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All The Celebs Voicing New Teen Emotions In Inside Out 2
Turns out all the voices in Riley;s head are all pretty famous.
by Jen McGuire
If you’ve never been a teenage girl, you are about to get an education when you go to see Inside Out 2. The sequel to Inside Out tells the continuing saga of Riley, the young girl we met just as she was about to hit puberty in the 2015 film. The filmmakers have pushed the big red puberty button, and there is a whole cast of new emotions joining Riley’s control panel.
Inside Out 2, which premieres in theaters across the country on June 14, picks up right where Inside Out initially left off in 2015. “At the very end of the original, Joy has that great moment where she’s like, ‘Finally, everything the way it’s supposed to be.’ Then we see that big puberty button, ‘Should we press this?’ We do press it in the second movie,” Amy Poehler explained to People in February. “In some ways, Inside Out set itself up for a sequel and we’re going there.”
Now that the puberty button has been pushed, all of Riley’s emotions are about to get bigger. And there’s one emotion in particular that looks like it’s ready to run the show. Here’s a look at who voices who in Inside Out 2.
Amy Poehler voices Joy
Parks and Recreations star Amy Poehler returns as the voice of Joy, one of the most dominant emotions in the original film. A role she told Pinkvilla she would reprise again and again if she could. “I just think that they should make these films like Seven Up every couple of years in Riley's life,” Poehler told the outlet. “A young adult, and a young mother, and I think a middle-aged person — everyone's having these very distinct new emotions that are showing up all the time.”
Phyllis Smith voices Sadness
Phyllis Smith, who most of us know as Phyllis Lapin-Vance from The Office, returns to voice Sadness. And she will be bringing back that gentle voice of hers to voice a character that she hopes changes the way people look at being sad. “Well, sadness is often thought as a bad thing, and not necessarily as a healthy way to navigate through a situation,” she told Entertainment Weekly, before explaining that children have told her, “I love Sadness.” And so do we.
Liza Lapira voices Disgust
Liza Lapira takes over the role of Disgust from Mindy Kaling, who voiced this emotion in the 2015 original movie. Lapira has been a regular on the series The Equalizer, and shared the news that she would be taking over by sharing an image of her character on Instagram alongside the message, “I’m disgusted.” Perfect.
Tony Hale voices Fear
Tony Hale, who is perhaps best known for his roles on Arrested Development and Veep, now voices Fear. Bill Hader was the original voice of Fear for Inside Out but did not return for the sequel.
Lewis Black voices Anger
Lewis Black, who was recently called “America’s crankiest comic” by the Los Angeles Times, returns to voice Anger. Because really, who could possibly do it better?
Maya Hawke voices Anxiety
Maya Hawke of Stranger Things fame (as well as being the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke) is ready to steer Riley’s emotional ship as Anxiety. So much so that the control panel turns orange because her emotion is orange. Anxiety shows up with a whole lot of baggage, which felt very on brand for fans who already love the new character.
Adèle Exarchopoulos voices Ennui
Now here’s an emotion we weren’t expecting. The very French emotion of Ennui, voiced by French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos. This role is a real departure for Exarchopoulos, who is best known for her roles in serious art house movies like Blue Is The Warmest Color and The Animal Kingdom. But that’s sort of what Ennui is about, n’est pas?
June Squibb voices Nostalgia
Who knew that Nostalgia would be an emotion that needed to be a part of Riley’s control panel? Anyone who remembers being a teenage girl, actually. And the geniuses behind Inside Out 2 got the inimitable 94-year-old actress June Squibb to voice the sepia-tinted character.
Ayo Edebiri voices Envy
We all know Envy is, depressingly, such a big part of being a teenager. And we also know that Ayo Edebiri of The Bear and Big Mouth fame will definitely bring her own unique sense of humor to this role. Because Envy is a tough one.
Paul Walter Hauser voices Embarrassment
Richard Jewell star Paul Walter Hauser voices another new character, Embarrassment. A big pink guy hiding shyly behind his hoodie and looking exactly as bashful as so many of us felt as teenagers.
Kensington Tallman voices Riley Andersen
Riley has grown up since the first movie, and she is actually being voiced by an entirely different actress, 16-year-old Kensington Tallman. Tallman is perhaps best known for playing Bianca Magic on Nickelodeon’s Drama Club and Lucy in this year’s Home Sweet Rome. She takes over for Kaitlyn Dias, the original voice of Riley.
Diane Lane voices Riley’s mom, Mrs. Andersen
Diane Lane returns to voice Riley’s mom Mrs. Andersen, a veteran actress most recently known for her role as Slim Keith in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. She’s also known for movies like Under The Tuscan Sun from 2003, a real mainstay in rom-coms from the early ‘00s.
Kyle MacLachlan voices Riley’s dad, Mr. Andersen
Kyle MacLachlan is sort of known for three different roles. He was Charlotte Yorke’s first husband Trey on Sex And The City, played Dale Cooper on Twin Peaks, and of course, he returns as Riley’s dad Mr. Andersen in Inside Out 2.
Inside Out 2 and all of these incredible emotions comes to theaters on June 14. It promises to be either a walk down memory lane for some of us, or an informative, behind-the-scenes look at puberty for others. Either way, a good time will be had by all.
