LOS ANGELES — When Pixar artists were conceptualizing the character of Anger for the upcoming film “Inside Out,” writer-director Pete Docter suggested they consider the voice and movements of comedian Lewis Black.
“I used him as an example of the fun we could have with casting,” Docter said.
Then, he invited the rant-tastic comic to actually play the role.
“I think I would have been insulted” had they not, Black said.
The 66-year-old comedian, known for his angry, ranting delivery style, said he’s an obvious choice to play the Pixar character: A squat, blockish red man whose head lights up in flames when he’s mad.
Black’s Anger stars alongside Fear (Bill Hader), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Sadness (Phyllis Smith) and Joy (Amy Poehler) in the much-anticipated animated feature out June 19.
But the comic said he didn’t learn much from getting inside of Anger.
“It gave me a sense of the nuances of anger, but I’ve spent a lot of time doing anger,” he said. “I mean, my mother was angry. My grandfather was angry. I’ve been around anger all my life.”
In fact, he had to take things down a notch to play the Pixar role.
“There was a tone-down of it,” Black said. “It’s more like office anger as opposed to I’ve-had-it anger.”
First Published June 13, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
