Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear return in Inside Out 2, the long-awaited sequel to Pixar’s groundbreaking 2015 animated hit. The sequel dives once again into the head of Riley, this time a teenager, as she navigates complicated social dynamics and the onset of puberty. Fittingly, the movie also introduces new emotions, with Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, and Ennui joining the proceedings.

The Inside Out 2 cast features many returning actors, with famed comedian Lewis Black once more lending his talents to Anger. In addition to other new actors, namely Maya Hawke (Anxiety), Ayo Edebiri (Envy), and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Ennui), Black is joined by Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment. Hauser is known in part for larger-than-life performances in such shows as Cobra Kai and The Afterparty, but also appeared in 2018 Oscar contender I, Tonya.

In addition to fresh faces in the vocal booth, Inside Out 2 finds a new face in the director’s chair with Kelsey Mann making his directorial debut on the animated sequel. Mann is a longtime fixture at Pixar, beginning as a story supervisor on 2013’s Monsters University and co-writer for The Good Dinosaur, becoming part of the Pixar Senior Creative Team that worked on Turning Red, Luca, Lightyear, and Elemental. Mann also co-developed Inside Out 2‘s story with returning scribe Meg LeFauvre.

With its release finally around the corner, Screen Rant interviewed Lewis Black and Paul Walter Hauser about their work on Inside Out 2. The pair discussed the look of the new film, learning from their characters, and the franchise’s “remarkable achievement“.

Inside Out 2‘s Embarrassment Is A Different Kind Of Role For Hauser

Screen Rant: Paul, you are so wonderful at playing these characters, like in Cobra Kai and The Afterparty, who maybe aren’t governed by embarrassment. How was it to do the exact opposite in a movie?

Paul Walter Hauser: Yeah, normally I’m lacking cognizance. No boundaries. Actually, anytime I play a character that is subdued in any way — maybe it’s lack of dialogue, or maybe it’s something more internalized — that’s always a stretch for me. I never shut up. It was fun to try to find the humor and the different little voices and things you could do to be additive. As a whole, I just cannot believe I get to be a part of such a good movie.

Inside Out Changed How Lewis Black Looked At Anger

Lewis, you are famously angry, but as far as I know, you’re a nice guy. How is it to play Anger in these movies, but have Anger be a good guy?

Lewis Black: It’s really a pleasure. It’s like, all of a sudden, all this stuff that I’ve done with anger as a tool for comedy actually has a place in this world, and an important place. I learned a lot from that. To me, it was about, “Yell, yell, yell, joke, ‘ha’, boom.” This was completely different, and really, it did change the way I looked at anger as an emotion.

Hauser Was Excited By Embarrassment But Responded To Another Character The Most

Paul, the character designs in these movies are incredible. How did it feel for you the first time you laid eyes on Embarrassment?

Paul Walter Hauser: It was really cool because Pixar animation is so iconic. To think that I got to play one of those characters was just really, really exciting. I think the character I responded to the most — because they showed the schematics for all the new characters — when I saw Anxiety, I literally said to somebody, “It kind of has a Muppet quality to it,” and they said, “You’re right on the money. That was one of the things on the mood board for the character.” It was just cool to identify that and see where their creative genius was at when they were doing that.

Black Weighs In On The “Remarkable Achievement” Of The Inside Out Franchise

Lewis, I saw an interview with you that was done couple of days ago, and you said you hadn’t seen the movie, but you were going to in a few hours. Have you seen it since then, and how do you feel it stacks up against the first one?

Lewis Black: [I saw it] literally a few hours later, and then I saw it again. I knew that there was stuff there that I had a sense of but didn’t have words for. I think it’s a remarkable achievement in the sense that they have developed, basically, two great mental health films disguised as animated features. It’s really crazy, and it’s a remarkable achievement. As far as I know, no one has done anything like it.

There’s no way you beat the first time, no matter what. The first time is the first time. They had this incredible breakthrough the first time, and no one had seen anything like it, and “Was it going to be possible to do this?”

[With] the second one, you’re not going to be able to do that again. You’re not going to be able to. But the level of animation that they were able to achieve in the second one… this was something that Amy said that Pete Docter told her. When they were going back to do the second one, Amy said, “Well, that’ll be easy. You just have Joy. You can just bring us back,” and he said, “Not now. The level of animation is such that we have to start again.”

Paul Walter Hauser: Everything? That’s so wild.

Lewis Black: Isn’t that wild? I mean, it’s crazy.

Paul Walter Hauser: But you watch it, and there’s that moment we talked about where Anxiety is spinning around itself while also remaining still, in that broken, apprehensive state, and it’s like, “Wow.” That animation does not look easy to do, and it made everything look just incredible.

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.

Check out our other Inside Out 2 interviews with:

• Amy Poehler & Maya Hawke
• Tony Hale & Liza Lapira
• Kelsey Mann & Mark Nielsen

Source: Screen Rant Plus