Although his character is immense in size, Ray Romano said that there's plenty of room for Manny the wooly mammoth to grow in the new "Ice Age" movie "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" -- and the comedy star couldn't be bursting with any more pride.

"He's always been a good guy and a little grumpy, but in this one, his outlook is a little brighter," Romano said in a recent @ The Movies interview. "He's an expectant father and a spouse now, so he's in a different place than he was in the other movies. It's fun to see him being like a little kid again."

In the movie, opening Wednesday in 2-D and digital 3-D, the whole "Ice Age" posse is back, from Sid the sloth (John Leguizamo) and Diego the Sabretooth (Denis Leary), to possums Crash (Seann William Scott) and Eddie (Josh Peck), and of course, the acorn-obsessed Scrat (Chris Wedge). Holding the crew together with Manny is his wife, Ellie (Queen Latifah), the fellow mammoth whom Manny fell for in the second movie, "Ice Age: The Meltdown."

And while "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" introduces some new prehistoric characters, the movie also finds Manny and his counterparts evolving in a family sort of way: a family similar to a dysfunctional one that Romano knows quite well.

"He's the fabling force with these little nuts all around him while Ellie, is really the voice of reason for all of them," Romano observed. "In a way, it's almost that same dynamic that we had on 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' where the nutty characters were around me and I was the sane one, until my wife came around and then we were all crazy."

New to the "Ice Age" voice cast for "Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is Simon Pegg, the "Shaun of the Dead" British funnyman who stole the show as Scotty in "Star Trek" earlier this summer. Romano thinks Pegg – who plays the one-eyed weasel Buck -- steals the new "Ice Age," too.

"The funny thing is, thanks to the way the quirky world of animated filmmaking works – where actors generally record their dialogue separately -- Romano had yet to even meet Pegg, much less act opposite him.

"Here I am doing press for the second day and I'm in the same hotel as he is, and I still haven't seen him. I'm not kidding," Romano said, laughing. "Yesterday I was here for nine hours in my room to do interviews and so forth, and he can't be more than 30 feet away doing his and we never saw each other. I'll finally meet him today when we do some stuff together."

While Romano's turn in "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is his third as Manny, the comedian -- who's used to immediate give-and-take with an audience during stand-up or in a sitcom taping -- admits that he's finally become comfortable being isolated in a studio where there's no live energy to play off of.

"For the first movie, especially, for the first couple of recording sessions, it was kind of brutal. Every time I left the studio, I'd be like, 'I have no idea if this is working or not.' As it went along it became a lot easier," Romano recalled. "By this third one, I got used to emoting hugely without anybody to respond to. It doesn't feel like you're in a vacuum as much and you know what to expect. You know the director and the sound guy sitting behind the glass in the booth."

Despite the bumpy start, Romano said that he's glad he took the risk with the first "Ice Age" in 2002, which also marked his big-screen debut.

"It was my one and only venture into animation and it was kind of a leap of faith because Fox really hadn't done anything in computer animation -- this was sort of their first big try and we all jumped in together," Romano said. "The fact that it's still going makes it more special."

Tube Tied

While Romano's enjoyed the success of the "Ice Age" movies, the humble actor clearly hasn't forgotten roots: and especially the family ties he established with the hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond." During its run from 1996 to 2005, the show -- which also starred Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, Doris Roberts and Peter Boyle -- won 15 Emmys, including two for Outstanding Comedy Series and a Best Actor in a Comedy trophy for Romano in 2002.

"It's like you have a new family for nine years, and then, for the most part, overnight, it just goes away," Romano said. "I still socialize with Brad and talk with Patricia, and do charity stuff with Doris now and again."

While he holds dear the on-set camaraderie of "Raymond," Romano also treasures the time he had with his writers.

"They become like your war buddies because you're in the trenches with them every day for nine years," Romano said. "You discover what it takes to create stories and write. Writing is a little torturous, so you share this bond with them. Not only that, it was the funniest time. The most I ever laughed in my life was with these guys. We still socialize and see each other, but there's a big void when it's over."

Perhaps more than anybody, though, Romano misses Boyle. The veteran comic, who played Raymond's Barone's dad, Frank, died at 71 in 2006.

"He was my buddy -- I mean, he took me under his wing. (His death) was tough for me," Romano said. "He was this really established actor and it I was intimidated by him when I first started the show. After a while I realized he was a softy and he actually became my mentor. He was just the opposite of the character he played on the show."

Taking the confidence he's learned from "Raymond," the "Ice Age" films and other feature projects, Romano is about to take a chance on a different type of television series for him -- a drama -- with TNT's "Men of a Certain Age."

"We're going to start filming in August and it debuts in December," Romano said. "Just as I said how much I miss television, I dove back in the pool."