Yahoo Lifestyle Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner Never Met Blue Ivy Carter While Making “Mufasa” Despite Sharing Scenes Together (Exclusive)
"They try to keep the cast as far away from us as possible," Eichner tells PEOPLE exclusively
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(Left-right:) Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner; Beyoncé and Blue Ivy Carter at the 'Mufasa: The Lion King' Los Angeles premiere on Dec. 9Yes, Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner share scenes with Blue Ivy Carter in Mufasa: The Lion King. And no, the two comedians didn’t meet their costar in the voiceover booth.
“We’ve never met,” Rogen, 42, tells PEOPLE. Although “all of our scenes are with Blue Ivy,” he adds, the 12-year-old actor-musician “was not invited to our recording sessions.”
“They try to keep the cast as far away from us as possible,” quips Eichner, 46.
“Yeah,” confirms Rogen. “Me and Billy get our own little booth. No one else interacts with us.”
Reprising their beloved roles from Disney's 2019 photorealistic Lion King remake, Eichner voices meerkat Timon and Eichner voices warthog Pumbaa. Joining them onscreen is Carter as Kiara, daughter to her real-life mother Beyoncé’s Nala and Donald Glover’s Simba. Kiara, Timon and Pumbaa listen to the tale of the princess’ grandfather Mufasa, courtesy of John Kani’s mandrill Rafiki.
Disney
Pumbaa (voiced by Seth Rogen) and Timon (voiced by Billy Eichner) in 'Mufasa: The Lion King'Considering how siloed voiceover talent is for a big project like Mufasa, says Eichner, it’s remarkable that he and Rogen “record the entire thing together. Timon and Pumbaa are a comedy duo. You really can't do it any other way.”
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In addition, he says, “we improvised so much and a shocking amount of that ad libbing gets into the movie and then gets animated. Which is wild.”
Adds Rogen: “At great expense to the Walt Disney Corporation.”
“At great expense,” Eichner agrees. “But I think that's why it works because you can feel that spontaneity, which is pretty rare in this big epic Disney family movie. To have that type of kind of raw improv make it to the screen is pretty unusual.”
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(Left-right:) Kevin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Aaron Pierre, Anika Noni Rose, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen and Barry Jenkins on Dec. 11Related: Beyoncé and Jay-Z's 3 Kids: All About Blue Ivy, Sir and Rumi
During the press tour for 2019’s The Lion King, Rogen and Eichner did meet Beyoncé, they confirm. “And it was great. What a thrill,” says Rogen.
The Grammy winner was “lovely,” agrees Eichner. “It was very exciting.”
Mufasa: The Lion King is in theaters Dec. 20. Directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jeff Nathanson with original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, it stars Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka a.k.a. Scar.
For more about Mufasa: The Lion King, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.
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