Following a stellar run at the box office, Minions & Monsters is now available on Digital HD and to commemorate the film's release, we were recently able to catch up with one of the film's stars, Bobby Moynihan (The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins; Saturday Night Live) to break down his role and experience working alongside the iconic yellow henchmen.
In the film, he voices Phillips, a piscine/blue piranha-like monster, and provides some of the film's biggest laughs. We get into his process, finding his character, and what his experience was like working opposite Phil LaMarr and Pierre Coffin.
Plus, we also get into the film's epic George Lucas cameo and where he'd like to see the Minions go next in their next adventure.
Then, he was also kind enough to talk about his experience on Saturday Night Live and teases what's to come in the upcoming second season of The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins!
Pierre Coffin returns to voice the titular Minions, with a supporting cast consisting of Allison Janney, Christoph Waltz, Jesse Eisenberg, Jeff Bridges, Zoey Deutch, Bobby Moynihan, and Phil LaMarr.
Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2) also co-directed the feature with Patrick Delage (Sing, The Secret Life of Pets 2).
Minions & Monsters is now available to watch at home, and arrives on 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray on September 8!
Watch our full interview below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Being an experienced comedic actor, who is now stepping into the world of the Minions, what is the biggest challenge translating your physical sense of humor to an animated space?
BOBBY: I mean, I think, especially when you're stepping into something that's already like an established beloved universe, there's that extra bit of like, well, I gotta hit the ground running. I hope, and yeah, I think I took a really big swing because he's a big fish monster, and it was very much like we just kind of want it to be like your vibe. They played a lot of Phil Lamarr's stuff for me, who played Howard, the big pink octopus monster, who's my buddy. He had already recorded, so like I had kind of that to go. It was like, we want the opposite of this, and I was like, got it, or like who would be this guy's best friend? There was a lot of that. Also, they just showed me a picture, and I mean, come on, doesn't get better than that.
ROHAN: Pierre Coffin is voicing the Minions and also directing the film - what was your experience working with him?
BOBBY: The best! I mean, I love working with anybody who has created a universe they know so well and feel so comfortable in. Working for them is easy. You get to be a puppet for a little bit and just kind of relax and enjoy playing in their world for a little bit. At SNL, when I was on SNL, like we kind of did that a lot, where it was like we were, you know, we would have to be in a scene from a movie that was popular that week, or like you got kind of thrust into the zeitgeist of everything, sort of like jump into the Minions' world with the guy who makes it, it's the best. Getting to work with him was an honor.
ROHAN: When you get the scripts, because there’s so much dialogue of the Minions speaking their Minionese, how is that written in the screenplay? Is it translated or is it left for your interpretation?
BOBBY: That's funny. From what I remember, it was just spelled out. God, that's funny, I don't remember, I would have to look that up. I also did a lot of improvising. There was a lot of like, this is the situation, but I don't necessarily remember if there was any like, and then, this Minion says *mimics Minionese* *laughs* Like I don't remember that. I’ll have to look it up.
ROHAN: You mentioned you saw a picture of him before recording, but were you able to contribute anything to his design?
BOBBY: No, they showed me a picture of him just being a grumpy little guy in his clam bra, and I was just like, yeah, I'm in. I'm very, very, very in. I loved it. The design of this character is one of my favorites that I've ever gotten to do. He's got a lot of character, doing nothing, so it was easy and fun to step into.
ROHAN: You also mentioned how you recorded after Phil, and that you did have some room to improvise. How did that work in the booth? Were you bouncing off Pierre or was there someone else you were reading with that got you in the zone?
BOBBY: Yeah, definitely Pierre, Brian Lynch as well, he was there for it. He's one of the writers. He helped me out a great deal with it, and then, just kind of like going back and forth with Phil's already recorded stuff. It was a blast.
ROHAN: The movie ends with a Minion-esque twist, what was your first reaction to how the film ends? Were you also caught off guard?
BOBBY: I thought it was pretty sweet. I mean, one of the best parts about getting these jobs is like you work for you work on it for either a very short amount of time, or for a very short amount of time over like many years, and then, all of a sudden you just get to see it when it's done, and all the talent that all these people have have brought into it. So, this one in particular was - I don't know what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting to be so moved by the James and Henry relationship, and just the idea of like - I wasn't expecting it to be so touching about Hollywood and making movies and just being creative and how that kind of rules over hate any day or fear. It's like just like find someone you love and be creative with them.
ROHAN: We get to see the Minions operate during various points in time, is there a particular situation that you’d love to see the Minions tackle?
BOBBY: I mean, I would like to see the Minions working, just because George Lucas was in this movie, let's see them making the first Star Wars movies, although he's not evil. Whoever the most evil person was on the Star Wars set, I would like to see them making that movie.
ROHAN: Speaking of the George Lucas cameo, was that a surprise to you as well or was that something you knew about during recording?
BOBBY: Oh no, me and George talked about it for years. *laughs* No, I wish. I'm just kidding. No, I had no idea. I found out when I saw. I remember watching it at the premiere and being like, No way! Who did that voice? It was perfect. And then finding out it was him afterwards and being like that's the best. I love that he did that, and he's hilarious in it.
ROHAN: I’m a big fan of your work on Saturday Night Live, how does developing that skill set as a live performer translate when you’re performing on-screen, whether it’s live-action or animated?
BOBBY: I mean, it definitely puts you at ease jumping into a room with somebody like Pierre, who knows his universe and knows what he wants so well, and it kind of gives you the wherewithal to come into that room and go like, I can play here, I can play with this guy for a little bit, I'm an adult. It just scares you into being like, I can do this. I believe in myself, but yeah, I think that's what it prepares you for at SNL. SNL was nuts.
ROHAN: When you’re voicing a character, you have a limited amount of screen time to really bring your character to life. What’s your general approach to find the character and putting your spin on it?
BOBBY: I feel like a lot of times with animation, you'll go in and record, and like you start off somewhere, and then, by the end of the recording session, you're in a completely different place, and then you go back and you record like the first three or four pages of what you did again because now it's like gone into a different place, like so, a lot of times you do that, or at least I do. Hopefully, others do that as well.
ROHAN: I’m a big fan of your new show, The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, it’s just phenomenal. What’s been your experience working with Tracy Morgan and Daniel Radcliffe and the rest of the cast?
BOBBY: The best, yeah. It's one of those embarrassment of riches like jobs where you go like, I can't believe I get to do this. I hope they give us season two and we got one, and I'm so happy because Daniel - I just saw Erica last night, and it's just like I can't wait to play with them again. They're absolutely the best. Daniel is a genius. Erica is a machine, and Tracy's nuts in the best way possible. He's so much fun to work with, and I love making him sing the Brian Fellows theme song.
ROHAN: How’s season two coming along?
BOBBY: We start next week, I can't wait.
ROHAN: Oh awesome, is there anything you’re allowed to tease?
BOBBY: I think the last thing we saw, the kind of cliffhanger, was that Carmelo is secretly dating Reggie's nemesis Jerry Basmati's daughter, so I think we'll probably see something about that and where that's going.
This is the rambunctious, ridiculous and totally true story of how the Minions conquered Hollywood, became movie stars, lost everything, unleashed monsters onto the world and then banded together to try and save the planet from the mayhem they had just created.
Minions & Monsters is directed by Academy Award® nominee Pierre Coffin, a director of the first three Despicable Me films and the first Minions film. Coffin has also provided the voice for the Minions since their film debut in 2010. The film is written by Brian Lynch (Minions, The Secret Life of Pets films) and Pierre Coffin and is produced by Illumination’s Academy Award® nominated founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Bill Ryan (executive producer, The Super Mario Bros. Movie). The executive producer is Brian Lynch.