The little voices inside Riley's head know her inside and out, but this June, everything changes when Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2 introduces a host of new Emotions, including Anxiety.
Those emotions receive the spotlight in a new TV spot for the sequel; first, Joy guides Riley through hocket practice, only for Anger to take over as she pushes forward on the ice. Fear steps in to make sure the teenager is wearing her mouthguard, only for Disgust to spit it out upon realising it isn't hers! Finally, Sadness is appropriately upset when Riley is benched.
It's at this point Anxiety joins the team, hinting at the challenges to come when Riley goes through puberty.
According to director Kelsey Mann, the new character promises to stir things up within headquarters. "Anxiety, voiced by Maya Hawke, might be new to the crew, but she’s not really the type to take a back seat," the filmmaker teased. "That makes a lot of sense if you think about it in terms of what goes on inside all our minds."
Talking in 2022, Joy actress Amy Poehler said, "[In the film] Riley’s getting older. She’s becoming a teenager. Remember that time where all these ideas and feelings came into your head and you were like, ‘Who [am I]?’ I think there’s going to be a huge amount of fun had."
"I think we’re gonna, in many ways, explore the idea that you really have to stay flexible and figure out - if one is to have a curious and beautiful life - how to make friends with the things that are inside your head," she concluded.
Disney and Pixar's Inside Out 2 returns to the mind of newly minted teenager Riley just as headquarters is undergoing a sudden demolition to make room for something entirely unexpected: new Emotions! Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who’ve long been running a successful operation by all accounts, aren’t sure how to feel when Anxiety shows up. And it looks like she’s not alone.
Maya Hawke lends her voice to Anxiety, alongside Amy Poehler as Joy, Phyllis Smith as Sadness, Lewis Black as Anger, Tony Hale as Fear, and Liza Lapira as Disgust. Directed by Kelsey Mann and produced by Mark Nielsen, Inside Out 2 will be released in theaters on June 14.