Pixar unveiled their slate for the next three years at the D23 expo Friday afternoon, and Bill Hader will be voicing major characters in their next two movies. The studio announced the cast for 2014’s The Good Dinosaur, which follows a group of dinosaurs coming across the first human. Raising Hope’s Lucas Neff is voicing the lead character, with Hader and Judy Greer as his siblings. 2015’s Inside Out, the return of Up director Pete Docter, goes inside a human head and stars the emotions that drive said person. Amy Poehler is the lead as the voice of Joy, with the rest of the cast consisting of Mindy Kaling (Disgust), Lewis Black (Anger), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), and Bill Hader (Fear). The studio also announced the cast of the 2016 Finding Nemo sequel, Finding Dory, which doesn’t yet feature Bill Hader. I have a feeling he’ll work his way in there somewhere as The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out mark his second and third consecutive Pixar movies, following his debut with a couple of minor voice parts in this summer’s Monsters University. John Ratzenberger had better watch his back.
Here’s Hader talking to Collider about how he became a Pixar regular:
I went to Pixar as just a nerd fan. I went to my agent and said, “Could I just go visit there ‘cause I love there movies?†She was like, “Yeah.†So I went, walked around, went on the tour with everyone else … I literally flew in, was gonna walk around and then get on a plane and fly right back out. I just wanted to see where they did everything. They were nice enough to say, “Pete Docter and some of the people here are gonna come down and have lunch with you … [Later], they said, “Do you want to be the voice of Fear?†I was like, “Okay, yeah.†It was huge. It was insane. Then, Dan [Scanlon] called me and said, “Do you want to do a voice in Monsters University?†And I was like, “Am I a part of the family now?†I couldn’t believe it. Then, it was like, “Hey do you want to do Good Dinosaur?†… So, it worked. I weasled my way in there, and it worked.
When asked what his next project is, Hader added, “Hopefully, another Pixar movie. I’m gonna keep at it. I’m gonna beat Ratzenberger. I’m gonna get to 14. I’ve gotta figure it out.â€