Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and director Josh Greenbaum spill exclusive new details about their upcoming movie Strays. The creatives give us some behind-the-scenes secrets, provide us with an update on Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and so much more!
Rotten Tomatoes: Which voice actor surprised you the most?
Phil Lord: Well, it’s no surprise that Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx are a great duo and play great off of one another. I have to say the same, you know, for Randall [Park] and Isla [Fisher], just like the four of them. We did get them all recording together a couple of times. They just are such skilled comedians with so much experience that they really know how to play off of one another in a really imaginative and playful way that makes you feel like you’re really with, like, a cool gang of dog friends. [laughs] And I don’t know, I just found I never wanted to leave that session.
Rotten Tomatoes: Was there a lot of improvising in the recording booth?
Christopher Miller: So much improvising, and they wanted to perform together. That was part of the appeal for them, I think. And for Jamie and Will in particular, they did, I think, pretty much every session together. And being able to play off of each other led them to some crazy places. And Josh [Greenbaum] would encourage them to go run with whatever idea they had.
We would be in the booth, texting Josh, being like, “What if they tried this? What if they tried this?” And they would take it, and they’re, you know, these are some of the best people to ever do it, the best improvisers and multi-talented comedians that have ever existed. And for them to be able to be playing off of each other was a joy for them as much as it was for us in the booth, and then as much as it was for the audience.
Strays
(2023)
is in theaters on August 18, 2023.
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