“I had a hard time keeping it together”: Sean Gunn on playing Rocket Raccoon in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Actor Sean Gunn has been part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the original Guardians of the Galaxy, not only playing the Ravager Kraglin, but portraying Rocket on set before the character was completed by visual effects artists and ultimately voiced by Bradley Cooper.

He has also portrayed Rocket on set in Avengers: Infinity War, and both characters in Endgame, Thor: Love and Thunder and the Guardians Holiday Special, but he said Vol. 3 hit different because it was primarily focused on Rocket.

“Just as an actor and as a performer, it was emotional for me to be a part of the trilogy of movies … But particularly, as you say, Rocket’s story in this third movie was a lot to tackle.”

He likens creating Rocket to a relay race. “My brother James gets the ball rolling, and then I kind of take the baton and … I work with the actors, and [then] the visual effects team comes in, and then Bradley puts all the pieces together and makes the whole thing work.”

The Gilmore Girls veteran actually voiced Young Rocket in flashbacks dealing with the cruel animal experimentation that brought him to life. “Some of those scenes were very — I had a hard time keeping it together, I won’t lie,” he confesses.

Guardians Vol. 3 remains the number one movie in the world, after doing what few movies in the MCU ever did: retaining 49% of its opening weekend audience over its second weekend.

“It’s really kind of the most gratifying thing,” Gunn says. “When you can keep … over 50% of your audience for week two … it’s a pretty good sign that, number one, people liked the movie. And number two, that they’re going back and seeing it a second time, which is really gratifying. It’s really cool.”

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