Two years ago, Marvel Studios and director James Gunn proved that the impossible was possible with the release of Guardians of the Galaxy. They reinvigorated the space opera and made superstars out of a talking tree and raccoon. However, it takes a lot of talented people to bring a space raccoon like Rocket to life, including a director with a firm vision, a highly capable visual effects team, as well as talented vocal and physical performers. 

It has been well publicized that Academy Award nominated actor Bradley Cooper voices Rocket Raccoon, however the character’s physicality and presence is executed by an unsung performer. Sean Gunn has been acting for decades, making his mark on shows such as Gilmore Girls and appearing in a wide variety of shows and films. However in 2014, the veteran actor had double duty playing Yondu’s right-hand man, the scoundrel known as Kraglin, and giving the on set performance of Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy. The rest is Marvel cinematic history. 

At this past weekend’s Heroes and Villains Fan Fest, Gunn sat down to talk with the PoG. He explained some of what it takes to bring Rocket Raccoon to life, playing Kraglin, and what his character is up to in the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy. Enjoy!

Were you a ‘Guardians’ fan growing up?

No, I had never heard of Guardians until my brother got the job directing the movie. I had never heard of ’em. But my brother Jimmy was always way into to comic books. I loved movies like he did. And loved music like he did. But comic books weren’t totally my thing.

You don’t get a lot of public credit for bringing Rocket Raccoon to life. Tell me a little about how the process is for you?

I appreciate you saying that. First of all, I will say I’ve gotten more credit for it, than I ever thought I would…I would never say I don’t get enough credit for it. I think I get plenty of credit, because I’m just a member of the team. I mean it takes a team of people to create Rocket. I know that my brother sees a lot of himself in Rocket. So I know that when I’m doing the job of being on set…I don’t want to say I’m a placeholder. But, it’s just a way for the other actors who are doing the scene to have an appropriate framework for what’s going on in the scene. That’s why you need a real actor there, rather than just have a stick and tennis ball. You know or something like that. It’s a strange process. We kind of figured it out on the fly in the first movie. With me just kind of getting down and doing Rocket. And then in the second movie we did even more of it. Like I said I’m just a member of the team. I do one little piece of it. And the VFX team does a massive piece of it. My brother’s kind of…it’s all him eventually anyway. And then Bradley [Cooper] comes in and really fleshes the character and makes it completely real.

Since you now have experience doing motion capture, is it something that you want to continue in the future?

You know I’m open to doing more of it. I think that actor’s jobs are changing a lot. There’s a lot more content in things like CGI characters or video game characters and things like that there’s a lot of different types of jobs. I’m open to doing whatever kind of jobs are cool and where I’m serving a story. I don’t resist playing a CGI character at all, if I’m serving a story. That’s what actors are supposed to do. Be storytellers. And you can do that in a videogame or in a big-budget movie where you are playing an alien or anything like that. I’m totally open to those jobs.

How was your experience at San Diego Comic Con? The Ravagers stole the show. It was life performance, it was theater.

That’s like nothing else, doing San Diego Comic Con. The Marvel panel… How many people does that room [Hall H] hold?

Like…7,000.

7,000 right? It’s unbelievable. It’s very, very strange. But I love it! What a delightful gift that is for someone like me that’s essentially been performing my whole life. To sort of play in front of a crowd that big, that’s whipped up into that much of a frenzy…and it’s not (even) about politics, you know? (Laughs) You got people going crazy for something that they love, that they’re passionate about. What a cool thing that is!

At SDCC, they showed footage (from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2’) and it had a lot of the Ravagers. Can you tell me what Kraglin has been up to in between part one and two?

Between one and two it’s only about two months after the first movie, when the second movie comes out. Basically, Kraglin is still sort of smarting a little bit, from the fact that Quill sort of betrayed us at the end of the movie. Didn’t give us that money. And Yondu, rather than wanting to go right after him and kill him, has kind of seemed to let it go. And I don’t think that really sits right with Kraglin. And what happens from there is explored a little bit [in Vol. 2].

Did you have more fun playing Kraglin or Rocket on set?

Well, there is a little less pressure playing Rocket. Because so much of what I do can be fixed. Not just fixed. I’m only one part of it. Even though I prepare for it the same that I do for any role, I know ultimately that there’s not big pressure for me to perform in the way that there is for Kraglin. Because Kraglin is the one that’s going to have the real, sort of serious effect on my acting career moving forward. You know, if people like Kraglin and respond to the character that’s obviously going to be a good thing for my career. Whether that’s movies in the MCU or just elsewhere…I love playing Kraglin though. It’s two great jobs. I don’t complain about either one of them. You know I’ve been an actor my whole life so being on camera is always a little nicer.

What do you have coming up next?

Right now I’m promoting all these things coming out. The Gilmore Girls reboot is coming out on November 25th on Netflix, that’s very highly anticipated. I’ve got this movie, The Belko Experiment, that if you are a horror fan, it’s an extremely violent, rather disturbing horror movie that I’m proud of. I play this stoner that works in the cafeteria and that’s a fun job. That premieres at the Toronto Film Festival in a week or two and then we’ll get a theatrical release sometime early next year. Then Guardians 2 comes out May 5th!

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life will be available for streaming on Netflix on November 25th, 2016. The Belko Experiment will open in 2017. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 opens on May 5th, 2017.

Do you want to see Kraglin appear in other MCU movies? What is your favorite Gunn role? Let us know on , , , and Reddit! Make sure to share our stories on your favorite social media by clicking below.

Special thanks to Heroes and Villains Fan Fest and for taking the time!