WAMG Talks BIG HERO 6 With TJ MILLER And DAMON WAYANS JR.

BIG HERO 6 is getting ready to soar into theaters this Friday, and WAMG can’t wait! Recently, we sat down with TJ Miller (voice of Fred) and Damon Wayans Jr.(voice of Wasabi) in a small roundtable at Disney Animation Studios to talk about their experience working on the Disney Film, lending their comedic skills to their characters, and giraffes. Check it out below!

From Walt Disney Animation Studios, the team behind “Frozen” and “Wreck-It Ralph,” comes “Big Hero 6,” an action-packed comedy-adventure about the special bond that develops between Baymax (voice of Scott Adsit), a plus-sized inflatable robot, and prodigy Hiro Hamada (voice of Ryan Potter). When a devastating event befalls the city of San Fransokyo and catapults Hiro into the midst of danger, he turns to Baymax and his close friends adrenaline junkie Go Go Tomago (voice of Jamie Chung), neatnik Wasabi (voice of Damon Wayans Jr.), chemistry whiz Honey Lemon (voice of Genesis Rodriguez) and fanboy Fred (voice of T.J. Miller). Determined to uncover the mystery, Hiro transforms his friends into a band of high-tech heroes called “Big Hero 6.”

What is it that said to you, I got to do this.

TJ MILLER : I would, my story is a little interesting because I haven’t told this all yet so this is an exclusive for you guys but yeah, scooping this uninteresting story. But my Voice Over Agent called me and said Disney’s doing this thing called BIG HERO 6 and it was right when I was at a point where I’ve worked sort of compulsively. I have a very strong work ethic and I was trying to pair down the stuff that I was doing so I said I can’t do it, you’ve got to tell them I can’t audition, I can’t do anything with the movie. And he was like ‘I really think you should consider doing this. It wouldn’t take a ton of time.’ ‘And I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m already doing a TV Show’ cause in my mind, I thought it was like another television show, or it was some small DVD Project or something. How wrong was I? And then he called back the next day and he said, ‘They’re really, really interested in you for the part. They really want you to do the movie and it’s gonna be like a big thing for Disney.’ And I was like ‘I can’t do it,’ and I was at my terrible girlfriend’s house at the time. ‘I can’t – I can’t step away to do this.’ And then he called back a 3rd time the next day and said, ‘Can you just record something on your iPhone?’ And I go ‘OK, fine, yes all right.’ I think I went into her weird walk in closet and recorded this thing. As I looked at it on the iPhone, I did it once or twice and I added some funny lines to it and I just sent it in and I was like ‘Fine, fine, fine.’ And you know, months later as Damon’s discussed how insanely long this process is, they said, ‘So, you’re gonna do BIG HERO 6.’ And I was like ‘Great-What is it?’ And he’s said, ‘It’s Disney’s huge tentpole movie after FROZEN.’  And I think part of it was that he wanted to make me not get nervous. I don’t really get that nervous but he just wanted me to do just the read if I could. So, I booked it off an iPhone.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : It’s just… why didn’t he lead with that?

TJ MILLER : I know. Then I would have been like, ‘I’ll fly to you now!’ Disney’s influenced all of our lives.

Did you guys audition for Baymax?

DAMON WAYANS JR. : No, I mean aside from him, I feel like our characters facilitate the comedy as far as keeping it light when needed and making the group of friends feel real, like they actually have been friends for a while. I feel like being friends with a guy like Fred is like you have to have known him for a while to maintain that friendship.

TJ MILLER : Yeah.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : And he’s kind of, not an annoying person but he’s like the guy who’s the fan of what all the other characters do but he doesn’t do any of that. He kind of just chills and goes, ‘You know what would be cool if you made like—’

TJ MILLER : And we’ve been here for a while and I think he hit it on the head in that they came and they said, you know, you’re both comedians so we want you to do a lot of the comedy in the movie. Baymax is comedic but he’s everything, and all of it. And they told me until I signed on for the movie but Fred’s kind of like you, kind of like a chill guy, who’s very excitable. And I think that’s what I love about his character is that he’s so excited for everybody in this journey. And this is like a comic book and we’ve got to do this. We should go for it. This is our Origin story, all that sort of stuff. And he’s very silly. They let me be kind of absurdist in a couple of points and sing that Fred’s Angel song that’s so bizarre. And those moments allowed me to sort of play to my idiosyncrasies but then they also trusted me and Damon to kind of do the Disney moments where we have to have some heart, you have to add some sweetness to it and you’ve got to act a little bit, which I’m not very good at but I fooled everybody.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : The animated characters have been some of my best acting work. I just put my voice but the way they animate those guys, like the certain facial expressions that I would make reacting to something – I would just be like Wow. Wasabi is a better actor than me.

I saw that you have a tendency to kind of going off the rails sometimes. Is that you in the studio and do you get a chance to kind of riff a lot?

TJ MILLER : Totally. They were so cool about that. They sort of told us thank you for partnering with us on this, not thank you for being an employee or working on this. Disney has that feel as a company, as a studio.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : We want it to be your voice, we want it to be your comedy and do the weird stuff that you do and riff and take it in any direction. And they provide you with such a great foundation, such good writing, such good stories, such great characters so it’s easy to riff off of those whereas it’s difficult to riff off of Pete Holmes and Jeff Garlin. But it was very much that experience of a Podcast like I could go anywhere that my voice could take me in my weird strange mind. So, that’s Fred Angels and Mi Casa is French for ‘front porch.’

I have a question. I watch you in your role every week. And it was obviously, clearly, a completely different character. Do you find any similarities in Wasabi and if so, what is your favorite thing about him that you got to put yourself into?

DAMON WAYANS JR. : Similarities between me and Wasabi-we’re both a little neurotic, a little OCD. I definitely am like him in that everything should be in its place. I’ve always been like that since I was young. But aside from that I’m not like him. I’m a lot more brave than he is. I’m also not a cartoon. [LAUGHTER] But it was a great experience to kind of be that guy who’s a little more apprehensive than most in going into these dangerous situations.

In the Movie, Fred sort of jumps.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : Super jumps.

Super jumps… and I know that he’s super excited and I noticed that throughout the Movie, he would point out. I saw it almost as satire poking fun at the Super Hero genre which it’s a revenge plot and there’s a Super Villain chasing you. What makes Big Hero Six rise above your typical Superhero Movie?

TJ  MILLER : Well I think that, I am a human cartoon. I think there’s something great about that self reverential thing that Disney does so well cause in a lot of television and stuff now, there’s this cynicism to like right? What if we were actually doing this thing and Fred is kind of like “we’re actually doing this thing” because he’s so excited that this is our origin story. I read something “that was our first landing together”. He’s so excited about all this. And that’s what I think- the topics that are a little bit more difficult like revenge and loss and grief and death is balanced really well with comedy and heart that Disney can do better than anyone else. And Marvel is so great with action and superhero through line but there’s a lot of wish fulfillment in this movie. I think even as adults we think about what would be our super power and what does it take to become a hero and how do you overcome loss and there’s just a lot of themes that are dealt with here that aren’t dealt with in every comic book or superhero story and this kind of got it all. That’s like what I’m so excited about to see people go whoa- this has 50 elements to it and they’re all handled well, that are balanced out with some pretty good comedy from Damon and then some fairly mediocre stuff from me.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : I also love the idea that these characters are normal human beings and what makes them Superheroes is their minds. Hiro making all these special suits for these guys. They’re not from a Planet Farkinon or somewhere that gives them their powers.

TJ MILLER : And radiation.

DAMON WAYNES JR. : Yeah, it wasn’t a spider bite. It was just these guys and their will, and their ingenuity combined with their costumes. But I really love that. I love, it kind of being about your superhero of your mind first.

TJ MILLER : And your Super power is Tech.

DAMON WAYANS : Yeah.

TJ MILLER : And work ethic, and like you said, ingenuity. That’s something all kids can go ‘whoa, well maybe I can build a robot like Baymax or maybe I can do something to help the world.’

DAMON WAYANS JR. : Definitely planting the seed for the next Generation coming up.

It’s interesting that they’re teams, they’re superheroes yet they all have their unique quirks as a person. What are some of your unique quirks.

TJ MILLER : I mean, I’ve been saying this a lot but I know more about Giraffes than anyone in this room. So I know an immense amount on giraffes facts.

Would you like to share a fun fact?

TJ MILLER : Yeah, their hooves are roughly the size of a Dinner Plate. They have 7 vertebrae like all mammals but they’re the tallest land mammal. The only animal that is born standing up, gestation period is 18 months. Have I made a point yet? [LAUGHS]

DAMON WAYANS JR. : How do they sleep?

TJ MILLER : Just kidding. They sleep in 10 minute giraffe naps and roughly sleep 30 minutes a day.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : Really?

TJ MILLER : Yeah, and they rarely get down. Their necks are so long that you would think that they would be able to reach a watering hole but they have to spread their legs apart, which is why they don’t drink much water, you know. They drink even less water than a camel because then they’re subject to predatory dangers. They have eyelashes and they have tear ducts but they’ve never been seen to cry.

DAMON WAYANS JR. : He doesn’t even like giraffes.

TJ MILLER : Yeah, I don’t like giraffes. That’s true. I just know everything about them.

FOR MORE INFO : 

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BIG HERO 6 hits theaters this Friday