Over the past couple of years, John Cusack has been everywhere on the big screen. After a string of memorable roles in such films as 1408, Grace is Gone, Martian Child, and War Inc, Cusack now takes to lead in the animated Igor, lending his voice to an evil scientist's assistant who longs to be a scientist. With Igor about to hit theaters on September 19, which also features the voices of Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Christian Slater, Jennifer Coolidge, and Jay Leno, John Cusack sat down at the film's press conference with former SNL gal and Igor co-star Molly Shannon to give journalists a dose of the latest animated goodness.

Molly Shannon on what part of the animated character was most like her:

"I guess... Well, you know, they do record you while you’re filming. So sometimes they try to see how your mouth moves and they can incorporate that in a subtle way. But I was so much different than I expected because it was finally finished [and] they had all of the finishing touches when you see the final product. So I was just - You have to get over seeing like, ‘Oh my God. this is what it is.’ It was really exciting to see it all come together like that. So I guess I’d have to see it again to know what part looked like me."

John Cusack on whether they worked together or alone:

"No, I was in Europe a lot working. So I was in different places in Europe, a couple of times in L.A., but you do it with another actor there. So you get a sense of flow and I’m sure they do the other ones and mix and match the lines. Then after a while you get the other actors' voices, because they have them recorded, so you get to play against. You know, Molly’s voice for Molly’s character; not all the way done. The backgrounds are not all of the way done, but you start to have a sense of it so you’re not totally in a vacuum."

Cusack on whether he chooses animated scripts the same way he chooses live action:

"Basically it’s if you like the [project], you read the script, and you like the other actors. But they do a version of the animation so you can see the style of it, so it was pretty clear it was going to be something very original. I mean it didn’t look like all of the Pixar movies, it had its own style they were going for."

Shannon on who she based her character on, one who is a self obsessed actress:

"When I was first starting out, I went to NYU Drama School and it reminded me a lot of - You know when you first start you have classes where you work on your voice and then your body? It seemed like when I first moved to New York it reminded me of that. You're first so excited about taking acting classes and drinking coffee and taking notes in class and, you know, just that kind of real actory stuff."

Cusack on the twisted humor in the movie:

"Tony [Leondis] seemed that he wanted to have it so kids could laugh at it and then the adults could also have a couple of laughs. I mean there’s one line he says, ‘If she’s having woman problems, let me know.’ And the kids are thinking, ‘Oh, woman problems,’ but then adults knew that that was something else. So there are a bunch of those double entendres there. I thought it was letting the audience, kids and adults, both enjoy it."

On whether he saw the political message in the film:

"I saw the fact that the town was in darkness and the town was all built on this. The whole economy was on making - You know, there are no more crops or no other things. All of the creativity was kind of going into making these evil weapons that could destroy the world. So that was kind of a pretty easy, sweet, but firm kind of anti-war message. Sweet but Firm, you know, but it was not that complex. You could obviously see a basic anti-war, anti-weapons thing. That seems to be what the writer and director were going for."

Molly Shannon on whether she’s nervous about her Australian sitcom, 'Kath and Kim', coming to L.A.:

"Oh yeah, definitely. I mean I do get nervous because it was such a hit in Australia and there are real die-hard fans. But we would never try to imitate that. There are certain jokes that are so very - the humor is very Australian and there are certain class things that can’t translate so easily. So we had to do our own version. So Michelle Nader, our executive producer, adapted it and the ladies, Jane Turner and Gina Riley, are executive producing our show.

"So the way they see it is the equivalent in America of Orange County. It’s kind of like that so we had to make our own. But I’m really excited about it and I in no way would try to imitate what they did so brilliantly and beautifully. You have to make it your own. But of course I’m nervous about it. I care and I want it to be funny. And as far as comparisons, you kind of have to get over that hurdle of, 'Okay, we’re not trying to copy it.' We take the essence of the mother-daughter relationship but then we’re also adapting it for American television. And they’re excited about it coming to America, Rick McKenna and Gina and Jane, so it’s not like we’re taking it from them. They’re happy to have it here and I hope we can make them happy and do a good job."

John Cusack on on the relevance of real world events in his upcoming film, Shanghai:

"Well, I think there is a great sense of foreboding about the world. And there was a sense that the world was about to change dramatically and it was a time of great seismic shifts going on. So in that sense it’s like what’s going on now. I mean, I think people know that there’s a great sense of danger as far as the world becoming unstable. Back then the world was about to go into World War II, the Germans were going through Europe, and the Japanese were on the verge of attacking the Americans. So the whole world was about to go up in flames.

"And there’s a big sort of international settlement and the English and the French and everybody had stakes in Shanghai. It was an international city. It was a port. But then, basically, Japan had invaded the rest of China and the only reason it didn’t invade the international city was because it hadn’t declared war with the rest of Europe. You know, they hadn’t sided with the Germans absolutely yet, so it was very, very tense. It’s that kind of place on the verge of a massive conflict. So it was a place a lot of spies went and there’s kind of like a Casablanca feel to the film."