Amy Poehler can’t contain her emotions when it comes to Beyoncé.

Like most of us, the Emmy Award-winning actress is obsessed with the superstar’s music and her comedic tour de force in the 2002 Austin Powers film “Goldmember.” So it’s no surprise that Poehler is verklempt when she hears that Beyoncé recently called “Inside Out 2” the best film she’s seen this year in a rare interview with GQ.

“Well, she’s a Virgo, so she knows what she’s talking about,” jokes Poehler, who voices Joy in the Disney/Pixar animated hit. “Wow! I’m a little overwhelmed that Beyoncé liked it — I’m just going to take a minute. (Laughs) That means a lot. She’s just a GOAT; she’s unbelievably good at absolutely everything she does.”

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“Inside Out 2” is now available to stream on Disney+ and purchase on digital platforms including Apple TV and Prime Video. The sequel earned approximately $1.7 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time and the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time (unadjusted for inflation).

Poehler credits much of the sequel’s success to timing. Like the first film, Inside Out 2 is set inside the mind of a girl named Riley (Kensington Tallman), only this time she’s dealing with new teenage emotions like Anxiety (Maya Hawke). In the nearly decade since the last film, popular culture has helped normalize discussions about mental health, particularly among Gen Z.

“People were really ready to talk about fear and how it conflicts with joy, and what toxic positivity is,” Poehler says. “People have just really talked about their feelings for the last 10 years, so it just felt like everyone was ready to meet it where it was.”

And for an audience like Beyoncé, a mother of three, “there are a lot of themes about parenting,” Poehler says. “How do you try to get the people you love to experience these things and not try to feel it for them?”

In the three months since “Inside Out 2” hit theaters, Poehler has enjoyed watching how viewers have embraced Pouchy (James Austin Johnson), a talking fanny pack that Joy encounters in Riley’s mind. (She admits there’s something off about the character: “He doesn’t mind opening his pouch, let’s just say that.”) The film also hints at Riley’s Deep Dark Secret (Steve Purcell), though to the disappointment of some fans, it turns out to be fairly innocuous in the post-credits scene. (The filmmakers “didn’t want to stress kids out” by leaving the secret out, Poehler explains.)

The film was a highlight of “the best summer ever” for Poehler, who turned 53 last week. The beloved “Saturday Night Live” veteran celebrated her birthday at the red carpet premiere of the Marvel series “Agatha All Along,” where she partied with her former “Parks and Recreation” cast members Aubrey Plaza, Kathryn Hahn and Adam Scott.

“I’ve enjoyed being in my 50s,” Poehler says. “I’ve had a really good year, full of a lot of love, and I’m grateful for that. I try to look at the things I have, and not focus too much on what I don’t have.”

Looking ahead to awards season, “I really hope, to be perfectly honest, that people consider ‘Inside Out 2’ for an Academy Award for best picture,” she says. The last time an animated film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture was in 2011, with Disney/Pixar’s “Toy Story 3.”

She insists there haven’t been any talks about an “Inside Out 3,” but “I’m always up for more. I play Joy, so I’m always like, ‘Come on! Come on! Come on!'”

And who knows? Maybe Beyoncé can express a new emotion in the third film.

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Poehler says with a grin. “God, aka Beyoncé.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amy Poehler Reacts to ‘Inside Out 2’ Being Beyoncé’s Best Film of 2024