ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim recently sat down with actors Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, Bros) and Seth Rogen (Superbad, The Fabelmans, The Super Mario Bros. Movie) about their roles as Timon and Pumbaa in the new Disney movie Mufasa: The Lion King. They discussed their characters, the projects they want more people to see, and Rogen’s iconic laugh.
“Lost and alone, orphaned cub Mufasa meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline,” reads the official synopsis. “The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies.”
Mufasa: The Lion King is now playing in theaters.
Jonathan: Billy, my first question is for you, how much overlap is there between Timon’s sass and all of his quirks and your own sense of humor?
Billy Eichner: They’re completely separate.
Seth Rogen: It takes him hours to get into character.
Billy: I worked with an acting coach for years to build up to Mufasa. I mean, what’s fun about the movie to me is that I get to use certain elements of my comic persona, but because it is a family film and a Disney film, I can’t rely on certain crutches. You know, I can’t be too edgy. I can’t curse up a storm. Which is actually kind of a good challenge, you know, to not be able to do certain things that can punctuate your jokes and still be funny. And so that part of it is fun for me.
By the way, you guys are perfectly cast as Timon and Pumbaa.
Billy: In a movie where you can’t see our faces.
Seth: We would also get cast in the live-action version of this.
You guys would play the characters in real life; you guys look enough like them. I can see it already. Now, Seth, I want to ask about your laugh. Because it’s become this iconic thing and you get to laugh in character as Pumbaa, which I love. And so I want to ask, when did you first take notice of how iconic it is and how have you noticed how it’s taken a life on its own?
Seth: I mean, ever since I was young, I had a distinct laugh, I guess you would say. And mostly people would make fun of it. I would say that is how that would manifest. I remember once, an Israeli girl came up to me and said, “You laugh like Beavis and Butthead.” Which was very popular when I was a child. And then I don’t know, now, it’s a thing where a comment I get very often is, I’ll be out in the world and I will laugh and then people will come up to me and be like, “I didn’t know it was you. And then I heard you laugh.” So I’ve been trying never to laugh ever again.
Never, ever be funny, Seth Rogen.
Seth: Yeah, I’ll hide my laugh. That’s an ironic thing for someone like me to have to do.
Speaking about when people go up to you guys in the street, and they recognize you, what’s a project that you’ve made that people always tend to bring up when they see you? And what’s a project that you wish more people would talk about when they see you in the street?
Billy: Oh, I mean, Billy on the Street, people talk about.
Do people ever think you’re gonna host them or something?
Billy: Well, what’s weird is that people want me to shout at them.
Seth: It’s like meeting Don Rickles; you want to get roasted.
Billy: You want to get roasted, which is an odd thing. It’s like people literally come up and take their phones out, and they’re like, “Please yell at me and, like, curse me out.” And I’m like, “I can’t do that right now. Like, it’s just too weird.”
There’s no camera here!
Billy: Yeah. But yeah, people talk to me about Billy on the Street all the time. There are so many projects I feel are underappreciated. It’s hard to choose. Should we go in chronological order?
I’m a Bros fan.
Billy: Oh, thank you. That would certainly be one of them. But yeah, I’m trying to think. Actually one of the most fun things I ever did, this is so not Disney, but I was on a season of the Ryan Murphy show American Crime Story. And I got to play Matt Drudge, who if you know about—
Seth: It literally is Disney because I think that show’s on FX, which is actually owned by Disney.
Billy: Oh, you’re right. I forget we’re in a different era. It’s not Bambi, but Matt Drudge, he’s up there with iconic Disney characters. But it was very cool to play him. He’s a real twisted guy who was really kind of the first self-made internet billionaire in the late nineties. And so I really liked doing that. I’m not sure who saw it, but I loved it.
What about you, Seth?
Seth: It’s a good question, I get a lot of Pineapple Express and Superbad. Those movies seem to have stuck around. I see a lot of 16-year-olds in McLovin shirts who are very excited to see me, which is very nice. I don’t know, what do I wish people—I get enough. There’s nothing. I get more than enough recognition.
You get too much recognition!
Billy: Well, not after I said that I didn’t! How am I gonna look?
Seth: I want people to appreciate Billy Eichner’s Matt Drudge work.
Billy: That’s what’s been keeping him up at night!
Seth: He killed it!
Timon and Pumbaa have this famous catchphrase: Hakuna Matata. And so I want you guys to inspire the youth here. What is your motto that you want people at home to live by?
Seth: Hakuna Matata’s a pretty good one. I actually find myself saying “no worries” a lot.
Billy: I say “no worries” all the time.
I say it all the time too.
Seth: Every time I say it, I’m like, “ooh, I’m quoting it! I’m doing it!”
You’re a method actor!
Seth: Yeah! So that is a good one. I would say “no worries” is a good one. It’s impossible. I worry all the time, and there are real things you should worry about. So it’s not always the best advice.
Billy: I’m worried about saying “no worries” is good advice.
Absolutely. Now, I want to have a little bit of fun with you guys. I want to see how much you guys know your characters. So let’s see, we have a camera over there. I want you guys to tell the people at home to watch Mufasa: The Lion King. And I would love if you guys could do it in character as Timon and Pumbaa.
Seth: It’s pretty much the same.
Billy: It’s pretty much what you’ve been seeing for the past seven minutes.
Seth: Go see The Lion King. I’m Pumbaa.
Billy: I’m Timon.
Seth: Go see The Lion King.
Billy: Go see Mufasa. I’m in character right now. It’s gonna be hard to tell the difference between us and when you see us in the movie. Not since Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln have you seen such a transformation.
