We're finally getting the welcome return of the Minions this week, but Steve Carell has admitted that when they were first described to him, he had no clue what to expect.
Carell reprises his role as Gru in Minions: The Rise of Gru, which acts as both the sequel to the standalone Minions movie and the prequel to the Despicable Me movies. It's the fifth movie in a hugely popular series, largely fuelled by everybody's love of the Minions.
So why does Carell think the series has proven so successful? He's happy to admit that, like with trying to understand the Minions, he's not quite sure.
"When we made the first movie, I thought it turned out great. I was so impressed with what the animators did and what the writers had done, and they created this world that was so unlike anything that I'd seen," he told Digital Spy.
"It was a little darker, a little edgier, there was something different about it. Kids loved it and they loved the Minions for sure. That was a stroke of genius. When they were first described to me, I couldn't for the life of me understand what they were talking about.
"Then when you saw them in the film, it completely made sense. I think the fact that they're all in good fun, there's a kindness that underlies all of it and a decency and a love and a sweetness to it all, and they're funny.
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"I think all of those things combined, maybe that's the alchemy, but it's hard to say. You never know when something is going to work and when it's not."
Minions: The Rise of Gru picks up after the events of the first Minions movie which ended with the Minions seeing Gru for the first time.
As the 12-year-old Gru dreams of joining the Vicious 6 supervillain team, the Minions attempt to help him and only end up making matters worse, leaving Gru and the Minions under threat from the supervillains.
While the sequel marks Carell's fifth time voicing Gru, it was a different challenge to discover just how Gru would sound as a 12-year-old hopeful supervillain.
"As soon as we start going through the dialogue, you start to feel it. This was a little different because Gru's voice and his demeanour's a tiny bit different too because he's so young and so earnest and so excited," he explained.
"Older Gru is a little more weary and a little more crusty and a little more reserved in that way. It was fun finding the different version of the same character. It's slightly higher-pitched and it's pinched as well as pitched."
You'll be able to check it out for yourself when the sequel finally hits cinemas this week after a two-year delay.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is released in cinemas on July 1.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
