Juno Temple Says We’re Losing ‘The Act Of Listening,’ & Swapped Shows Kids Why That Matters

In Swapped on Netflix, a whimsical animated adventure about a tiny woodland creature and a regal bird, Ted Lasso star Juno Temple finds herself (literally) walking in someone else’s shoes. On paper, it’s a classic body-swap setup: chaotic, funny, full of mishaps and adventure. The premise feels instantly familiar, the setup playful and visually rich. What I didn’t expect — and genuinely loved — was how surprisingly earnest and heartfelt it all turns out to be.

This is one of those rare kids’ movies that works just as well for the adults watching alongside them. If The Wild Robot made you teary-eyed, well, consider yourself warned: Director Nathan Greno, in his first full-length animated film since Tangled in 2010, leans into big themes like empathy and perspective. Swapped blends stunning animation with meaningful messages about seeing the world through someone else’s eyes, without losing its sense of fun, making it an easy yes for family movie night.

When Scary Mommy caught up with Temple, she reflected on the emotional core of the movie (“I was weeping”), the challenges of voice acting, and why truly listening to one another might be one of the most important — and overlooked — skills we have.

Scary Mommy: You’re playing this regal bird who suddenly has to navigate life as a tiny woodland creature. What was the most fun or challenging part of bringing that physicality to life just through your voice?

Juno Temple: I remember one friend saying to me I use my eyebrows a lot, which I don't have many of them left anymore. So it's quite funny. I'm like, ‘Well, there goes that tool.’ But I do move my body a lot, and I was still learning about how to be still, I think. So the biggest challenge was to not move too much with your voice... you have to try and stay still and face the mic to get the words out, otherwise they won't catch it. But also things like jumping up and down, you have to make sure all your jewelry is out.

SM: The detailing in the animation is beautiful!

JT: When I first saw Ivy, I was like, ‘Oh my God, they've thought about my hair for her. I can't bear it. That's so dreamy.’ These details make a big difference, and I loved that.

With the snippets that I was seeing as they were coming to life, and also the combining of the nature in a way of animals and environment, the pebbles and the moss, and the water and the leaves, and then all these little creatures and how they kind of morphed them into one in place — I was like, ‘Wow, this is breathtakingly beautiful.’ You could freeze-frame it, and it was like a painting.

SM: You had such great chemistry with Michael B. Jordan. How was that dynamic?

JT: We were partners… but I have to tell you, I haven't met him.

SM: Which is so crazy.

JT: Isn't that crazy? So you're reacting to each other in the way that you're hearing each other's voices, but I hope I get to cross paths with him one day, because I think he's absolutely bloody amazing.

SM: Absolutely. I also felt like the movie was more emotional than I expected it to be. I don’t know; maybe I’m in my luteal phase.

JT: They showed me an early cut of the last 20 minutes on its own. I was weeping like a baby.

SM: Same.

JT: Weeping.

SM: How do you tap into that emotionality when you’re in a recording booth?

JT: I'm a very emotional human, and so you can read things and just a scene in itself can move me quite a lot. Sometimes it's a problem when I'm actually the person on camera, because I'm not supposed to be crying or I'm not supposed to be triggered into that emotional place yet for a storyline reason. I sometimes find that really hard, because I think things should feel as real as possible. I'm a strong believer in that.

With this, I was really moved in certain scenes. What was great with working with Nathan [Greno, director] was it's like, well, you should be allowed to feel that, so let it be. Because it shows in your voice, doesn't it? Our voice holds a lot of our emotions, and I think that was so integral.

SM: This story is really about understanding someone else’s perspective. How do you try to model it in your life?

JT: By always being interested in other people, never be afraid to ask questions. And also, if you get something wrong, really listen to somebody as to why it was wrong and take that forth with you. I think the act of listening is something that is kind of disappearing in our lives.

Somebody very close to me was studying to be a therapist quite recently, and one of the things that they had to do was sit with somebody else and talk at each other for 10 minutes, and then repeat back what you heard from the other person. If you really think about the importance of that, really listening to what somebody has to say, taking it in, and then responding, paying attention to who, what, why, where somebody else is in their life is only going to allow you to spread your wings further.

Sharing experiences with people and then understanding how their perspective was from it, and also being able to share your perspective from it, is only going to make us grow as humans. In a time in our lives where it feels like there's just a lot of people wanting to spread hatred and wanting to make things about separating cultures and people, it's the most useless thing I think humans can do right now is separate each other. I think all you can do is try and love each other, and also really try and understand each other.

SM: Agree. OK… what’s one totally random skill you have that would come in handy if you were actually dropped into the wilderness?

JT: I'm a crafty person. I like doing arts and crafts, but not for protection or not for any useful reason probably is the only thing I would say. So if somebody was with me and they were good at building a shelter, I would make it look pretty, I think. If you ever see a script that I'm working on, it will always have rhinestones and different colorful tabs, and I use different sparkly gel pens. There is importance to that, but there's also the initial like, ‘God, that looks really pretty. I want to open it.’

So I'm good at doing the aesthetic things, but also I'm good at weaving things. I feel like out in the wilderness, maybe I could make a good blanket out of stuff.

SM: I feel like it'd be a morale booster if you're trapped in the wild to have a pretty shelter.

JT: Totally, totally. Also, I would want to learn. There are just some things that I wouldn’t be able — I'm quite dyslexic, so sometimes my brain does things slightly... yeah, we might have an upside-down house. But that's OK too!

SM: Last question: If you could swap lives with any of your past characters, who would you pick?

JT: Oh my God, I don't know. I've loved a lot of the women I've gotten to play. I mean, Keeley Jones was such a bundle of joy for me and brought a lot of lightness into my life. I think it would be pretty epic to be her, but at the same time, I don't want to give up being an actress … But she's the first one to come to mind in the sense that I think she puts positivity out into the world.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.