Inside Out 2 has been a long time coming, and fans have been waiting for a return to Riley’s head for some time. After all, Inside Out has always had endless avenues to take for a sequel, though the main one seemed already written — Riley’s growing up, and with that comes a lot of change, including the introduction of some new emotions that could threaten to jeopardize her relationships with her friends and family. It seems simple, but we’ll leave it to Pixar to make sure we leave the cinema weeping anyway.
The impact of Inside Out alone was pretty hefty (don’t remind us about Bing Bong, it’ll set us off), so we expect that a story of Riley going through the changes of adolescence will be emotionally hard-hitting too, as Pixar proves just how much it loves to tug at the heart strings. But to brace ourselves for the film, and make any effort we can not to cry in front of our kids in the cinema, we’d better get to know what we can expect from the film.
That starts with the new characters, specifically the new emotions we’ll be meeting.
So who’s joining the cast of Inside Out 2? Here’s our guide to the new characters you need to know before jumping into the new Pixar film.
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Inside Out 2 Characters: Anxiety (Maya Hawke)
After her breakout role in Stranger Things, Maya Hawke has gone on to do pretty amazing stuff (and we’re not just talking about her solo album, which you should definitely check out). Following her roles in Netflix’s Do Revenge and her appearance in sun-soaked Wes Anderson quirkathon Asteroid City, Hawke has stepped into animation as the character that, so far, seems to be the well-intentioned antagonist to our core cast of emotions — Anxiety.
We see her first in the trailer for the film awkwardly pressing buttons in a sheer panic, and it’s probably safe to say that her flippant nature and fear of public embarrassment will lead to absolute mayhem in Riley’s head. She dumps a pretty hefty collection of suitcases on the floor in the control room, so it’s safe to say she’s ready to stick around for the long haul.
Which might not bode so well for Joy’s happy equilibrium.
Inside Out 2 Characters: Envy (Ayo Edibiri)
Another true breakout star coming to the world of Pixar after iconic roles in The Bear and Bottoms, Ayo Edibiri is the sweet toddler-sized bundle of joy you’ll see scrambling across Riley’s console in the trailer — Envy. Though her name might lead to presumptions of a more toxic emotion, they seem to be far more inquisitive, amazed by everything around her, marveling at Disgust’s hair and the friends Riley is trying to make outside her head.
She doesn’t seem to be particularly harmful, at least not in the way Anxiety unintentionally is, but she’ll certainly make a charming addition to the cast of emotions taking over Riley in a bid to make her a more nuanced person.
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Inside Out 2 Characters: Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos)
You might not know her name, but you probably know her. Joining the cast and dragging her feet as she wanders into the control room of Riley’s mind is Ennui, played by Adèle Exarchopoulos. Best known for her turn as Adèle in Blue Is the Warmest Color, Exarchopoulos has been consistently working in French cinema since, appearing in a number of films and series. She appears here, though, as “how you say… the boredom,” gearing up to offer Riley a real grown-up sense of total ambivalence. Teenagers reserve the right to be irritated and bored at any given thing, so her arrival at the console is pretty good timing.
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Inside Out 2 Characters: Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser)
The nervous tank of the new breed of emotions to take over Riley, Embarrassment has made his way to the control room in the shape of a big pink bundle of social fears in a grey hoodie. Embarrassment is voiced by Paul Walter Hauser, who you’ll likely recognise from I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman and Richard Jewell. Though he doesn’t seem particularly keen to get involved in any kind of way (all we need to do to see this is look at the miserable handshake he attempts with Joy in the trailer. Truly pitiful stuff), he seems to be reluctantly taking physical charge by picking up the entire existing bundle of emotions in one fell swoop. We can’t imagine he’ll be thrilled to be the muscle, but someone’s gotta do it.
Inside Out 2 Characters: Which emotions are returning?
Of course, the film doesn’t work without the core emotions that saw Riley through the difficulty of moving to a new city, and when it comes to those that truly led the charge on her dealing with change, it looks like change has come to the cast too.
Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith and Lewis Black return as Joy, Sadness and Anger, but there are changes elsewhere in the cast. Pixar alumni Tony Hale will be moving on from Toy Story 4’s Forky to Fear, taking over the role from Bill Hader, and Liza Lapira will now voice Disgust after Mindy Kaling left the project.
There are changes in the Andersen family too, as Riley will now be voiced by Kensington Tallman rather than the first film’s actress Kaitlin Dias, though her parents will still be voiced by Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan.
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Author Bio:
Joseph Kime is a journalist, author and podcaster from Devon, UK. He is the Senior Trending News Writer for gaming site GGRecon, writer of the self-published essay collection Building A Universe, and co-creator of The Big Screen Book Club podcast. After graduating from Plymouth’s MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he’s written for the likes of The Digital Fix, Zavvi and FANDOM. He’s Nobuhiko Ōbayashi’s biggest fan, and will talk your ear off about the significance of Kiki’s Delivery Service.
