‘Loki’: Tara Strong Weighs in on Miss Minutes’ Cuteness Competition With Alligator Loki
Q&A
Loki‘s finale episode looms large and one of its biggest mysteries is also one of its cutest cast members, Miss Minutes.
Voiced by Tara Strong (The Fairly OddParents, Powerpuff Girls), the orange clock knows a lot about the TVA, an organization that Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino), and more are eager to unravel. Below, Strong is discussing how the fan-favorite came together behind the scenes, teases what Miss Minutes might know heading into the finale, and she weighs in on the brewing competition between her character and the mesmerizing Alligator Loki.
Miss Minutes is so much fun. She’s essentially walking, talking propaganda for the TVA. How were you introduced to the role?
Tara Strong: Yeah, I definitely didn’t know that element when I first auditioned. I actually knew very little about the project. They don’t tell you what it’s for. So, normally when you have an audition, you get a drawing, you get a character description. I got very little character description. I didn’t know who she was, what world she was in. I remember calling my agent, like, is she sentient? Is she AI? Who is this girl?
They couldn’t find out any information either. I do all my first auditions in my home studio. I usually lay down three different tracks depending on what they’ve given me. And I remember doing one more AI, one more my own voice, and then one with this accent that they really liked. It wasn’t ’til I booked it, that I knew what it was. And then working with Kate [Herron] on Zoom was very collaborative to find the exact right voice for Miss Minutes.
(Credit: Disney+)
Along with her voice, Miss Minutes has such a distinct look.
Totally, totally. She’s so fun and so stylized, along with the rest of the show. It’s stylistically easily one of the most beautiful shows I’ve ever seen.
Yes, and the mix between retro and modern sci-fi is great.
I love how they mix retro with modern. It’s so cool. It’s so much fun to watch. Every episode is more fun than the last.
Definitely! In regards to looks, were you given any mock-ups of what Miss Minutes would look like before filming since she isn’t part of the Marvel comics and if so, did she change over time?
I didn’t know exactly who she was until I watched it. The production had already finished, so I got to see her fully animated, fully realized along with Tom [Hiddleston] and the rest of the cast. So, I didn’t know really much about her until I saw her in action, which was kind of great because it gave it this really organic feel as we collaborated and molded who she was in real-time.
(Credit: Disney+/Marvel Studios)
There’s only one more episode to go and there’s still a lot of mystery to uncover. Would it be safe to assume that Miss Minutes knows more than most about the TVA?
More than we thought she knew in episode one, for sure, and we can make that assumption. But how much she knows is still up in the air for me. And how it unfolds… it’s so much fun to watch. And I think the brilliance of this character is they keep the audience guessing. So we don’t really know, and I’m not telling what I do know.
No spoilers here! Before Miss Minutes, you’ve voiced some other iconic animated characters from Timmy Turner on The Fairly OddParents and Bubbles in The Powerpuff Girls. Is there any influence that you take from your past roles to help bring Miss Minutes to life or is it a completely original process every time?
Every time it’s an original process. I see these characters and I try to imagine how production envisioned them. And then I give them my own little spin on it, and then we come together and make the character. Miss Minutes is unlike any character I’ve ever done. Maybe vocally, I’ve done a Southern girl, but for this girl to be so intricate and arouse such curiosity, she’s completely unique in every single way. She’s her own entity and she’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite characters I’ve ever done.
(Credit: Disney+/Marvel Studios)
She’s definitely a fan favorite as well. What has been the craziest or sweetest thing you’ve seen from fans on social media since Miss Minutes made her debut?
I really love the art that she’s inspired, that the show has inspired. I get tagged in a lot of Instagram posts that I try to check all the time. It’s always fun to know that you’ve been part of something that’s inspired art or music or stories. Miss Minutes and Loki were hits before it even aired. The fans were instantly happy with the trailers and they had guesses that it was me [voicing the character] and it was very sweet.
I’m so grateful that they took to her right away. You certainly never know when there’s a new character, joining an already well-established, very successful franchise. So all of it has been a delight for me. I see all the tweets and I try to comment on as many as I can except for spoilers. And the art, there was a tattoo the other day that was really cute. I’m sure we’ll see a bunch more of them.
That’s incredible and a quick turnaround for a tattoo.
It’s the quickest I’ve ever seen, for sure.
(Credit: Disney+/Marvel Studios)
You mentioned that you signed onto the project after filming had finished. Were you able to connect with the rest of the cast and how was that experience different considering the health and safety protocol restrictions?
I did not get to collaborate with the other actors. My collaboration was with Kate and the rest of the team on the Zoom. But I will say that it was a gift for me to see it done because they didn’t have the benefit of playing with me, but I got to play off Tom and all the other actors that she’s in scenes with, and seeing what they did.
So much of acting is listening and participating in those moments. So being able to really see all those moments fleshed out before I came in, just made the process more authentic and spontaneous. Like, “Oh, that’s how he said this, this is how I would react”. I’m always listening to how they’re doing their thing.
Did that mean you were able to ad-lib a bit in scenes where you’re interacting with the other characters or was everything scripted?
Yeah, particularly in that desk scene [with Tom Hiddleston, I] got to ad-lib quite a bit. Each and every noise was specifically crafted and we probably did 20 different versions for each sound. And then when she was leaving into the computer screen where she’s like, “Jerk”, we tried, “Bye”, “See you later”. We tried a whole bunch of exit lines for her and they let me improv and then they threw in a bunch of ideas. It was a lot of fun.
(Credit: Disney+/Marvel Studios)
Miss Minutes was eating up the screentime as a favorite until Alligator Loki made its debut…
I know, there’s a big competition.
Is there a competition for you?
Yeah. I mean, I got to take out the Alligator. I think that’s the next plan for Miss Minutes. I think she’s got to take out the gator. It’s too cute. We can’t have that. She’s got to be the cutest one around.
I definitely wouldn’t underestimate Miss Minutes’ strength. I think she’s strong enough to take him, too.
And I love all the Emojis. The production’s done such a great job of making all these really cute Twitter Emojis. I would tweet Miss Minutes just to see the Emoji pop-up as well as Alligator Loki and Sylvie. They’re all so cute.
Loki, New Episodes, Wednesdays, Disney+
