Right, and in a way, Forky is kind of like a key component in all that.
Yeah, he’s liked her the whole time. He doesn’t even understand what everybody’s talking about.
When shaping this character, what was the essential element that you wanted to convey in your performance?
Forky always coming from a place of simplicity, and obviously wonder and curiosity, but anything that I could do to contribute to this, what I saw, as a beautiful message of his home was the trash—that’s all he knew—and Woody saying: “You’re made for so much more than that. You have a greater purpose.” And I would love to tell any adult, any kid that. If you see yourself that way, if somebody else sees you, whatever, no, no, you have a valuable purpose, and you have tremendous value. So I think there’s nothing better than that. And you have somebody who might look at Forky and just be like “yeah he’s just a spork with some pipe cleaners and some popsicles,” but like, no, he’s a lot more than that.
Yeah, I think that really came through, especially during the conversation between him and Woody on the side of the road. That was one of the most touching moments for me.
Yeah, and it’s like, I want him saying everything’s going to be okay to me for the rest of my life. Who doesn’t want to hear that?
Of course! Especially coming from Tom Hanks.
Exactly.
You’ve played many different and iconic characters throughout your career and, having worked in animation before, does it offer you a different kind of creative freedom that you don’t get on set?
Yeah, it does. I mean it’s both free, and it’s extra challenging. I say that because most of my work that I’ve done is comedy and it involves a lot of physicalities, it consists of a lot of eyebrows, a lot of nonverbal, and when you have your voice to communicate a journey and a story, it’s tricky. They do not see any of this (motions to body). They see a spork that doesn’t have much facial expression. So, it’s like you want to make sure your voice is giving what the story needs. It’s tricky in that way and yet there’s also a freedom to it. It’s almost like when you’re doing the voice; you act it out. I act it out as though I’m performing in front of a camera because you want that kind of different colors of the voice to come from the acting.
Right, and going back to comedy, how has working with such amazing comedians throughout your career prepared you for the role of Forky?
Oh man. I mean, it’s pretty astonishing to be sitting next to Tom Hanks, and Annie Potts, and Tim Allen, and all these comedic geniuses, and also just icons in the entertainment business. I guess the more work that, and the more you’re in this business, you see behind the curtain a little bit, that it’s not about, the fame, or the celebrity of everything. It is about the story, and [I’m] so thankful to be working, and you see these actors, who themselves are so grateful to be doing this story and to be grateful for this franchise. It’s not so much like “oh, I’m doing this with Tom Hanks.” No, I’m able to be a part of this story, that I feel such an impact of what Pixar has created like that’s the honor.
I completely agree because you’re part of the legacy of this franchise now.
And that, even hearing you say that I’m like, “are you talking about Tony Danza, like who are you talking about?”
“Toy Story 4” focuses a lot on life changes and finding purpose, and I’m curious as to how this message speaks to you in your career?
I think one thing the entertainment business does is, wherever somebody is they say, okay, you’re going to have value when you get this, or when you get this award, or when you get this film or this or this or this, and the truth is, your value does not change before and after success. You have value in just who you are, and that stays the same if you were to win an Oscar the next year, and I love that this film shows so much about just the value of who you are and not necessarily what you’re going to go on to do.
“Toy Story 4” is now playing in theaters everywhere. You can check out my review of the film along with more “Toy Story” coverage below.