00:00Healing is so true. I mean, my experience on both of these films have been just that.
00:05Inside Out 2 takes viewers back inside Riley's mind and introduces a whole new wave of emotions.
00:10I'm Tiffany Taylor for The Hollywood Reporter here at the Pixar Place Hotel at the Disneyland
00:14Resort, and we're talking to the cast all about the new movie.
00:18Hello, everybody!
00:20Inside Out 2 sees Amy Poehler return as the emotion Joy, while Maya Hawke voices anxiety,
00:26an emotion now 13-year-old Riley is experiencing for the first time in the movie.
00:30It healed something in me that I'd maybe put at the back of my mind,
00:33like Joy does with bad memories. For each of you, how did working on this movie affect you?
00:39Oh my gosh, healing is so true. I mean, my experience on both of these films have been
00:44just that. Like, I would come home and just think about, wow, I got to go to work today,
00:49and I got to have all these big feelings and talk about all this deep stuff.
00:52And also, it's funny, and people are going to like it and go see it.
00:56So yeah, I feel the same way in my experience on it and even getting to talk about it today.
01:01Me too. I feel all those things, and I also feel like when I first heard about the sense of self
01:09and the belief system, the same way the first movie impacted and, like, changed the way I
01:14thought about my own mind, that image changed the way I thought about my own mind. You know,
01:19this idea that somewhere in my mind is this beautiful guitar of ideas, and that some of
01:26them are helping me and some of them aren't. Just that image kind of broke open my heart a little
01:31bit. Director Kelsey Mann and producer Mark Nielsen also spoke to THR about working on the
01:36film that takes viewers on an emotional ride. The line in the movie that really got me is
01:40about how maybe we just feel less joy as we get older. And it reminded me of the importance of,
01:46you know, staying tapped into your inner child and still finding that joy. How do you try to do
01:51that in your own life to still find that joy? Here's a little thing that I did on this film.
01:56When I first started this movie, it was January 2020. I have a story room, and you have a little
02:01plaque outside where you're supposed to put, like, Kelsey Mann's story room, right? And I put a
02:05picture of me as 10 years old in that slot. But I went in there seeing a photo of myself, and, like,
02:12if I can go back and tell my little 10-year-old self that I'm going to be able to have a chance to
02:16do that, then, you know, I have joy at my console to do that. So it made me switch and make room
02:22for joy to come up to the console and have fun making this movie, because what a wonderful
02:29opportunity I have. I think spending time with children is actually a hugely important part
02:35and way to stay in touch with your inner child. So true. Like playing games. That's so true.
02:41Play is so important. And with your friends, too, laughing. Also, celebration. I think there's
02:47something about celebration that, like, we need to remind ourselves to do, because we almost are
02:54afraid to celebrate sometimes. Or we're waiting for some day when something's going to finally,
03:02you know, and it's like... Be worth celebrating. Yeah, and it's like celebration has to happen all the time.
03:06I started a practice. I talked about it with them before. I live in a high-rise now with a
03:12beautiful view of the city. I live in Manhattan. And every night before I close the shades, I say,
03:16good night, city. Good night, city. Because a friend of mine, when I moved in, said, oh, you'll notice the
03:20view, and then you won't even notice the view after a couple months. And I thought that was
03:24horrible. And so I try to pick something new to say good night to every night. Like, I try to notice
03:30a different building to cultivate a sense of awe and wonder. I think once you lose that, you know,
03:35everything is just boring. I think the more I also experience every or give myself permission
03:41to experience all emotions, it makes the joy stronger. Oh, that's good. You know, so it's like,
03:46because I think for a long time in my life, I was kind of pushing feelings away. And the joy kind of
03:51wasn't there. But it's like the more I kind of had more compassion for those feelings, I think it
03:57increases the joy. What do you hope that young people who are experiencing new emotions for the
04:02first time and learning to deal with those take away from it? But what do you also hope that an
04:06older audience takes away from it? We want to make sure that these movies resonate with everybody.
04:10Mark and I are fathers of teenagers. And there's very few movies we can all say, like, let's go to
04:16that this weekend together and go see. So I want parents to be able to take something away from
04:21this too. Anxiety and joy are like two parents arguing over how to best take care of their child.
04:26And they both realize that they've been coming at it the wrong way from different
04:31different ways and kind of learning how to best take care of their kid. And so that's really what
04:36I hope parents can take away from the film. We've had the chance to let our kids see the movie and
04:42get their reaction to it. And it's been great seeing them react and really connect to these
04:47characters and have them talk to us about how they feel seen in this and how it feels so relatable
04:54to what they're going through. I think one of my daughter's friends who came along said,
04:58I think you guys just climbed into my head. Oh, you know, we had a trust of teenage girls that
05:03were along the ride with us for all four years. And we showed them the movie every four months
05:08to get their feedback on what we were doing to make sure it was relatable and that they were
05:13connecting to it. And and so I think that hearing that receipt from my own kids is it was great to
05:19know that I think we've tapped into something not just for adults but also for kids. I bet it's a
05:24parallel path of being able to open up discussions about feelings and better understand your feelings.
05:30I've been in therapy both marital counseling and personal therapy the past couple years and
05:35and at first I think I was, you know, kicking the dirt a little bit. But a few months in you
05:38realize, wow, talking about all these things is so helpful. I think this movie in an entertaining
05:43fashion can sort of bring about some of those thoughts and insights. It gives adults and
05:51children a language in which to talk about what they're feeling. That's huge. Even the colors,
05:57you said, kids are now pointing out, I feel this color. It's like, wow, there's like an
06:02interpretive thing. Yeah. Special. Inside Out 2 is now playing in theaters. For more on the film,
06:08head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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