From “Firefly” to “Mad Men” to “The Neon Demon” to “Good Girls,” Christina Hendricks wholeheartedly embraces complex and layered characters with her latest role as Gabby Gabby in Pixar’s “Toy Story 4” being no different. The eerily calm and desperate ’50s baby doll makes for one of the series’ most fascinating and compelling antagonists to date. For every unsettling puppet, she surrounds herself with, there is a real relatable truth that paints the doll in a rather sympathetic light. I recently spoke with Hendricks about shaping the role of Gabby Gabby and the creative freedoms that come with voice performance for an animated film.
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During our conversation we also discussed the differences in approaching performance for TV, film, and voice acting, her evolving career as an actress, Gabby Gabby’s relationship with Forky and more.
“Toy Story 4” is a film that focuses a lot on adapting to different phases in your life and finding a new purpose. Being a veteran in the industry, how does this message speak to you?
I think it’s like, one day at a time, you know? In this kind of business, you don’t know what’s going to happen, like, I always think it’s really interesting when someone’s like “we were thinking next summer we were going to do this and go on vacation,” and I’m like “I don’t know if I’m going to live on planet earth next summer.” Like, I can’t make a plan that far ahead. Things are sort of, mercurial and changing all the time, and so you really do have to go with the flow. So that’s kind of like part of the job.
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Yeah, and it’s actually really interesting, cause it is, especially in terms of creative industries, it is a message that I think, rings especially true for people in there, because of the uncertainty involved.
Yeah!
You’ve played a diverse range of characters throughout your career, and this isn’t your first time voicing an animated character. Does working in animation or voice over in general offer you a different kind of creative freedom that isn’t found in live action
Absolutely. Annie and I were talking about it last night. There’s something sort of exciting and I like the challenge of “oh if you can’t see that I’m winking, or that I’m leaning on something, or that I’m smirking, I only have this one thing to convey what I want to you, so, how can I do that best?” And like let me try this way, and let me try this way, and you kind of learn more about yourself and your body, and how powerful a voice can be. So it’s kind of a whole different set of, what’s the word I want … techniques? That’s not the word
I was going to say skills.
I think “skills” is the word, that’s better. So it’s fun, and you kind of come out, you kind of come out feeling sort of like you worked out or something. It’s very physical, and it’s, you use your breath a lot, and you come out and you’re like “I feel like I just did yoga” You know? There’s something very physical about it.