Chris Evans is sure to corner the market on superheroes, voicing iconic space ranger Buzz Lightyear shortly after hanging (and handing over) his shield as Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Captain America.
At the world premiere of the Disney-Pixar animated film on June 8, Evans admitted that taking on the voice role was “scary,” especially when following up on Tim Allen’s work as Buzz in the four “Toy Story” films.
“The first time you have to do that iconic line, ‘To Infinity and Beyond…’ you kind of do a rude impression on Tim Allen. It’s scary,” Evans said. diverseHe credits Lightyear director Angus MacLane and the Pixar team for helping craft his own style of sound. “Finally feel comfortable enough to create your own trails in the snow and find your own interpretation, while still using Tim Allen as a blueprint.”
The next day, Evans sat down with him diverse In the Animation’s Unofficial Press to dive a little deeper into its themes, the story explains exactly who this space ranger was who inspired Buzz Lightyear, the game, that audiences know and love.
Okay, Chris, so I get that you’re a bit of a space geek.
TRUE.
So, was there any part of you that wished this was a live-action movie and you could wear a Buzz Lightyear suit?
Yes maybe. We had to do some compression the other day at JPL, and that was just… I mean, I could have stayed there all day. It was so wonderful.
What is the hardest question you wanted to ask?
Well, there were a few questions you wanted to ask, but you’re like, “Am I going to look so stupid?” You want to ask a bunch of things, but you kind of hold back because, again, you can just embarrass yourself so much in front of these guys.
This movie is a deep exploration of Buzz Lightyear’s original story. It’s fun and exciting, but I didn’t expect it to be about dealing with his arrogance and learning teamwork. What interests you most about the hypothesis?
Well, to be honest, what intrigued me the most was working with Pixar. The premise didn’t make sense, you obviously want to make sure they make a good movie. But you trust Pixar, my trust, they have a lot of goodwill. I’ve never seen Pixar miss me, so I didn’t worry too much about the story itself. I was thrilled that Pixar was calling.
Angus McClain [the director of “Lightyear”] Explain that this is a sci-fi movie from the 80s that Andy from “Toy Story” watched and bought Buzz Lightyear [voiced by Tim Allen]. But the thing Angus was really interested in in this story was time dilation. You obviously played another man out of time – how does the way Buzz handle being a man out of time really contrasts with what you did with Captain America?
I definitely mean, there are a lot of similarities between the characters. Basically, they’re two completely different guys.
I was intrigued by how Buzz relates to what Pixar animators deal with. It takes literally four years to make these films, so these men and women disappear for four years and get involved in these projects. And they said, every time they make a movie, when they come out, the world changes. And I think that parallel was really fun, and I was happy for the Pixar animators who somehow managed to inject their experience into this movie.
How do you relate to that in your experience? The filmmaking process is a little shorter as an actor, but making an animated movie takes years and years, and it’s clear that Marvel was a different kind of years and years later.
Well, with Marvel, you’ll never feel compelled to return to society again. For the most part, Marvel are short bursts of responsibility, spread out over a long period of time. For 10 years, you’ve had a movie; Then six months later, you were pressured; Then six months later a new movie. Then press after six months. So it was very well-balanced, thoughtful, and didn’t take up much time in a way that suddenly makes me feel like I need to recalibrate.
And two years later, she had me write headlines that said things like, “Chris Evans is back in the MCU in a mysterious way.” This was a report a year ago, so is there any clarity on what’s mysterious?
The mysterious method is from internet rumors. This is the mysterious method. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Well, I want to dive a little bit more into relationships here at ‘Lightyear’ because we get a chance to see how [James Brolin] Become Buzz’s enemy, and we also learn more about this relationship between Alisha [Uzo Aduba] and Buzz, and the origins of “To Infinity and Beyond…” What was your reaction when you read this text and discovered that this is where this line came from?
[Editor’s Note: Since this interview was conducted, “Lightyear” has been banned in Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Kuwait, among other West Asian territories, due to the inclusion of the same sex kiss.]
I think it was beautiful. That’s the best thing about Pixar, being able to take these great phrases that Tim Allen created and make them really creative and create original stories for them all. It’s a movie full of Easter eggs, and it’s incredibly satisfying. But it’s a little scary, because those words are precious, not only to me, but to Buzz Lightyear fans, fans of Tim Allen, and you want to honor them as much as you can.
In your desire to honor this story, what was particularly important or exciting to you as a fan as you were learning more about the man behind the game?
Well, I loved the fact that Buzz – even though he is a hero and a kind of silent, austere, stoic kind of person, seems impenetrable at times – but even he can be human, and make mistakes, and feel guilt, shame, and remorse. But you have to learn from them.
no escape. We all make mistakes, and the way to move forward isn’t by burying them or pretending it didn’t happen. The way forward is to own it, learn from it and grow.
And in this movie, we got the most emotional montages I’ve seen, probably since Up.
very.
Did any of this make you cry when you saw it?
Of course – I cried. I don’t think I’ve seen a Pixar movie where I didn’t cry. They have the recipe, and they really do. I don’t know what it is but man tears are falling.
In this montage, we learn more about Alisha’s life, who is married; We discover this lineage in her granddaughter [Izzy, voiced by Keke Palmer]. Another thing we reported was removing this kiss and then returning this kiss between Alisha and her wife. Disney put a line in the sand saying, We’re bringing this back, but also, we won’t remove it for any other areas, in these places you might have a problem with it. What do you think the company made this decision?
I mean, it’s awesome. As cool as it is–you know, I’ve been asked the question many times–it’s cute, and adorable, it makes me happy. It’s hard not to get a little frustrated because it has to be a topic of discussion. This is that kind of “news”. The goal is to get to a point where that’s the norm, and that doesn’t have to be some unknown water, and that ultimately is what it is. This representation across the board is how we make movies. Look, it’s such an honor to be a part of something that is taking these steps, but the point is to look back at this time and be shocked that it took us so long to get there.
Last thing for you, “Lightyear” is an 80s style influencer, and the next one is “The Gray Man”, which isn’t set in the 80s, but is kind of 80s. Everyone always talks about ‘stache’, but what’s the happiest thing for people to see with Lloyd Hansen?
He’s a fun villain. I love to play villain. It’s a fun time. It’s just a wildcard. he’s crazy. And Ryan Gosling is an incredible actor. He’s a great anchor for any movie. He has the ability to do very little, but is still very captivating, and his kind of measured interpretation of the role is a wonderful counterpart to over-acting.
“Lightyear” premieres in theaters on Friday. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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