Jun 27, 2008, 4:00 GMT
Dustin Hoffman thought his career was over when he was asked to voice a character for 'Kung Fu Panda'.
Dustin Hoffman (R) arrives with wife Lisa Gottsegen (L) at the UK film premiere of Kung Fu Panda held at the Vue Leicester Square in Central London, Britain, 26 June 2008. The film is an animated comedy about a lazy panda who is forced to become a leader when his way of life is threatened and also features voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan and Ian McShane. Kung Fu Panda, directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson, is released in the UK on July 4. EPA/DANIEL DEME
The Oscar-winning actor feared his illustrious movie-making days had come to an end when he was approached about lending his voice to a red panda called Shifu in the latest DreamWorks animation.
Dustin joked: "When I was asked to be in a Kung Fu film about a Kung Fu panda I thought it was the end of my distinguished career.
"I got involved with it reluctantly. I realised that I had to put myself in the director's hands. Had this film flopped I would have been pointing fingers at them!
"But we were lucky it was well-received because it could have been the end for me."
The 70-year-old actor also admitted he thought he would be joined by his co-stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane when he was recording his scenes.
He explained to BANG Showbiz: "They didn't tell me that I would be on my own in an isolation booth. I took it for granted I would be in the same room as Jack and Lucy. I thought we would all have a microphone and we would be interacting.
"I didn't try out any of my Kung Fu moves until the very end of the recording where they had me come in and make Kung Fu noises. That was the hardest part. I said, 'Why don't you just get some porn actors to do this? It's the same sounds, Ah, ooh, ah, ooh!' "
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