Exclusive: Bobby Moynihan on ‘Secret Life of Pets’ and Beyonce

In addition to Bobby Moynihan’s appearances on the big and small screen, he has been a “Saturday Night Live (SNL)” staple for eight seasons. Moynihan voices the dog, Mel, in “The Secret Life of Pets” that opens July 8.

He and cast members were at Liberty State Park, along with some furry friends, to talk about their roles. In an exclusive interview with Moynihan, he talked about his role and one of his magical moments at SNL, appearing as a backup dancer for Beyonce.

Being one of my favorite Beyonce dancers, can you talk about how that SNL skit came about?

[Laughs] Thank you. Thank you. That makes me really happy. I wrote that in my first season. Originally she said no because she just wanted to focus on her songs. So when she said yes, everything about that sketch is like SNL in a capsule for me and. I’LL never forget that.

Did have any idea that it would take off as it did—I believe it has almost 5 millions views on YouTube?

On Monday Kenan [Thompson] showed me the video [“Single Ladies] on Tuesday and I thought it would be funny if I were in a leotard. I wrote it on Wednesday for Andy [Samberg]. Thursday, they told us we’re not doing it. Friday, Justin Timberlake got involved. We rehearsed it once with him on Saturday. It was in the show and then it was in Entertainment Weekly on Monday. And I was like, ‘what just happened?’ That was one of the craziest weeks of my life.

How did you channel Mel?

I just showed up. I feel I’m a lot like Mel. I saw the picture of that cute little dog, his weird little legs, and I said I think I can do that.

Although the movie is hilarious, there are some important ideas in it. Is there one particular message you want theatergoers to walk away with?

 That’s a great question. I mean to me it’s just a life lesson. It’s like Max is this dog and he’s got this wonderful life and he’s got this perfect beautiful life and then this insanely other animal gets thrust into it. He’s forced to deal with it. He deals with it with the help of his friends. Mel lives in the building, finds out Max is in trouble and goes to help him on his mission. Mel is probably the least helpful in the mission but it’s about making sure your friends are okay.

Syndicated Entertainment journalist Marie Moore reports on film and TV from her New York City base. Contact her at [email protected]

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