Joey King Reveals a Surprising Fact About Her Despicable Me 4 Character Poppy
The Despicable Me 4 actress has been a fan of the franchise since she was a kid but never expected to have Poppy in her head for so long.
Fans packed theaters over the weekend to see their favorite characters return in Despicable Me 4. However, one notable breakout is actress Joey King’s newcomer to the franchise, Poppy Prescott. While the world is just discovering the newbie, the actress revealed she’s been living with Poppy for a surprisingly long time.
The actress appeared on TODAY where she sat down with the hosts to discuss the movie and her role now that it’s debuted and topped the Fourth of July holiday box office, per Variety. For those unfamiliar, King plays Poppy, a young teen with ambitions of becoming the next great supervillain like Gru (Steve Carrell) and the Villainous Six. When she contacts Gru, she seizes the opportunity to get her thievery career off the ground early.
RELATED: Holy Mega Minions! BTS, Lego and More Have Their Own Despicable Me 4 Merch
Speaking to the hosts, King revealed that an animated movie like Despicable Me 4 doesn’t happen overnight. Since being cast, she’s had something to do with this character in some form or another for the past three years.
“It takes a long time to make those movies,” she explained. “There’s so much work that goes into making an animated movie like this and it was just pretty amazing. I feel like I got to have this one throughline through all the crazy things that were happening in my life these last three years. I got to have this beautiful little moment that just felt connected to one thing.”
The hard, lengthy work clearly paid off at the box office, which King was quick to say she doesn’t take any credit for.
“I mean, I’m a newcomer to the franchise so I feel like, as a fan, we all knew it was going to dominate,” she said. “As a fan, we knew it was going to dominate.”
She’s not kidding when she says she’s a fan. Back in 2010, the almost now 25-year-old actress attended the premiere of the original Despicable Me, well before her breakout roles in things like The Kissing Booth and The Act. At the time, she was just a young fan who was curious about Despicable Me.
“I love these movies,” she confessed. “I knew a friend of a friend who knew someone who would get us in and I just wanted to see the movie so bad. Ever since then, I’ve been such a fan of all the Despicable Me movies and Minion movies.”
Now she’s come full circle and plays an integral role in the latest installment, which is currently in theaters.
Catch Despicable Me 4 on Peacock starting on Oct. 31, 2024.
