New Characters in Incredibles 2 | Bob Odenkirk & Catherine Keener

There are several new supporting cast members in Incredibles 2, including brother and sister, Winston and Evelyn Deavor. New to the Incredibles family, we sat down with Bob Odenkirk (voice of “Winston Deavor”) & Catherine Keener (“Evelyn Deavor”) to talk about their characters in Incredibles 2. You can read my full Incredibles 2 movie review (spoiler-free).

Here’s a short description of their characters:

Photo Credit: Disney

WINSTON DEAVOR (voice of Bob Odenkirk) leads a world-class telecommunications company alongside his genius sister, Evelyn. Ultra-wealthy, savvy and suave, Winston goes big in everything he does—including his infatuation with Supers. He has been a supporter of Supers returning—all he needs is a hero (or three) to help him change public perception and bring them back into the sunlight.

Photo Credit: Disney

EVELYN DEAVOR (voice of Catherine Keener), the brilliant brainchild behind her brother Winston’s telecommunications company, knows her way around tech. She loves tinkering with tech and has never met a problem she can’t solve. When Helen is recruited to help the Deavors bring back Supers, she and Evelyn become fast friends—exchanging ideas, creating strategies and sharing a lot of laughs along the way.

Incredibles 2 interview with Catherine and Bob

Photo credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

Working with Brad Bird

Before our interview started with this dynamic duo, Catherine walked in first. She was the sweetest thing, asking us if we needed anything (lol). After they got settled, we started with our questions. Naturally, we wanted to know how Catherine and Bob got involved with this incredible film.

Catherine mentioned Brad Bird (writer/director) called her to meet and talk about one of his upcoming movies. When they spoke, Catherine started the conversation with praise about Brad’s work, while Brad got straight to the point of why he called Catherine. And the rest is history. Bob chimed in and said he didn’t look at this as working with Pixar, but working on a Brad Bird film. They both spoke highly of Brad, so of course, we wanted to know what made Brad different than other directors in Hollywood.

Bob answered this question. ” Well, he’s not different from all of the directors. He’s a lot like the best directors (referring to amazing directors like Spielberg and Alexander Payne and Vince Gilligan). These guys know what they want, and they dial it in just so, and that could sound like oppressive to an actor. It’s not though. Somehow, it’s like a challenge that you want to meet, and it’s a neat thing to do it. And you feel accomplished when you do it. But also, they’re willing to hear, especially in the early stages of a scene, what do you want to try. Try something or even maybe after they got exactly what they want, you can say, yeah, but I don’t know. I had a different thought about how to say that line. And they’ll go let me hear it.”

Interview with Catherine and Bob- Incredibles 2

Photo credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

On being an animated character

We chatted with Bob and Catherine about how they felt seeing themselves as animated characters.

Bob: “People have said my character looks a lot like me, and in some ways, I think, yeah, that it is. And then there are ways I’m like, wow, I’m not remotely like that. Obviously, I don’t dress as well as the character. That’s for sure.”

Catherine thought her character was great. And after meeting her, I can see a lot of resemblances of herself and her character, Evelyn.

Photo credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

If they had a superpower

Since we’re talking about superpowers, and it’s questions we asked Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah, Huck, Holly and Craig, it was only right to continue this trend and ask Catherine and Bob what would their superpower be, if they could have one?

Bob’s answer surprised me. He said, “I would like to be able to eat whatever I want and not gain weight. It’s an obsession. It’s a part of my life too much, and that’s what I wish I could have.”

Catherine’s answer was to teleport. She’s from Miami, so being able to skip going to the airport and go right home would be amazing. A lot of us were nodding in agreement. We would all love to bypass TSA, waiting for a plane, walking through airport after airport, getting into the car to go home, dealing with traffic, and the list goes on and on.

SUPER FANS – In “Incredibles 2,” savvy siblings and business partners Evelyn and Winston Deavor summon Frozone, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible to share a plan designed to ultimately make Supers legal again. Featuring Catherine Keener as the voice of Evelyn, Samuel L. Jackson as the voice of Frozone, Holly Hunter as the voice of Elastigirl, Craig T. Nelson as the voice of Mr. Incredible and Bob Odenkirk as the voice of Winston, Disney•Pixar’s “Incredibles 2” busts into theaters on June 15, 2018. ©2018 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Working on an animated set

A question was asked how working with animated compared to previous movies. Catherine mentioned it came down to trusting Brad. And this is something the other actors voiced as well. “You have to trust Brad, he’s putting that movie together, obviously, up at Pixar. So, you’re not seeing that. And he knows the tone of it all and the other characters, and it’s changing over time. So, you could feel it changing in the script, the tone, a little bit, but you don’t know where or how. And you never have the whole script. But you just gotta — you’re guessing at what might work. So, you give him what he wants, get that first and then maybe say what if I tried this and that.”

Bob mentioned that some of his suggestions and work, Brad told him he used in this movie. Which is pretty cool. They both agreed that this comes from working with a great director who already has confidence in his vision, that he (Brad) could listen to suggestions. And if those ideas were better, Brad went with them.

Photo credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

Female Roles

We also talked about some of the scenes in the movie, especially the ones between Evelyn and Elastigirl. Catherine shared with us, at one point, her character was supposed to be a man but was changed to a female. Which would have been interesting if Evelyn would have been a guy? Some of the scenes and messages between her and Elastigirl would have gone over differently. Both actors agreed, with Bob stating, “If that was a guy and Elastigirl, fundamentally not the same message to the audience subconsciously of female characters can be well-rounded. And they can be evil and good and both at the same time and be a part of the story on the level those two characters at that moment. It would not be the same just to have Elastigirl be the superhero.”

You don’t want to see how they shine in their roles in Incredibles 2. Will you love these new characters? Plan to see it- now playing in theaters everywhere!

Photo Credit: Disney

New Characters in Incredibles 2 | Bob Odenkirk & Catherine Keener