Erika Henningsen voices Princess Charlotte “Charlie” Morningstar, the lead of Amazon Prime’s Hazbin Hotel. Charlie Morningstar is technically the Princess of Hell, but she has good intentions! The “Hazbin Hotel” of the title is the halfway house Charlie develops to help sinners, hopefully, eventually matriculate to Heaven.
Here, in an interview with Awards Daily, she details how Charlie’s mindset and hers are similar and how singing is incredibly helpful to fully getting into that space. She also reveals that playing her has been an incredible experience as a way for her to spread positivity to the fans. Finally, she reveals in the fact that the character allows her to act like a Disney princess who gets to swear.
Awards Daily: I keep seeing Charlie described as a Disney princess type but in hell. Is that how you perceive her or do you have a different take?
Erika Henningsen: I think what’s most exciting is when we think of Disney princesses they are associated with a movie. So you kinda know where the story is going to go. I love Charlie because that’s how she appears when first meeting her. But Vivienne (Medrano) has implied how she hopes the show will unfold, showing that there’s a lot of untapped potential and adult growth in Charlie. She’s got Disney princess vibes when we meet her but I think my favorite thing about playing her is when she is faced with very un-Disney adult themes. She walks through them, makes mistakes, then grows and comes out the other side a totally different version of herself. So she is a Disney princess in hell, but I think the storytelling is a bit more mature and nuanced simply because it is not geared towards children.
Awards Daily: How do you get into the mindset of her?
Erika Henningsen: I’m a pretty earnest person to begin with. I do not have a lot of sarcasm or dry wit up my sleeve. I tend to lead with my heart forward. So we have that in common, but I think the thing that has helped a ton is the music that we sing. It gives me a great hook into her character. When we record episodes I always ask to sing first, because the scene allows me into her brain space because she lives in that very dramatic musical world. So when we start with the singing it helps me tap in when we eventually get to dialogue. She is at a ten at all times be it a ten of an emotional joy, or utter loss, or feeling betrayed. Music isn’t casual, it’s what we use when words are not enough. So music has allowed me to find those pockets of Charlie in a fast accessible way.
Awards Daily: Speaking of her heavy emotions in everything she does, her connection to people around her is incredibly important. We see that with everyone she interacts with. She tries to see their point of view even if they’re being a complete jerk or she’s completely in love with them. How do you approach the way she approaches other people?
Erika Henningsen: I think it is all rooted in curiosity. The thing I love about the show is there is not really black and white, everything is gray. The way that Viv approaches the ideas of redemption, hell and who’s good and who’s bad, there is so much gray. The way that Charlie takes that fact is she asks questions and she’s willing to look past people’s first impressions or the thing that defined them for a long time and look at what’s underneath. That’s my favorite thing about getting to play her, she’s always aware that there’s more to the story than what first appears. In our current discourse in the world that tends to not be the case. We read something, believe it, and Charlie’s always asking more questions, sometimes for her benefit and sometimes because she refuses for things to be that linear or obvious when most complicated things are gray.
Awards Daily: You got your start both in acting and singing in musical theater. How does that translate doing voice work? I assume it’s a very different way of singing.
Erika Henningsen: It is very different! I will say musical theater has been helpful because of course we sing in the show. But we are so musical with our voices already and when you’re dealing with a voice-over in an animated character I do not know what the animators are going to do. They’re actually looking to me to create something to animate. So the more musical I can make my voice, the more a line can rise and fall, and the texture and tone makes each line feel like a little mini song. That is where the theater training helped a ton. Because you realize animation can pop off the screen because the voice actors have a really dynamic way of saying things. The people who have a monotone voice that would be a choice and it works a lot of the time for their character. But for Charlie she has to have musicality to her speaking voice because that allows our animators to do things.
One thing that is very different is in theater we have a six-week rehearsal process. So you try things on Monday that don’t work and then you come back to try it on Tuesday. With voiceover we go in and we record a session in one hour. So for me the most fun thing was getting to rely on my improv skills in ways I haven’t had to in a long time. My goal is to give our animation team as many options as possible so when they get to editing and making the animatics they have a plethora of choices. That means my option A has to be as different from my option B and C as possible. It’s like getting to play again, like a kid thinking how many different ways I can come up with to say this one line or make this one sound. I improv something in case they need a different button or tagline. I can provide that for them. It’s a really great exercise in trusting your instincts and taking ownership of the character. Because I do not want anyone to walk into the animation studio and say I wish we had a take that makes her sound like this.
Awards Daily: Was doing voice work something you aspired to do? Or is it something that just came to you naturally?
Erika Henningsen: I always aspire to play a Disney princess! Now that I’ve gotten older I can’t imagine a better dream job because I get to be a Disney princess and drop an F-bomb and lead a battalion of demons into battle. So that has been fun! I think the thing about being an actor is that I have always had the mindset that I’m just happy to bring stories to life in whatever capacity as long as I believe in the story. I grew up watching animation, the classic movies, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon. Something happens when you’re an actor, you realize with voice work that oh wait, that’s an option, I can do that? I can be the voice behind that beloved character that people are obsessed with. I was always curious about doing it and bringing an animated character to life. I did not anticipate that it would get to meld in the world I have lived in of theater and Broadway so beautifully. I could never have dreamed of a job like this. I never could have anticipated getting to do something with such adult comedy, raunchiness and grown up maturity while still harkening back to my dream to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast and sing those songs.
Awards Daily: One thing I’ve loved with this show is that Charlie is just together with Vaggie. There is no will they or won’t they, they are together and settled. I am curious if that was something you enjoyed as well?
Erika Henningsen: It is one of my favorite elements of the show. Especially because I feel like so many queer characters and relationships are portrayed (and this is very true for many people) at the beginning of the trauma or difficulty that it took to come out or come together or be open with who you are in the world. I think those stories are really important and we need to see them. But there is the other side of that. There is a campaign in high schools now called the It Gets Better Project, and I literally feel like Vaggie and Charlie are an example of that. We don’t really know their backstory or how Charlie came to identify as bisexual. Where we see them is at the other side of a loving committed relationship and that is just what it is. There are no questions or lack of acceptance from their friends. We get to meet them in the kernel moment of their relationship as a queer couple. I love it so much, and that was something I found out about her when I auditioned for the show and I realized I’d never seen that before. Especially in an animated show where it is a part of these characters’ identity but the story is not about that. I think that’s how a lot of people in the LGBTQ community feel, that it is a part of my identity but it is not my entirety. That is what makes this relationship special, because you see that they are whole people and this is who they love and that’s that.
Awards Daily: Looking at your filmography this is the first time you are the lead of a TV show. How has that been different and changed things for you?
Erika Henningsen: It is still to be determined! I am such a sponge. I enjoy getting to work on new things because I will never be the first person in the room to say I know everything. I love to ask questions, I love to learn. I have an incredible voice coach who has been with us the whole time. I think the thing that has changed though is I feel a lot more ownership and confidence over my work as a voice actor and how I portray Charlie. I feel I know her deeply now. We are working on season 2, and when I walked into the room to record it I felt like I could pitch things or ask if I could try it a different way or ask if this is what we’re going for. As opposed to before when I was waiting for direction.
The main thing that’s different is that we now have access to the fans of Hazbin Hotel. They are massive in amount and enjoy showing their love for how they feel about the show. That has been a huge change and I feel like that makes me feel responsible in a really positive way. When I interact with fans I want to give them an experience that’s an extension of the show. I am not Charlie, we have a lot of things in common but we are different people. But I do want to give the fans who love the show an experience that is positive because so much about what I love about Charlie is that she leads with positivity. That is how I am, and these fan interactions have reminded me that I go into a room and record this by myself. But this line that I say in episode 4 or this song that I sing with Jeremy Jordan’s character changed somebody’s life. Now I get to have those interactions and remember that. Yeah, it is just you in the booth but eventually it is broadcast through the entire world. There’s a lot of responsibility that I take very seriously and a lot of gratitude because I’ve never got to be part of something so widespread.
Awards Daily: Final thoughts?
Erika Henningsen: I think my only final thought is I am excited for people to see where the show goes. I think this first season was iconic in that (and the reason I signed up for it) it gave us more to see in the sense that nothing like this existed before. I think we will continue to surprise and delight people who are fans of this franchise.
