It’s been 14 years since The Incredibles hit our movies screens, and now they are back in a world that is prime and ready for a female to take the reigns….and that is exactly what happens in Incredibles 2.
We spoke with Holly Hunter aka Helen Parr/Elastigirl and Craig T. Nelson aka “Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible about what it was like to be doing the sequel so many years later.

Having had so many years gone by, we wondered what their reactions were to hearing that a sequel would finally be made.
“We were not hesitating in wanting to do this sequel,” said Holly with much enthusiasm. Craig added, “It was exciting because it was fourteen years! I thought, what is he (Brad Bird) gonna do? What are they gonna come up with? How can it be different? Where are we gonna pick it up? We didn’t know anything and then they talked about starting it right at the very end of the first one.

Then it was just a question for me of, I wasn’t sure if I could do it vocally, you know? Because I’d been doing Parenthood and Zeek had a different vocal quality. That gave me some trepidation and anxiety. We never saw the script; Brad kind of laid out the idea which was great! It sounded like it was gonna be fun.”
After fourteen years getting back into character must have been quite challenging we thought, but as they both assured us, it wasn’t that hard at all for either one of them to jump back in. “It helped that the movie literally starts fifteen seconds after the first movie,” says Holly, “that was just so funny to me, and completely an impossible thing to do in a regular film, which is what Craig and I normally do, television and films. So the ability of animation to do that was just so delightful.”

The trust that both she and Craig have for Brad Bird is inherent and helped in making the decision to return an easy one to make. Craig explained, “The fact that when we did the first one we didn’t know what it was gonna be. Then the thing turns out to be huge, right? So we’re waiting to see when we’re gonna do the sequel because you’re still actors and some of us find that we’re not always working. So you are thinking you have that to look forward to it then the third year comes, then the fourth year, and then you’re going, well hell, I’m not gonna pay for the stuff I bought because I always thought I wasn’t gonna work.”
To realize the impact that the first one had and how its held up, and then to be at this time to do the second one. It’s pretty amazing. – Craig T. Nelson
The storyline in this sequel really lends itself to the current climate of Hollywood, especially in the way women are taking a stand against injustice, much like in the movie. We asked Holly if she felt this while making the movie even though it was being filmed way before our current climate. She went on to say that she felt it was a little serendipitous that the Me Too, and the Times Up movement coincide with the opening of this movie. “Totally by coincidence of course, but there is definitely an element of it within the film.”
She went on to add, “It’s especially a great thing for kids to see this movie, not just little girls but boys, too. It’s great for everybody to see what men and women are capable of and that men are capable of being fantastic, nurturing parents. It’s fantastic and delightful to see Elastigirl living up to this gift that she has without any apology. She just is going for and losing herself in it, which is a beautiful thing. I think also for mothers, it’s great for a mother to be able to be fully engaged in something that has nothing to do with parenting, and I think that that’s difficult for all of us to actually give ourselves license to just go that, that deeply.”
Craig added that “Although Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible are competitive, and they have this kind of, you know, go ahead and do it, and when you do it, do it well like I know you can do it, but when you fail, you know, I’ll be there.”
Speaking about not understanding a scene in the film (I don’t want to give it away), Craig explains some of the things that perplex him in today’s world. “It isn’t just about education. The beauty of the education that I received was that it was you were classically trained. You had classic literature to refer to, and it was given to you and performed for you. So you learned words, you learned communication. So I when I visit my kids and my grandkids and they are looking down at phones (all the time), it’s disturbing.”

We’re not talking to each other. One of the beauties of this film is that nobody’s doing that. They’re engaged. They’re engaged as a family. – Craig T. Nelson

Even though its been 14 years, we still felt after seeing the premiere that Holly and Craig still have great chemistry. So, of course, we thought that they had remained good friends throughout the 14 years since the first movie, but we were wrong. Holly informed us that she and Craig had never met one another until about nine months ago. They attribute their chemistry to the magic of Brad Bird knowing which actors to put together and knowing which would sound the best together. “Brad put it all together before he ever knew us. His imagination was at work putting the chemistry together.”
As you will see when the movie arrives in theaters next this Friday, the chemistry is still there and even better. Along with our fateful superhero family, we are introduced to a few new characters who contain the same undeniable chemistry that is the magic of Brad Bird.

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Disclosure: I was provided with an all-expense trip to LA by Walt Disney Studios to attend these events. All opinions are 100% my own.