Arts and Culture

Drop the puck! Minnesota PWHL star scores a hockey cameo in ‘Inside Out 2’

A woman in an orange dress poses for a photo
Kendall Coyne Schofield attends the World Premiere of Disney and Pixar's "Inside Out 2" at El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Monday.
Alberto E. Rodriguez | Getty Images for Disney/Pixar

The sequel “Inside Out 2” debuts at movie theaters on Friday and while the movie may not feature the state of hockey this time, there is a familiar Minnesota voice in the mix. 

Minnesota’s Professional Women’s Hockey team captain Kendall Coyne Schofield was contacted by Pixar in March 2023 to be the voice of a hockey announcer in the popular coming-of-age film. 

Riley Andersen, the main character, is originally from Minnesota but moved to San Francisco with her parents in the first film. Now, she is 13 and entering puberty while trying to balance friendship, making the high school hockey team and navigating anxiety and other new emotions. 

Andersen attends a hockey camp but has to decide whether she will hang out with her old friends or leave them behind for the promise of being a hockey star. If that is not hard enough, the emotions in her mind won’t stop fighting.

minnesota pwhl celebration 01
Minnesota PWHL captain Kendall Coyne Schofield holds the Walter Cup above her head during an event at the Xcel Energy Center on May 31.
Liam James Doyle for MPR News

The movie comes at a historic time for women’s sports across the country and in Minnesota. Last month, PWHL Minnesota won the championship in the inaugural year of the league. 

Coyne Schofield has been vocal about the need for Minnesota girls and women to see themselves on the ice, and now the screen. 

On Thursday, she posted on Instagram that she’d been to opening nights for the movie in Los Angeles and Chicago and “can’t wait for you all to see this amazing movie” opening Friday in theaters.

At a press conference ahead of a PWHL game in St. Paul in May, league adviser Billie Jean King said Coyne Schofield came to King and her partner Ilana Kloss asking for their help to form the women’s league. 

“She said, will you help us?” King said. “And we knew nothing about hockey by the way, but we said, ‘Yeah, what can we do to help?’ Things don’t happen overnight. It really takes so many different people and so much work. Girls are not taught to ask for what we want and need, so when Kendall asked us that question, it was excellent.”

Here are some of the Twin Cities showtimes to see ‘Inside Out 2’ this weekend:

  • Riverview Theater, Minneapolis: Friday at 5 p.m., 7:15 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. | Saturday at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 5 p.m, 7:15 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. | Sunday at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.

  • Highland Park Mann Theatres, St. Paul: Friday at 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. | Saturday at 12:15 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m. | Sunday at 12:15 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 7 p.m., and 9 p.m.

  • The Main Cinema, Minneapolis: Friday at 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. | Saturday at 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. | Sunday at 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. 

  • Landmark Lagoon Cinema,  Minneapolis: Friday at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 6:30 pm. and 7:30 p.m. | Saturday at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 6:30 pm. and 7:30 p.m. | Sunday at 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 5:10 p.m., 6:30 pm. and 7:30 p.m.