It’s been seven years, but Despicable Me is back this week—and no one is more excited than Miranda Cosgrove, who’s casually been part of the cast since she was 12. In the bold new era of Minions mayhem, Cosgrove returns for her role as daughter Margo, as Gru (Steve Carell) faces a new nemesis in Maxime Le Mal (Will Ferrell) and his femme fatale girlfriend Valentina (Sofia Vergara), and the family is forced to go on the run. Besides having a really fun time with her coworkers as they hit the New York press circuit, Cosgrove recently chatted with us about the movie, while sharing a few of her makeup secrets and go-to skin care.
What’s it like working this many years on a project?
Miranda: It’s definitely the project I’ve worked on the longest of my whole life. I never expected it to last this long. It’s really amazing. When I went in the very first time, when I was 12 or 13, and I got to see a picture of the character and everything. I’ve never done animation before, so I’ve just learned so much from getting to be a part of it. Everybody’s so fun, warm, and nice that works on it. That’s a bonus.
That’s great. What are you excited to share with fans or fans of the movie franchise? Having a summer movie is such a big deal.
Miranda: I think the thing that I’m most excited about is just that the movie is so much fun and it’s so happy, and it’s all about just making people laugh. It’s nice to be a part of something like that. I hope that people get to go with their families and have a good time. I know everybody loves the Minions and you get to see them turn into these superhero Minions this time around and it’s awesome that Will Ferrell’s in it. The new villain. I think he’s one of the best villains we’ve had.
For people who aren’t familiar, when you do a movie like this—where it’s just voice—how different is it to get into character?
Miranda: For me, to be honest, it’s the easiest job ever because it’s basically just my normal voice. I do try to make it a little bit higher than it really is just because I’m supposed to be maybe 13 in the movie. It’s always just a really good time because I know the directors really well now because we’ve been working for so long and they do a lot of the animation from Paris. I do it over Skype a lot of the time. I just go into the booth and I can hear them give ideas, direction, and stuff. For the most part, I just get to go wild and try the lens all different ways. It’s fun.
You just had a big weekend with the premiere, and now you have a big week with the press. How do you get ready for that both wellness-wise or just getting enough sleep the night before? What’s your routine like?
Miranda: I’m horrible with sleep, to be honest. I’m a huge night owl. I flew in the night before, so I stayed up all night watching TV. I didn’t really do any great wellness stuff. It’s just fun being in New York. My friend came with me, one of my best friends. Last night, we actually had dinner twice, which was cool. It was an hour wait for the place we wanted to go to, so we went and we got a pizza, and then we went to the actual place after. It’s just been fun being here with her. We’re going to walk around Central Park later.
Good. You have a nice day for it.
Miranda: Yes!
How do you work with your glam squad when you hit the red carpet circuit? Is the creative collaborative?
Miranda: To be honest, I’m not very good with makeup or anything, but I love it. It’s awesome getting to have professionals actually do it. I just bring out the outfit that I’m going to wear and usually, they come up with all their creative, cool ideas. Just get inspiration from whatever the outfit is.
Do you have any products you really love this summer?
Miranda: I really like the brand Farmacy. I just started using their face wash. It’s called Honey Pot or Honey something. It’s just awesome. Then I also really like Tatcha. That’s probably one of my favorite brands. I like their water cream. I’ve been using that for a really long time.
What else are you excited about this summer? Will you get to take a vacation? Will you get to take some time off?
Miranda: Yes, I’m from LA, I’m single, and a lot of my friends are too. Last summer, we went to Hawaii for a week and that was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on. I hope we do something like that this summer. I don’t have anything crazy planned yet, but I’m going to come up with something.
