May 28th, 2019 
Jackson Murphy 
The Secret Life of Pets 2 is set to begin taking a major bite out of the summer box office when it opens on June 7th. Recently, I sat down with several members of the star-studded cast to discuss how voice acting has become an important part of their careers.
Kevin Hart has the movie world covered. He does comedies, dramas, concert films. And now he’s back as Snowball in Pets 2. Hart is extremely passionate about all his projects, including his animation work.
“The fact that I’m a part of a franchise is such a big deal,” says Hart. “And the fact that I have something my kids can hold onto and relate to… that’s a big deal. When I look at Eddie Murphy, I’m in awe of of the things that he has done in his career… When you really look at ‘Shrek’… him, Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers… That Donkey is so large. So large.”
“I’m serious. People don’t realize: Eddie Murphy is Eddie Murphy. That’s never gonna change. But people don’t realize how successful Shrek was and what that Donkey became. Literally! You’re in love with [that character]. Look at Tom Hanks and Toy Story. These are lifelong things that will never get old. They’re never gonna get old.”
Jenny Slate, the voice of Gidget in Pets 2, says she “stumbled” into voice acting, but has completely embraced the profession.
“There is a shedding that happens in the VO booth, and it’s a luxury to be completely attached to your personality and to what you want to do as a performer – and to say that the way you look or how you appear doesn’t apply. I think bringing a certain style of physical comedy to animation is just so hard. I don’t even understand how it’s done. I try my hardest to put such a full, comedic energy into these performances and to make sure that you can really really feel them.”
Two-time Emmy-winning Modern Family star Eric Stonestreet reprises his role as Duke in Pets 2. He’s also lent his voice to Pegasus on Disney’s popular show Sofia the First, which also featured his “MF” co-star Ariel Winter (as Sofia). But while the two know each other well, they didn’t work together on Sofia.
“It’s a real simple reason why they don’t put us in the booth, and especially when you start doing comedies with people who know how to improvise and make up s*it as they go along. You will waste so much of the studio’s money if you just put Kevin Hart and I in a booth together and said, ‘Go!’ There would be usable things, and then there would be so much unusable that it would be counterproductive to the process. I was surprised when I started doing animation that you’re not in the room with people, but quickly I realized why you can’t do that. It would be too hard and too much. Directors and writers would lose their minds.”
Stonestreet is excited about an upcoming IMDb animated series he’s a part of that’s being produced by Kelsey Grammer.
“We shot the pilot and broke it up into little five-minute interstitials. Patton Oswalt [who voices Max in Pets 2] is in it as well. I play a therapist listening to monsters’ problems. Kelsey plays a vampire. It’s fun.”
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Bobby Moynihan, who returns as the rambunctious Mel in “Pets 2”, has also voiced characters in Monsters University and on The Simpsons and We Bare Bears. His love of voice work came out of being a fan.
“When I was a kid, I loved Filmation,” Moynihan says. “They did ‘He-Man’ and ‘Fat Albert’. They did a lot of that Saturday morning cartoon kind of feel. They did the other ‘Ghostbusters’ with a monkey involved. I was a big of fan of that. ‘Thundercats’ — that’s what I grew up on. I’ve always just been a fan. One of my first acting jobs was a voice-over thing on this British show called Empire Square that they brought over here, and I just got the bug early. I’ve always loved it, and now I seek out as much animation as possible.”
“When I started getting voiceover work, I thought I was very lucky,” Moynihan adds. “When someone says, ‘You do a lot of voiceover work. You’re a voiceover artist’, I feel embarrassed because I go ‘No.’ I worked hard and got lucky enough that my life’s dream came true and I got to be on Saturday Night Live, and then that afforded me to be able to do some voiceover work. And since then, I’ve realized… People go, ‘Voiceover work is so easy. You just roll in in your pajamas. That’s it.’ And that drives me a little nuts because there are real voiceover artists. There are people like Eric Bauza and Tara Strong. They can do anything. And it’s an art. And it’s not just showing up and talking into a microphone – like what I thought when I first started doing it.”
“And now I warm up. I practice. It’s a job that if you’re lucky enough to get it – you should keep it for as long as you can and get better at it and respect it. I have a lot of respect for those voiceover actors, and I didn’t when I first started. Well, I didn’t know. I didn’t know any better.”
And Moynihan believes he’s gotten better at the craft due to taking it much more seriously.
“I don’t do a great deal of voices. I have a type of voice. I get cast in nice things or as little boys – innocence or completely dumb. That’s what I do, and that’s what I can do with my voice. And I’m very proud of that. But then there’s those guys like Bauza… he does all the Looney Tunes characters? All of them? That’s absolutely insane. That’s a talent that not many people have.”
For all of these actors, projects like Pets 2 are both important and endearing. Hart is looking forward to a third installment, and someday showing his grandkids the “Pets” films.
“This is generational. These stories… will be told forever. If we can keep this going, I’m here for it, man. I love what Snowball has done for me and my career. I’m humbled by it.”
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