Greta Lee and Conan bond over their shared experience voicing characters in Toy Story 5, the most commercially successful animated film ever made, while joking that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have been 'decimated' by the outpouring of love for their characters Smarty Pants and Lily Pad. Lee opens up about growing up as a first-generation Korean-American in LA, where her immigrant parents actively discouraged comedy — 'stop trying to be funny, it's just weird' — and how identifying with Val Kilmer and Nicolas Cage became her jet-propulsion out of that pressure.
Key Moments
Conan O'Brien
“William Morris Endeavor will send me like a thing that says, you know, Toy Story 5 has now passed the $800 billion mark, which entitles you to a check for $75.”
Conan joking about the comically small residual checks he receives despite the massive box office success of Toy Story 5
“I was so mad about a certain election one year that I tattooed the female symbol on my finger. Mhm. Um, which was really stupid cuz it's like it looks like I have forgotten what I am and I NEED TO REMIND”
Greta revealing her most impulsive tattoo after Conan asked about her history of spontaneous tattoo decisions
Greta Lee is an actress best known for her critically acclaimed role in the film Past Lives. She has appeared in acclaimed TV series including Russian Doll, The Morning Show, and Broad City. She also voiced a character in Toy Story 5 and stars in the Netflix film The Last House.
Takeaways
1
Shared identity beats ethnic or cultural identity Lee describes the relief of finding theater kids in high school after years of navigating where to sit as an Asian-American student — ultimately concluding 'I'm just that race,' meaning theater nerd. This suggests that for people from minority or immigrant backgrounds, professional or creative subcultures can provide a stronger sense of belonging than ethnic communities. It's a useful framing for thinking about onboarding, team culture, and belonging in organizations.
2
Repression can create unexpected creative fuel Greta Lee explains that growing up under intense pressure to be ladylike and quiet caused her to swing in the opposite direction, identifying with hyper-masculine movie stars like Val Kilmer and Nicolas Cage as her escape route. She frames this not as confusion but as necessary jet propulsion — the stronger the box you're put in, the more extreme the energy needed to break out. For creators and leaders, the constraint itself can be the source of the drive.
3
Voice acting residuals don't scale with box office Conan jokes that despite Toy Story 5 passing $800 billion at the box office, his residual check was $75. While played for laughs, it reflects a real structural reality in Hollywood voice contracts and backend participation — talent rarely shares meaningfully in blockbuster upside unless they have significant negotiating leverage upfront. For anyone negotiating creative contracts, backend points are worth scrutinizing carefully.
4
Firstborn immigrant children carry invisible institutional weight Greta was the first in her family to attend American school, and she personally taught her parents the Star Spangled Banner for their citizenship tests. This kind of invisible labor — navigating institutions, translating culture — is rarely acknowledged but shapes the firstborn's entire relationship to ambition and responsibility. It's a concrete reminder that 'resilience' in immigrant families often has a very specific and exhausting origin story.
5
Comedy was forbidden, not celebrated, in Lee's household Unlike many comedians who describe watching SNL as a family ritual, Greta grew up in a home where her Korean immigrant parents were themselves funny — but telling jokes was actively discouraged as unladylike and strange. This disconnect between private family humor and public performance shaped her late arrival to comedy as a profession. The implication is that cultural suppression of humor doesn't kill comedic instinct, it just delays and redirects it.