“It’s nostalgic, but it’s not ironic.”
When spin-off film Minions: The Rise of Gru was released back in 2022, it kicked off a somewhat unlikely social media craze.
The trend, which went viral on TikTok, saw substantial groups of teenagers dressing up in formal suits and heading to the cinema to watch the film – with the phenomenon becoming known as “Gentleminions”.
This undoubtedly helped contribute to the movie’s already impressive box office takings, with the film grossing almost $1 billion and becoming the fifth best performing film of the year – and according to star Steve Carell, he was delighted to see the trend take off.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of Despicable Me 4’s release this weekend, he explained: “I was talking to Chris Meledandri, who is the head of Illumination. And we were talking about it when it first started, like, ‘Is this actually a thing or is this, like, a one-off?’
“Because we saw, I think in Texas somewhere, a bunch of kids dressed up and wore suits and went to one of the early screenings. And then it started to go viral. And that started happening all over.
“But the first one happened and we thought, ‘Oh, that’s really cool that those kids thought to do that.’ But then it caught on, and it became a thing to do.”
He added: “What I loved about it was that it was not ironic. Those kids had grown up with Despicable Me much like my kids did. And they unironically still love it. My kids still love the series, they go to every one. And they’re 20 and 23. They still enjoy it. It’s nostalgic, but it’s not ironic.”
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Carell has been voicing reformed supervillain Gru since the first film was released back in 2010, with the new entry in the saga marking his sixth time playing the role (although his role in the first Minions spin-off was only a cameo).
The new film – which RadioTimes.com awarded 4 stars in our review – sees Gru come up against a new nemesis in the form of Will Ferrell’s French baddie Maxime le Mal, who has harboured a grudge against him since their days studying together at Lycée Pas Bon.
And Carell revealed that he enjoyed getting to square off against his old co-star Ferrell, even though they didn’t spend any time recording together.
“When we tape it, we are never together,” he said. “And I didn’t even… I didn’t even recognise his voice when I saw the movie for the first time. I knew it was him, but it didn’t sound like him at all. It was great!”
Despicable Me 4 is released in UK cinemas on Friday 12th July 2024.
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