‘Hazbin Hotel’s’ Amir Talai “Let It Rip” For This Part of His Performance in Season 2

The chart-topping, streaming numbers-breaking adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel dominated Prime Video earlier this year — ahe success isn’t lost on star Amir Talai, who looked back at the first season with Perri Nemiroff in the latest episode of Collider Forces. “I guess I’m really proud of what I did vocally in Season 2,” Talai answered when he was asked what he was most proud of so far in the series. He explained:

“I think that going into Season 2,
I felt a lot of nervousness around the fact that everyone in this show but me has done Broadway
and is a pretty accomplished musical theater performer. Obviously, I’ve done a fair amount of musicals, as well, but they have a sort of pedigree in a different way than I do, and I think that sometimes that can make you shrink a little bit. I’m proud that in Season 2, I didn’t shrink and go, ‘Let me just play it safe because I’m doing a duet with this incredible person.
Let me let it rip. Let me show them what I got.
Let me connect to the fact that I belong here.’”

This helped him face one particular challenge. Talai shared, “For the premiere in New York of Season 1, after the premiere, we all went to this cabaret venue, and everyone sang a song. I was so nervous because I was like, ‘I’m the only person who’s never performed in New York in any kind of way. There are people who have performed on Broadway stages in New York for years, and here I am, this dude who does improv at the Groundlings, occasionally gets a chance to be in a cartoon, and now I’m singing.’” He continued saying, “It was interesting because it was like, I had never met any of these people before, and now I’m performing for them.”

There was another small wrinkle during the premiere, too, “I was a little under the weather, and I was really, really nervous. So, I’m proud when I think of how far I’ve come, just confidence-wise, from seven months ago to about a month or two ago, finishing Season 2 and knowing that, ‘I can do this vocally.’ And to be fair, a part of that is my fellow cast members being like, ‘Bro, you belong here.’”

Amir Talai on the Magic of the ‘Hazbin Hotel’ Cast

Nemiroff brought up the core of the series, creator Vivienne Medrano, as the heart of the cast and crew. Talai agreed but also gave a nod to sheer luck. “It’s not like [Medrano] interviewed me before she gave me the role,” Talai explained. “I could have turned out to be a huge dick. I could have turned out to not get along with Blake [Roman] and Erika [Henningsen], and everybody else as much as I do.” He went on to explain:

“Not to take anything away from Viv; she’s a fantastic showrunner and boss and person and friend. I adore her on a heart level. But no, I really do think it was luck, and that actually makes it even more special in a way, because
it’s just magic.
It’s one thing if someone sets out to say, ‘I’m only going to hire people who have good hearts and are going to get along with each other,’ because then, they set a blueprint for themselves, and they succeeded in that. But
Vivienne said, ‘I just want the most talented, interesting people,’
and she got them, and then magically, we all got along. That’s kind of mind-blowing.”

He finished, “Sometimes it’s just dumb luck that you just end up in a project where everyone is kind, and — what’s the mantra? — having fun working with amazing people. They’re just amazing people.”

Hazbin Hotel has been renewed through Season 4 on Prime Video. Check out Talai’s full episode of Collider Forces below.

Hazbin Hotel

In an attempt to find a non-violent alternative for reducing Hell’s overpopulation, the daughter of Lucifer opens a rehabilitation hotel that offers a group of misfit demons a chance at redemption.

Release Date

October 28, 2019

Creator

Vivienne Medrano

Cast

Erika Henningsen , Christian Borle , Alex Brightman , Amir Talai

Seasons

2

Watch on Prime Video