Zootropolis is in cinemas, and we sit down with stars Jason Bateman, Ginnifer Goodwin and Ke Huy Quan to discuss the long-awaited return to Disney’s bustling animal metropolis.The sequel follows rookie cops Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde face their first major challenge when a mysterious snake, Gary De'Snake, arrives in the city.The cast reveal the chaotic process of recording sessions, why Bateman and Goodwin had to be separated, and why the film’s underdog message rings true for their careers.
00:00Sorry, could you show me that clip again? Wasn't wearing my glasses.
00:05I absolutely love this film. It's so charming and fun and funny.
00:10This is none of your first rodeos with voice acting.
00:13Even you. I'm kind of the new kid.
00:15I beg to differ, your unforgettable cameo in White Lotus Season 3 as Kenny.
00:20Yes.
00:21Everything, Tim. My accounts, my emails.
00:24What was the process like with this?
00:27Were you kind of like on your own in the booth or did you get to react off each other?
00:31No.
00:32Jason's a little bit funny, so like I can't...
00:34We tried to record together in the first film and I couldn't stop laughing.
00:39And I think I wasted a lot of the studio's money, so they wouldn't let me record with him anymore.
00:43Mostly based on my performance.
00:45Did you guys hire this guy?
00:47Haps and wild.
00:48Wild and hot!
00:50How exciting!
00:53You better just get me out of here.
00:54We only met each other like two weeks ago and having worked on this movie for like more than a year.
00:59I haven't even met some of the cast members in this movie.
01:02Unlike live action, I mean you would meet everybody and spend months together.
01:06You must not know what the feel of the film is until the final cut.
01:09Yeah, no idea what the story was about for the first one or the second one.
01:13I told them what the movie was about for the press.
01:14Literally at the premiere on both films was the first time I realized what any scene had to do with anything and how it all comes together.
01:23You must not know how the dots connect until it's there.
01:25Not at all.
01:26You're just doing dots.
01:27You're just trying to be as authentic as possible in a moment and being led through.
01:32It's like being in theatre school.
01:34Like here's the exercise.
01:36Here's the situation you are in.
01:38Do the scene that way.
01:39But what if the scene is in a completely different context?
01:43Try it that way.
01:44Not even just each scene.
01:45Each line.
01:46Play this one where you're exhausted.
01:48Now play it where you're excited.
01:51Now play it when you're nervous.
01:53It's like games.
01:54It's all a la carte.
01:55Flash.
01:56Hundred yard dash.
01:57We need to get across town.
01:58No.
02:01Problem.
02:02I loved that it really champions the underdog.
02:05Or rather, you know, the under fox, under bunny, under snake.
02:08Like delete as applicable.
02:09Because all of your characters in it are underestimated in some way.
02:12Has there been a time in your career when you've been underestimated and you've had to prove maybe that you're not the type that somebody thought you were?
02:21Surely.
02:22Yes.
02:23And constantly, really.
02:25I mean, if you have the courage to constantly reset your goals as higher and higher, then you are sort of by definition underestimated.
02:35At least in your own sort of evaluation of what the future may or may not be.
02:42So you're always trying to reach a little bit further and considering yourself not yet there.
02:48I think, for me at least, that keeps me to work hard and to keep reaching for new accomplishments.
02:56That's hard to tell.
02:59I think that's the story of my life.
03:01And as an actor, you feel like you constantly have to prove yourself to filmmakers and producers and casting directors.
03:08And I think it's not just for us too.
03:10I think a lot of people, and I think that's why Zootropolis One really resonated with the audience, is this fact that, you know, what Judy Hopps believes in, anyone can be anything.
03:20We took an oath to make the world a better place.
03:23And an innocent snake needs our help.
03:25I feel like I was underestimated as a kid just saying I wanted to be an actress, but I found that to be stimulating.
03:31Like, I did have a like, well, I don't need to prove anything to anybody, but it is something that I found to be, like, motivating.
03:39Where I was like, no, that is exactly what I'm going to do.
03:42And being told I can't do it actually spurred me on.
03:45As actors, you're often told, I imagine, to sort of grow thicker skin.
03:50You can have to be able to deal with rejection and all this sort of stuff.
03:53Watching Gary DeSnake, amazing name, by the way, that got a massive, that got such a big laugh in the screening.
03:58Watching him shed his skin, snakes are incredible, you know, like, thank you.
04:03You know where I'm going with this.
04:05Snakes are amazing because they have to, like, shed their skin as an essential part of their growth.
04:10With your approach, do you think it's a case of having a thick skin or do you think it's a case of maybe outgrowing old versions of yourself to be able to grow?
04:20Mmm. Great question. Yeah.
04:23I think it's also there's something to not needing the external validation, which is also a theme in Zootropolis, too.
04:28I really, truly believe that if you need external validation, nothing's going to ever be enough.
04:34Yes, you need a thick skin. Yes, you need to be able to reinvent yourself all the time.
04:37But also, it's got to be for your own purposes.
04:40It can't be because you're trying to be something for anybody else.
04:43Whoops. No.
04:45Keep it.
04:47It's almost like Judy's got to develop a thicker skin and Nick has to shed his skin.
04:55Ah. Right? Like, he doesn't need a thicker skin. He's already too hardened and cynical.
05:00Yeah.
05:01He needs to get rid of that and get to the softer underbelly and she's sort of got the opposite type of thing.
05:07True.
05:08I wonder if, I wonder if Jared thought about all this stuff.
05:10Hello.
05:11He's not that bright.
05:12Clearly.
05:13Terrible, terrible boy.
05:14You should go work with him before he starts writing number three.
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