*Updated to include an audio clip from the junket interview.

By the time I interviewed Christina Hendricks about her role as the new Toy Story 4 villain Gabby Gabby, Hendricks had heard one word repeated all day. Badass.

Christina Hendricks at the world premiere of ‘Toy Story 4’. Photo courtesy Disney Pixar Studios.

It was a term being used to describe Gabby Gabby and the rest of the women of Toy Story 4 like Bo Peep and the Barbies. Hendricks told me, “It’s like the word of the day. Have you noticed everyone’s been saying badass?”

I did notice, and I think everyone was right. The women of this film are voicing some of the boldest roles and Hendricks as Gabby Gabby is key among them. Gabby Gabby is the so-called villain of the film, with her 1950’s style dress and hair. She the OG baby doll, and much like Big Baby from Toy Story 4, she is misunderstood and stuck in time.

Gabby Gabby “rules” over an antique shop from a glass case in the center of the dusty place. She takes regular strolls in a vintage pram, flanked by the creepiest antique ventriloquists’ dummies (there five or more and all of them are named Benson). She strikes fear in the hearts of everyone…Everyone but newly “made” toy Forky.

I got to ask Hendricks about her role in Toy Story 4 and why Gabby Gabby may not necessarily be a villain. I also snuck in a fan questions about Good Girls that you don’t want to miss. (She talks about the steamy scenes with Manny Montana who plays Rio in the show!)

Gabby Gabby answers to no man, so she’s like the don of the antique store. Can you tell us a little bit about this little powerful but innocent, sweet-faced doll? About her power and how it goes with her image?

It’s actually interesting. I think that’s what’s fun about [Gabby Gabby]. She’s not “what you see is what you get” at all. It’s a very different scenario. And I like that you initially are like, ‘Oh, she’s gonna be bad.’ Then, you realize that there’s a whole lot of heart there. She just wants to love.

I love this sort of switch and I think people will enjoy that [too]. Not everyone’s what you think. You got to hear someone’s story, and you have to know where they came from. You got to know why they act. I think that’s smart. I think it’s really smart and interesting writing.

Very smart for this day and age. Gabby Gabby, she is the so-called “villain,” but I really don’t feel comfortable calling her one.

But it’s like, you don’t know what else to call her.

Right. She doesn’t really go with, past villains of Toy Story: Big Baby, Lotso, Sid the kid from next door, and the collector. How is she different from all of those villains?

She’s just very relatable, I think. And I think that you understand her story [that] they’ve given her. They’ve given her heart. You’re sort of like: this poor girl has been alone her whole life and she wants a friend. She wants to be loved. So, you’re right. It’s like, you can’t really use the word villain. But, “the foil,” you can say [Gabby Gabby is] the foil.

Gabby Gabby (voiced by Christina Hendricks) and Benson speak to Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks). Photo courtesy Disney Pixar Studios.

[The day we sat down for the interview was National Best Friends Day. SO I had to ask about Gabby Gabby.]

Would you call Gabby Gabby and Benson friends? This is National Best Friends Day.

I mean, I don’t think she’s ever really had a real friend. Benson and the gang are sort of like, you’re talking AT them rather than WITH them. Right? It’s sort of a lonely existence in there.

[Gabby Gabby’s] always been sort of an observer of people living their lives rather than her having her own.

So?

Forky. Forky would be her first real friend.

So, your character on [the NBC show] Good Girls, Beth, is the head of the group, the mastermind? What do you think she would say about somebody like Gabby, Gabby?

What would Beth say about Gabby Gabby?

Christina Hendricks with Retta and Mae Whittman, star in NBC’s ‘Good Girls’.

Yeah! Do you think they would be friends?

I mean, I think they’re both very like driven people who are …I mean, the thing about Beth is that you understand her. You love her, but she’s being a bit selfish like Gabby, Gabby. There’s a selfishness to both of them.

But, you can see where it comes from?

You can see where it comes from and can relate to it. I can understand how they got to the place that they’re at.

I love it. So, a fan wanted me to ask a Good Girls question. “What was it like having your kissing scenes with Rio?” So, how was that in real life, shooting it, the scenes?

Easy. I mean, he’s a great actor and, we have great chemistry working together and…He’s just…it’s just a very sort of respectful work. You know, it’s funny, because I know people love, they love it. We, of course, we love that. It’s exciting and stuff, but it’s not as…it’s much more professional than anyone would think.

Christina Hendricks plays Beth in NBC’s ‘Good Girls’. Manny Montana plays the illustrious fan favorite Rio, who has been Beth’s biggest problem in the show for a few reasons. One is the affair the two carry on in Season 2.

Just, ‘it’s like going to work?’ Kind of Boring?

Not boring. You know, I love the scenes. They’re such great scenes, and we have fun playing in them. And you know, as well as the stuff with Matt [Matthew Lillard who plays Beth’s husband], too. That’s really intimate stuff, too. So, you know, [the scenes with Beth and Dean] sometimes gets even more intense than the other stuff [with Rio and Beth].

An unedited audio excerpt from this interview where Hendricks is talking about Beth and Rio.

Going back to Toy Story, it seemed to me like the women were like really taking the lead in this one. I mean, you even have the Barbies helping with a rescue.

Yeah, I know. I love that.

So, would you say that this new edition of Toy Story is more about the women than some of the past ones have been?

Um, yeah. I mean, they definitely have a more of a presence and sort of drive the story more. I think it was Keanu saying earlier [in the press conference] that each [Toy Story] that’s come out is sort of a reflection of the time that we’re in and where we’re at as a society. This is the time for this one.

Annie Potts said the women are not waiting anymore.

Yeah!

Check out Gabby Gabby voiced by Christina Hendricks in Toy Story 4. The film hits theaters June 21.