An interview with Jason Bateman from Zootopia
Jason Bateman stars as Nick Wilde in Walt Disney Animation Studios' newest film, Zootopia. We sat down with Jason for an interview discussing the movie, the topics Zootopia touches upon and raising kids.
I have adored Jason Bateman since I first saw him on the TV series "Valerie." When I received an email last month inviting me to the Zootopia Event at Walt Disney World Resort and saw that we'd be interviewing Jason Bateman, I literally let out a little squeal. Not only would I get to see him in the flesh, I'd get to sit right across from him and ask him questions about his new role in Walt Disney Animation Studios' 55th feature film, Zootopia.
Bateman plays the role of Nick Wilde, a sly fox who's also a con-artist with a heart of gold. Staring alongside talented actress Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps), Bateman seemed like a natural fit for this film. Nick Wilde is laid-back, seemingly carefree, and has a clever wit - which is just how I image Bateman to be in real life; and just as I hoped, he was all of those things and more. He was kind, charming, funny, and candid about his family life and raising his two little girls.
Q: So this is your first animated film. I saw that you had done some cartoons, but not an animated film. How is this different?
JB: The other animation work was really so quick. This is for all intents and purposes my first, and it's a really interesting process because as an actor you say your line and then you've got your face and your body language and everything to contribute to the whole thing. With this, obviously you just have your voice to use and then you hope that the animators that you pass that line reading off to are going to make the character do something that either supports what you've done or offset it or juxtapose it. Cause it's kind of a cocktail to make somebody laugh with something. You don't realize how many little components there are. I don't mean to sound like some kind of a comedy scientist but we all do it. You know, when you tell a joke or a story there's inflection and then there's facial gestures and it's a pretty strange thing to just hope that the rest of the recipe gets cooked in the right way. And there's not much of a fear that they're going to miss that with a company like Disney animation. So it's an exciting thing to be a part of.
Q: Can you talk about the cocktail? There's this going back and forth... is there ever a time that you felt like, "Hey, that wasn't quite it. Can we go back and re-record something?" Or where you might have had input into that cocktail.
JB: Well, you know, the animation happens much further after the voice. So, the first time I saw the animation really was when I saw the premiere.
Q: Really?
JB: Yeah. I saw little tiny clips, but they are very kind of basic. There's just so much work that goes into it. So you see sketches and things like that.
Q: Even the gesturing, so how do they know?
JB: Well, they videotape you when you are recording your lines. There are a couple of cameras in there. So, the animators, if they want to use that as a guideline they can. I mean there's an easel in front of me, so you can't really see my whole body and I'm not doing anything to try to guide them, but you can't help the way your face moves a little bit when you say, "Hey wait," or "What are you talking about?" There's a certain way my face folds or not, and so they do use some of that and they are that good to really fine-tune it.
Q: How long did the process take?
JB: The call first came in a little over three years ago and we started sessions right around then. So, about three years of recording sessions, and those happened once every couple of months, and each one would take about two hours. So, about 20, 25 sessions, two hours a piece. And with each session you do about two or three scenes which are anywhere from three to five pages each. And the way you do it usually is they record you reading through top to bottom, and the director will read the other part. You've got to make sure you don't overlap because his voice would be on my track then. They record that a couple of times and then you go in and you record each line individually about six to 10 times, a bunch of different ways. You do one kind of fast, one kind of slow, one kind of angry, one kind of happy, and just give them a bunch of choices because they don't know what the other actor is going to do that's actually reading the line that follows you in this kind of conversation. So, there's just an immense amount of work that they have to do to cobble it all together and blend that cocktail, you know? It's a neat process, it really is.
photo credit: momstart
Q: Does any of your personality go into your character?
JB: Yeah. I'm not a big fan of seeing a lot of acting, you know? I think that's the goal - is to not act and to look natural. So, I try to use as much of me as possible in any part that I play. Plus, I'm also pretty lazy so any character I play is always inside my skill set or my goal post. If I read a script and there's a character that is so far from me that I would have to do a lot of acting to play that character, then just kind of by definition I probably shouldn't play that character because then you are going to see acting, you know? So yes, there is quite a conniving, sarcastic, fatigued part of me. My mother is British so she kind of taught me that kind of sense of humor, that dry, reactive sort of sense of humor. So, hopefully I know how to kind of a good way.
Q: Did you study or do any research to get into character, or did you just dive in and see what happens?
JB: You just talk and they do the rest. I asked them if they wanted me to put on any sort of voice. And they said no, you sound conniving enough. (We all got a good laugh here.)
Q: For the dad, how do you go into a film like that? Obviously, the other films that you do are very opinionated roles but this is different because we can all bring our families to this one, really the whole family from top to bottom, how do you go into a role like this as a dad? Do you have a different mindset? Because now, you know, you can bring your girls?
JB: Yeah, it's very, very cool to be leaving home to do a job that I can prove that I was actually doing. I couldn't show them any of the other stuff, and then knowing that they are going to see it. I have two little girls, nine and four, and knowing that they are going to see it, it gives you pride. First of all, it's the only movies that I see now, you know. We all know, a kid movie comes out and you have to take them and you just hope that it's good. And if it's not good, you are still buying a ticket to it. You still have to sit there. You just might catch a little nap, you know? But with this one, there won't be any napping because this company is so good at braiding some stuff in there for us, that whether it be thematic or just with the jokes, there's always kind of that parallel lane of satisfaction for the adults.
And in this one, there are some really great issues and themes, and I don't know if my nine year old really picks up on some of the nuance and sophistication of these heady, highbrow issues in here yet, but I'll bet you some of it kind of permeates. And, when the coin finally does drop maybe when she's another year older or something when we're watching it for the 20th time at home - as we all buy it again when it comes out - it's a nice tool for me, as a dad, to talk about; like in this film, racism or xenophobia or fear mongering or bullying. When I have a character that I can pause and I can say, "Okay, you see how that hippopotamus kind of like gave a look to the....," so it kind of makes the medicine go down a little bit easier and it makes it a little less ominous for them to broach these subjects. It's a nice tool for me as a parent. I like that.
Q: So your children have seen the film?
JB: The nine year old has. The four year old - you know, the two screenings I have been to have happened after her bedtime and she's garbage after her 6:30. So, we'll have to catch the matinee.
Q: What are some of her favorite parts of you in the movie that she enjoyed the most?
JB: I didn't really get a lot of specific, "Oh dad, you were great when you did this or you did that." She was kind of focused on Shakira, and of course Judy Hopps, who is really the star of the movie. Her perspective as she's going to this big city to make it and is super optimistic and doesn't have a lot of fear or judgement - it's just a great message and character to follow, and then to have it all work out for her, you know. She runs into somebody who says, "Take it easy, slow your roll, the world's not that great," and in fact she perseveres and ends up making my character a little less pessimistic, and so it was fun to kind of look over and see her get all absorbed in it.
Q: As a parent do find yourself ever relating to Mr. and Mrs. Hopps?
JB: Can I relate to those parents? Well, if you mean the fact that they're concerned that their daughter is going to the big city, yeah of course. Although, if you're like me, you hope and pray that you're not going to be the kind of parent that when they are allowed to and should leave the house that you are going to be paralyzed with this fear. So, I have another nine years left, at least with Francesca, to get myself ready to be confident that she's got a good enough decision maker on her shoulders to go out there and navigate the inevitable challenges. Think about all the stuff that you guys have been exposed to that your parents never dreamed that you would be and you, being good people, didn't really willingly get into dangerous situations but it just happens. So, I'm really trying to be okay with the fact that I can't keep her in a bubble and I can't control her her whole life. So, the only kind of peace that I can give myself is that I'm confident that she knows how to make good decisions, so that's my job. I will keep working hard tobuild her as good a car as possible so she can drive through it okay, you know?
Q: I know my four year old told me that Mickie and Minnie and real, so was it strange for your four year old to think daddy is a cartoon now? Or, did she kind of still have to put something together?
JB: The, the nine year old, thank God, is smart enough to put it all together. The four year old - we were at a movie theater a few weeks ago and there was one of those cardboard standees, where they've got the fox and the bunny there, and I walked her over to it and I squatted down next to her and I pointed out to the fox who is life size and I said, "See this guy? He's in a movie with this bunny and they're going to solve a mystery. They're on an adventure." And she said, "Oh, can we see that movie?" I said, "Yeah, and you know this fox talks. It's a talking fox and when it talks it sounds like me because I'm the voice of that fox. I recorded all of his lines." So, she was trying to understand what that means - because she doesn't know what a microphone is. She certainly doesn't know the way movies are made. So, she just looked at the fox and she looked at me. I'm really excited to be sitting next to her in a movie theater and see how many minutes into the movie she's going to hear that familiar sound [and realize it's me].
Q: It looked like you. (Meaning Nick Wilde the fox resembles Jason Bateman)
JB: They do put a little bit of everyone's face in there, like a mini caricature. It's not super obvious, but yeah.
Special thanks to Jason Bateman for being so kind and awesome during our interview!
Zootopia opens in theaters everywhere on March 4th!
Check out the trailer for Zootopia here:
Official Information for Zootopia:
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,” a comedy-adventure directed by Byron Howard (“Tangled,” “Bolt”) and Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph,” “The Simpsons”) and co-directed by Jared Bush (“Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero”), opens in theaters on March 4, 2016.
Join the discussion on social media using #Zootopia
Amber Ludwig says
Omgosh 3 years!?!? Wowza!! So much time!! It really is amazing what they do for any animated movies but I had no idea the length of time it really took!!
Electrician NWA says
I can't wait to see this movie! It looks hilarious!
Sarah L says
I just bought our tickets for the Saturday afternoon show. Can't wait to see it.