Milana Vayntrub provides the voice of Squirrel Girl in the Marvel Rising animated productions, including Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron. During roundtable interviews at the 2019 WonderCon in Anaheim, Vayntrub revealed she sees a lot of herself in the fan favorite character.
Marvel Rising: Heart of Iron is now available on Marvel HQ.
What’s the best part of voicing Squirrel Girl?
Milana Vayntrub: “There’s so many. I think honestly the thing that is so wonderful is that she’s very funny. You’re going to be in a recording booth for hours and yelling and pushing yourself physically to that extent, it’s really just nice to have a joke. You guys know when you’re casually funny with people, it feels so good to make people laugh. Like, ‘I did it! My brain fired and synapsed in a way that worked to trigger something in somebody else that made them feel good.’ So, the fact that you can do that as a job is the best.”
Squirrel Girl is so funny in a very specific way. Was that hard to capture?
Milana Vayntrub: “I’m very like Squirrel Girl, truly. In fact, when I read her – when I read the comics before any of this, I felt like she talks like I talk. And so, as a voice actor, I don’t have to do too much to make her more like myself. There’s a little bit of a pitch thing that I do, but tiny. I feel like she’s excited about a lot of the things I’m excited about…teamwork, girl power, squirrels.”
Is there a favorite scene of Squirrel Girl’s?
Milana Vayntrub: “We did a short that was a scene-for-scene remake of one of Ryan North’s comics and I think that was my favorite. The animation was really interesting. The writing felt, because it was actually Ryan’s words, it felt super authentic and fun. And it was one of the early comics that I read of Ryan’s and so it felt like I got to bring truly her to life. And it turned out great. It’s beautiful.”
Do you see yourself in the animation of Squirrel Girl?
Milana Vayntrub: “I think I am Squirrel Girl so whenever I see the cartoon and it’s not actually me, I am shocked. I’m like, ‘I’m not a redhead! My eyes are brown!’ Because when I am voicing her, I genuinely feel so connected to her in the cheesiest way possible. I feel like Squirrel Girl is not just my spirit animal, she is my spirit.
When I’m reading the words, I just feel like it is an extension of me. I’m so sorry for how cheesy that is! I don’t mean it in like a Daniel Day-Lewis way where I’ve been growing my own tail. But I do feel like naturally we’re aligned.”
Do you have any Squirrel Girl action figures?
Milana Vayntrub: “Yes, I have one and I’ve given one to my niece. But I asked to keep Tippy. I just had to give her something to work for. I have to have some sort of reward system otherwise she won’t clean for me. No, I’m kidding. I did keep Tippy because I wanted Squirrel Girl to have many squirrels like she does in some of the animations. (Laughing) And I’m a terrible aunt. I giveth, I taketh away.”
Where would you like to see her evolve to next?
Milana Vayntrub: “President. Squirrel Girl for President! Squirrel Girl 2020.”
