Comic Actor Craig Robinson Is ‘Killing It’ With Snakes And DreamWorks Animated Movie

Fans of funnyman Craig Robinson (The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine movies) are going to be seeing—and hearing—a lot more of him.

One of the comic actor’s best known TV roles aside from Darryl Philbin on The Office is Doug “The Pontiac Bandit” Judy on several episodes of the acclaimed NBC comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Robinson collaborates that show’s writers, executive producers and co-showrunners Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici, on the new half-hour comedy Killing It, which premiered April 14 on NBC’s streaming service Peacock. On it, he plays Craig, a man who will do whatever it takes to realize his American Dream, including competing in a state-sponsored python hunt.

Robinson serves as an executive producer along with Mark Schulman and Mo Marable, with Marable also directing the first three episodes of the series, which is produced through Universal Television.

Robinson stars alongside Claudia O’Doherty, Rell Battle, Scott MacArthur, Stephanie Nogueras, Wyatt Walter and Jet Miller on the weekly series.

Additionally, Robinson gets animated in the DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys, an action comedy based on the best-selling Scholastic book series by Aaron Blabey, about a crackerjack criminal crew of animal outlaws that are about to attempt their most challenging con yet—becoming model citizens.

Robinson plays chill master-of-disguise Mr. Shark alongside dashing pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), seen-it-all safecracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), short-fused “muscle” Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and sharp-tongued expert hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina,), a.k.a. “Webs.”

When, after years of countless heists and being the world’s most-wanted villains, the gang is finally caught, Mr. Wolf brokers a deal (that he has no intention of keeping) to save them all from prison: The Bad Guys will go good.

Under the tutelage of their mentor Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade), an arrogant but adorable guinea pig, The Bad Guys set out to fool the world that they’ve been transformed. Along the way, though, Mr. Wolf begins to suspect that doing good for real may give him what he’s always secretly longed for—acceptance. So, when a new villain threatens the city, Mr. Wolf has to persuade the rest of the gang to become good. The animated comedy co-stars Zazie Beetz, Lilly Singh and Emmy winner Alex Borstein.

DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys is directed by Pierre Perifel, an animator of the Kung Fu Panda films, making his feature-directing debut. It steals into theaters April 22.

As Mr. Shark, the king of the deep, the six-foot-two Robinson slipped right into the sea creature’s skin. Via Zoom, he spoke about being part of an all-star voice cast as well as his new TV series.

Angela Dawson: The Bad Guys offers moral lessons about not judging people and how even bad guys can be redeemed.

Craig Robinson: It’s also about friendship. It does have all of that in there, all the while entertaining you and making you laugh.

Dawson: How did you come to play Mr. Shark?

Robinson: I went to DreamWorks—I was invited, I didn’t just show up—and they pitched the movie to me. It was this elaborate, beautiful pitch. I was honored to be there, first of all. They showed me who was involved. They showed me the artwork. They showed me book series and what they were going to do with the movie. After meeting with Pierre, Dana and the crew, it was a no-brainer. It was like an immediate partnership; I couldn’t wait to collaborate with them. So, here we are.

Dawson: Did you always see yourself as Mr. Shark, or would you have liked to be the piranha?

Robinson: I am definitely Mr. Shark. If they had thrown all the characters at me and said, “Pick one,” I would have picked him. Piranha (voiced by Anthony Ramos) stole the movie but me as the gentle giant is right up my alley.

Dawson: Mr. Shark is a creature of a thousand disguises. He goes to a gala dressed as a woman and pretends to go into labor as a distraction? How was it getting in touch with his feminine side?

Robinson: Whatever voice inflection I was using, I just wanted to bring honor to the character I’m portraying. If that meant I had to play a woman who is distracting for the mission, I just honored that and “went there.” Being in the moment was the important part.

Dawson: Did they film you in the recording booth because I see a lot of your expressions in Shark’s face?

Robinson: They filmed me but not to match what I was saying as Shark but just to get our expressions for the animators afterwards. There was a whole COVID protocol that was going on, so I’m not sure they were filming everything. But if they did, they got some golden footage because I was moving around a lot in there, doing what I could to keep my energy up.

Dawson: Are you able to move around much in the recording booth because, obviously, they want to get your voice on the track?

Robinson: You can move around as much as your mic will allow you.

Dawson: How closely did you work with your director, Pierre Perifel? Was he in the studio with you?

Robinson: For a majority of the sessions, we were on Zoom. I’d go to the studio and they were on Zoom. Toward the end of the pandemic, they would go to the studio and do stuff together in the next room. We weren’t actually in the same room together.

As far as the collaboration, Pierre would be the one reading the lines and prepping me about the scene and what was happening. I would record a few lines and then we’d go back and I’d do it again, but change it a little bit and make it funnier. It was fun, collaborative and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Dawson: Since this is based on a series of children’s books, is it possible The Bad Guys could be back for a sequel?

Robinson: I think it is a possibility. I don’t know but I’d love to come back for more. We had a table read where (the voice actors) got together and did a few scenes, and it was one of the most fun things I’ve done in Hollywood. If that translates anywhere, it would have a good shot of extending it. It was a Zoom table read and we did it for promotional purposes.

By that time, everybody heard everybody else so we’re laughing because of what you’re hearing and because you know something (funny) is coming up.

Dawson: They can tell if the jokes are working if you guys are laughing, right?

Robinson: Yeah. It’s just a whole different thing hearing it out loud with the other actors. It’s a whole other level.

Dawson: You’ve seen the finished film now. Do you have a favorite part? You get to sing a little bit in it.

Robinson: I do. But I don’t get to sing a lot like Anthony (Ramos) does, who plays Mr. Piranha. My favorite part is Mr. Shark doing a French accent—or the lack thereof. Without spoiling anything, some of my favorite scenes involved some of the deeper message that come across such as don’t judge a book by its cover, friendship and those kinds of things. I’m always going for the level the heartstrings that can be touched.

Dawson: You’re a big and tall guy. Have you ever felt judged because of your size? Have you felt like Mr. Shark who feels misunderstood?

Robinson: What? Yes! Daily. Many, many times. There are times where I’ll just hold back so I don’t startle somebody. Like, if I see someone getting nervous around me, I’ll just go the other way.

Dawson: Even now that you’re famous and people recognize you?

Robinson: It’s interesting because when Obama got into office, it kind of flipped. I got on an elevator with this white lady, and I grabbed my purse. (He laughs.) It happened a lot more before—maybe not so much now—but it still happens, for sure.

Dawson: Maybe The Bad Guys will have some influence on its young audience about understanding and acceptance.

Robinson: From your mouth to God’s ears.

Dawson: You’ve got something else cooking, a TV series called Killing It. You’re not a snake handler, right?

Robinson: I play a snake hunter.

Dawson: What did you think when they approached you with that idea?

Robinson: I was with one of the producers, Mark Schulman, and the writers from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Dan Goor and Luke Del Tredici (the showrunners). Dan and Luke were telling Mark and me that they were going to pitch us three ideas, and they were all great but this one really stuck out. There was some validity to it as well as far as people in Florida going around catching snakes for money because back in the day drug dealers bought (these exotic creatures) because they thought it made them look cool or people would just buy them as pets and then let them go.

Dawson: These are snakes that are not native to this environment.

Robinson: And nothing eats them. They just eat everything.

Dawson: Did you have any qualms about working with snakes? How much interaction do you have with real snakes on the show?

Robinson: I would have had qualms except that several years ago went to an animal sanctuary in Australia. I have pictures of me holding snakes. I think snakes get a bad rap. So, I like snakes now. It was nice to reacquaint myself with them—and then kill them. (He laughs.) No snakes were harmed.

Dawson: How many episodes did you film?

Robinson: Ten, to start.

Dawson: It (premiered) on April 14^th. Your co-star, Claudia O’Doherty, is from Australia, right? So, you two had something to talk about.

Robinson: Yes, she is. She’s a real sweetheart. She can talk about anything. She’s so knowledgeable and so talented. We had the best time making this. I love her stuff; she’s very funny. As soon as we saw her audition, (the search) was over.

Dawson: Will there be some fun surprise guest stars from your Brooklyn Nine-Nine family?

Robinson: I don’t want to give too much away. Let’s just say maybe. There will be guest stars that you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see.