Inside the Recording Sessions for Finding Dory
The last Finding Dory interview I have to share with you is that with Eugene Levy, who is the voice of Charlie, Dory’s Dad.
Many of the actors shared about the recording process during the interviews, and I thought it would be interesting to share Eugene’s remarks about the process, his experiences and thoughts about the movie.
He recorded one session with Diane Keaton, but in different cities.
“It was actually a bit of a privilege because this doesn’t really happen that often. I did have one session that I worked with Diane, and we were in two different cities.”
“I was in Toronto. She was in Los Angeles and they hooked up cameras so that I could see her on a monitor in my studio and she could see me on a monitor in her studio and we were able to do the scene together which doesn’t happen a lot when you’re doing these things because mostly you’re working by yourself, you know. It’s, uh, quite lonely actually.”
Eugene found Diane mesmerizing as she recorded.
“But that was fun, and the great thing too was when I was working with Diane was that I was kind of mesmerized by just watching her on the monitor working, even though I was doing a scene with her. I was very aware that it was Diane Keaton behind the mike and I’m just like just fascinated, just watching the way she was working behind the microphone and then I’d have to go oh, yeah, I’ve got a line here, yeah.”
The actors recorded lines multiples ways, typically alone. All the recordings happened over the course of several sessions, over a span of several years.
“It is a different way of working than doing a normal movie. You have to get used to that process of going in, not having a lot of time. I mean these sessions usually are like three hours, and you get five sessions maybe over two and a half – three years. It’s just going over every line, and giving the director as many options as you can on every line so that when he’s putting it all together he’s got the gamut of delivery on a line from A to Z kind of, in a way.”
The director’s laugh encouraged Eugene while he recorded
“So it’s, it’s odd but, and exciting in a way especially when you’re working with somebody like Andrew Stanton who is so great at doing this. I mean he’s a genius, [who] wrote the story and directed it. When you’re directing actors in the studio working like this – when you’re just kind of just pounding away at lines and giving different options – you’ve gotta be a great director, you’ve gotta be a good psychiatrist, to keep the morale up. He just laughs a lot, which makes you feel good and gives you the confidence to go on and give him more things.”
For another glimpse at what it was like recording the film, check out this cool behind-the-scenes video of director Andrew Stanton working with Ellen Degeneres, Albert Brooks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy, Kaitlin Olson, Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell. It really brings to life Eugene’s words.
Previously shared interviews include: Ellen Degeneres and Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson and Albert Brooks and Hayden Rolence. Finding Dory is in theaters now. Connect with Finding Dory on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Disclosure: Disney hosted me in LA in order to attend screenings and to participate in group interviews & media events. As always, all experiences, love of Disney and thoughts are my own.