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World Premiere Of Disney And Pixar's "Inside Out 2" - Arrivals© GettyImages

‘Inside Out 2’: How Maya Hawke added elements of her ‘own weird self’ into her character [EXCLUSIVE]

Tony Hale, who portrays Fear, and Liza Lapira, who voices Disgust, also talked to HOLA! about their time in the studio.


Daniel Neira
Daniel Neira - Los Angeles
Senior WriterLos Angeles
JUNE 12, 2024 8:59 PM EDT

The second installment of ‘Inside Out’ brings back the fan-favorite emotions that captivated the audience in 2015. This time the storyline continues with Riley Andersen as a teenager, introducing new emotions that follow along for the journey, not only bringing an element of nostalgia for fans of the franchise but also giving an opportunity to a new audience to relate to the emotional situations in the movie.

HOLA! had the chance to talk to the cast of ‘Inside Out 2,’ including Amy Poehler, who portrays Joy, and Maya Hawke, who is welcomed in the story as Anxiety. The pair detailed their experience working on the set of the movie and gave some insight into the importance of showing Riley’s journey and identifying her emotions on-screen.

Watch the exclusive interview!

“I have no idea if this is true or not but I did do feel when I watched the movie that I saw some of my own hand gestures for the character in it,” Maya said, “You have to move your body in even crazy ways than you normally would to get the voice to go there, so I’m really happy to see little things I recognize from my own weird self,” she added.

World Premiere Of Disney And Pixar's "Inside Out 2" In Los Angeles© GettyImages

Tony Hale, who portrays Fear, and Liza Lapira, who voices Disgust, also talked to HOLA! about their time in the studio voicing their characters, and explained how they added some of their personality into the emotions.

“I think with Joy what has been really fun is the process is so collaborative, you can try anything, I think it was my idea in the beginning for Joy to play the accordion,” Amy revealed, adding that Joy is a little “genderless.” “And I think that like there’s some really fun thing to play around with the way in which she presents herself and moves,” she said.

World Premiere Of Disney And Pixar's "Inside Out 2" In Los Angeles© GettyImages

“My character taught me and all of them, the emotions that are perceived as negative, it taught me that there is value here. It is protecting me, what is it protecting me from? what is it pointing me towards?” Liza said, while Tony admitted that for him “it was just a reminder to not beat myself up for emotions.”

“It’s just a constant reminder of like especially in the end when they all embrace it’s like, ‘Yeah I need to have a lot more compassion towards myself,” he concluded.