I’m back with another Incredibles 2 interview, this time with Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener who play brother and sister Winston and Evelyn Deavor! You may know Bob from Mr. Show, Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul and Catherine Keener from The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Being John Malkovich and Get Out. They are both such incredible actors and I was excited about the chance to interview them!

Photo Credit: MomStart.com

About Incredibles 2

Everyone’s favorite family of superheroes is back in “Incredibles 2” – but this time Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) is in the spotlight, leaving Bob (voice of Craig T. Nelson) at home with Violet (voice of Sarah Vowell) and Dash (voice of Huck Milner) to navigate the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life. It’s a tough transition for everyone, made tougher by the fact that the family is still unaware of baby Jack-Jack’s emerging superpowers. When a new villain hatches a brilliant and dangerous plot, the family and Frozone (voice of Samuel L. Jackson) must find a way to work together again—which is easier said than done, even when they’re all Incredible.

Warning: The last paragraph contains spoilers for Incredibles 2.

Working with Brad Bird

Catherine shared with us about getting the call from Brad Bird, “I got a call from my agent and she said that Brad Bird wants to call me. We had an appointment to talk. I didn’t know that the movie was being expedited up a year or something? So, I had no idea. I didn’t know anything, but I was what. And I had heard that he wanted maybe for me to do this part in it. And I thought okay.

Then when he said I’m doing this, I started pouring praise and all this on it. And he said, well, yeah, I mean I’m really busy and I said, oh, well, I’m in. And he goes, okay, great. [CHUCKLES] It was like that. It was like, go back to your work. So, it was about a minute phone call.”

(Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Bob told us how it was to work with Brad Bird, “Well, he’s not different from all of the directors. He’s a lot like the best directors. My experience — I mean you could speak — ’cause you’ve worked with amazing directors and Spielberg and Alexander Payne and Vince Gilligan. These guys know what they want, and they dial it in just so — and that could sound like oppressive to an actor. It’s not though.

Somehow it’s like a challenge that you wanna meet, and it’s like a neat thing to do it. And you feel accomplishment when you do it. But also they’re all willing to hear, especially in the early stages of a scene, what do you wanna try. Try something or even maybe after they got exactly what they want, you can say, yeah, but I don’t know. I had a different thought about how to say that line. And they’ll go let me hear it. And then they go down that road together, but they all are dialing it in just so. And it’s great. You feel like you’re in really good hands.

And somehow it doesn’t steal your own inspiration and creative input, yeah.”

Seeing Bob Odenkirk Animated

We asked them what it felt like to see themselves animated in Incredibles 2 and Bob shared, “I don’t know. People have said my character looks a lot like me, and [LAUGHS] there’s ways I think, yeah, that it is. And then there are ways I’m like, wow, I’m not remotely like that. Obviously I don’t dress as well as the character. That’s for sure.

I’m not sure. I kinda like him. I have to get more familiar with him. My family’s proud of it, and they’re like, yeah, Dad, it’s a great character.”

Real Life Superhero Powers

Of course, we had to ask them what their real life superhero power would be and Bob said, “I’ll say mine, ’cause it’s dopey. I would like to be able to eat whatever I want and not gain weight. It’s an obsession. It’s a part of my life too much, and that’s what I wish I could have. But I like hers. It’s a better idea, and it’s really — it would be wonderful.”

Photo Credit: MomStart.com

Catherine then told us hers, “Well, I would just like to be able to go home at any — that’s all I wanna do, to teleport.” Bob added, “Like, she’ll still go to the airport, wait in line, go through to get some– but then going home is always [CLAP] like that.” Catherine said, “And I’m home. I’m in my pajamas. My bed’s made. Clothes are off the floor. And I’m ready to go to bed, you know. I’m set.”

Photo Credit: MomStart.com

Girls Seeing Incredibles 2 (Contains Spoilers!)

Bob shared with us about seeing Incredibles 2 with his daughter, I said it the other day and I haven’t fully analyzed it, but you guys are all great brains. Everybody talks about how Holly Hunter and the Elastigirl’s story and being a female superhero is so great for women, and it is. And I’m glad my daughter saw that. And I’m especially glad she saw the scene where the dad’s knocking on the daughter’s door – Violet? Leave me alone. And then she got to experience what it’s like on the other side of her door.

I really loved sitting next to her for that scene, an I felt like she sees how much I wanna help her, but I can’t. And how about that scene — and I have to see it again, ’cause I’ve only seen it once myself, where Evelyn and Elastigirl are kinda facing off.

Photo Credit: MomStart.com

That to me is a scene that you don’t see. Two women characters, fully intelligent – If that was a guy and Elastigirl, fundamentally not the same message to the audience. Subconsciously (you’re seeing) female characters can be well-rounded. And they can be evil and good and both at the same time and be a part of the story on the level those two characters in that moment. It would not be the same to just have Elastigirl be the superhero. That’s great. But that scene is super strong, not rushing past it, taking the time, picking each other apart, picking apart the themes of the movie for an extended moment.”

A huge thanks to Bob and Catherine for sitting down to talk with us!