The boy band that put him on the map was of no interest to the middle school audience
Credit: Tibrina Hobson/Getty; Butch Hartman Studios
NEED TO KNOW
- Chris Kirkpatrick played Chip Skylark in five different episodes of Nickelodeon’s The Fairly Oddparents
- Kirkpatrick, 54, recalled an event where the young crowd was unimpressed by his time as a member of *NSYNC, but excited to learn he was Chip Skylark
- Kirkpatrick talked about the character’s popularity with Fairly Oddparents creator Butch Hartman
Chris Kirkpatrick is known for more than just *NSYNC.
The former boy band member, 54, recently sat down for an interview with The Fairly Oddparents creator Butch Hartman, where the two touched on Kirkpatrick's time as Chip Skylark in the animated series.
"I can't tell you that a day goes by that, if somebody talks to me about *NSYNC or somebody knows who I am. It goes *NSYNC, Chip Skylark and then, 'You were also in an Eminem song.' Like, those are my three. That's my trifecta."
Kirkpatrick recalled revisiting his Ohio middle school around 2008, after being asked to talk to the kids about his life in music and entertainment.
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"It was a little tiny school. I mean, I think we graduated 70 kids. [But they asked], 'Would you come back and tell them you can be from a small school and end up, you know, making it?' I'm like, 'Yeah, of course.' So, I go back there, and my friend introduced me, and she's like, 'Do you mind if we talk about the Fairly Odd Parents thing you did, too?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, of course. I love it.' "
Kirkpatrick's friend introduced him, and while the crowd wasn't moved by his participation in *NSYNC, when she noted he voiced Chip Skylark, he said "I thought kids' heads were gonna blow up."
"Kids are like screaming, throwing stuff, spitting out of their mouths like, 'Chip, Chip!' So I get up there, and I'm like, 'Okay, well, let me tell you about myself.' I told them about growing up here. Told them about all this stuff," he recalled.
When it came time for the audience to ask questions, the first was from a student who asked, "Is Vicki really mean in real life?" referring to the temperamental babysitter in The Fairly Oddparents.
"I was like, 'She's an actress. She plays a part. In real life, VIcki is really nice, but she plays a part as a mean babysitter.' " He moved on to the next question, which was about the show's protagonist, Timmy Turner.
When he finally did get a music-related question, it was to sing Chip Skylark's "My Shiny Teeth and Me."
"I signed more autographs as Chip Skylark than as Chris Kirkpatrick," he admits. "There were kids. They had pictures they drew of me, and I'm like, 'Oh my god, how would Chip sign his name? I don't even know.' "
Hartman said, "That song has become iconic and I'm grateful for that. Not just because I wrote it, but the fact that you sang it so epically. That's you on that song. And that's you're the only one on that song. You're the only one."
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