Ginnifer Goodwin reprises her role as Judy Hopps in Zootopia 2, which opens in theaters on November 26. While covering the 2025 Disney Upfront red carpet, The Nerds of Color spoke to the actress about making projects that the whole family can enjoy, what surprised her most about voice acting, and more.
In the film, Judy and Nick find themselves on the twisting trail of a great mystery when Gary De’Snake arrives in Zootopia and turns the animal metropolis upside down. To crack the case, they must go undercover to unexpected new parts of town, where their growing partnership is tested like never before.
Zootopia received an incredible response from fans and has become so beloved. What does it mean to you to be part of a movie that families can watch together? I feel that many people don’t realize the value in that.
Ginnifer Goodwin: Oh, yes. I mean, I love that, frankly, we’ve had this decade in between the movies, which I’m not saying facetiously. I feel like we have an opportunity to introduce a whole other generation to it and have people who were younger when they saw the first one, have grown up, and maybe some of them have babies. I love this about Disney in general. I feel like it is the home of, like, perfect for everybody’s fare.
I also feel like people don’t realize how difficult voice acting can be. Obviously, it’s very different from live-action. You’re doing the movements in the booth, but no one will necessarily see you.
Right, just the animators.
Yeah, and you have to be in the right headspace to get into a scene. What is the one thing that surprised you about voice acting?
I think, frankly, how physically exhausting it is. I mean, my days are much shorter, but I’m a lot more physically tired at the end of them because, also, I have a lot less tools at my disposal to get what I have to offer across. So, because it’s all coming out of sound, I’m physically kind of going bonkers in a sound booth, and without the same kind of downtime, also, that you have on a film set, because it’s not like we do a scene and we cut, then we reset. We just keep going, and often, in fact, they have to make me take a break.
If you’re going to make a sequel or anything in the future [with an animated franchise], you need a story that sticks out and will resonate with the audience.
Yeah, it’s universal. Timeless.
Right. What was it about the script that made you feel like this sequel needed to be made and that it was a worthy continuation of the story?
I mean, I do think, frankly, the second one might even be better than the first one. I feel like the first movie felt so relevant and of the time, but the truth is, it was written long before, and it’s just that the creative team behind it tapped into something very real and relatable. And I think that they’ve done that again.
