It’s all good for Zazie Beetz, starring voice in ‘The Bad Guys’

With the weekend’s DreamWorks’ animated feature “The Bad Guys,” Zazie Beetz joined a cast giving voice to a gang of criminal animals who only pretend to go straight.

Beetz, the “Atlanta” star, is the red fox Gov. Diane Foxington. Wolf (Sam Rockwell) is the leader of the “Bad Guys” gang, with Snake (Marc Maron) as his right-hand man — if only Snake had a right hand. There’s also Tarantula (Awkwafina) and Shark (Craig Robinson).

Beatz, 30, liked the process of giving just voice to a character.  “Yes, I got to shape her which was so fun. One of the most challenging parts but for me also the most fun was really finding her voice and making sure she didn’t sound too preachy on the page.

“We just played with her and infused her background into the character. Our director (Pierre Perifel) let all of us put our personalities into these characters.”

As for defining a character using only her voice, “It was that element that drew me to this film: to be unfolding the layers of Diane.

“It’s similar to live acting in that you’re thinking about the motivations and the context of why she is a certain way and making sure that the past is also integrated into her presence. All of that was quite imperative in this film for Diane.

“Also, just working out with the director, talking it out, just trying different things to do something that felt truthful, it’s just a fun process to figure out the character. It’s similar to when you’re doing a regular movie or something.”

Asked during a Zoom interview how different the satisfaction is derived from animation compared to live action, Beetz stated, “For me, I love doing voiceover work. I do think the risk is lower but the reward still feels quite great.

“But in comparison to live action where if I see a finished project of mine, I feel so vulnerable. If it works, it’s such a kind of wild euphoric high. And if it doesn’t work, it’s a devastating low.

“Whereas this is a little bit — because so many people are involved in it. The bulk of the work, in my opinion, is really the animation and all of that. So I feel like I’m kind of along for their project and they’re letting me celebrate.”

As for bringing authenticity to a bunch of animated animals, Beetz considered her own history.  “I actually grew up quite afraid of dogs and had cats as pets. But then I started getting exposed to more dogs — and it’s completely shifted my whole point of view.”