Josh Peck Chills Out With 'Ice Age' Return, Looks To Get Gritty Again Soon

After his turn as a socially awkward dope dealer in “The Wackness,” Jock Peck is showing his versatility these days by returning to his kid-friendly roots in the summer’s eagerly-anticipated animated flick, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.”

“Dinosaurs, 3D, everything,” hyped the 22-year-old funnyman, never the sort for understatement. “It’s probably the best movie ever made.”

Peck will bring new life to energetic opossum Eddie, as he rejoins Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott and Ray Romano for the third installment of the ridiculously popular “Ice Age” series.

After surviving fallen glacier ruins in “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” the group of beloved animal misfits must now battle it out against a pack of dinosaurs who have managed to escape extinction.

‘“Scrat, Manny, the opossums - they’re all back,” dished the former Nickelodeon star. “I expect to see you there.”

And although Peck’s recent “Wackness” reinvention as a scruffy New Yorker who sold marijuana out of a dilapidated ice-cream push cart couldn’t be any more different, the actor said he enjoys jumping back and forth.

“The whole movie is sick,” boasted Peck. “We’re riding pterodactyls. We’ve got this new character (voiced by Simon Pegg) who is like this Indiana Jones-type leader of the pack.”

Fans of the “Drake & Josh” star shouldn’t expect him to stick to family-friendly roles for long, however, as the native New Yorker is looking to spice things up in the near future with some non “Ice Age” roles.

“I just want to mix it up. I don’t want to be pigeonholed or type-cast into one role,” said Peck. “I would love to do a very eclectic scheme of characters.”

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” will freeze over a movie theater near you on July 1, 2009.

Which “Ice Age” character is your favorite?”

Tags Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Josh Peck, The Wackness