The Bad Guys' Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, & Anthony Ramos Discuss Voicing Animals In The Film - Exclusive

DreamWorks Animation's latest computer-generated family film, "The Bad Guys," focuses on a quintet of animals who all face negative stereotypes just because of their species. But instead of attempting to prove their naysayers wrong, Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina) have teamed up to form a criminal gang that's become notorious for their elaborate heists. However, after being caught, the group strikes a deal: If they can turn good, they'll stay out of prison — an agreement that proves to be their biggest challenge ever.

The actors behind "The Bad Guys" had to come up with voices for their characters that lived up to each animal's dangerous reputation while also ensuring they were endearing enough to win over viewers. In an exclusive interview with Looper, Maron, Robinson, and Ramos discussed the process of finding the voices for Snake, Shark, and Piranha, respectively.

While each of the actors is voicing an animal predator in "The Bad Guys," they confessed they came to understand their characters in the same way they do human characters. "I don't think I differentiate [between animal and human characters]," Marc Maron said. "I'll voice whatever, a rock, a squirrel, a guy. I don't think my approach is any different. I go with the script and the emotional tone of what's happening."

Craig Robinson joked, "I watched about three months of 'Shark Week,' and that really got me set ..." But then he agreed with Maron, explaining, "What happens is, you go in there and the director tells you what they want and then you go back and forth. A beautiful thing about animation is you get a few scenes in and, let's say, you finally found the energy of the shark, now we can go back and get those other scenes. It was about finding it in the room."

Anthony Ramos concurred, adding that he made decisions about his character by asking himself questions about who they are. "Yeah, it's an animal, but what helps is, 'What is this animal's temperament? Is this animal lighthearted? Is this animal a little crazy? What's the vibe here?'" Ramos explained. "You make choices from there."

Robinson and Ramos also both brought their impressive singing skills to "The Bad Guys," and although they were singing in character, they both noted that their approach wasn't that different than if they were singing as themselves.

"It just so happens, Shark sings like me," Robinson quipped. "I rolled with it." Meanwhile, Ramos, who has a show-stopping number at a key moment in the film, revealed, "I kept a little bit of that gravel in [Piranha's] voice for the song, but I keep telling the story, that song wasn't even there and then it was, later on. We threw it together pretty fast, quickly. You definitely try to keep the character in mind when you're singing."

"The Bad Guys" premieres exclusively in theaters on April 22.