Despicable Me 4 features the brand-new character Poppy Prescott, voiced by Joey King!
Poppy sets off a series of events in the movie when she blackmails Gru and forces him to take her under his wing as a villain in training, all in hopes of getting accepted to the villain school that he attended growing up.
You probably won’t recognize Joey‘s voice in the movie, but you definitely will recognize Joey as an actress.
The 24-year-old actress got her big break in the 2010 movie Ramona and Beezus and she had a steady career as a child actor with roles in Crazy, Stupid, Love, The Dark Knight Rises, White House Down, and Wish I Was Here. She shot to superstardom with Netflix’s The Kissing Booth trilogy and has since been seen in movies like Bullet Train and Netflix’s new rom-com A Family Affair. You can also catch her in TV shows like the Emmy-nominated drama The Act and the new limited series We Were the Lucky Ones.
So, what has Joey said about voicing Poppy?
Keep reading to find out more…
“Recording voice-over for an animated movie is one of my favorite things to do because you have to give everything using just your voice. You end up making a bit of a fool of yourself to understand what the character is going through,” Joey told FilmFare. “You can’t be afraid to throw yourself around to make it resonate in your voice. The freedom to let loose and not worry about appearances is what I love most, especially when I get to play such a fun, over-the-top yet endearing character like Poppy. I can really go for it, do some wild stuff and there’s no wrong way to do it.”
She continued, “Poppy’s voice differs from mine because I added a cute little lisp to her voice, which is one of my favorite things about the character. I love when kids try to be all serious and make a point with that innocent, childlike voice, and in Poppy’s case, with her lisp. And although it wasn’t really my intention, somehow her lisp makes her come off even scarier.”
Get the scoop on all the actors who returned for the sequel and who was added to the cast.
