Inside Out 2 is the long-awaited sequel to one of Pixar’s most beloved movies. Releasing nine years after the first animated adventure, the sequel returns to the mind of Riley, this time a teenager, as she hits puberty and navigates new emotions that come with growing up. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust return, but must face newcomers like Anxiety, Embarrassment, Ennui, and Envy, whose arrival threatens the status quo.

Though all of the original emotions from Inside Out return in the sequel, not all the original cast members do. Thanks to changes in the Inside Out 2 cast, Tony Hale (Veep, Toy Story 4) has taken over Bill Hader’s original role as Fear, and Liza Lapira (The Equalizer) has stepped in for Mindy Kaling as Disgust. Neither actor imitates their predecessor, but instead employs their considerable voice acting talents to make the characters their own.

Alongside Hale and Lapira, the ensemble Inside Out 2 cast sees the returns of Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Diane Lane as Riley’s mom, and Kyle MacLachlan as her father. With the introductions of new emotions also comes new actors, including Ayo Edebiri (The Bear, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem) as Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color) as Ennui, Paul Walter Hauser (Cobra Kai, Orion and the Dark) as Embarrassment and June Squibb (Toy Story 4, Soul) as Nostalgia.

Ahead of the movie’s June 14 release, Screen Rant interviewed Tony Hale and Liza Lapira about their work on Inside Out 2. They discussed their tricks for getting into character, stepping into Riley’s head, and being given free rein to bring their own takes on their returning emotions.

Lapira & Hale Had Very Different & Unique Tricks For Getting Into Character

Screen Rant: Both of you embody your characters so wonderfully in this movie. What kinds of tricks would you do in the recording booth to get in the right mindset?

Liza Lapira: I have one. I’ve been saying that Disgust, to me, is the closest to a teenager of the first batch of emotions. I just instinctively kept looking for split ends while I would do it, and then that brought me in. There’s a big difference between projecting your line and being like, “Orange is not my color!”, versus, (in a detached voice) “I’m very busy. Orange is not my color.”

Tony Hale: I just look over my therapy notes. I dig into a lot of drama. It works.

Liza Lapira: I feel like that’s the healthiest way to go.

Tony Hale: It really is. Use your pain.

Working With Pixar Is A Dream Come True For Lapira (& A Secret Scheme For Hale)

Liza, I know this is your first big animated feature, and you can’t really get bigger to start. How did the experience match up with your expectations of what it would be to be in a Pixar film?

Liza: I had really, really high expectations, and this by far exceeded them. The level of joy that I had doing it, and the level of joy even now, is beyond. It’s definitely a highlight of my career.

Tony, I can see what you’re doing, which is infiltrating Pixar properties one by one, starting with Toy Story and continuing with Inside Out.

Tony Hale: Don’t say that out loud. That’s my plan.

What world of theirs would you like to appear in next?

Tony Hale: I’m taking over Buzz Lightyear. No — it’s one of those things where, any time they call, it’s this Pavlovian, “Yeah, I’m in.” I will play a pencil.

They so think outside the box. We never saw the script, and so I didn’t see any of her scenes. She didn’t see any of mine, so it was just one constant surprise. Even the “sar-chasm.” I saw that in the trailer, but how brilliant that was… any time they ask me, I’m like, “Yeah.”

Matching The Original Fear & Disgust Actors Wasn’t Part Of The Job

Both of you are coming into this, replacing these wonderful actors who were in the first film, and totally making it your own in both cases. How much did those performances weigh on each of you as you were taking on these roles?

Tony Hale: I’m such a huge fan of Bill Hader. I just love him and he’s such a genius. I never had the intention of matching — I just revere him so much. I just brought in all those layers of fear from myself. I was just like, “I got a lot of flavors, so I’ll just do my thing.” That was my approach to it.

Liza Lapira: Same. I had a lot of respect and a lot of love, and I went in more based on the character. I think it might’ve been a survival thing. I have to stay in the mindset of the character, or I’ll get too in my head. Pun intended.

Inside Out 2 Is Meant To Help Viewers “Feel Seen”

Is there anything that each of you are most excited for people to see when this is out?

Tony Hale: I’m really excited for people to feel seen, especially young people, because those [teenage] years growing up are tough. To feel like, “I’m not the only one who’s having chaos in the brain,” a little bit, [and] having compassion for the chaos.

Liza Lapira: I’m excited for them to laugh [and] to have a good time because it’s a roller coaster. It’s an amusement park ride of a movie, and then [it’s] subversively telling everybody that our emotions are there to protect us, teach us, and point us in the right direction. I think you get everything with this movie, and I’m excited about that.

About Inside Out 2

Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out 2 invites moviegoers inside the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as Headquarters undergoes a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions.

Stay tuned for our other Inside Out 2 interviews with:

• Amy Poehler & Maya Hawke
• Lewis Black & Paul Walter Hauser
• Kelsey Mann & Mark Nielsen