Tell me about working with the voice actors in the film. Were you reading lines with them in the recording booth?
I love to. I think something that’s important when we don’t have the actors to play off each other. I love having someone that reads against them, sometimes it was the head of story on this project and other times it was myself, but we’re in there. I like to improvise a lot too, because especially with animation, it takes three years to make this, so things could easily feel too planned or stale. And that spontaneity that you find in the room, it’s priceless to me. So, I love working that way.
All of them were fantastic at it. Ryan Reynolds is amazing at nailing exactly what you need, but also going, “That’s not good enough. Let’s go again.” He loves to mine and look for extra gems. Emma Stone is so talented and versatile with comedy and drama. But she also is just the sweetest person and just so lovely to work with. Nic Cage would surprise me the most. I loved it because he surprised himself. It wasn’t what I was planning, but it’s exactly what I needed. And the new cast of Peter Dinklage, Leslie Mann and Kelly Marie Tran, are on the same level as this amazing returning cast and their ability to improvise — amazing comedic talent. And then Kelly Marie Tran comes from an improv background.
What moment in the film makes you laugh the most?
Kelly Marie Tran did this thing where at the dinner scene when everybody’s letting each other have it and all these secrets come out and Kelly’s character does this thing where she holds up her hand that is swollen. She’s standing up to her mom for the first time and she goes, “I got SCARS!” Oh, I love that so much.
One of my favorite moments in the film is when the two girls meet and become instant best friends.
That was an important choice for us. We wanted to make sure that these two girls meeting didn’t become the classic trope of romantic triangle, jealousy, and cattiness. That it was a positive thing. The reality is, two teenagers who have come across no other people before will be very happy to meet each other. What’s fun is that positivity actually translates to so much character comedy.
What do you want families to talk after they watch this movie together?
I hope that families can watch this together and enjoy a big comedy, the ridiculous characters in it. I hope they can laugh together and really feel the sense of joy. But underneath it all is about human beings coming together and dropping their walls between each other and finding a connection. And I think that’s a great kind of warm message to leave families with.