, you can find him on Twitter at @ matthew __ ashton( double underscore). wirrallife.. com 23 19