While I was on that all expenses paid trip to Hawaii for the Angry Birds Movie press junket that I mentioned in a previous post, I along with a number of other bloggers, had the opportunity to interview three of the movies stars, namely Josh Gad Maya Rudolph and Jason Sudeikis. All three of them have a great sense of humor which made for a super fun interview with lots of laughs.
Angry Birds Movie Interview Questions
How did each of you feel when you first got the call that Angry Birds was being turned into a movie and First impressions when you were asked to be a part of the movie?
Josh: “There were 3 things that concerned me…the words “angry,” “birds,” and “movie.” I was like I don’t know if this is a good idea. John Cohen, the producer, showed me this incredible, like 20 minute presentation.”
Maya: “Me too.”
Josh: “That sold us immediately. The movie was so much more than just a mobile app adaption and the cast was incredible!”
Maya: I” agree! Mainly because of the cast part. To be fair, I think I came on pretty late in the game because you guys were already recording and stuff.”
Jason: “Yeah”
Josh: “That was the roughest day because we lost Beyoncé a couple of days before.”
Maya: “They were like how can we get a layman's Beyoncé? The poor man Beyoncé.”
Jason: “Beyonc” no “e”….”
Maya: “the affordable model!”
Jason: “It was literally like that, presentation and the cast coming together.”
Josh: “Sean Penn was the first to sign on…giggles….we were all lied to.”
Maya: “We thought we were making 21 grams.”
How did you prepare for the role? Did you have to research birds at all, or just play the app for hours?
Maya: “I eat a lot of chickens, and eggs. And I play a chicken.”
Jason: “It is the beginning and end of life.”
Maya: “I still don’t know which comes first.”
Jason: “They keep you guessing, right. I didn’t do Ornithology. Is that what it is called?”
Josh: “You know who was very big in Ornithology?”
Maya: “Barack Hussein Obama?”
Josh: “That’s right. Another president, actually. A man named Theodore Roosevelt.”
Maya: “Teddy? What?! My boy Teddy?
Josh: “The man the bears were named after. I thought it was a fact you should know!”
Maya: “What, did you do your homework?”
Josh: “I knew this question would come up tonight, so I read as many books as possible before mommy blogger interviews.”
Maya: “Teddy Roosevelt was into a lot of stuff.”
What apps do you find to keep the kids really occupied?
Maya: “My kids love all of the Toca apps…toca boca, toca band, toca doctor”
Our conversation then somehow turned to a discussion of videos, movies and live performances their kids have watched and enjoyed.
Jason: “Bad parenting is…we are still showing him Beyoncé videos…I show him tap dancing videos of Savion Glover.”
Maya: “I found my son under the covers, physically under the covers with my iPad watching the whole Beyoncé album.”
Josh: “My daughter likes Singing in the Rain. She is OBSESSED! She is obsessed with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The original. Terrified of the Johnny Depp version…Loves Ed wood, but not Johnny.”
Josh: “I took my 5 year old to see the Sound of Music on stage. Absolutely riveted! Loved it!”
The movie says it is okay to get angry, and that sometimes it is actually warranted. How do you talk to your kids about getting angry and dealing with it?
Jason: “Use your words comes up a lot.”
Maya: “We were talking about this earlier. In my son’s preschool they are teaching them to take a breath. The way they teach them is they say “smell the flowers” is the inhale and “blowout the candle” is the exhale. They totally love to do it. You see this little mad guy inhaling and exhaling.”
Josh: “My daughter’s school uses colors…so red is angry, blue is sad, green is calm…so we try to talk to her about how we can get to green or how can we get to yellow , happy… Inside Out was a brilliant motivator to have some of these conversations about emotions with my kids…so the colors have really been key.”
Have your children seen Angry Birds?
Maya: “Mine have not.”
Josh: “Mine have not.”
Jason: “My son did. It was his first movie. He sat on my lap the entire time. It was great. He sat there the whole time. The only thing he had watched before was tap dancing and Beyoncé video. He sat there the whole time. The best was he sat on my lap and crossed his legs.”
If your children didn't see it, what do you think your kids response will be to the film?
Maya: “They are psyched about this move. They’ve been asking me what my bird does because all the other birds have the bird powers that you learn in the game, but they don’t know about my bird’s powers.”
Did you all work together much when working with the movie?
Group Answer: “No…never.”
Josh: “This is the most we have worked together. Sitting here drinking Mai Tais is the most we’ve worked together.”
Jason: “What’s nice is that we actually have…we worked together in SNL.”
Josh: “And I have watched SNL!”
Josh: “We’ve all crossed paths.”
Jason: “When I watched the movie, I was like wow, it really sounds like we all in the same room!”
Josh: “I am always blown away by the editors and how they match up responses…”
Do you find voice acting to be less stressful?
Jason: “NOOOOO…(he mentioned some of the issues that he faced) I was always sore.
Maya: “It was really nerve wracking to find the voice for the first time. The only thing for me is that I liked about it, being a little easier, is that as a lady and as mom who’s had multiple children, is that I don’t have to wear a girdle, put on makeup …or get a blow out and a press.”
Fill in the blank, when I get angry I _____:
Josh: “Do Angry Birds press!”
Maya: “I don’t feel like anything can top that.”
Jason: “Sleep. When I get angry I feel I need to sleep, even if it’s just a nap.”
Josh: “I try to play it out. I take a deep breathe and then engage with it.”
After the interview there was a luau. We feasted on some delicious Hawaiian dishes and were riveted by the traditional Hawaiian music and dances. Here are some photos that were taken at the Luau:
The Angry Birds Movie will be in theaters everywhere beginning on May 20th. Be sure to check it out.
