'Inside Out 2' teen voices relate to sense of self, anxiety

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Kensington Tallman, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green and Grace Lu said their roles in the animated film Inside Out 2 - - now on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and digital video-on-demand - - spoke to their real-life teenage concerns.

Kensington, 16, plays Riley, a teenager who goes through puberty and gains new emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos) and Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser).

Inside Riley's mind, the new emotions conflict with returning Inside Out emotions Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Fear (Tony Hale).

"I also love at the end when Riley's new sense of self forms," Kensington told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "I may not be perfect, but I know I try my best and I give it my all."

Before the new emotions arrive, Riley's sense of self is as a good friend to Bree (Sumayyah) and Grace (Lu).

"I think friendship is really important, especially in your teenage and adolescent years," Kensington said. "I think that's really what keeps you strong."

The trio meet when Grace spills her visual aids during a class presentation. Lu, 19, said she appreciated that they became friends through mutual help, and because Grace was giving a report on climate change.

"There are so many issues that young people feel so strongly about like mental health activism," Lu said. "A lot of my friendships are built upon this strong foundation of we're going to fight together to make the change we want to see in the world."

Sumayyah, 17, said in addition to relating to friendship, she takes that sense of self further as a family member.

"I have two older brothers and a younger sister," Sumayyah said. "I wouldn't be who I am without my family so I pride myself in trying to be a good sister, friend and daughter."

Anxiety is the major new character, who drives Riley to ignore her friends to spend time with the veteran hockey players and change her personality to fit in.

Kensington said she related to Riley's worries about the future, be it getting cut from the team or not having friends. Inside Out 2 visualizes this by having Anxiety commission Riley's thoughts to project all the worst possible outcomes.

"Sometimes I think too far in the future and I kind of will go down this rabbit hole of what ifs," Kensington said. "Sometimes, we don't know the outcome. That's OK."

Sumayyah said she was an anxious child and did not even learn the term until she began socializing.

"It wasn't until I was around other people that I realized not everyone's an overthinker, not everyone's a perfectionist," Sumayyah said. "Anxiety is not a villain, but exists because I'm sure there's a lot of people, a lot of kids, who feel really isolated and alone."

Lu said she came from a family in which her elders did not speak about mental health, and also belongs to the Asian community, which traditionally avoids discussing mental health. She felt the movie helped facilitate those discussions.

"I think it's really beautiful how it's giving adults and children the language to talk about their feelings with the people they love, too," Lu said. "We all go through this."

One Anxiety scene was comical for Kensington. Riley learns sarcasm so she can mock the trio's favorite band to fit in with the hockey players.

"I love comedy and I love sarcasm," Kensington said. "It was actually a great scene to record. But watching it, I feel so bad for Bree and Grace."

Kensington took over the role of Riley in the sequel. She felt the character underwent enough changes that she could put her own stamp on her, but also remained faithful to Kaitlyn Dias's performance in 2015's Inside Out.

"I grew up with Inside Out ," Kensington said. "I would watch it before every recording session and I worked with my dialect coach to make sure that my voice was staying true to her."

Inside Out 2 is Sumayyah's first movie.

"I've known that I wanted to do acting both in theater and on screen, all of it since I was 4-years old, maybe even younger," Sumayyah said.

Lu has been voice acting since 2016, when she attended an open audition for Bang Zoom! at Anime Expo in Los Angeles.

"Their CEO came up and gave me his business card after," Lu said. "They helped me get my first manager, my first couple of roles, as well."

Since Inside Out 2 opened in June , the trio has been enjoying seeing the impact the film has had. Their friends share TikToks about it, and Kensington has casually met fans at Disneyland whom she identified by the Inside Out 2 apparel they wore.

"No one knows my face," Kensington said. "They just know my voice so I'll be like, 'Hey, I got a little secret for you. I play Riley.'"

Should there be an Inside Out 3 continuing Riley's emotional journey, the trio hopes they get to reprise their roles.

"I feel like they'd be even cooler, obviously still besties," Sunayyah said. "I would love to see teenager Bree, Riley and Grace."

Inside Out 2 streams on Disney+ Sept. 25.