On paper, Minions & Monsters sounds exactly as delightfully ridiculous as its title suggests: Minions accidentally conquer Hollywood, unleash monsters upon the world and somehow have to save it all over again. What our Peter Gray wasn’t expecting was a surprisingly heartfelt love letter to the movies themselves. Set against Hollywood’s transition from silent films to talkies, Pierre Coffin’s latest animated adventure isn’t just about slapstick chaos and oversized creatures – it’s about finding purpose, discovering creativity and how a single act of kindness can completely change someone’s life.
Speaking with Jesse Eisenberg and Zoey Deutch, the conversation was a reflection on those quieter ideas hidden beneath the film’s anarchic surface. Eisenberg, who voices would-be alien conqueror Dort, spoke about the joy of playing a villain whose confidence slowly gives way to vulnerability, while Deutch discussed the quiet strength of her optimistic suffragette Debbie, whose simple curiosity begins to dismantle a world conqueror’s certainty. Together, they explored the mentors who shaped their own careers, the importance of pursuing ideas nobody asked you to have, and why Minions & Monsters ultimately celebrates something much bigger than its yellow protagonists: the enduring magic of cinema and the people who inspire us to believe in ourselves.
I was not expecting to go into this and it be this love letter to Hollywood, and to be a weird kid nephew to Babylon in some ways. One of the things that really surprised me about the film is that, underneath all of the comedy, it feels very much about finding the thing that gives your life purpose. It’s like James discovering filmmaking, and then Debbie changing Dort’s entire perspective simply through kindness. Did either of you connect with that idea of one unexpected encounter completely changing the direction of someone’s life?
Jesse Eisenberg: Wow
Zoey Deutch: Beautiful question.
Jesse Eisenberg: The relationship we have in the movie is very similar to when I met my wife. My wife’s an activist for important causes, and it was life-changing because I was an idiot person. When we first started dating, I gave her a script that I had written and she gave me the script back with half of the pages folded, because I had said offensive things on half of the pages of the script. I was like, “Oh, wow, this is what I should be thinking about now.” Now I give her a script, and it’s only a third (laughs).
For you, Zoey?
Jesse Eisenberg: And you don’t have to say me from Zombieland 2.
Zoey Deutch: It is hard to pick anybody other than Jesse…
Jesse Eisenberg: It’s clear you went in (that movie) as a girl and came out a woman.
Zoey Deutch: You read my mind (laughs).
Jesse Eisenberg: And I don’t think I’ve ever said you’re welcome for that.
Zoey Deutch: I’d have to think about it. But it’s a great question.
I love that Dort isn’t really defeated through violence, he’s disarmed by curiosity and compassion, and we often talk about love softening people, but this film suggests simply being seen can transform someone. Was that something either of you found surprisingly moving about this story?
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, especially through James. I love this character has all these great ideas and stays up all night putting them together. To me, I was like, “Oh, my God, this is everything I’m interested in.” When somebody has an idea that no one asked you to have, and yet they pursue it for some reason. It’s just so delightful.
Zoey Deutch: It’s beautiful.
The film celebrates imagination, but it quietly argues that creativity needs people who believe in you. James has Henry and Ed. Dort unexpectedly finds Debbie. Looking back on your own careers, were there people who recognised something in you before you fully recognised it yourself?
Zoey Deutch: I would say my mother, for sure. She has always believed in me in ways that I didn’t or couldn’t have. So, definitely my mother, and still to this day I feel the utmost gratitude and support from her in a way that I just…I know how lucky and privileged I am for that foundation and that level of love and belief.
Jesse Eisenberg: My mother cut my dreams off at the knees. I said, “Mom, I want to play sports,” and she said, “No, look at yourself.” And then I said, “Mama, I want to do drama,” and she said, “You can get laughed at, and that’s the most you’ll get.” So, yeah, I had to seek that kind of that stuff elsewhere.
The transition from silent films to sound is a huge part of this story. Watching it, I kept thinking it’s really about adapting wherever the rules suddenly change. Is that something you’ve both experienced in your careers? A moment where you got somewhere isn’t necessarily what keeps you moving forward?
Zoey Deutch: Well, he’s got two Oscar nominations, so he’s perfectly satisfied.
Jesse Eisenberg: I lost two times.
Zoey Deutch: So, you’re saying if you won, all your worries would go away? You’d finally feel peace.
Jesse Eisenberg: Therapists usually say when you get the thing you want, you’re happy and everything is solved.
Zoey Deutch: Clear skin…
Jesse Eisenberg: Moving to another city or having a child. Usually these things solve all your problems.
Zoey Deutch: All the problems. Yes, I have heard that. Also, money and fame. They would fix everything. You would know.
Jesse Eisenberg: What did I want to do? I wanted to be in musical theatre when I was young. I just wanted to be in musical theatre, so I pursued acting, because I just loved it, and I was not talented enough to do that on a professional level, so I wound up doing the things that I was better at, and that’s why I’m here. Never in a million years did I think I would be in a movie.
I grew up in New Jersey, and so theatre was a big deal. Movies seemed like a joke. Like, how does anybody get into those? Because I was doing theatre in New York, if somebody from a movie would come to see the show, it was a huge deal. Like, they are real and they exist, and they’d come meet you backstage, and everybody would be so giggly. I feel really lucky, and that’s certainly not what I sought out to do.
Zoey, Debbie has this wonderful quality where she’s completely sincere without ever feeling naive. She doesn’t try to change thoughts, she simply approaches him without fear. How difficult is it to play optimism in a way that still feels intelligent?
Jesse Eisenberg: You’re very good at that.
Zoey Deutch: I don’t think so…
Jesse Eisenberg: The movie we did, you were so naive and funny and clever. She has an amazing skill set.
Zoey Deutch: I don’t think so. Thank you. No, I don’t know. I think that’s all the director…
Jesse Eisenberg: It’s because you are a very smart person.
Zoey Deutch: Simply not. We’ve been through this…
Jesse Eisenberg: I’ll put it this way, you sound very smart, but then you let yourself play dumb really easily. There’s an intersection there that’s very rare.
Zoey Deutch: Have you ever considered I’m just really dumb?
Jesse Eisenberg: You have a smart voice.
Zoey Deutch: I have a smart affectation.
Dort spends much of the film projecting certainty, and there are these tiny moments where his humanity leaks through. Jesse, was finding those little cracks actually more interesting playing villainous confidence?
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, it’s the funniest thing in the world to play a character that seems like he’s this monster. He comes from another planet, and he’s going to take over the world…but then you see little moments of hesitation. The funniest line in the movie, and it’s not in the movie anymore, but it was this line where (Debbie) says she thinks I’m cute and asks what I was doing, and (Dort) says something like, “Oh, just hanging out, being cute.” It was so funny. Just the way they humanized the character so seamlessly with all of the other brash, arrogant monster-ness of it all was so fun. It’s so much fun.
And Pierre clearly has an enormous affection for early Hollywood. The film wears that love very proudly. Did making this leave either of you wanting to revisit any silent films or classic movies you never properly appreciated before?
Zoey Deutch: Absolutely. I think it’s incredible what (Pierre) did with this movie. I don’t know how it all came together in the way it did, but you can tell how near and dear that era must be to him. It certainly inspired me wanting to revisit.
Jesse Eisenberg: Yeah, definitely. I was watching the movie with my kid, and a lot of these references are real things. Like, Buster Keaton. My worry is that because of technology and everything is that those things will not look impressive to somebody now. You have to remember how this stuff was done. It could have killed the guy! He sacrificed that risk for this great gag of the house falling on top of him. Maybe I’m a bit jaded because we can see anything happen now.
I went into this thinking it’ll be a good time, and the fact this just made me fall in love with cinema all over again! It could convey that through this nonsensical nature – that’s the power of cinema right there. Thank you both so much for taking the time out today. And I’m just going to quickly say, Zoey, Gail Daughtry is hilarious! And Jesse, just seeing the trajectory of your directing career, I’m really excited for The Debut.
Jesse Eisenberg: Oh, you’re so kind, thank you so much.
Zoey Deutch: Thank you. Thank you.
Minions & Monsters is currently screening in Australian theatres. It is scheduled to open in the United States on July 1st, 2026.
