DreamWorks Animation’s highly anticipated sequel,The Bad Guys 2, is bringing back all ofyour favorite criminal masterminds, plus a few new faces. In addition to the returning core trio,Sam Rockwell’s Mr. Wolf, Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), and Mr. Snake (Marc Maron),Awkwafina’s expert hacker, Ms. Tarantula, andAnthony Ramos' muscle of the gang, Mr. Piranha.
In the movie, the Bad Guys have gone good, but attempting to be upstanding citizens proves harder than pulling off major heists. Determined to stay on the straight and narrow, Mr. Wolf and company’s efforts are thwarted when a trio of Bad Girls, voiced byDanielle Brooks,Natasha Lyonne, andMaria Bakalova, force them back into the game one last time.
In this interview with Collider’sSteve Weintraub, Awkwafina and Ramos discuss the likelihood that one oftheir biggest stuntsis going to be swiped by the stunt king himself,Tom Cruise. They also chat about the most challenging aspects of voice recording, the “mind-blowing” detail of the animation, and Ramos' upcoming collaboration withKathryn BigelowonA House of Dynamite.
“Yo, Tommy, go see the movie, my brother!”
COLLIDER: This is a fantastic sequel. I wish, all animated movies had this kind of action and humor and heart. In the poster behind you, you can see part of the third act, which is an amazing space sequence. It’s incredible. I’m just curious, how long do you think before Tom Cruise watches this movie and says, “I want to do this in real life, or one-up this?”
ANTHONY RAMOS: How long? I mean, as soon as he sees it. Yo, Tommy, go see the movie, my brother! You know what I’m saying?
AWKWAFINA: I think it’s a little dangerous at that point.
Tom has proven that the danger doesn’t bother him.
AWKWAFINA: That’s true.
RAMOS: Yes, it doesn’t at all. I think Tom would do this.
AWKWAFINA: I didn’t realize that they’re holding on to Snake. I literally did not realize that until now.
The thing about the sequence, though, is that because it’s so well done, people don’t remember that everything that they see is being animated by someone. The computers are not doing anything here. What was your reaction when you saw the movie and saw the level of animation and what they had pulled off?
AWKWAFINA: It’s seriously mind-blowing. I really give it up to the animators because it isn’t easy. And you also kind of see it evolve. When you first see the early stuff, it’s so different from all the departments that come in at the end that add the lighting and add the textures and stuff like that. So, it’s a really cool process to see.
RAMOS: Yeah, especially starting from the sketches and then working their way up. As we record, we start to see the progress of the movie while we’re recording. So, Pierre [Perifel], Damon [Ross], our producer, and J.P. [Sans] would usually sit us down before. Do they do this with you, as well? They sit down and show you?
AWKWAFINA: Yeah, they show you some stuff.
RAMOS: They’ll show us where they’re at. They’re like, “Okay, so we’ve cut together the opening sequence,” and then they’ll show you the opening sequence, and you’re like, “Yeah, that’s crazy.” Or in the very beginning, they’ll say, “These are the sketches of what it’s going to be,” and then by the end, by the time you’re almost done, you start to really see it evolve. All of these sequences are insane.
I could never do what they do.
The Duo Reveal Their Favorite Spots to See Movies
It doesn’t get much better than good food and a movie.
So, I’m obsessed with getting more people to see movies in movie theaters because that’s where you should watch everything. For both of you, do you have a favorite movie theater?
AWKWAFINA: Oh, wow. I like going to my local AMC, The Grove. I like Alamo Drafthouse.
RAMOS: Yeah, I was literally going to say The Alamo Drafthouse. The one on Atlantic Ave? The one in Brooklyn.
AWKWAFINA: Yeah! There’s one here, too, downtown.
RAMOS: Oh, I didn’t know they had one here.
AWKWAFINA: Yeah, yeah, yeah. The food is so good. I love it. I just go for the food. And the movie. And the cinema is good.
Forget about the movie.
AWKWAFINA: The food’s great. [Laughs]
Quentin Tarantino Is Really Worried About Movie Theaters, and You Know What? He Has a Point
“What the f*** is a movie now?”
One of the things that made me laugh hysterically was when they started talking about MacGuffinite. For people who don’t realize, the MacGuffin is the object that people are searching for in any movie. It’s the term. How much did you laugh when you first heard it? Because it’s just so on the nose and so perfect.
AWKWAFINA: [Laughs] I don’t think it was, like, wild, uproarious laughter. It was definitely a chuckle. Did you give a chuckle or two to the MacGuffinite? I think it was more of a nod of respect to their play on words.
Am I missing something?
AWKWAFINA: No. He laughed like that when he heard the term.
[Laughs] This is what I’m talking about.
AWKWAFINA: They’re like, “Are you okay, Anthony?” I give ‘em a little salute.
RAMOS: [Laughs] Yeah, yeah.
AWKWAFINA: Gorgeous word play. It’s smart.
RAMOS: Yeah, on the nose, man. Lot of funny moments in this movie.
Anthony Ramos Breaks Down the Challenges of Voice Recording
“You just don’t feel like you can execute the way you want to.”
A lot of people don’t realize what it really takes when you’re recording, and so I’m really curious if you could talk about what you most look forward to and what you absolutely fucking dread about going in to record?
AWKWAFINA: The singing sometimes is hard.
RAMOS: Yeah. If you didn’t get enough sleep the night before or whatever, or if you just traveled in, or you weren’t feeling so well the day before. Just things like that that just affect your voice, and you just don’t feel like you can execute the way you want to, like a certain moment. Or, “I want to do this moment high pitch, but I don’t have it today.” You try to warm up, but ain’t nothing coming. Nothing’s coming out. Nothing’s happened. The last time you recorded you were in your higher register, and the next day, you come in…
AWKWAFINA: Totally different.
RAMOS: Your voice is mad deep. You only do, like, five or six sessions, or something like that.
I didn’t think about that.
RAMOS: Yeah, and it’s spread out between months, two months, three months, six months, and then you come in for another one. So, it’s just trying to make sure you’re where you’re at health-wise before you get in there.
I definitely have an individual question for each of you. I am a huge fan of Kathryn Bigelow, and you, [Anthony], shot her new movie. I know you need to be careful with what you say.
RAMOS: Oh, 18 NDAs.
They’ve given a logline and stuff, but I’m just curious what it was like working with her because I think she’s such a gifted filmmaker. What was it like working with Kathryn?
RAMOS: Amazing. She’s a legend. A legend. She’s a sniper, man. She knows exactly what she wants. She knows how she wants it. I understood why she’s one of the greatest of all time, being on set with her and working with her. The actors, the whole cast, everybody’s on a wildly high level, so I just feel blessed, man. I feel really grateful to be on that set. She’s amazing.
