Danny Trejo is known for his physicality — he looks like a pair of brass knuckles grew a mustache — but at this point in his career, the Minions: The Rise of Gru star especially loves voice acting. Like, loves, loves, loves voiceover work, as he explained in an interview with Screen Rant.
“I love it. I love it. Voice is so much fun,” he said. “If you just show up in pajamas, it doesn’t matter. And you don’t need makeup. It’s a whole lot more work with a director, because the director will give you [notes] like, ‘Hmm, let’s see. Okay…’ And yet somebody that’s directing a cartoon will say, ‘Okay, let’s do this. Roar!’” Here he demonstrated a growl that would strike fear into a pile of stones.
“It’s just kind of easy money,” the 78-year-old continued. “Well, that’s not true, but it’s just a lot simpler to do. And some people have a real tough time with it. I love it. But there’s a lot of actors that can’t stand it, or voiceovers.”
Trejo also delved into his decades of experience being typecast in live-action roles: “The way I look, and my voice and stuff, they already know what they’re getting when they call me in. Usually, it’s just to meet and greet,” he said. “I haven’t really [done] that kind of interview, from day one. The first five years of my career, I played Inmate #1. You know, ‘Get the guy with tattoo!’” Check out the interview below.
In Minions: The Rise of Gru, Trejo plays Stronghold, a member the supervillain sextet the Vicious 6. The movie drops this Friday, July 1st. It stars Steve Carrell as Gru, and last week his current coworkers joked about his old gig with a Minions parody of The Office. The film comes with a stacked soundtrack that includes, Phoebe Bridgers, Thundercat, and “Turn Up the Sunshine,” a collaboration between Diana Ross and Tame Impala.
