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Interview with BRAVE Actors Craig Ferguson and Kevin McKidd #BraveCarsLandEvent

Interview with BRAVE Actors Craig Ferguson and Kevin McKidd #BraveCarsLandEvent

I was a bit starstruck while participating in a bloggers group interview with Craig Ferguson and Kevin McKidd from Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE. For many years, Craig has been a late night companion to my insomnia stricken nights and Kevin McKidd is the hunky Dr. Hunt on my beloved Grey’s Anatomy. Having them both in one room was pretty exciting. Craig Ferguson is the voice actor for the character Lord Macintosh and Kevin McKidd for the character Lord MacGuffin in Disney Pixar’s latest block buster BRAVE. Both actors were extremely friendly and there were many laughs.

craig ferguson and kevin mckidd
Photo Credit: Louise Bishop

Q. (Directed toward Kevin McKidd) I’ve watched you for a long time obviously with American accent. I didn’t even know that you were Scottish until I saw an interview. I did not know you had an accent, so I was really impressed with your acting. What I wanna know is do you enjoy going back to your roots for a part or the challenge of taking on an accent? And also, is it harder to go back to your roots of Sc– you know, Scottish after you’ve been using an American accent for so long?

Kevin McKidd: Oh, it’s not. It’s like duck to water really. I mean love doing the accents. I’ve always — I — when I was brought up in the highlands of Scotland I was next to an [UNINTELLIGIBLE] barracks, so there’s all these different accents, you know, different English, British Isles accents coming through, and I always mimic them. So, I love doing the American, you know, on the show. And it’s flattering to hear that you didn’t have a clue, you know. So, that’s [STUTTER] — you know, I…

Craig Ferguson: I didn’t know you were Scottish either. [LAUGHS]

Kevin McKidd: Oh, really?

Craig Ferguson: I didn’t know. [LAUGHS] And I first saw you in Trainspotting, so I don’t know what [LAUGHS] I’m telling you.

Kevin McKidd: But so, you know, it’s, it’s fun to go back. It’s, it’s — you know, it’s fun to go back just to your own accent. You know, it’s make change, ‘cause I’m always having to have that part of my brain running fast — really fast just hope we get the accent correct. It’s — so you get to kinda spin all these twits. And suddenly you can just let it go and do your own accent, so it’s a real joy to do that.

Q. I have a question for both of you. Do you find it more difficult to get into character when you’re doing a voice versus like being Dr. Hunt on Grey’s Anatomy?

Craig Ferguson: Well —

Kevin McKidd: Are, are you own Grey’s Anatomy? [LAUGHS] I used to actually. I used to hate doing my own voice. I used to — when I was younger, I think ‘cause I was quite a shy boy and stuff. And that’s why I started acting, ‘cause I was really shy. And I — [STUTTER] and as soon as my dad put on a character or a voice I could like suddenly not be shy anymore, you know. And then so, when I was younger I hated any role, uh, to be — I didn’t like doing Trainspotting actually, because of that —

Craig Ferguson: Really?

Kevin McKidd: — very reason, ‘cause I’ve got to speak just as myself, and I felt really like, uh, sort of exposed if you will. But as I’ve gotten older and more comfortable with that I think as I get m– a bit more comf–

Craig Ferguson: You could play exposed in more than one way and —

Kevin McKidd: [LAUGHS] I was —

Q. Are you excited to see, uh, this homage to Scotland, one? And then two, do you have kids, and have they seen the movie?

Craig Ferguson: Uh, we, we both have children, and they haven’t seen the movie, but they get to see it for free tonight [LAUGHS], so we’re both very excited. Yeah.

Kevin McKidd: Yeah.

Caig Ferguson: Yeah.

Kevin McKidd: Anything free is good.

Craig Ferguson: Oh, yes, that’s nice. Um, it, it is. It’s always nice to be part of something that’s about Scotland. Uh, it’s, uh — I mean it doesn’t, it doesn’t roll up that often, uh, in, in this world. So, um, so, it’s nice. Yeah.

Q. Were you worried doing a Scottish character would get you type cast?

Craig Ferguson: [LAUGHS] I don’t care. [LAUGHS] I don’t think it like that. I don’t know, I don’t know if — do you think like that? Do you think about your–

Kevin McKidd: No —

Craig Ferguson: –self being type–

Kevin McKidd: Not much.

Kevin McKidd: Yeah. The only thing I do, ‘cause I think — ‘cause of the way my Facebook’s —

Craig Ferguson: Oh.

Kevin McKidd: I usually I get offered a lot of villains and things.
[LAUGHS]

Craig Ferguson: Well, you’re scary looking. You got, got —

Kevin McKidd: I got — well — I do. I got a lot of — [OVERLAP]

Craig Ferguson: I’m quite scare of [SOUNDS LIKE: G-R-E-A-T] nose. [LAUGHS] That’s nose there.

Kevin McKidd: So, I get offered a lot of baddies.

Craig Ferguson: Mmm.

Kevin McKidd: And I, I can — I remember a while ago I was like I’m only gonna do a baddie maybe like once every — that’s the only — ‘cause every other time I’m just happy you get offered a job. You know what I mean?

Craig Ferguson: Right, right, right.

Kevin McKidd: But the one thing I thought if I’d just take all these baddie roles I’ll just be a bad guy forever, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, that’s the only thing I’ve ever made a stipulation on is that. Maybe one guy very three years seems like a good —

Craig Ferguson: Seems fair.

Kevin McKidd: — ratio.

Craig Ferguson: Seems fair. And the doctors how often would you do a doctor? [LAUGHS]

Kevin McKidd: Yeah, that’s another story.

Craig Ferguson: Yeah.

Q. Were there any, um, visual cues they gave you in the room to help you feel the part more like?

Craig Ferguson: They show pictures of the, of the character. They, they show drawings and stuff of your character and other characters, which kinda helps. And when you — I don’t know how Kevin does a bad — and, and when you go in that booth on your own I kinda close my eyes and, you know, you go into that world. So, if you have drawings of people who live in that world it helps. You know. Um, so, yeah, they give — they do give some visual help to it. Did they do that with you?

Kevin McKidd: Yeah, they did do — but they — I mean did they do that thing? They show you the whole film? It’s like — but it’s all like paints of sketches?

Craig Ferguson: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kevin McKidd: So, you sat there for about an hour and a half and they talk —

Craig Ferguson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kevin McKidd: — they talk — they kind of talk the whole film to you, but it’s all like just literally white paper and pencil sketches, and some of it’ll move a little bit.

Craig Ferguson: Right.

Kevin McKidd: And that was interesting just to see that part of the, the process. You know, they, they based that storyboard, a moving storyboard, and that really helped me as well, you know. But, yeah, the good — it’s really —

I thought that was the funniest film for a long time. [LAUGHS] I was like yeah —

Kevin McKidd: That was it?

Craig Ferguson: — this is not gonna work at all. [LAUGHS]

Kevin McKidd: Yeah.

Craig Ferguson: Yeah, yeah.

Q. Was it, uh, hard to like nail your comedic timing when you’re by yourself in the booth and not having a reaction or working with anyone else?

Kevin McKidd: It wasn’t — I found it quite tricky, but Mark Andrews, the Director and Brenda, were really good at just — I mean I think Mark Andrews was — he’s quite kind of [OVERLAP] larger than life manager.

Craig Ferguson: Very energetic, yeah.

Kevin McKidd: So, he just — he would do a line and then you see them and they weren’t quite happy, and then he’d say — he’d come with the, the mic and go say the line again and pretend your character just got poked in the eye with a stick.

Craig Ferguson: Yeah, yeah, he would do all that, yeah.

Kevin McKidd: [OVERLAP] And stuff like that and go what. He just goes just do it. [OVERLAP] Just do it.

Craig Ferguson: That’s a, that’s a, that’s a good impression of — you, you, you really got him on that. [LAUGHS] You really like him. [LAUGHS]

Kevin McKidd: So, you know, he go and — you go and, you know what I mean, got your juices flowing.

Craig Ferguson: Yeah, yeah.

Kevin McKidd: That’s about the right phrase you would use.

Craig Ferguson: No, I think that’s fine.

Kevin McKidd: [LAUGHS]

As you can see there was a lot of back and forth banter between the two actors, not to mention some great laughs. Kevin and Craig were kind enough to pose with the #BraveCarsLandEvent bloggers for a photo opp.

interview with craig ferguson and kevin mckidd
Photo Credit: Louise Bishop

Disney/Pixar’s BRAVE is now showing in theaters everywhere!

Also available in Disney Digital 3D!

Connect with BRAVEBrave on Facebook, @DisneyPixar, #BraveCarsLandEvent

Disney provided travel and accommodations for this trip. All thoughts are my own.

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