Source: Sci-Fi Wire

On the eve of The Spongebob Squarepants Movie's release, veteran comedian Jeffrey Tambor spoke to Sci-Fi wire about working 'under the sea' with a yellow sponge and a pink starfish.

"Steve was quite brilliant," enthused Tambor. "He put us in this big, ... gorgeous studio, and there was [SpongeBob's] Tom [Kenny] over in his booth and Scarlett [Johansson, who voices Princess Mindy], and I was out on the floor, and Patrick [Bill Fagerbakke] and the different characters were all around, so we could all see each other and kind of sense each other's presence."

The actor had lots to say on the fun and ease of being able to voice a cartoon character by working eye-to-eye with his co-stars, and had nothing but praises for creative mind Stephen Hillenburg.

"Steve is on point," Tambor said. "He knows exactly what he wants. I was the new kid on the block, so the learning curve was real fast, and I would watch what they would do. I think the only problem with this kind of work is that ... it's a little bigger than you [may be used to]. You have to sort of leap off a cliff. And once you do that, you're fine. And you're in great hands."

In the movie, King Neptune (Tambor) looses his crown, and takes it out on the little town of Bikini Bottom. 'Heroes' Spongebob and Patrick must go on a quest to retrieve it, otherwise Neptune will destroy the town, and punish Spongebob's boss Mr. Krabbs (Clancy Brown).

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, which features a plethora of guess stars including Mr. Hairy-Chest himself David Hasselhoff, opens in theatres on November 19th.

As for Tambor, he can be seen every week on the Emmy Award-winning Arrested Development.