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I spent last week in Los Angeles for Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 Press Junket, where we screened the newest film and interviewed most of the cast, including Samuel L. Jackson and Craig T. Nelson. And I’m excited to bring you another great interview today – the voices of Dash & Violet Parr- Huck Milner and Sarah Vowell.

Hopefully by now, you have seen the #1 Animated Feature in the country. My family went to see the movie this weekend and they all agreed with me that they thought it was better than the original Incredibles.

Last July at D23 Expo, the world was introduced to the cast of the Incredibles 2 family. As it’s been 14 years since the original Incredibles was released, there was a new face in the bunch. The role of Dash Parr was recast with a much younger actor, Huck Milner. And everyone was relieved to see that Sarah Vowell would be coming back as Violet – she has such a unique voice that I couldn’t imagine it being anyone else.

Actors Huck Milner, Sarah Vowell and Holly Hunter of INCREDIBLES 2 took part in the Walt Disney Studios animation presentation at Disney’s D23 EXPO 2017 in Anaheim, Calif.

It was very exciting to hear from both of them and find out what it was like filming the Incredibles 2. Though they never recorded together, they had a fun sibling chemistry during our interview.

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop | Momstart.com

Huck, were you a fan of the first Incredibles?

Huck Milner: Yeah, I was a big fan. My dad showed me it, and I really loved it.

What was it like being in Incredibles 2?

Huck Milner: It was actually really fun. Brad Bird made it really fun and it was really amazing.

Sarah, I’ve always loved your work that you’ve done on public radio, but how did you end up in the first movie?

Sarah Vowell: It was because they were casting or thinking about casting the first film, and I think Brad was in his car listening to the radio and heard one of my public radio documentaries and was so taken with the gravitas and maturity of my voice that he heard a junior high school student who becomes a superhero in that. So, yeah, people who are actors are like how do I become a voice actor? Like, go into journalism.

What was it like stepping back into the role? Did you have any difficulty with that?

Sarah Vowell: I mean she and I sound a lot alike, so there’s that. And, you know, Brad and I became friends in the first film. So, I have kept in touch with everybody. I would just go there just to have lunch with them sometimes. So, I was perfectly happy to just move into another room and get paid to be there. It has been a while since the first film, but like when you become one of these characters — you will learn this, Huck — you are Dash until you die.

Over the year, not a week goes by I haven’t talked to someone who wants to talk about how much they love the film or what Violet means to them. They always stay alive, especially because of VHS and then DVDs and now streaming and children watch these films over and over again and I’m sure, as you know, so do their parents.

And so, at any given day someone is watching that movie. So, Violet stays alive just because of other peoples’ fandom.

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop | Momstart.com

And what was it like working with Brad Bird again?

Sarah Vowell: I just trust him so much, especially after the first film. He always uses the best take, and he is really entertaining. You know, he’s the voice of Edna Mode. He is an exceptional voice actor himself. So, he does all the other parts.

It’s always really fun to do the things that come naturally, and for me that’s Violet’s sarcasm. She’s kind of a wise guy, and that’s what I’m like. But he’s very useful for the more emotional scenes. I was brought up to hide that stuff when you’re around people and especially sound engineers. So there’s a scene where Violet has to cry, and Brad was very delicate and very helpful with me and really respectful. Because I trust him and because he really does believe in me and had to because I had never acted before the first film, so that relationship – I like being in that room with him.

What was your favorite, most proud scene of your characters’ superhero moment?

Sarah Vowell: In the first movie, there was that moment in the cave on the island when they need to go save Bob, — Elastigirl and Violet and Dash. And Violet is like ‘I don’t know if I can do this’, and her mother says you’ve gotta step up. And she goes out of the cave, and like she stands up, almost does the superhero pose and puts her mask on. It’s like, yeah.

Huck Milner: And then probably after that, Dash annoys her.

Sarah: Yeah, yeah. Well, I mean she’s in a superhero family. She’s not Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman doesn’t have a little brother.

Huck Milner: My favorite part with my character, in the new movie — well, it wasn’t really a superhero part. I just liked it when he was pressing buttons. Crushing a couch inside of a water pond.

Sarah, what does Violet represent to you?

Sarah Vowell: Like all the members of the family, their powers are stemmed from the psychology of life — wherever that person is at their stage in life. So, like a ten-year-old boy has way too much energy and runs around. And the fact that Violet, especially when the first movie starts, hasn’t really developed her powers yet, but she has them and they reflect kind of her insecurities and her annoyances.

So, like becoming invisible is sort of like that teenage girl thing where you just want to hide. And also her force fields are ‘I don’t want to let you in.’ But then as she develops her powers and comes into her own and learns how to use the powers — and not only learns how to use the powers but enjoys using the powers, then they become her strengths. Then those powers really reflect what she can do and not what she’s afraid of.

She goes through the most growth of any character just because, that is what is a teenager does. It’s like the rite of passage of between childhood and adulthood. And so, she definitely represents that.

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop | Momstart.com

There’s quite a few political messages in the movie and some political undertones. How do you feel about that?

Sarah Vowell: That was for you, Huck.

Huck Milner : I don’t know, and —

Sarah : That’s all right. I think what you’re referring to is Elastigirl going and working outside the home and Bob staying home and taking care of the kids. That is the storyline for a while, and that’s interesting. And, you know, I find that compelling politically but also hilarious, because he is just trying to reign in his jealousy.

But by the end when they’re all working together, I mean the goal, I would say culturally for us as a society, is maybe everyone gets to become the person they’re supposed to be and they all get to be who they are equally and they all work together. And each of their individual powers, using those collectively for the greater good. Like, to me like that is an exciting, functional society where everyone gets to do that.

And when you see them all like working together, Frozone and the family, and each person contributing what they’re best at, — I don’t know if that’s political, but that’s the country I wanna live in.

Huck: It’s like what Winston Deavor said when he said we finally did one thing that’s really rare, which I sort of thought went with that, because everyone was agreeing on helping the city and helping doing all the stuff that they were doing.

Sarah : That was pretty deep.

Photo Credit: Louise Bishop | Momstart.com

See what I mean?? They sound just like a brother & sister team! I loved getting to meet & interview Sarah and Huck – they gave moe insight to this amazing movie!

Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is in theaters NOW!

This movie was, for lack of a better word, INCREDIBLE – full of laughs, tender family moments, and edge-of-your seat fun. It is truly a great movie for the whole family to see and perfect for summer. Make sure you grab your tickets to see it today!

Meet the Incredibles 2 Dash & Violet – Sarah Vowell & Huck Milner

Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 is in theaters NOW!

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