- [Narrator] Tell me if this voice sounds familiar.
- [Man] Sweet lion of Zion!
- [Narrator] What about this one?
- [Man] In brightest day, in blackest night.
- [Narrator] Okay, you definitely know this one.
- 50 years have passed, and I do not age.
- [Narrator] We could easily keep going through
his 300 other characters, but let's just cut to the chase
and meet the man behind the voice.
(energetic music)
This is Phil LaMarr, and he's a voice actor.
- I'd say the ones that I'm probably best known for,
Hermes Conrad, certified bureaucrat,
from the show “Futurama.”
- Great cow of Moscow!
Virgil, Virgil Hawkins, aka Static Shock,
from “Static Shock.”
John Stewart, Green Lantern, from “Justice League.”
- No evil shall escape my sight.
- Ollie Williams, the weatherman, from “Family Guy.”
- Ollie Williams has the story, Ollie?
- I'm at the wrong airport.
- Oops, well thanks, Ollie.
- Wilt, from “Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.”
One of my favorites is Dracula
from “Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.”
And of course, the samurai known as Jack, from the cities
of the same name.
- He who wears a mask cannot see what lies within himself.
- When I was working on “Pulp Fiction,”
(record scratches) - [Narrator] Wait, you were in
“Pulp Fiction”?
- Of course, yep.
Here, let me jog your memory.
(fun surf music)
- Marvin, Marvin, Marvin!
I'd knock that (expletive) off if I was you.
- [Narrator] Ohhh, you're Marvin.
- [Phil] And I was one of the original cast members
on Fox's “MADtv.”
- [Narrator] No way, I love MADtv.
- Then you must have been a 14-year-old boy in the ‘90s.
- [Narrator] Very funny, Phil, anyway, you were saying?
- With Samurai Jack I felt there should be some tie
to his roots.
So it was a very light Japanese accent on English, we began
to refer to as a young Asian Clint Eastwood voice.
- [Narrator] And Hermes from “Futurama,”
where did that voice come from?
- When I first started out doing the Jamaican accent
for Hermes, it was pretty much a heavy puhtwah.
And it muddied up the comedy,
so eventually your Hermes accent got pulled back,
which is a lot easier to understand.
- [Narrator] What about John Stewart from “Justice League”?
- To me, if you got a chest this big,
you gotta have a deep voice.
My name is John Stewart, Green Lantern of Sector 2814.
- [Narrator] And how about Static Shock?
- That voice was basically just myself at 14.
It was just that idea of, you know, a young kid,
you know, who's a responsible guy but, you know, he just happens
to have electrical powers.
And to me, that is the character I relate to the most.
You know, Static is just, you know, me.
(lively jazz music)
The differences between stage, film, voice acting
are really technical.
If that plane leaves and you're not on it,
you're gonna regret it.
One of the benefits we have in animation
is, I can play this guy, and I can also play this guy.
- You'll see what I'm talking about.
- Just right there in the same day, same room,
same microphone, you know ‘cause that's why we got into it,
to play characters.
You will bow before the Kah.
(lively jazz music)
(electronic tones playing)