Jason Sudeikis: ‘A toot of anger is a good thing’

Jason Sudeikis thinks The Angry Birds Movie has a healthy message about anger.
The film is an adaptation of the hit video game, which tells the story of three flightless birds who all suffer with rage issues. Jason voices Red, who has a temper problem, and the film has taught him that letting out his anger every now and then isn’t a bad thing.
Asked if the message of the film was that it’s good to be furious, Jason replied to Collider.com: “No, that is one of the things that I liked about it. We’ve gotten better at acting like anger doesn’t exist, but it clearly still does. Letting it out, every now and then, actually is a healthy thing. May it never go too far, one way or the other. Don’t hold it all the way in and don’t let it all the way out, but a little toot of anger, every now and then, is a nice thing.”
Jason is father to two-year-old Otis with his fiancee Olivia Wilde. During the interview, he joked about the aspects of his life that enabled him to get in touch with his inner angry side.
“There’s just a ton in my world that makes me really angry and ticked off,” he laughed. “It’s one thing after another, from the person that I get to sleep next to and my child to my supportive family and cool sisters and great friends. There’s one thing after another. My anger bingo card is full. Something will turn. It’s peaks and valleys. When wanting to access anger, it does help, going through these sessions. Five hours at a time of pretending to be an action hero, or yelling and screaming, does exercise or exorcise those demons, as does a really long, late, drunken night of karaoke.”
The Angry Birds game became a surprise hit worldwide when it was released in 2009. However, while Jason wasn’t a fan of it himself, he insists that doesn’t matter because the film stands alone.
“It’s like (1979 movie) Life of Brian. If you have an understanding of the Bible and the history of religions, you love the movie on that level,” he said. “Otherwise, it’s just a very fun, funny movie. I didn’t play the game that much. I’m more of a New York Times crossword puzzle guy. I liked the story. A big part of it, for me, was what is the story? When you have people that wrote for The Simpsons coming up with it, they’ve come up with and forgotten so many good stories, having worked on that show for 20 years, that you put your trust in that.
“But I liked the overall theme of the film, that anger is sometimes necessary. They carved out a nice little origin story about the frustration between the birds and the pigs, which is something I know that every time someone plays that game, they’re concerned with.”