How Phil Wright’s Dance Moves Helped Him Play a 4000-Year-Old Mummy in ‘Under Wraps’

Mummies may be par for the course on Halloween, but when the Disney Channel gets involved, the undead creatures take on a life of their own. Just on time for the holiday comes “Under Wraps,” a movie about a 4000-year-old mummy named Harold (Phil Wright) who is brought back to life by three friends.Since Harold speaks only through a series of grunts, Wright’s expertise as a dancer and choreographer were key as he uses physicality to help define the character. Writer and director Alex Zamm provided Wright with a personal reference when describing how he envisioned the role, recounting when his son was “a constipated toddler who would walk in this way, lumbering forward, teetering always off balance.”Beyond Zamm’s son, physical comedians like Harpo Marx and Lucille Ball became touchstones of Harold’s development.Apart from the broad strokes of physical comedy inspiration, Harold’s look...