Amy Poehler and Lewis Black say new emotions ‘add so much’ to Inside Out sequel

By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Inside Out stars Amy Poehler and Lewis Black have agreed it was “vital” to introduce new emotions to the sequel of the hit film.

The original 2015 film saw 11-year-old Riley Andersen deal with five core emotions as she struggled to adjust to a move from Minnesota to San Francisco.

Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Black reprise their roles in the sequel as Joy, Sadness and Anger, while Tony Hale replaces Bill Hader as Fear and Liza Lapira stars as Disgust in place of Mindy Kaling.

The sequel will see five new emotions enter the brain as Riley becomes a teenager.

Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, Ennui and Nostalgia are voiced by Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri, Paul Walter Hauser, Adele Exarchopoulos and June Squibb, respectively.

At the film’s world premiere in Los Angeles, Black told the PA news agency that it was the “right time and place” for a sequel — almost a decade after the original was released to critical acclaim.

“Anxiety is really huge, it’s important,” he said on the purple carpet of the El Capitan Theatre.

“We’re living in the age of anxiety, and everybody is worried about something.

“I think it was really vital to bring these other emotions into it, starting with Anxiety, like Paul (Walter Hauser), who plays Embarrassment, said, it’s like seasoning. It made the (Inside Out) world better.”

Poehler agreed, telling PA: “I love that Pixar waited until they felt they had a really good idea, they were really ready to make another one.

“…I think that using that moment, the teenage moment, to remind us that our emotions keep surprising us just when we think we have it down, literally a wrecking ball comes in and changes everything.

“So I think that’s a really heightened time, there’s a lot going on in our head and Pixar are really good at not patronising what people are going through.”

On her new castmates, Poehler added: “Ayo, Tony Hale, who I have known and loved forever, Lisa, they’re all so great and they add so much to this franchise.

“And I’m happy that me, Phyllis (Smith) and Lewis (Black) are back as the old guard.”

Filmmaker Kelsey Mann took over from Pete Doctor and Ronaldo Del Carmen to direct the sequel.

Mann told PA about the importance of the teenage storyline: “This was a really hard time in my life and I think a lot of our lives.

“We really remember that time when you’re a teenager and I really could’ve used a movie like this, I really felt self conscious at this time.

“And you think you’re the only one thinking and feeling what you’re thinking and feeling so we really wanted to make a movie that told people they aren’t alone.”

While Hale spoke about stepping into the shoes of US actor and comedian Hader as Fear.

“I was and am a huge Bill Hader fan; you can’t match that kind of brilliance. I just know I have a lot of fear in my own life and a lot of flavours of it, so I just tried to bring that to the table,” he told PA.

“I kind of wish that I could act like Fear, we all try and keep it together when we want to freak out. I was given the opportunity to walk into the audio booth and freak out.”

In the film, Kensington Tallman replaces Kaitlyn Dias as the teenage version of Riley.

The teenage actress, who is about to turn 16, said the process had been a “long journey”, having first auditioned at the age of 13.

“I started recording at 14 and I was entering adolescence at the exact same time Riley was, and so we were experiencing the same emotions,” Tallman told PA.

“Riley is such a fun character. She is joyful, loves her friends, and is kind.

“But as she is going through adolescence, she’s experiencing challenges, and with that comes these new emotions, and so she is really trying to navigate these new emotions.

“As you’ll see, her personality and sense of self is really going to start changing and she kind of has to navigate that.”

Tallman added that the film “teaches us that we don’t have to be anybody but ourselves, we’re beautiful inside and out”.

Inside Out 2 will be released in Ireland on June 14th.