Hi Dana, welcome to VENTS! How have you been? I ' ve been doing well! I ' m happy that I ' m on summer break. Very busy, but everything that ' s been happening in the past few months has been super exciting!
I understand you are currently studying sociology and communication- so I am guessing acting wasn ' t always your first interest? If so, how did that come about? Acting actually always WAS my first interest. I decided that I wanted to go to school for something other than acting because I want to use this opportunity to learn about other things. I take acting class outside of UCLA, but I ' m really focused on school academics.
How do you intend to apply those non-artistic knowledge to your acting or are they two different facets of who you are? I think sociology and communications can definitely apply to acting. When you ' re telling a story, you need to depict characters and situations truthfully. Studying the sociology of our world and communications amongst people gives me a really good understanding as to why people might act a certain way in any given context. It ' s really exciting to look at acting in this way because I look at it personally and take into account what I would do, but then I also get to analyze why.
Many actresses usually start doing some live action work- what was it like to start off doing voice-over? It was VERY unexpected. When you ' re young you don ' t really think about who does the voices in your favorite cartoons, so when my agent told me she was going to send me out for voiceover auditions, I was really intrigued by it. I love voiceover and I think people have the tendency to think that it ' s easy, but it ' s actually really challenging. You ' re acting out scenes, but you ' re the only person who ' s in the room--at least that ' s the way we worked for the Despicable Me franchise. It can be difficult sometimes when you don ' t have anyone to interact with or anybody ' s energy to feed off of, but it ' s a lot of fun and the directors and creative team are really helpful.
When you started voicing Edith- did it ever cross your mind that this would become such a successful franchise? I knew that it could be amazing because of the cast, the script, and the creative team, but I would have never imagined how big it has become. Minions are actually taking over the world, which is so great. I see them everywhere and it makes me feel so proud to be a part of this incredible franchise.
In the film series, Edith and the girls all seem to remain the same age or so though in real life all the actors have matured- as a young adult, do you try to sneak in some of that maturity into this character? Does your view on this character change? I like to keep Edith young. She ' s still a kid, but I think now that I ' m older I definitely am more comfortable and confident when I ' m recording. Also, since it ' s my third movie now I really have a good sense of who Edith is and it helps me decide how to say certain lines.
Edith is sort of a tomboy, or very adventurous to say the least- do you and Edith share any personality traits? We do share personalities because we both poke fun at our older sisters. When I was younger I was always trying to intrude on my sister and her friends. I also think that we ' re both very protective of our family. I wouldn ' t call myself a tomboy, but I wouldn ' t say that I ' m necessarily a girly-girl either. I ' m somewhere in between. The one thing I wish we had in common is her fearlessness. Sometimes I let my fear get the best of me, so I wish I was more like Edith in that way. She ' s so brave.
When voicing, do you and the other sisters( Miranda Cosgrove, Elsie Fisher) and / or Gru( Steve Carrell) get the chance to be in the same room or does all the voice-over work get done separately? All of the work is done separately, so it ' s really nice when we get to see each other in between sessions or at the premieres.
With the addition of a new character, Dru, how would that change the dynamic of the family moving on( or at least you hope to)? What ' s great about this family is that they ' re so adaptable. Every movie there has been a new addition to their family. In the first movie, Gru welcomed the girls into his home and after some resistance fell in love with them. In the second, Lucy was brought into the family and now Dru! I think they love their big and odd family. It makes them really special.
You are also featured in your first live action flick, The Ice Cream Truck- what was the transition like? It was really awesome because it was my first onscreen project. It was definitely different getting to interact with other people in scenes, but I loved it a lot. I want to continue voiceover, but I want to do more onscreen work as well!
How did your normal approach to acting change for this new role? My approach to acting didn ' t change. I think it ' s a common misconception that voice acting isn ' t acting because it is. I still put myself into my roles the same way and I think that ' s what makes any actor good at his or her craft.
What can you tell us about Brie? What role does she play in the film? Brie is a teenager who lives in Mary ' s( the protagonist) neighborhood. She ' s not the nicest of girls and I would definitely categorize her as a moody teenager. I don ' t want to reveal too much about my role because it ' ll ruin the surprise!
When and where can we catch your new flick? It ' ll be in select theaters and VOD on August 1 8th!
What else is happening next in Dana Gaier ' s world? I just worked on an episodic role that should air in the fall, can ' t say too much but it ' s a comedy-- so that was lots of fun. I also just performed at a Cabaret-- I sing too, and I ' ve been writing music on my guitar. Hoping I ' ll get to share some of that as well in the future.