Yudai Chiba Visited USJ to Pay His Respects After Passing Audition: Voice Cast Announcement Event for Latest Film Minions & Monsters

The Japanese dubbing cast announcement event for the movie Minions & Monsters was held in Tokyo on May 27.

This film is the latest installment in the series, coming four years after Minions: The Rise of Gru released in 2022. The story follows the Minions on a journey in search of the biggest, baddest boss. They end up in Hollywood, where they attempt to make their own monster movie but cause a massive uproar after summoning real monsters.

Ken Matsudaira (playing Max), Yudai Chiba (playing Dort), Airi Suzuki (playing Debbie), Koichi Yamadera (playing Goomy), and the comedy duo Batteries—Ace and Jike—(playing Phillips and Howard respectively) took the stage at the press conference. The participation of Chiba, Suzuki, and Batteries in this film was officially unveiled at this event.

The event kicked off with a shout of “Action!” from Matsudaira, who plays the role of a movie director. Sharing his feelings about being cast, Matsudaira expressed his joy, saying, “I've always loved the series. This is a unique role I’ve never done before, so I'm really looking forward to it.” Chiba, who received the acceptance notice during a stage performance in Osaka, revealed, “I went to USJ to pay my respects,” while Suzuki, who heard the news in a car on her way to work, recalled, “It was the first big birthday present I received.”

Additionally, Yamadera, who has appeared in past films of the series, drew laughs from the audience by saying, “My roles had been getting smaller and smaller, and recently I thought I'd only be doing narration for trailers. So, I was thrilled to be given such a unique role.” Ace, playing Phillips, shared a family anecdote, saying, “I thought my first voice acting role would be a human, but it turned out to be a monster,” while Jike, playing Howard, shared, “When I told my wife I got the role, she told me, ‘Make sure you do a proper job.’”