ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim recently sat down with actors Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, Bros) and Seth Rogen (Superbad, The Fabelmans, The Super Mario Bros. Movie) about their roles as Timon and Pumbaa in the new Disney movie Mufasa: The Lion King. They discussed their characters, the projects they want more people to see, and Rogen’s iconic laugh.
“Lost and alone, orphaned young Mufasa meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline,” reads the official synopsis. “The chance encounter sets in motion an expansive journey for an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies.”
Mufasa: The Lion King now playing in theaters.
Jonathan: Billy, my first question is for you, how much overlap is there between Timon’s sulkiness and all his quirks and your own sense of humor?
Billy Eichner: They are completely separate.
Seth Rogen: It takes him hours to get into character.
Billy: I worked with an acting trainer for years to build up to Mufasa. I mean, what’s fun about the movie for me is that I get to use certain parts of my comedic persona, but because it’s a family movie and a Disney movie, I can’t rely on certain crutches. You know, I can’t be too nervous. I can’t curse a storm. Which is actually a good challenge, you know, not being able to do certain things that can inform your jokes and still be funny. And so that part of it is fun for me.
By the way, you guys are perfectly cast as Timon and Pumbaa.
Billy: In a movie where you can’t see our faces.
Seth: We would also be cast in the live-action version of this.
You would play the characters in real life; you probably look like them. I can already see it. Now, Seth, I want to ask about your laugh. Because it’s become this iconic thing and you get to laugh in character like Pumbaa, which I love. And so I want to ask, when did you first notice how iconic it is and how have you noticed how it’s taken on a life of its own?
Seth: I mean, ever since I was young I had a distinct laugh, you might say. And most people would make fun of it. I’d say that’s how it would turn out. I remember one time an Israeli girl came up to me and said, “You laugh like Beavis and Butthead.” Which was very popular when I was a kid. And then I don’t know, now, that’s one thing where a comment I get very often is, I’ll be out in the world and I’ll be laughing and then people will come up to me and say, “I did it” didn’t know it was you. And then I heard you laugh.” So I’ve tried never to laugh again.
Never, never be funny, Seth Rogen.
Seth: Yes, I’ll hide my laughter. It’s an ironic thing for someone like me to have to do.
Speaking of when people walk up to you on the street and they recognize you, what’s one project you’ve done that people always bring up when they see you? And what is a project that you wish more people would talk about when they see you on the street?
Billy: Oh, I mean, Billy on the Street, people talk about.
Do people ever think you’re supposed to host them or something?
Billy: Well, the weird thing is that people want me to yell at them.
Seth: It’s like meeting Don Rickles; you want to be toasted.
Billy: You want to be roasted, which is an odd thing. It’s like people literally come up and take out their phones, and they’re like, “Please yell at me and, like, curse me.” And I’m like, “I can’t do it right now. Like, it’s just too weird.”
There is no camera here!
Billy: Yes. But yeah, people talk to me about Billy on the Street all the time. There are so many projects that I feel are underrated. It’s hard to choose. Shall we go in chronological order?
I’m a Bros fan.
Billy: Oh, thanks. It would surely be one of them. But yes, I try to think. Actually one of the funnest things I’ve ever done, this is so not Disney, but I was on a season of the Ryan Murphy show American Crime Story. And I got to play Matt Drudge, like you know…
Seth: It’s literally Disney because I think the show is on FX, which is actually owned by Disney.
Billy: Oh, you’re right. I forget that we are in a different time. It’s not Bambi, it’s Matt Drudge, he’s up there with iconic Disney characters. But it was very cool to play him. He’s a real screwed up guy who really was the first self made internet billionaire in the late nineties. And so I really enjoyed doing that. I’m not sure who saw it, but I loved it.
How about you, Seth?
Seth: That’s a good question, I get a lot of Pineapple Express and Superbad. Those movies seem to have stuck. I see a lot of 16-year-olds in McLovin shirts who are very happy to see me, which is very nice. I don’t know what I wish people – I get enough. There is nothing. I get more than enough recognition.
You get too much recognition!
Billy: Well, not after I said I didn’t! What should I look like?
Seth: I want people to appreciate Billy Eichner’s Matt Drudge work.
Billy: It’s what’s been keeping him up at night!
Seth: He killed it!
Timon and Pumbaa have this famous catchphrase: Hakuna Matata. And that’s why I want you to inspire the young people here. What is your motto that you want people at home to live by?
Seth: Hakuna Matata is a pretty good one. I actually find myself saying “no worries” a lot.
Billy: I say “no worries” all the time.
I say it all the time too.
Seth: Every time I say it, I’m like, “oh, I quote that! I do!”
You are a method actor!
Seth: Yes! So that’s good. I’d say “no worries” is fine. It is impossible. I worry all the time, and there are real things you should worry about. So it’s not always the best advice.
Billy: I’m worried about saying that “no worries” is good advice.
Absolutely. Now I want to have some fun with you. I want to see how much you know your characters. So let’s see, we have a camera over there. I want you to tell the people at home to watch Mufasa: The Lion King. And I would love if you could do it in character like Timon and Pumbaa.
Seth: It’s about the same.
Billy: That’s pretty much what you’ve seen for the last seven minutes.
Seth: Go see The Lion King. I’m Pumbaa.
Billy: I’m Timon.
Seth: Go see The Lion King.
Billy: Go see Mufasa. I’m in character right now. It will be hard to tell the difference between us and when you see us in the movie. Not since Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln have you seen such a transformation.
The post Mufasa Interview: Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner on Voice Timon and Pumbaa appeared first ComingSoon.net – Movie trailers, TV and streaming news and more.
