Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub chats with Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson, and Marc Maron for The Bad Guys 2.

In the sequel, the trio joins forces with a new pack of criminals, the Bad Girls, voiced by Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Maria Bakalova.

In this interview, Rockwell, Robinson, and Maron share their favorite movie theaters, discuss what it’s like in the recording booth, and tease future projects like Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

The Bad Guys are back and badder than ever in DreamsWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys 2! Well, actually, in directors Pierre Perifel and J.P. Sans’ sequel, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) and his colleagues are doing their very best to acclimate to society and focus on becoming upstanding citizens. But you know what they say about the road and good intentions. Things aren’t going so well after the Bad Guys’ decision to become “good guys.” Their storied pasts seem to follow them, making it hard to commit to this change of heart, but they’re trying. Then, their efforts are turned upside down by an unexpected trio, The Bad Girls, voiced by Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, and Maria Bakalova, who drag them back into the business for one last globe-trotting heist. In this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub has the chance to sit down with the core trio themselves, Rockwell, Craig Robinson, who voices Mr. Shark, and Marc Maron, who voices Mr. Snake. They chat about their favorite spots to catch movies on the big screen, what it’s really like inside the voice recording booth, and tease upcoming projects, including Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, and another exciting animated adventure, Netflix’s In Your Dreams.
Don’t Miss Out on ‘The Bad Guys 2’ Action-Packed Adventure on a Big Screen

Rockwell, Robinson, and Maron share their favorite movie theaters.

COLLIDER: I really want to start with congratulations. The sequel is fantastic, no thanks to Sam being in it. MARC MARON: He did what he could. SAM ROCKWELL: Aw, come on, guys! He does try. I give you credit for that. ROCKWELL: This is bullshit! No, I’m being so serious, this is a really fun animated movie. So, I’m obsessed with getting people to see movies in movie theaters, and I’ve been asking everybody: Do you have a favorite movie theater? ROCKWELL: Oh, yeah. Fuck, that’s a good question. I do. I have a couple. The Ziegfeld, of course, was. MARON: Oh, that was a big one. Radio City used to run movies when I was a kid. I like any of those IMAXes, I’ve decided. My memory as a kid seeing movies, as you get older, it kind of diminishes as the screen gets smaller, but when you go to an IMAX, if you’re of a certain age, you’re like, “This is what it used to feel like.” You know what I mean? ROCKWELL: That’s right. CRAIG ROBINSON: I like the IPIC. You can lay down and order some food and stuff. ROCKWELL: Oh, yeah. The Alamo. That’s a good one. MARON: Nah. ROCKWELL: You don’t like The Alamo? You don’t like chicken wings during your movie? You’re opposed to it. MARON: Well, watch the movie. You’re just laying there eating?

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I’m just going to say that I think that The Alamo and getting food is fantastic for a stupid, fun movie, but if I’m seeing, like, Lord of the Rings or something I care about, go fuck yourself. I do not want to be in that theater. I don’t need people eating a burger around me. But for some movies, it’s fine. MARON: I miss the ArcLight. ROCKWELL: I miss the ArcLight too. What happened to it? What’s going on? MARON: I know, it’s just sitting there. ROCKWELL: The Cinemarama Dome Yeah, there’s talk of it coming back. ROCKWELL: When need the ArcLight in New York. There’s a 60 millimeter one at 2nd Avenue and 12th Street, where I saw Boogie Nights, actually, and a lot of good movies. ROBINSON: Full circle. MARON: Quentin [Tarantino]’s movie theater, he did the one in Los Feliz, that’s good. Yeah, The Vista. ROCKWELL: The Vista’s great. Everything on 35. It’s amazing. Also, the concessions. Everything.
‘The Bad Guys 2’ Trio Share What It’s Like To Transform in the Voice Recording Booth

“Sam’s just doing himself. It’s lazy, almost.”

Image via DreamWorks Animation

Jumping into Bad Guys 2, the third act is incredible. It has an action set piece that is really incredible. I’m just curious, how long do you think before Tom Cruise sees this and says, “I can one-up this?” MARON: He’d probably do it in real action. ROCKWELL: In real space. He sees this as a challenge, you know. ROBINSON: Has he not done that already? He’s going to space soon, I think. He hasn’t gone yet. MARON: That’s his genius, is focusing on stunts. [Laughs] That’s really what it’s all about. I think that the reason why the stunt category has been pushed for a few years is so that Tom, this year, can’t get every nomination for Mission. MARON: Interesting. One of the things that people don’t realize is what it takes to do voice recording, and all three of you have done a bunch of it. What do you think would surprise people about doing the voiceover work? ROCKWELL: Well, it can be lonely if you don’t have another actor with you. It’s strange. It’s a lot of energy. You’re putting out a lot of energy. It’s different than acting on a regular film. You’re by yourself mostly. MARON: I find with voicing, I overdo it. I also chose a voice that was hard on my throat. Any animation character I do, it’s some variation of this, you know? And it’s not the way to go. Sam’s just doing himself. It’s lazy, almost. He’s just kind of breezing through it. I’m in there moving my arms and sweating and making my throat hoarse. But that’s that’s who I am. I could go on for years.

There will be a sequel to this. I’m letting you know right now. MARON: I gotta get in shape! ROBINSON: I find that sometimes we’ll go and get a few scenes in, and then I’ll find the character better. Then we’ll go back and do the first few scenes over, because now it’s like, “Okay, you got the voice now.” MARON: Sometimes I’ll just make a sound. I just do, like, a scream, and then they’ll go, “Give me another variation.” And then by the end of that 10 minutes, it’s like I’ve got to drink tea. It’s crazy. I’ve heard a lot of people do efforts at the end of the day because it destroys your voice. ROBINSON: “Give me a grunt.” ROCKWELL: Yeah, there’s a lot of screaming at the end of the day. Damon [Ross], J.P. [Sans], and Pierre [Perifel] are sweethearts, and they make it really easy for you. And I know what Craig’s talking about. You paraphrase or you kind of mess around with it, and they’re very patient with that. Then you find the scene, and then you go back to the text. We got this other actor, Mike Odair, who reads with us sometimes, too. MARON: Also, you can just do it over again. It’s not like you’re on a film set where they’re like, “Alright, reset.” It’s literally within seconds. And sometimes after they’ve done it all, you go back in and they add stuff. There’s a lot of freedom to it, and they’re definitely a fun group to work with. I laughed my ass off. How much did you guys laugh when you heard the term “MacGuffinite?” ROCKWELL: Yeah, that is a funny term. I don’t know. It’s been a few years we’ve been doing this thing. It’s A+.

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ROCKWELL: I’ll tell you, I was working on a scene, and Colin Jost plays a part in this, and he came in and he just happened to do a little punch-up on the scene I was doing, and it was hysterical. I asked him, I said, “Can you help me with this?” And he punched it up, and it was fucking hilarious. Colin Jost is a funny motherfucker. ROBINSON: He is funny. He’s also the head writer on SNL. ROCKWELL: Yes, that’s right. So I heard that. If anyone’s going to be able to punch it up, it’s him.
The Bad Guys Share What’s Coming Up Next for Them

From Netflix animated features to musical biopics, this trio is booked and busy.

Image via Disney

I’m just about out of time, and I think almost every time I talk to you, I bring up one thing. I’m sorry, it’s going to happen again. One of my favorite films is Galaxy Quest because it’s amazing. ROCKWELL: I’m waiting. I’m waiting for the call. Listen, I don’t see a sequel happening anymore. I’d love for one to happen, but without [Tim] Allen, I don’t see it. How often do people want to talk to you about it? Because it’s the best Star Trek movie that’s not Star Trek. ROCKWELL: Speaking of which, we’re going to Comic-Con on Saturday, so we’re going to see some Trekkies. That’ll be fun. You guys have seen Galaxy Quest, right? ROBINSON: Love Galaxy Quest. ROCKWELL: It’s a fun movie, man. We got lucky.

Image via DreamWorks Pictures 

Every single time I need to bring it up. Individual question for you. When did you decide you wanted to be in two huge animated movies this year? Because you’re also Baloney Tony. ROCKWELL: What movie is that? ROBINSON: In Your Dreams. It’s going to be on Netflix on November 14th. ROCKWELL: What’d you say?! “In your dreams?” That’s not very nice. ROBINSON: [Laughs] That’s the name of the movie. ROCKWELL: Oh! It’s the name of the movie. ROBINSON: You know, sometimes these things kind of work out like that. Like this guy, August 1st, his special comes out on the same day that Bad Guys comes out.

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Please talk about the special, and also, I believe you have something called In Memoriam. MARON: They’re going to try to get that into Sundance. That’s wrapped. It’s a good movie. It’s not out yet. I got a little part in the Bruce Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere, and yeah, my HBO comedy special comes out August 1st, along with The Bad Guys. Oh, so people can see you in two different ways. ROBINSON: That’s right. As a cartoon character and as myself. I am out of time. I need to stop. I will just say that I’m looking forward to this Gore Verbinski thing that you shot with him. ROCKWELL: Oh, me too, man. The Bad Guys 2 is in theaters this weekend.

The Bad Guys 2

Release Date

August 1, 2025

Runtime

102 Minutes

Director

Pierre Perifel

Writers

Pierre Perifel, Aaron Blabey

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