I’ve never been in a movie before, so I’m going to have to take actors’ word for it when they tell me that making movies can be a fulfilling, yet exhausting experience where you’re constantly making little changes here and there. This is true for Best Picture winners, massive superhero spectacles and even some of the best comedies of all time. That last one is based on a story Craig Robinson told me about an experience with Seth Rogen on the set of the cameo-filled 2013 comedyThis Is The End.
I recently sat down with Robinson to talk about the home release of The Bad Guys 2, which is available on Digital after debuting on the 2025 movie schedule. During our conversation, I asked the actor behind the master of disguise, Mr. Shark, what the biggest difference was between making an animated movie and a live-action one, and he told me that there are “great advantages” of voice work, “because you can go back”:
It works different ways with different people, I’m sure, but the way I work, we’ll read through it a couple of times, and then we’ll try to find the character. We’ll go line by line, just doing different readings of each line. And then, sometimes you get three or four scenes into the project, and then you’ll find something you really like about the character, and then bring it back to the beginning and redo it. That’s one of the great advantages of doing voice work, because you can go back.
When I asked the Office alum if he ever had to “go back” and refilm something due to changes to a character or scene in one of his live-action movies, Robinson shared a story about Seth Rogen and the rest of the This is the End cast while they were filming the 2013 end-of-the-world disaster comedy:
Only one time have I seen us go back and refilm something, and that was for This is the End. Seth Rogan did his coverage and then once everybody improvised all around the table and Seth was throwing stuff back, we had to do his coverage again. But, for the most part [with animation] , you can do that all day with the voiceover.
With the 2013 comedy starring actors playing wildly exaggerated versions of themselves, it’s surprising that Robinson, Rogen and the rest of the large ensemble cast didn’t have to go back and refilm more scenes, like that random, yet amazing dance sequence. I mean, I know I would be cracking up filming that over-the-top heavenly scene with the Backstreet Boys and would have to refilm that way too many times.
With Robinson’s background in music, which could open the doors for a Bad Guys musical, I’m sure he was having the time of his life playing a version of himself hanging out in heaven with his best friends getting up to trouble with one of the biggest pop groups of all time.
The Bad Guys 2, like multiple other new and recent movies streaming, is currently available to rent or buy on Digital. It will also be available on 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD starting October 7.
