• Tweet
• Pin It

The Minions made their return to Hollywood this month starring in their own new movie, Minions, taking us on a trip through history to preserve a master, from t-rex in the Jurassic era running through Napoleon and all the way to 1960s New York City.

After falling into a depression because nobody with evil leadership powers stood atop a throne to rule the little yellow creatures, three brave souls eventually set off on an adventure, seeking a king that would command their species. On the journey that ultimately leads them to the mega-villain Scarlet Overkill, they meet Herb Overkill who is voiced by Jon Hamm and Madge Nelson who is played by Allison Janney.

The two successful actors share a little about their own adventures while making Minions with Living Out Loud – Los Angeles.

Janney originally jumped on board as part of the cast of Minions because of an old high school classmate who happens to be Chris Meledandri from the company Illumination Entertainment, the producer of the movie.

She offers, “I was really excited that [Meledandri] asked me to be part of the Minions movie and play Madge. She was great character for me to play, my first evil character.”

When asked what her favorite thing about the process of doing only a voice recording, she responds that “the thing that’s great about it is that I can go without hair and makeup; I usually go in sweatpants – I’m a sweatpants and T-shirt kind of girl – that’s what I’m usually in.”

Hamm, who plays the stylish, ’60s-era Herb, agrees with Janney, claiming that there’s no pressure when recording because his physical appearance is almost irrelevant to the film.

“You have total freedom,” he says. “You’re not constrained by what you look like or what your hair looks like that day, what haircut you’re stuck with from whatever thing you just finished.”

Janney explains that she’s all for the idea of making a complete fool of herself.

“I’m just in [the studio], and I create all these sounds. I make a complete fool out of myself, and I have to be willing to make a complete fool out of myself; I know that they are recording it.”

For Hamm, the reason for his success was the nostalgia of being able to step back into his childhood, seeing the drawings from the artists and being able to imagine himself as a child playing with voices in his head.

“Part of it for me was getting the artist rendering of what the character looked like. I was like, ‘Oh wow that guy looks so cool, I wonder what he sounds like,’ and then messing around with voices in my head. Like a crazy person or a child, having a flashback of when I was a little kid watching cartoons and thinking, ‘I wonder if I could do that.’”

This 1960s movie is filled with extremely funny scenes that Janney says had her watching “some of the trailer clips over-and-over.” And not only that, but that the movie is filled with beautiful animations from New York and a soundtrack that will undoubtedly keep parents and grandparents entertained throughout the film.

Minions is now in theaters, so don’t miss out on this section of history that was surely excluded from your history books.

• Tweet
• Pin It