Sean Gunn has had two roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as both Rocket and Kraglin from the start. While the former is voiced by Bradley Cooper, it's Gunn who is on set performing the motion capture and giving his fellow actors someone to bounce off as the fast-talking hero.
His role in helping bring Rocket to life is massive, and we recently had the good fortune to speak with the actor about starring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
During the threequel's final act, the Guardian finally accepts that he's a raccoon and, in a confrontation with the despicable High Evolutionary, triumphantly declares himself, "Rocket Raccoon." It's a chill-inducing moment and one we asked Gunn to look back on during the course of our conversation.
"Oh, it’s magnificent. That’s some of the most fun stuff when you get to deliver those movie gold lines," he says in the video below. "That was just so magnificent. Oh my gosh, it’s a whole lot of fun…we enjoyed that. That stuff really moves me. When he sees the word ‘raccoon’ on that cage and then he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s me.’ It’s good stuff."
Rocket and Groot's friendship is somewhat sidelined in Vol. 3 due to the nature of the story being told, but the two characters get to share a pretty special moment when they dance during Florence + the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over."
"The great thing is is that James does all the dancing reference for Groot, so that moment at the end when Rocket and Groot are dancing together…that’s me and James doing it on set," the actor recalls. "Hopefully, one of these days, they’ll release it as a magnificent bit of behind-the-scenes footage of me and James doing that dance, and not Rocket and Groot. Hopefully, audiences will get to catch a glimpse of that someday."
When we asked Gunn who the better dancer is between him and his brother, James, he responded: "It’s me. I don’t know why he would ever have such a…he doesn’t want to get into a dance-off with me. That’s not going to go great for him. He knows it!"
That sounds like fighting talk to us!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing in theaters. You can find Sean on Twitter @seangunn and on Instagram @thejudgegunn.