Who Is Tenzing Norgay Trainor From ‘Abominable’?

Abominable sends three Chinese kids on an adventure with a yeti named Everest. Chloe Bennet provides the voice of Yi. Albert Tsai provides the voice of Peng and Tenzing Norgay Trainor provides the voice of Jin. Jin may be the least excited about the trip to Mt. Everest at first. He wants to keep is brand new kicks clean, but even Jin is won over by Everest’s charm.

Trainor spoke with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about his role in Abominable so we got to know the young actor. You can hear Trainor’s voice in Abominable, now in theaters from Dreamworks Animation and Universal Pictures.

Yes, he is related to that Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay was a mountain climber who scaled Mt. Everest. Tenzing Norgay Trainor is his daughter’s son, named after his grandpa.

“As to the connection he has with my family is just really crazy,” Trainor said. “I don’t know how often something like that will come my way.”

Tenzing Norgay Trainor grew up in Florida

Tenzing Norgay Trainor started acting at Paladin Playhouse Theater in Ft. Lauderdale theater camp. When his family moved back to California, it became a career.

“I started my acting when I was eight years old,” Trainor said. “I did a theater camp that my dad forced me into just to be able to learn how to speak in front of people and then never really thought much about it but my parents missed living in California. So they decided to move back and while we were here my dad was just like, ‘Hey. He wasn’t bad at it so why not just throw his hat in the ring, see how he does.’ Now I love it.”

Tenzing Norgay Trainor missed middle school when he was on The Disney Channel

Tenzing Norgay Trainor was on the Disney Channel series Liv and Maddie which lasted throughout his middle school years. 

“I went to school from first grade to fourth grade, and fifth grade is when I booked Liv and Maddie on Disney Channel,” Trainor said. “So then from fifth grade all through middle school, until my freshman year in high school, I was working on Liv and Maddie so my middle school was pretty much on a Disney Channel set. I didn’t go to school. My school district offers an independent study program, but on big hiatuses between seasons I was able to go back.”

Trainor hopes his Liv and Maddie fans follow him to Abominable.

“This movie fits in perfectly with that crowd,” Trainor said. “It’s a great family movie. It’s good for all ages and I think everyone can take something away from it.”

High school didn’t care that Tenzing Norgay Trainor was famous

Now a senior, Tenzing Norgay Trainor had a normal high school.

“Freshman year until now – I’m a senior – I’ve been in regular school,” Trainor said. “By this point everyone in that area knows. I bet people get sometimes, ‘Doesn’t that famous kid go to your school?’ Like ‘Yeah, oh yeah, that’s just Tenzing. He’s just a normal kid.’ Being able to go back to school in between seasons helped massively. I’ve got a great group of friends. It wasn’t that much of a struggle.”

Trainor is looking at colleges now, and hopes to expand his skill set.

“I wouldn’t do acting,” Trainor said. “I might go into film production so I would learn how to produce, direct, write a little bit or business or maybe just a dual major. We’ll see.”

Tenzing Norgay Trainor is an athlete

Tenzing Norgay Trainor studied multiple different martial arts when he was younger.

“Some of them I can’t remember how far I got but I’m a blackbelt in Tae Kwon Do and I’m also a black belt in Tang Soo Do,” Trainor said. “I’ve studied Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu, XMA, that’s like the theatrical exaggerated martial arts.”

Now his sport is soccer.

“I used to play for my high school and I used to play for a club team,” Trainor said. “Now I just play recreational, just for fun.”

Tenzing Norgay Trainor likes shoes just like Jin

Tenzing Norgay Trainor wore kicks to our interview too.

“I’m very much into shoes,” Trainor said. “I’m a big shoe head. I’ve actually got on a pair of off white Converse right now which I would be very sad if they got dirty just like him. I was kind of freaking out a little bit too for Jin. I was like, ‘Oh, dude, that sucks, man.’”

Tenzing Norgay Trainor has two dogs at home

Everest is like a big pet to the kids in Abominable. Tenzing Norgay Trainor can relate because he’s got two dogs at home.

“One is named Speedy,” Trainor said. “He’s a Maltese Yorkee mix and the other is Charlie. He’s a pug Picanese mix. I would compare Yi and Everest’s connection to me and my dog Speedy because we kind of are similar in a lot of ways.”

Speedy and Charlie have each other too.

“I think Speedy kind of looks out for Charlie because Charlie’s very old,” Trainor said. “He’s pretty much blind so he has no depth perception. He’s also deaf so it’s a real struggle for him but Speedy’s always there to look out for him.”