James Brolin was kept in the dark on Lightyear secrets

James Brolin says Pixar bosses kept him in the dark on 'Lightyear'.

The 81-year-old actor voices the villainous Emperor Zurg in the 'Toy Story' spin-off and he was initially unaware of the film's connection to the beloved animated flick.

James told ComicBook.com: "They kept it from you and they kept it from me right up to the point where I recorded.

"It was really interesting to do it that way because that was okay with them. That's how they want it and they didn't want me to have any info about what I was doing really. So, I had to surmise as I went along, you know?"

The 'Traffic' star admits it was a "learning curve" working on the film as Pixar crew members guided his performance remotely.

Brolin said: "I didn't know what I was doing and they steered me through this session at Pixar, at the sound studios, but they were all on a monitor from San Francisco, five executives and the director.

"And even on the second session, the second day of recording, and there were five different days of recording that may have run four hours each. I would do corrections from the first one because I didn't quite get it and they would give me examples."

Chris Evans voices Buzz Lightyear in the movie and revealed that the opportunity to work with Pixar was a decisive factor in his decision to take on the role.

He said: "Well, to be honest, what interested me was working with Pixar. The premise was not inconsequential, obviously, you want to make sure that they're going to make a good movie.

"But you trust in Pixar, my trust, they have so much goodwill. I've never seen Pixar miss, so I didn't really worry too much about the story itself. I was just thrilled that Pixar was calling."