Bell Looks To Win Hearts with “AstroBoy”

Kristen Bell—who has become a cult favorite for her roles in Heroes, Fanboys and Veronica Mars—is likely to extend her following as she lends her voice to the ultimate sci-fi franchise: She plays the new girl in Imagi Studios' upcoming 3-D animated feature-film version of the venerable Japanese Astro Boy series.

“I play Cora, who is a girl who befriends Astro when he comes down from Metro City onto the surface of Earth,” Bell told SciFi Wire. “She runs a little kind of like Peter Pan group of kids. She’s pretty tough, pretty sassy.”

Cora (Kristen Bell) befriends Astro Boy

And despite being a self-professed fan of a lot of genre properties, Bell admits she was a novice when it came to the universe of “AstroBoy.”

“I didn’t know Astro Boy at all, but now I’m immersed and have all the little toys and stuff,” she said.

As for the movie, which will debut some footage at the upcoming San Diego ComicCon, Bell says she’s seen a lot of the movie and that it looks fantastic.

“It looks amazing,” she said. “To be involved in the process is really exciting, because you see the layers that they put on, and you see when they don’t have the 3-D involved and then when they do, and you see when it’s just penciled out. It was a really interesting process.”

Bell is best-known for her work on two television series. She played the title character on “Veronica Mars” and had a recurring role as Elle on “Heroes.” She also starred in the just-released-on-DVD movie “Fanboys” where she memorably dressed up in the famous metal bikini from “Return of the Jedi.”