'Inside Out 2' goes back inside Riley's head and introduces a whole new wave of emotions. Stars Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Lewis Black and Paul Walter Hauser, as well as director Kelsey Mann and producer Mark Nielsen, spoke to THR's Tiffany Taylor all about the movie. They shared how working on the emotional film affected them personally, as well as what they hope both young and old audiences take away from the movie. Plus, they shared how they nurture their inner child and try to always find "Joy" in their lives.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00Healing is so true. I mean, my experience on both of these films have been just that.
00:05Inside Out 2 takes viewers back inside Riley's mind and introduces a whole new wave of emotions.
00:10I'm Tiffany Taylor for The Hollywood Reporter here at the Pixar Place Hotel at the Disneyland
00:14Resort, and we're talking to the cast all about the new movie.
00:18Hello, everybody!
00:20Inside Out 2 sees Amy Poehler return as the emotion Joy, while Maya Hawke voices anxiety,
00:26an emotion now 13-year-old Riley is experiencing for the first time in the movie.
00:30It healed something in me that I'd maybe put at the back of my mind,
00:33like Joy does with bad memories. For each of you, how did working on this movie affect you?
00:39Oh my gosh, healing is so true. I mean, my experience on both of these films have been
00:44just that. Like, I would come home and just think about, wow, I got to go to work today,
00:49and I got to have all these big feelings and talk about all this deep stuff.
00:52And also, it's funny, and people are going to like it and go see it.
00:56So yeah, I feel the same way in my experience on it and even getting to talk about it today.
01:01Me too. I feel all those things, and I also feel like when I first heard about the sense of self
01:09and the belief system, the same way the first movie impacted and, like, changed the way I
01:14thought about my own mind, that image changed the way I thought about my own mind. You know,
01:19this idea that somewhere in my mind is this beautiful guitar of ideas, and that some of
01:26them are helping me and some of them aren't. Just that image kind of broke open my heart a little
01:31bit. Director Kelsey Mann and producer Mark Nielsen also spoke to THR about working on the
01:36film that takes viewers on an emotional ride. The line in the movie that really got me is
01:40about how maybe we just feel less joy as we get older. And it reminded me of the importance of,
01:46you know, staying tapped into your inner child and still finding that joy. How do you try to do
01:51that in your own life to still find that joy? Here's a little thing that I did on this film.
01:56When I first started this movie, it was January 2020. I have a story room, and you have a little
02:01plaque outside where you're supposed to put, like, Kelsey Mann's story room, right? And I put a
02:05picture of me as 10 years old in that slot. But I went in there seeing a photo of myself, and, like,
02:12if I can go back and tell my little 10-year-old self that I'm going to be able to have a chance to
02:16do that, then, you know, I have joy at my console to do that. So it made me switch and make room
02:22for joy to come up to the console and have fun making this movie, because what a wonderful
02:29opportunity I have. I think spending time with children is actually a hugely important part
02:35and way to stay in touch with your inner child. So true. Like playing games. That's so true.
02:41Play is so important. And with your friends, too, laughing. Also, celebration. I think there's
02:47something about celebration that, like, we need to remind ourselves to do, because we almost are
02:54afraid to celebrate sometimes. Or we're waiting for some day when something's going to finally,
03:02you know, and it's like... Be worth celebrating. Yeah, and it's like celebration has to happen all the time.
03:06I started a practice. I talked about it with them before. I live in a high-rise now with a
03:12beautiful view of the city. I live in Manhattan. And every night before I close the shades, I say,
03:16good night, city. Good night, city. Because a friend of mine, when I moved in, said, oh, you'll notice the
03:20view, and then you won't even notice the view after a couple months. And I thought that was
03:24horrible. And so I try to pick something new to say good night to every night. Like, I try to notice
03:30a different building to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder. I think once you lose that, you know,
03:35everything is just boring. I think the more I also experience every or give myself permission
03:41to experience all emotions, it makes the joy stronger. Oh, that's good. You know, so it's like,
03:46because I think for a long time in my life, I was kind of pushing feelings away. And the joy kind of
03:51wasn't there. But it's like the more I kind of had more compassion for those feelings, I think it
03:57increases the joy. What do you hope that young people who are experiencing new emotions for the
04:02first time and learning to deal with those take away from it? But what do you also hope that an
04:06older audience takes away from it? We want to make sure that these movies resonate with everybody.
04:10Mark and I are fathers of teenagers. And there's very few movies we can all say, like, let's go to
04:16that this weekend together and go see. So I want parents to be able to take something away from
04:21this too. Anxiety and joy are like two parents arguing over how to best take care of their child.
04:26And they both realize that they've been coming at it the wrong way from different
04:31different ways and kind of learning how to best take care of their kid. And so that's really what
04:36I hope parents can take away from the film. We've had the chance to let our kids see the movie and
04:42get their reaction to it. And it's been great seeing them react and really connect to these
04:47characters and have them talk to us about how they feel seen in this and how it feels so relatable
04:54to what they're going through. I think one of my daughter's friends who came along said,
04:58I think you guys just climbed into my head. Oh, you know, we had a trust of teenage girls that
05:03were along the ride with us for all four years. And we showed them the movie every four months
05:08to get their feedback on what we were doing to make sure it was relatable and that they were
05:13connecting to it. And and so I think that hearing that receipt from my own kids is it was great to
05:19know that I think we've tapped into something not just for adults but also for kids. I bet it's a
05:24parallel path of being able to open up discussions about feelings and better understand your feelings.
05:30I've been in therapy both marital counseling and personal therapy the past couple years and
05:35and at first I think I was, you know, kicking the dirt a little bit. But a few months in you
05:38realize, wow, talking about all these things is so helpful. I think this movie in an entertaining
05:43fashion can sort of bring about some of those thoughts and insights. It gives adults and
05:51children a language in which to talk about what they're feeling. That's huge. Even the colors,
05:57you said, kids are now pointing out, I feel this color. It's like, wow, there's like an
06:02interpretive thing. Yeah. Special. Inside Out 2 is now playing in theaters. For more on the film,
06:08head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.