Ty Burrell felt like a “giddy schoolgirl” when he was offered a role in Muppets Most Wanted.
The 46-year-old funnyman plays Jean Pierre Napoleon in the upcoming comedy movie, directed by James Bobin.
When asked how his inner and outer self reacted to being given the part, Ty admits he couldn’t contain his delight.
“Well unfortunately [my inner and outer self] were kind of one in the same, a giddy schoolgirl or a seven year old with turrets or something. I was blurting out all of my joy, which didn’t give me a ton of negotiating power,” he laughed to screenrant.com.
“Yeah, I was just super excited to be a part of it and didn’t really believe it at first. I just had a really hard time believing that I was being offered a part in a Muppet movie, I’m still sort of pinching myself.”
His character is an Interpol agent who’s charged with capturing Kermit the Frog’s criminal Doppelgänger, Constantine.
Ty enjoyed developing his on-screen alter ego and how seeing how Jean clashed against CIA Muppet Sam the Eagle, who is also put on the case.
“Well the name is pretty indicative. If we could have, we would have added another French word in there. Basically, just try to find the funniest Frenchiest, Frenchest name!” he mused.
“He’s essentially an amalgam of every French character you’ve ever seen and also intended to be the most European person essentially alive – so he could stand in contrast to Sam Eagle who is so American. And they spend the whole time just fighting about which culture is better basically.”
Sam the Eagle was taken over by Eric Jacobson in 2005, prior to which Muppets original Frank Oz helmed the role. Ty admits he needed time to get his head around the fact the puppets were controlled by performers on set.
“It does take a little bit of time [to adjust to]. It’s funny what happens as you do find yourself talking to the Muppet. If it’s a short stretch between takes you will actually be conversing with the Muppet, which is disturbing,” he recalled.
“If it’s longer, then you end up talking to the puppeteer and in my case I spent a lot of time with Eric Jacobson. I have an incredible amount of admiration for those guys, men and women.”
