If you have seen Pete Docter’s Inside Out – or if you know any children – then you know about Bing Bong, the half-forgotten imaginary friend left rambling around the consciousness of 11-year-old Riley, which is where Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler) and Sadness (Phyllis Smith) find him at a key point in the story.
Bing Bong will make you laugh, he’ll make you smile and he will break your heart. This is largely thanks to the remarkable voice work of Richard Kind, long-time character actor and veteran of Pixar’s A Bug’s Life, Cars and Cars 2 and Toy Story 3. With Inside Out landing on disc this week, Kind was more than happy to discuss his work on the film and a few other things.
I should start by telling you that I’m a 47-year-old man and I wept like a grandmother at Inside Out, and most of that is on Bing Bong.
I understand, and I take full responsibility. I’m as proud as proud can be. [laughs] I know. It’s a wonderful thing.
How did you wind up playing the movie’s heart?
Here’s the thing: from what I understand, [Riley] was supposed to have a couple of imaginary friends. They then just wrote me – it was just Bing Bong. And they went to John Lasseter, who is a fan of mine, and I of him. We had worked together, and I was lucky enough to do four prior Pixar movies. So I guess that when he read the script, he goes, “Yeah, I can see and hear Richard Kind doing this.”
How did you figure out how to play Bing Bong? When did you know you had him down?
The scariest thing for me as an actor is when I am asked to report on set and I haven’t auditioned for the role. Because who knows if, when I open my mouth, I am what they want? What happens if they go, “Uh-oh, we never thought he would sound like that! He’s terrible! This is not what I want at all!” So the very first recording session, and the very first take of the recording session, is the scariest. You’ve got the script, you’ve read it over, you’ve made your decisions, what you’re gonna do with it, this is how you interpret it. And then you say it… and thank god, they howled. They loved it. From then on it’s the easiest thing in the world, because you got ’em.
It was just that easy?
I knew what this character was. There’s no malevolence, there’s no malice to this guy. He is purity. When you try and act pure, it can be exhausting, because it’s expansive. I can’t say I really created a process, and I’m not that kind of an actor anyway – I make a decision, I act it. You know – you put too much thought in it, you get rid of your heart. When the brain enters into an actor’s process too much, it’s no good. I had a teacher who always said, “If you ask a kid to play Christopher Columbus with Queen Isabella, he’s not gonna say ‘Well, who’s taller? Queen Isabella or Columbus? And what is Columbus like?’ He just says, ‘Okay, I’m Christopher Columbus!’ And he acts it!” I just say this is Bing Bong, these are the situations, and let’s see how it goes.
Animated movies have a long, long production process. Did you get to see various versions of Bing Bong as you recorded the role?
I did see what he looked like, but you wanna know something? When I was recording, I never thought of Bing Bong looking like he did. I always thought it was me. I always thought Bing Bong looked like me. And he doesn’t. But I never had it in my head: “This is what Bing Bong looks like.” I knew he was big, because he’s an elephant, so that was easy. But then I’m big, so that also was easy. [laughs]
You do have a certain physical presence. But filmmakers are also figuring out how to cast you in really interesting roles. We first met at TIFF when you were here with A Serious Man, for instance, which really seemed like a pivot for you, career-wise. You’ve since turned up in a wide range of parts, from Gotham to Obvious Child to HBO’s ill-fated racetrack series, Luck. It’s a great place to be, so how did you get there?
I’ll tell you my theory. When I first started, I thought the only way I was gonna make a living was through sitcoms. And so most of my year was spent [making] sitcoms. There would be 22 or 26 episodes a year, and then I would go do a play, which was usually completely opposite to anything I played on TV. It would be either a villainous or classical role or something like that, and I kept doing that. Then Spin City ended and I was doing a lot of theatre, which would challenge me. Once you’ve established yourself on TV they don’t really let you do anything else [beyond what you’re already doing], which was why I’d have to go on the stage. I’m a known commodity from TV, so they might get an audience because of me, and I would say “You know what, I don’t want to do anything like what I do on TV.” And I guess I got the confidence to say “Okay, I can do that on film.”
And people would see me do different things. Like, I was nominated for a Tony two years ago [best performance by a featured actor, for The Big Knife], and I played the most heinous, horrible, villainous man. In a classic Clifford Odets play! This man is so horrible he drove Bobby Cannavale’s character to suicide! So I get these chances, and all of a sudden different things pop up, and I’m very lucky. I just get a myriad of things to play. Have you seen Red Oaks yet?
No, we’re still waiting to see which streaming service gets it up here in Canada.
When you see that? I got lucky. My career is filled with luck. I am a blessed man – as I used to say, with a face like this I better be good. I’m the Smuckers of acting. [laughs]
By the way, there are two movies that I am especially proud of, and I feel that I will go down in the history of cinema because of them, and you mentioned both. A Serious Man, which I think is a masterpiece, and Inside Out, which I think is also a masterpiece. I’m lucky.
Well, I’m not quite ready to watch Inside Out again, but I look forward to it.
When you get the DVD, watch the added things for Riley’s First Date. Oh, it’s so good. The movie is a masterpiece, but it’s an investment that you have to know in order to get five minutes of utter comedy when you see Riley’s First Date.
Inside Out is now available on Blu-ray and DVD from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.
Check out our Inside Out review here.
