WEBVTT - The Voice of SAMURAI JACK was in Pulp Fiction! 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:04.080 Hey, Christy, Hi Will, how are you. I'm fine. I 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:06.960 am really excited for today's episode, aren't you. I'm so 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:10.960 excited you are You're crying excited right now. You want 0:00:10.960 --> 0:00:12.280 to know why I guess who's on our show? Well, 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:13.560 you don't have to guess, because you were there. I 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.040 was there. You want to let the audience know who's 0:00:16.239 --> 0:00:20.000 on our show? It's Phil Lamar, Yes, the Phil Lamar, 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.079 the man who has done every cartoon ever in the 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:25.640 history of voiceover, as well as some of the coolest 0:00:25.720 --> 0:00:29.480 movies and television shows and everything you have seen you've 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:35.000 heard him. He's been on everything pulp fiction, Samurai Jack, Futurama. 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.000 This guy is just so epic legend. Let's get into it. 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.000 So we are here with Phil Lamar. I can't even 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:53.600 believe that we're talking with you. Phil. Yeah, this is 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.080 a big win. There's a big win for the podcast. 0:00:56.160 --> 0:01:02.160 Thank you. That's so sweet. Um was reading your resume, 0:01:02.200 --> 0:01:04.080 as I tend to do when we have guests on. 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:06.399 It's like, all right, let's see. It's like I've worked 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:07.840 with you on a bunch of things, but let's see 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.160 how many things he's actually done from beginning to end 0:01:10.319 --> 0:01:14.000 and my computer, rant think as I was trying to 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:18.360 print it out. So, I, I mean, you've done so 0:01:18.360 --> 0:01:20.679 many voices, we can obviously hop into that. But you 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:26.800 started on camera, right, Well, yes, and no it's weird 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:32.000 because okay, we like weird. Act first, you know, started 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:37.000 pursuing my career. I went down the traditional actor route 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:41.080 and started out doing theater and on camera and television 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:45.640 and movies, and then after you know, establishing a little 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.520 bit of a career, I then decided I'm going to 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:53.960 pursue voice acting. But the truth of the matter is 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:57.920 my very first professional job, the job that got me 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:04.280 my union card, was a cartoon my junior Yeeling high school. Wow, 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.760 in high school, you booked your first cartoon with the union, 0:02:07.920 --> 0:02:11.760 a union thing known less. Yeah, okay, which cartoon? What? What? What? 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:18.040 Which one was it? This was the Mr T cartoon? No, yeah, wow, 0:02:18.080 --> 0:02:21.840 I remember that back in three I think we started. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.360 I was never mind, but I feel like I've seen 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.760 that Mr. T cartoon And this is the way he said, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.839 I pity, I pity the fool, like nineteen times right, 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:33.960 it was I pity the fool. Yeah, that was his catchphrase. 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:37.440 Oh yeah, it was a cat. I mean basically the 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:43.760 cartoon existed only because somebody at NBC said, well, we 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:47.160 got action figures and cereal, what money did we leave 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:52.600 on the table? Yep, I remember them, Mr t How 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:55.000 long did it run for? How? And how did you 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.720 get that job? Being so young? Um, let's say, I 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:00.919 think we did three seasons. Yeah, three seasons. And a 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.919 friend of my mother's was an executive at NBC. Actually, 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:09.280 it's interesting because she was the highest ranking black woman 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.239 in television history. She was the head of children Phillis 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.720 Phyllis Tucker Vincent. She was the head of children's programming 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:19.440 at NBC. Wow. And I think my mother had probably 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:22.200 dragged her to a couple of my plays, you know, 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.440 in high school. And then when they had this cartoon 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.160 where they were going to use actual kids for the 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.720 kids voices, which back in the eighties was very unheard of. Yeah, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:35.840 you know, she said, oh, why don't you come in 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:40.560 audition for this? And like, okay, And you booked your 0:03:40.560 --> 0:03:42.440 first thing right out the gate like you always do 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.720 in the business, which is the easiest business when you're 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:51.240 friends with the head of the network. But still, I mean, 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:53.120 right out the gate. You're working. Now, did you get 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:58.360 to record with with Mr T. Oh, actually no, and 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:01.400 for for three season and I never to this day, 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:06.960 I've still never met Mr T. Yeah, the first season, 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:10.960 he's the first season said sorry, kids, um, Mr Ts 0:04:10.960 --> 0:04:13.640 a little nervous about his reading skills. He doesn't want 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:17.040 to do it in front of the kids. And then 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.760 the second season they said, he's so busy, we have 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:23.480 the time, we have to go to Chicago to record him. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.960 We just can't get him in here. And by third season, 0:04:26.480 --> 0:04:28.840 nobody was asking anymore. It was it didn't even bother 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:30.640 to ask. I cannot believe that you never even got 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:32.800 a chance to meet him. Now have you since worked 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.440 with any of the cast or is it are you 0:04:34.520 --> 0:04:36.600 the only one from the Mr T Show that has 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:39.280 kind of gone on to a career. Well, actually, it's 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.640 interesting because one of the girls who played, you know, 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.680 one of the leads, Amy Linker, actually she was the 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.279 star that she was one of the stars of Square Pegs, 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.720 the show that's um, Sarah Jessica Parker started out on 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.600 yeah and uh and like Amy was the name, the 0:04:55.640 --> 0:05:01.000 rest of us were just like standing there. Um. But yeah, 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.360 I've still to this day not cross paths with anybody 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.039 else from that show, and that might have had something 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:10.200 to do with the quality of the show. Yeah. Well 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.440 eighties cartoons. You go back and you watch kind of 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:17.280 the G. I. Joe's The Mask, you know, the Mr. 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:22.320 T Show. They were pumping them out as fast as possible. Um. 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:24.240 We were actually talked about that at one time, where 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.440 it's like the Mask Show. You would watch certain episodes 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.200 and the wrong voice would come out of the character 0:05:30.400 --> 0:05:33.799 and they just went, that's fine, Like the mouth flaps 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:35.920 would move it all they got run, it doesn't matter. 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.160 It was they were just pumping them out and well, 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.240 and the people who made the cartoons back then, I 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:46.440 didn't care about cartoons. Nope, the cartoons were lost leaders 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:50.640 to sell the toys. Absolutely. It was was Deak and 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:52.600 all these companies that were just pumping them out as 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:55.960 fast as is humanly possible. I remember our director would 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.880 tell us kids, remember in every line up, that gives 0:05:59.880 --> 0:06:05.320 it energy. It's like acting I'm sorry you dog died. No, no, 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.000 ended up, I'm sorry your dog died. There you go. 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.440 They would They just built these companies for these cartoons. 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:14.960 I think the one that the G. I. Joe was 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.240 literally just called F H G. And that was just 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:21.200 Family Home entertained. It was like it was basically a 0:06:21.320 --> 0:06:25.560 shell corporation where they're sending the money somewhere, but you'd 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:27.719 see it was ah, but of course behind the American 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:31.239 flag h Family Home Entertainment. I know. And it's so funny. 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.960 It's so hard for people nowadays to really get their 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.640 heads around the mentality back then. It's like, because nowadays 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:41.120 people I grew up watching cartoons, I love it. Animation 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:45.080 is art. It's like, no, this is just something we're 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:47.880 trying to use to, you know, get some MATEL money exactly. 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.560 But then that's it's interesting because that then brings you 0:06:50.640 --> 0:06:52.320 into another world where you were in. We'll jump into 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:54.640 that a little later. But because Batman the animated series 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.480 came out, which kind of then changed everything nine, which 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:00.960 then gets into Batman Beyond, then gets into a little 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:02.960 show called Justice League Unlimited. So we'll get into that 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.520 in a second. Because there is a very specific memory 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:07.520 I have of Justice League Unlimited. It was standing near 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.960 you and it made me realize how terrible an actor 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.360 I actually was. But we'll get to that in a second. 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.120 Another connection we have and I want to talk about 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.800 very briefly is Connecticut because you went to ye so 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:25.840 Christie and I are both from Yeah, you've been a 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:36.280 Toads place. Toads basic, Christie, I know, right, I know totally. 0:07:36.400 --> 0:07:39.880 And by the way, also, all the best some people. 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:41.680 If you're in the world, you know this. If you're not, 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:43.920 you don't. The best pizza in the country is in 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:48.720 New had in Connecticut. Yea, so pep Pepe's and everything 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.600 else over there. So you you you're studying it, Yale. 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.560 You you started, they're one of the biggest sketch comedy groups. 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:58.360 You started, helped to start Purple Crayon. Yeah, well, I 0:07:58.400 --> 0:08:00.920 mean I was just part of the initial group. It 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.800 was my friend Eric Berg, who was from Chicago. He 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.640 spent a summer doing Second City and improv Olympic and 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:09.200 then he came back in a bunch of us who 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:11.160 had done plays with him and saying, hey, guys, you 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:15.640 want to start an improv group. We're like, what's that? Wow? 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.520 And yeah it's funny because we had no idea what 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.440 we're doing. We were doing something called the Herald, this 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.960 long form improv thing which we had never seen anybody do. 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.160 He just described it to us like, all right, let's 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:33.360 try it and that group still exists, like d five 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.120 years later, Now do you ever go back? Do you 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:38.160 ever go back and like, are either watch them or 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.080 join them or any of that kind of stuff anymore? 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.679 Actually there was was it the twenty five anniversary? We 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:45.600 I got to go back and and see the group, 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.120 and yeah, it was really wild. Although when you get 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.280 to be this age, there are a lot of things 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:55.720 that are very old. Hey man, we're starting to feel 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:59.960 that that's it does. But it's also really great because 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:03.880 you have that legacy and and improv. Really, I think 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:08.719 it really did help the voiceover arts over time, and 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:11.800 I saw Will and even myself, like I grew up 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:14.000 in the theater, but improv was not big for me 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:15.880 because it was more about hitting my marks as like 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:19.480 a little kid, so improv was discouraged. I had to be, 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.040 you know, off book but saying the right lines and 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.520 and and all that stuff. So improv for me, I 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.160 was a late starter for that. But I remember distinctly 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:32.240 watching the way that Will would sort of really find 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.160 the nuances in his character and compossible and it was 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:37.760 very inspiring. I always give him props because why not, 0:09:37.960 --> 0:09:39.520 you know, I like the guy I was just watching 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.040 DiMaggio and going, I want to do that, and he 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.080 had a lot more. He probably had a lot more 0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:47.199 exposure to that, But for me, improv was was rare. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.920 And it's interesting to hear you talk about improv. I'm 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:54.040 curious how much improv has helped you find your voice 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:57.440 as a voice actor. Well, it's it's helped a lot. 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:01.760 I mean, although obviously there were pe Bowl voice acting, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:03.480 you know, I don't. I don't think Mel Blank ever, 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:07.840 did you know improv or freeze tag um, So it's 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.960 not needed, but it definitely helps. I mean, over the years, 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.400 I've seen there are certain people who are able to 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:19.199 move into voiceover more easily. Singers Christie, Yeah, you know, 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.839 just the fact that you're able, you're used to, you know, 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:28.840 being conscious of how you sound. That helps. And improv 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:33.480 helps with voice over because it's about making choices right away. 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:36.880 And I think one of the problems that a lot 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.719 of you know, on camera stage actors have transitioning into 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:45.079 voiceover is I'm used to spending two weeks of rehearsal, 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:51.600 learning my blocking, memorizing my lines, internalizing everything, and then 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.520 having it have a feeling yeah, as opposed to here 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:57.240 are some words on a page. Give those a feeling, 0:10:57.320 --> 0:11:02.760 now go it is it's instead yeah, yeah, I don't 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:07.320 have my my pathology, my back. I remember constantly turning 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.439 off Mike to talk to the actor next to me, 0:11:10.760 --> 0:11:13.480 because you're because you're on camera, you're acting with the 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:15.960 idea that you're not talking to somebody, not looking at 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:17.800 in the eyes. So I'm sitting next to somebody doing 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:21.720 my first v O and I keep hearing Andrea going 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.120 into the microphone. I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm trying to 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:26.439 act with the person next to me. So that was 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.000 another big thing, but so so moving forward then, because 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.160 your improv skills lead you into a tiny little show 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:38.439 called mad TV, which was huge at the time it 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.600 came out. I mean nothing, nothing, well, but let's put 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.719 it this way, huge in that only a couple of 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:47.760 shows came out that ever had the chance of even 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.160 rivaling SNL because SNL was like sketch comedy and that's 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.000 all that did it. And then Living Color and Mad 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.480 TV gave it a run for its money. It really 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:01.400 a different voice. Well, eventually mad TV established. Although it's 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:06.480 it's funny because I mean, for me, I started doing improv, 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.160 you know, in college with these amazing people. It's funny 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:11.920 because most of the people in my group didn't go 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:17.000 on into show business, like one you know, was presenting 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.240 cases to the Supreme Court, you know, you know, just 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:22.880 I mean, they were all just brilliant, brilliant people. And 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.319 then and then there was right then I just went 0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:29.480 and I and so when I graduated and came home 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.800 to l A, I started taking classes at the Groundlings 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:37.040 just because I missed doing improv. I didn't even it 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.439 wasn't even a career move back in the nineties. And 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:44.480 but then I started writing sketches and that prepared me 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.800 for Mad TV and so you know that whole sketch comedy, 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:52.079 you know, multiple characters and you know, and actually on 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:57.240 Mad TV, we were doing animated claymation stuff, and that's 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.199 where I really got my Mike time, you know, and 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:07.160 that's that's amazing. I'm pretty good at this because obviously 0:13:07.200 --> 0:13:10.240 did not prove that it's the Mr T. Didn't even 0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.840 prove it to Mr T. But that's great. So then yeah, 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:16.280 you can, I guess kind of credit improv with really 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.480 bringing you into the voiceover world. That's very cool. Yeah, 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.840 So yeah, well I think we if if memory serves. Uh, 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.640 fellow Kim Possible cast member Nicole Sullivan was also on 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.000 Mad TV, So there's another connection. Who who of course 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:34.079 played she Go And Uh, that's who I got to. 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.600 You know, I only recorded with We always talked about 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.400 Kim Possible because you had said to us, I think 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.280 kind of before we started the interview, like I did. 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.439 I did it in an episode of Kim Possible. And 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:49.640 we never worked together because we never worked with anybody sea. 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.319 So we we had Lisa Shaffer who was Yeah, that's 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:54.760 the thing that we had Lisa Schaefer, who was our 0:13:54.800 --> 0:13:59.640 director on and she's listing all of the actors that 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.240 were on Kim Possible and it is the most amazing 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.160 list in the world. And there's Christie and I like 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.040 with our heads in our hands, like how do we 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:11.120 not get to work with any Ricardo Montalbond, Jean Smart, 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:15.439 I mean, just one after another, and it was just like, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:17.760 how do we not get a chance to work with 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:22.640 any of these people? Um, so yeah, well no, it's 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.840 because they just everybody was so busy. Apparently we were 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.680 like I was recording every week with John and with Nicole. 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:31.520 So I would have loved to have had them there, 0:14:31.800 --> 0:14:34.480 Christie was getting educated in New York. I would say, though, 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.240 that when I found really endearing about that process, at least, 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.200 was any time I would be in studio, Lisa would 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:45.880 anchor the fact that, Hey, you know who we have 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:47.840 playing such and such? Do you know who we have 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:51.720 playing such and such? And she was so excited about 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.280 the choices in the casting that it got me excited 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.880 because even though I was new to understanding where what 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.680 people would be doing with that, I eventually understand like, Wow, um, 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.840 Dakota Fanning is playing baby Kim Possible in the movie. 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.480 That's going to be amazing, But not she's going to 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:12.120 be what's up? Debbie Reynolds was was I mean, it's 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.840 like name after where she's just mentioning these people and 0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.920 we're going, wait, what Like That's how I think we 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.000 all knew the show was great when we had people 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:24.400 like yourself and and we would hear just the name 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.040 after name, we would be like, I think this show 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.880 is doing well for Disney. I don't know why they 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.640 don't bring it back. Well, that's a whole different thing. 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:35.160 So then I started so then getting into back to 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:38.760 the v O world, we talked about how cartoons were 0:15:38.960 --> 0:15:42.120 very much one thing. Um, I call it p B 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.160 pre Batman, p B A pre Batman the animated herea 0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:48.280 where we're very much like you said. They were cheaply 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:52.440 put together commercials for the toys you were buying. And 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:54.920 don't we all loved them. We have a special place 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.360 in your heart. But watching the original ThunderCats at eight 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.960 and watching it at twenty eight was two very different experiences. 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:06.600 So it holds up in your heart, not so much 0:16:06.640 --> 0:16:12.000 with any other sense. Um, so you Batman the Animated 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:14.080 series comes out, It then spins off to Batman Beyond, 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.600 and the last episode ever of Batman Beyond was an 0:16:17.600 --> 0:16:20.440 episode called The Call. And the reason why the Call 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:22.800 was so important. It was a two part episode where 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.760 uh my, my character Terry joins the Justice League and 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.720 it's Justice League of the Future. And it was years 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:33.880 later that Bruce Tim told the story where he said, essentially, 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.400 the only reason we did that is because we knew 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.120 we were doing Justice League and we wanted to make 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:44.040 sure we could hold that many stories, that many characters 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:46.920 in one episode. So all of a sudden outcomes and 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:48.520 I'm a huge fan of all this stuff. Christie knows 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:49.960 I like their nerd out on this stuff. Yeah, I 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:55.520 love it to outcomes Justice League, which is one of 0:16:55.680 --> 0:17:01.720 the greatest superhero animated series ever with arguably one of 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:06.080 the best ensemble casts ever put together. So directed by 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:08.960 Andrea Romano and you know, amazing. And then we have 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.680 Phil Lamar as John Stewart Green Lantern. Now, they could 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:15.159 have gone any Green Lantern they wanted to go by 0:17:15.240 --> 0:17:16.800 this point. It could have been because I played Kyle 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.200 Rayner on that show, so it could have been Kyle. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.440 It could have been anybody, and they said, no, we 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:26.119 want John Stewart. And incomes Phil. Can you talk a 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:28.520 little bit about maybe the first time you heard about 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:30.680 the project and if you knew who you were reading for, 0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:32.000 did they keep it a secret? I mean, do you 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.760 remember being cast in the show? Yes, I remember auditioning 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:39.600 over at Salami Studios and and we knew what it 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:42.720 was this because this was back in the days when 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:47.160 show business didn't treat itself like the Pentagon, right, Yeah, exactly. 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:50.320 I remember that week well because there was no N 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.399 D A S. Because there was no internet, you know, 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.760 or camera phones. So you know, what are you gonna do? Like, Oh, 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.800 I'm gonna walk out with my script pages and yellow 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:03.320 the street day. Look, it's a justice plague. I'm going 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:05.199 to write a letter to the newspaper and let them 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:10.159 know what I'm doing. Right, Nobody cared. Nobody cares. So 0:18:10.280 --> 0:18:13.159 I remember being in there, and I'm an old school 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:17.959 comic book head, so i was excited. And we've been 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:21.520 working on Static Shock already, so I'm like, okay, you know, 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.399 I'm in this world. But there was no no direct 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:29.200 connection because it was not Batman the animated series, it 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.800 was not Batman Beyond. I'm like, oh my god, now 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.520 I'm now I've moved up to the top floor. Let's 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:38.800 get let's get this. And the hilarious thing was the 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:41.600 person who went in to read for Jon Stewart ahead 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:45.840 of me was an actor named Dennis Haysbert. Of course 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:48.080 you know Dennis, you know, of course. Now he's the 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.240 he's the guy on those All State commercials. You're in 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:59.679 good hands. Yeah, And Dennis basically looks like Bruce's drawing. 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.440 I mean, he's like six four and he's buffing like 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:07.680 the square John. I'm like, he's the guy put on 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.159 a green suit. He They would have hired him right 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:14.080 now for the live action. Yeah, and I'm just like, 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:19.359 I can't imagine. And also the way Bruce draws. Everybody's 0:19:19.400 --> 0:19:23.359 got the very gigantic chests. Yep, the triangle people, right, 0:19:23.640 --> 0:19:25.159 they kind they come out, come out like this and 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.119 come in. Yeah. Well I couldn't imagine having anything except this, 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:32.080 like a voice like Dennis's. You this big yo man 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:37.200 resonating chamber voice. So I'm like, well, I'm just I 0:19:37.200 --> 0:19:39.240 couldn't get Dennis's voice out of my head. So I 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:43.560 went into audition. I'm John Stewart Green Lantern of Sector 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.600 two eight one four, you know, And they started talking 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.200 about the character. Yeah, he's a marine from Detroit, and like, 0:19:49.280 --> 0:19:51.080 all right, well let me my dad's from Detroit. Let 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:54.840 me add a little texture that my dad had his voice. No, 0:19:55.119 --> 0:19:58.879 listen to me flash, you know. And it turned out 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:05.040 they out there nerding out again, nerding out again, so 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:07.720 we could go back to static shock. But here's what 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:09.399 I what I wanted to do. Here's here's when I 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:11.160 knew I was a bad actor. This is the story 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:15.359 I was telling. So that we did an episode of 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:17.680 Justice League, I think it was jail. He was Justice 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:21.159 League Unlimited called Once in Future Things where we go 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.080 into the future and Batman Beyond is there and gets 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:29.360 to meet kind of it's so the story is Jon 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.520 Stewart and Batman get trapped in a time bubble and 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.480 they get sent forward. At first they get sent to 0:20:34.560 --> 0:20:37.720 the past, and it's all you get to meet Jonah 0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:40.159 Hex and all these great people from the past, and 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.160 then they get sent to the future and there's there's 0:20:42.240 --> 0:20:44.520 Terry McGinnis and all this other and we're doing a 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:48.320 scene and the scene is I'm there and Phil is 0:20:48.440 --> 0:20:55.840 now playing Young Static, Old Static and Jon Stewart and 0:20:56.000 --> 0:20:58.719 he has a scene where it's the three of them talking, 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:02.920 and so for about twenty minutes, you just sat back 0:21:03.000 --> 0:21:07.159 and let Phil play everybody all the parts. Will be 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:10.040 paying all the parts, literally, the young kid talking to 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:13.240 the old guy, who's then answering John who's talking to 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.280 the two And I remember just sitting there just kind 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:20.359 of going, I'm not good at this. There are people 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:23.600 that are on such a different level. And that was 0:21:23.720 --> 0:21:25.760 one of those moments where you do where it's like 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:28.280 I remember Andrea saying to you at for Andrea Romano, 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:31.160 the director saying to you, at first, do you want 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:32.480 to take them one at a time, and you're like, no, 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.680 let's just run through them, and and that was it. 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:37.400 You did. It was like a page and a half 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:41.320 a dialogue of three different characters, three different ages from 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:45.479 three It was the the most crazy thing. And I did. 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:47.240 I just it's a bit of gushing, but I remember 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:49.680 just sitting there, just having these two moments of I'm 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:52.720 so excited to be here and I'm gonna go quit 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:54.680 this job and go do something I'm better at because 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:58.400 I'm not. I can't do this. Do you remember that recording? 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:02.320 I do? I do? And it's funny because that was 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:07.080 the mark, the high water mark for me because I 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:12.520 started working on Futurama and in the first episode, Billy West, 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:16.639 who played three different characters, there's a scene where his 0:22:16.880 --> 0:22:22.000 character the Professor, introduces his character Fry to his character Zoidberg. 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:25.520 And I remember sitting in there and had the exact 0:22:25.600 --> 0:22:29.879 same you know, like watching him like, oh my god, 0:22:31.800 --> 0:22:38.119 it's like, I mean right, like I was like that. No. No, Basically, 0:22:38.240 --> 0:22:40.840 it's like if you're a little leaguer and all of 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:42.719 a sudden you're sitting in the stands at the All 0:22:42.800 --> 0:22:48.639 Star game. That's how it's done. Yeah, And I remember 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:52.879 thinking like, Okay, that's gonna be my my bar someday, someday, 0:22:52.880 --> 0:22:55.359 I'm gonna work. Because there were episodes when we did 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:57.840