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Steve Carell and Will Ferrell Reveal How They Found Their Despicable Me 4 Voices
Will Ferrell joins Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig in Despicable Me 4 as the latest villain to take on Gru.
Will Ferrell and Steve Carell’s kids influenced Despicable Me 4 in a big way.
The SNL alum and Emmy-winner jumped at the chance to join the fourth installment, which he affectionately called “The Quatro,” Ferrell revealed in an interview with NBC Insider.
“My kids are like, ‘Oh, no, Dad, you have to do that’, without even knowing the premise or what my character was,” Ferrell said. “They’re so well done. The animation is unbelievable. The collection of the minions, arguably, are some of the greatest comedic characters of all time in a weird way.”
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The movie follows Gru (Carell) and Lucy (Kristen Wiig) as they grapple with raising their newborn son along with their three daughters and their latest vexing assignment with the Anti-Villain League.
How Did Steve Carell and Will Ferrell Find the Right Voice for Their Despicable Me Characters?
As for finding his “Russian-ish” accent before the first film, Carell tested out various voices on his kids.
“I used my kids as the you know test for the character’s voice and it’s the one that made them laugh, so that’s the one I used,” Carell said.
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Ferrell voices Maxime Le Mal, a former high school classmate of Gru at Lycée Pas Bon School of Villainy. He disappears into an “over the top” French accent, which he found a lot of fun to play with.
“It’s French, if you’re wondering,” Ferrell joked.
“I knew he was playing this character and it did not sound like him,” Carell later quipped.
Ferrell worked with one of the directors to find the right voice, he explained.
“We ran through a bunch of like listening to you now Inspector Closeau and listening to you know old Monty Python bits and things like that,” Ferrell said. “It was fun to kinda emulate some of that in this character.”
Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig Credit Writers and Animators for Despicable Me Success
Carell and Wiig first joined the franchise in the first film as evil villain turned girl dad Gru and Miss Hattie, respectively. In the sequels Wiig took on her current role as anti-villain league agent Lucy. Still being a part of the movies is special to them, according to the actors.
They get to work with a lot of the same collaborators over the years, Wiig noted.
“You go into the booth, you’re talking to the same people,” Wiig said. “They ask about your kids. It’s like a family and we just keep coming back and the movies themselves are so light and positive that it’s—that’s the whole experience.”
Carell finds himself in disbelief he’s a part of the films and feels “very privileged.”
“We keep giving all the credit to the writers and the animators and the producers of these things, but that’s where it’s due,” Carell told NBC Insider, commending the creatives ability to expand the story in this world. “It’s just fun to be a part of. I mean, you go in, you do your little—you do your little voiceover, you do your part of it, and then they turn it into something that’s amazing to watch.”
Catch Despicable Me 4 on Peacock starting on Oct. 31, 2024.
