Coming out this week in 3D theaters and IMAX 3D from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar is the Lee Unkrich-directed sequel Toy Story 4, which features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Jeff Pidgeon, Annie Potts, Christina Hendricks, Blake Clark, and Tony Hale.
Woody’s journey in “Toy Story 4” includes a visit to a carnival where he meets Ducky and Bunny, two carnival prizes who are eager to be won. But when their plans are rudely interrupted by Woody and his friends, they find themselves on an unexpected adventure with a group of toys who have no idea what it feels like to be tacked to a prize wall.
Christina Hendricks (Good Girls) plays Gabby Gabby in Toy Story 4, a doll who is trapped in an antique store. Her loneliness is what motivates the sequence of events throughout the film.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com correspondent Kristen Martin, Hendricks talks about the connection she made with Gabby Gabby, which influenced her understanding of the role and the overall message she brings to the franchise.
How are you feeling now that the film is ready for the world to see?
Christina Hendricks: “I’m excited for my friends and family to see it because they haven’t seen it yet. So I think it will be more real for me when they get to see. They don’t know what my experience was yet, so when I get to see their reaction, it’ll be real for me.”
What are some of the similarities that you have with your character Gabby Gabby?
Christina Hendricks: “Red hair, blue eyes, a couple of freckles. I like that she’s multi-dimensional and [shows] that not everyone is one thing. Maybe we have to hear someone’s story before we judge who they are or understand why they are behaving the way they do.”
Love is one of the major themes throughout each of the Toy Story movies. Was there anything that changed for you in regards to your perception or idea of love after filming?
Christina Hendricks: “I don’t know that anything changed, but I think when I saw the film, I think the thing that got the tears going is that they all kind of joined in and helped Gabby Gabby, that family camaraderie, that group love that’s kind of what we always want. And when you see it so genuinely presented, you start to tear up. It’s just sweet. She just wants friends. She’s been hanging out in an antique store with a bunch of dummies that don’t talk to her. Then she meets Forky and she’s like, oh my god I have to tell you my story. She’s like finally I can tell someone what I’ve been going through.”
On filming animation…
Christina Hendricks: “One thing that’s really fun is getting to put a bunch of choices on the table. When you’re doing a normal film, you do a couple of takes. But with this I can go, wait let me do it again, or, let me try this. And it’s really playful so you get to lay down all these options and the director can say, I liked the way you did it the third time, let’s do that five more times. I love notes as an actor. Not everyone loves notes, but I love it because to me, that’s why I act, it’s like, let’s create something together. So that’s my favorite part to have all of these options.”
To what extent is it helpful, in your career development to have this experience with animation? Does that inform or impact other styles or ways of acting?
Christina Hendricks: “I definitely learned more about doing voiceover work, where the only thing you can use is your voice. You can’t rely on your gestures, or your facial expressions or anything like that. So you think, well, how powerful is my voice and what happens when I do this with it? And you sort of realize how to manipulate that in a way, and so it feels more fun and easier and you feel more confident when you do the next voiceover.”
What do you think is one of the features that compels both adults and children in this series?
Christina Hendricks: “I think there’s an earnestness, and it’s genuine, and it’s loving but it’s never precious. It’s a very real, well-rounded story so I think adults and children relate to it. And it has that bit of what we all want in a group of friends, that they’ve got your back no matter what.”
Do you have any memories from the first Toy Story that stuck with you throughout life or that you used to help tell this present story?
Christina Hendricks: “I think the thing that I remember from the very beginning and also when I saw the very beginning of the animation here, is that how clever it was to do it from the toy’s perspective. Because when you’re a kid, you say, if only I could shrink, you know what I mean? And it’s like, you’re in the back alleys of this antique store and you see the dust bunnies and it’s all from that perspective and it’s so darn cool.”
If there was one particular scene from this film that you could show yourself whether as a motivator or some source of hope, which would it be?
Christina Hendricks: “If it was just to tell my young self that one day I’m going to be a professional actress, it would be the first little reveal of Gabby Gabby. I think it’s such a great reveal. And if it was just to sort of teach a life lesson or something sweet, I really love the moment at the very end with the little lost girl, when Gabby Gabby sees her crying and she says, maybe this is the kid. It’s so sweet.”
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