Voice actorTom Kennyis sharing his thoughts on what he thinks his character SpongeBob SquarePants “superpower” is.
“SpongeBob’s kind of on the spectrum too as a character,” he told the cheering crowd.
Is SpongeBob himself autistic as a character?'"
Tom Kenny and SpongeBob.Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
He recalled telling the fan, “‘Of course!'”
Then, he continued, “I said, ‘You know what?
That’s his superpower, the same way that’s your superpower.'”
Obsessed with his job, very hardworking, gets really, really deep into something."
Kenny has voiced the title character since the beloved animated show first began airing in 1999.
“I felt like I just got [SpongeBob],” he said at the time.
“Steve [Hillenburg, series creator] did such a good job with it.
Everything was right there.
You go, ‘Oh, I know this guy.
I can embody this guy.’
I feel like there’s some shared DNA between me and this character.
We’ve all felt that way.
That’s part of Steve’s brilliance.
There’s just not a whole lot of shows like that anymore.
In some ways, I feel like I’m working in this time-machine job.
Like working on a radio show orLooney Tunes.
It’s pretty cool that we’re still able to be employed as milkmen in 2019.”
