Chatting with INSIDE OUT’s Kyle MacLachlan, “Dad”! #InsideOutEvent

Disclaimer: Disney/Pixar sent me to Los Angeles on an all-expenses paid press trip, in exchange for my coverage of these events, which included attending the INSIDE OUT Red Carpet Premiere and an interview with INSIDE OUT’s Kyle MacLachlan. All opinions are my own.

(Stacy Molter/Fancy Shanty)

Getting to sit down with an experienced actor is always a unique experience. You think you know them from the characters they have played on television or in film. But in reality, you are always surprised by something. Such was the case when I had the chance to sit down with INSIDE OUT’s Kyle MacLachlan.

Kyle MacLachlan has played some of the most interesting roles. From “Twin Peaks” and “Sex and the City” to “Desperate Housewives” and most recently “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, his characters are memorable.

With INSIDE OUT ringing in the summer with a $91 Million opening weekend, there is no doubt that “DAD”, played by Kyle himself, will be remembered! (Yes, – huge news for Pixar this weekend. The biggest domestic debut in Hollywood history for an original film — one not based on sourced material, or a sequel.)

I can only imagine what it’s like to work on a big project for PIXAR!

But  for an actor, how different is being the VOICE for an animated character?

Kyle shared, ” I always say, as an Actor, they pick you up sometimes. They feed you, they tell what to wear. They tell you what to say. They tell you where to stand. They tell you when to stop, they tell you when to go. They tell you where to sit and you’re waiting. They tell you where to eat lunch. So it’s pretty nice not to have to do a whole lot.”

He went on, “Voice Acting is nice because there’s not a Camera that you have to be aware of necessarily. Although they did film all of the stuff that I was doing just to capture the physical gestures and mannerisms and a little bit to incorporate I think in the role or in the drawings. But it’s challenging because as I said earlier,  I run the scene in my head so I’m recreating, cause I don’t see all the stuff. It’s sort of described, he’s at the door, he’s at the bed. I’m like, ‘when does he get there?’…..you get exhausted doing that actually.”

(Stacy Molter/Fancy Shanty)

He had mentioned being filmed while they were recording his voice, something I had learned a little bit about when interviewing Vin Diesel about Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy. So I was curious……and had to ask a question!

On adding a personal touch to the character of DAD. I wondered if any of Kyle MacLachlan’s physical characteristics or quirks which were filmed show up in “Dad’s” character in INSIDE OUT.

Kyle MacLachlan said, “There’s a couple of facial gestures that I see that I’m like Oh God, that resembles me, but only for a split second.” He added, “You know, when they gave you the folder and said here is the Character, I was like he’s got a moustache……and I had to sort of get myself into that thing, that space I guess. And the same thing with Diane Lane. You look at Diane Lane, and she’s gorgeous and the Mom was kind of, ‘Mom’. And then you hear Diane’s voice coming out of her mouth and OK, that’s different.”

“Some of the Monkey stuff that we did, they were filming right as I was doing it and that made it in as well. I felt like they relied on my contribution and needed it actually and were grateful for it, which makes you feel good.”

On Fatherhood, and those emotions inside his son…..

Kyle MacLachlan is a father himself to one son, almost 7 years old.

He weighed in on the emotions inside his son saying, ” I totally see it in him. So he’s coming up on 7, so they’re still trying to figure out how they all work together. Joy is the dominant one for him but he can bring in some disgust with attitude, which I’m sure he’s picked up at school. But he definitely has this silly gene from me. And from that comes from my Grandmother in fact.”

Which EMOTION character would you choose to babysit your 7-year old?

Kyle MacLachlan weighed in by saying, “Well the Protective Dad…..Fear because that would keep him from doing anything, but then he wouldn’t experience everything that I would want him to experience, so I think Joy. I think kids are pretty resilient, you know, and if they got into trouble, they’d figure a way out.”

He added, “I love watching him come to me with an idea…….There’s something fantastical idea that in his brain, it makes complete sense, this sequence of things and I’m like, well if you do that, you’re gonna end up falling in the toilet, you understand that. And he’s like, No, No, No, No, cause he sees it a completely different way. And that to me, is the fun of having a little kid, just to listen to them, listen to their logic because it’s so completely not logical. I love that.” What Dad’s can take away from INSIDE OUT (and I must add that’s it’s awesome advice)…..

While a fairly new father himself, Kyle had the best advice for a father based on his character in INSIDE OUT!

Kyle MacLachlan said, “He is soft spoken kind of Dad. He’s a gentle Dad. And I think really attempting to connect with her (Riley), to understand what is going on in her brain. Giving your kids a little bit of space to figure it out I think would be good.”

Recalling the scene at the dinner table after Riley’s first day at her new school, Kyle added, ” Do you want to talk about it? And you realize with kids, a lot of it is about timing so if you come to them and you’re prepared to have a nice conversation, deep, they’re not ready. So you have to take them when they’re ready. You have to engage them when they’re ready. That could be at the most inopportune times. 4th Quarter in a great Football Game, you just have to walk away from the Football Game and engage in because that’s when they’re ready.”

BRILLIANT! And with that, I’m forever a Kyle MacLachlan fan!

INSIDE OUT is in theaters everywhere NOW!

Be sure to read my other INSIDE OUT posts:

• Fave moments at the INSIDE OUT Red Carpet Premiere
• INSIDE OUT Movie Review
• Scoop on the new INSIDE OUT Toys and Products

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