From Sony Pictures Animation – the powerhouse behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – comes GOAT, a high-energy, all-animal sports comedy about a small dreamer trying to muscle his way into a game built for giants. Set in the roarball arena, where claws are sharp and egos sharper, the film follows undersized underdog Will as he attempts to prove that “smalls can ball.” But even in a world of fearless beasts, it takes a different kind of courage to lead, which is where Patton Oswalt’s lovably frazzled coach Dennis comes charging in, whistle blazing and confidence… occasionally lagging.
When our Peter Gray caught up with Oswalt, their conversation veered from physical media loyalty (the actor clocking Gray’s collection in the background of their Zoom window) to the delicate balance of heart versus brain in performance. Speaking candidly about fatherhood, authority without authority, and the surprising emotional punch of a recording booth meltdown, Oswalt revealed that Dennis isn’t just comic relief – he’s the soul of the team. What emerged was a thoughtful, funny reflection on perseverance, passion, and why loving “the thing” has to be enough – even when others are just clocking in for the swag bag.
Good evening, Patton.
Hey, thumbs up on the physical media. Good on you, man.
Until they rip it out of my hands, I’ll be collecting…
That’s awesome, dude. Thank you for doing that.
Well, I’m going to say congratulations on the film. I wanted to ask about heart versus brain. When it came to your character, Dennis, he’s this loveable mess, but he struggles to lead the team. When you were voicing him, did you feel like you were playing more with Patton Oswalt brain or Patton Oswalt heart? And was there a moment in the booth where you surprised yourself?
I was definitely playing with Patton Oswalt heart, because – especially being a dad – I really click with the idea of someone who is an authority figure who has no authority. I absolutely know what that feels like. The part that surprised me was when Dennis really decided to come out of his shell and assert himself. He doesn’t try to dominate the other players, but he’s like, “No, wait a minute, I’m a coach. I have a function here. My function is to help you guys get out of your own way.” And he does it, and that scene ended up getting way more passionate than I thought. I blew my voice out. It was pretty incredible to do that.
Dennis has such a love for the game, and he feels like that should be enough. In your own career, has there ever been a moment where love for “the thing” wasn’t enough, and you had to become a different version of yourself to lead or survive?
Yeah. What you have to do is not even become a different version of yourself. There have been moments when the love of something wasn’t enough, and I saw someone else succeeding that I knew clearly didn’t love it as much and didn’t care as much. What’s happening there has nothing to do with the other person. It’s (asking) do you still love it? I decided yes, I did, and I persevered and went even deeper with it. And it paid dividends down the road. But you’re always going to have those challenges and those moments when you’re going to meet someone who the whole thing is a shoulder shrug to them. They don’t care, and they’re still succeeding. You got to go, “I don’t care, I still love this.”
Oh, I can attest to that. I feel like in me being able to do interviews and talk about films I see people that just don’t really care…
And you know them when you see them. The people that are just clocking in and are doing it for the swag bag and the red carpets. You can always tell the people that are doing it for the work. You just gotta tell yourself, “Those are the people that last.”
Absolutely. And just quickly before I go, was there a line in the film that you recorded that made you genuinely crack up in the booth?
There wasn’t a specific line, but there were moments during when my character is just melting down and giving it to the team with both barrels. He goes so over the top. The act of how over the top he goes, (just) cracks me up. I would start laughing at not a specific line, but the fact that he is going so deep on this ostrich’s social media obsession. I’ve had moments like that with my kid and myself. “Get off your phone.” Something about it made me laugh so hard.
GOAT is screening in Australian theatres from March 12th, 2026.
