Honestly, the 2010s were a weird time for the Muppets. After the massive success of the 2011 reboot, Disney went for broke with the sequel. They threw in a heist plot, a Kermit doppelgänger, and some of the strangest casting choices I've ever seen in a family movie. But the absolute standout, the thing that makes Tina Fey Muppets Most Wanted performance so rewatchable even now in 2026, is Nadya.
Nadya is the feisty, Broadway-obsessed Russian gulag guard who treats Kermit like her own personal theater director. It's a role that sounds absurd on paper. Tina Fey. A Russian accent. A Siberian prison. And yet, it works. It works because Fey understands exactly what kind of movie she’s in.
The Nadya Nuance: More Than Just an Accent
Most people remember the accent. It’s thick, it’s "Boris and Natasha" levels of cartoonish, and Fey leans into it with everything she’s got. She worked with dialect coach Joan Washington (who also coached Ty Burrell for his French accent in the same film) to get that specific, harsh-but-musical tone.
But Nadya isn’t just a one-note villain. She’s actually more of a misguided fan.
Think about the plot for a second. Constantine, the world’s most dangerous frog, escapes the gulag and frames Kermit. Kermit gets sent to Siberia, and Nadya—who is basically a theatre kid stuck in the middle of nowhere—is thrilled. Why? Because she has a captive director to stage the annual prisoners' revue.
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Fey plays this with a mix of "I will break your spirit" and "I really hope you like my solo." It’s that dual energy that makes her so much fun. She isn't trying to be a serious actress in a puppet movie; she's being a comedic powerhouse who knows her scene partners are made of felt.
That Song: "The Big House"
If you haven't heard "The Big House" lately, go find the soundtrack. It was written by Bret McKenzie (of Flight of the Conchords fame), and it’s a masterpiece of musical comedy.
In the song, Nadya welcomes Kermit to the prison by listing all the horrible things that happen there—but she does it with the flair of a Vegas showstopper. Fey’s singing voice is surprisingly solid. She has this belt-y, character-actor quality that fits the "Russian prison warden meets Ethel Merman" vibe perfectly.
Why the Gulag Scenes Matter
- The Ensemble: Fey isn't alone in those cells. She's backed up by a bizarrely high-caliber group of "prisoners," including Danny Trejo, Ray Liotta, and Jemaine Clement.
- The Tone: These scenes are surprisingly dark for a Disney movie. The movie literally uses a Siberian prison camp as a backdrop for a musical.
- The Chemistry: Fey’s interactions with Steve Whitmire’s Kermit have this weird, unrequited romance energy. She even has a wall of photos dedicated to him (or who she thinks is him).
What Most People Get Wrong About Tina Fey in this Movie
There’s a common critique that Tina Fey Muppets Most Wanted was underutilized. Some fans felt that Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell got more "main character" energy while Fey was stuck in the B-plot in Siberia.
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I disagree.
The Siberia scenes are the best part of the movie. While the A-plot is a standard heist caper, the gulag stuff is pure, unfiltered Muppet chaos. It’s the kind of surrealism Jim Henson loved. Fey serves as the anchor for that weirdness. Without her grounded (yet totally unhinged) performance, the prison stuff might have felt too grim. Instead, it feels like a fever dream that happened on Broadway.
The Production Reality
Look, we have to talk about the box office. Muppets Most Wanted didn't light the world on fire. It made about $80 million worldwide on a $50 million budget. It was competing with the tail end of the Frozen phenomenon and the opening of Divergent.
But box office doesn't dictate quality.
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Fey herself has mentioned in interviews that she took the role partly because she’s a massive Muppets fan. She remembers watching Kermit on Sesame Street as a kid. That affection shows on screen. She isn't "acting down" to the puppets. She's playing against them as equals.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans
If you’re revisiting the film or showing it to someone for the first time, keep an eye on these specifics:
- The Background Details: Nadya’s office is filled with "Kermit" memorabilia that is actually Constantine. It’s a great visual gag about her obsession.
- The Lyrics: Listen closely to the lyrics in "The Big House." The rhymes Bret McKenzie put together for Fey are incredibly clever and lean into the Russian syntax jokes.
- The Final Act: Pay attention to Fey’s face during the rooftop finale at the Tower of London. The "look of death" she gives Miss Piggy is a masterclass in silent comedy.
To get the most out of the Tina Fey Muppets Most Wanted experience, watch the "unrated" version if you can find it. It includes some extended musical sequences and a few more beats of Fey’s comedic timing that were trimmed for the theatrical runtime. It's the best way to see the full range of what she brought to this weird, wonderful sequel.