How you doing out there. It's me Tigger, I am Dark Wayne Duck.
It's me Bunker's Deep Bobcat. All right, y'all, did it great?
Your favorite firefly you desire? Hold the old knock guy. My name
is Jim Cummings and welcome to tuned In. Ladies and gentlemen. We are
here today. Welcome to tuned In with Jim Cummings, and we have today
no one else But why am I looking over there, the one and only
Phil Lamar. Welcome man, it's good to see you. Thank you.
It's such a pleasure to be here. Like I mean, there's nothing better
than being interviewed by somebody you love. Oh man, thanks, well,
there's nothing better than interviewing someone you do love it And I mean that's sincerely
in the best show biz tradition. But man, thanks for coming out here.
It's a schlep from your mansion in uh we're in North Hollywood out to
my little humble bungalow. Thank you, thank you, thank you, and
uh you know, before we leave, we're going to have to try and
get a picture of the wall because there is some significant see that's known as
a teaser. We're not doing it right now, We're gonna wait for a
few minutes. How am I doing brennant? He doesn't know, he doesn't
know what the wall is, right right right, He's going yeah, yeah,
yeah, okay, good, sure, yeah, week wink, You've
got a wall. That's good, Jamie. Jim did his own painting.
He likes people say yes he did. Yes, Well, like I say,
welcome again, it's great to see you here. And uh, you
know, on the way on the way home, I was trying to think
when you and I first met. And it's been a little while now,
I mean, uh, and I'm gonna say, Ozzie and Drix, could
it be? Yeah, that could have been? That could have been that.
Yeah, I'm trying to remember because i mean, we've you know,
cross paths so many times. I'm like, wait, but when was the
first one? Was it in the lobby of the agency? Could be?
That's true, that's true, but job wise right. Well. Also,
the tough thing is these COVID years have messed up my memory because everything before
COVID feels like it was twenty years ago. Yeah. So yeah, so
yeah I met Jim forty years ago now, yeah, and stuff, yeah,
this even the stuff that's twenty years old. It seems like it's twenty
years ago. So that'll throw you right there. Yeah, but yeah,
I bet you that. Yeah, guessing on Ozzie and Drix over at when
Warner Brothers was there in the mall? Was there in the mall? Yes,
that was interesting, Yeah, good times. I wish they would back
be coming back. So when you say in the mall, what do you
may was in the mall just the shudio? Yes, yes, the recording
studio for kids. WB was in a mall, big shopping mall. Yeah.
Yeah, the Sherman Oaks Galleria that yeah, was big in the eighty
That was a big thing. Although the one bad thing about the mall.
It wasn't a bad thing about the mall, but a mistake I made one
time because I realized that down the way from the studio there was, you
know, Brooke Williams massage, Like, oh, and I had an afternoon
session, Like, why don't I go get a massage before the session,
then I'll be all relaxed in there. Yes, uh huh. But and
I forgot that that when you get a massage, that's like going to sleep.
So I walked into the session as if I had just woke it up,
I'm like, oh I can't. Oh yeah, high voices. Yeah
yeah, I'm supposed to sound like Chris Rock. I thought you were going
to say it was not that kind of massage, because that could have invigorated
I'm ready to go, right, you know that kind of massage, I
would have had a big rain. Yeah, that would have yeah. Oh
man, well you never know. I had to ask. We got that
cleared up, ladies and gentlemen. Oh man, So and how long have
you been doing animation? Well that's a trick question. Oh well, good
because there are two answers. Oh, okay, one since nineteen ninety six,
when on Mad TV they started getting these clamation pieces. Oh and okay,
that's this guy. I remember that. There was this guy Krky quaken
Bush who did these super funny things. And then because the cast was already
getting paid for the episodes, they had us voice the enemy. Yeah yeah,
and that's how I started getting my mic time, like oh nice.
And then after a couple of years of that, I thought, you know
what I like doing that, I should go pursue this voice action. Yeah
yeah, no makeup even right, costume, don't have to wear a wig
you don't sweat. Yeah, And I got super lucky because the casting women
who cast us on Mad TV turned out to be the people casting Futurama.
Oh and so they got me and Dave Herman in the room say nos from
Matt Groening. That's cool. Yeah, So that was good luck. But
the weird thing was that actually wasn't my first time doing animation. Oh okay,
because junior year a high school, my mom had a friend who was
an executive NBC. Nobody likes a braggart, that's no, that's amazing man.
High school, high school, and I think my mom had dragged this
woman to you know, plays that I did in high school. And so
they were doing a cartoon oh wow, where they were actually having kids do
kids' voices back in the eighties, yes, which was a rarity back Yeah.
Yeah. And she said, hey, Phil, why don't you come
audition for this? And I wound up getting a job on an NBC Saturday
Morning cartoon, The Mister T Show. Oh yes, and yes, although
back then voice acting wasn't a phrase. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah,
it wasn't something that you would consider as a career path. It's like,
no, I just had this cool summer job. Wow, no kidding.
So you didn't have to pity the full or anything. You just went straight
to the set. Even for three seasons, I never met mister t once.
Oh really, still tell us my next question to this day? Oh
man, well that makes both of us. Yeah right, I can't believe
he's been avoiding us this. What is it something I didn't say? It's
because neither one of us has a mohawk. That well, that's true.
I'm getting there. I'm getting there involuntarily. Yeah. Wow, that is
amazing. Well, you've had as bodacious a career on camera as off camera
as off cameras. On camera, you, I mean you are. I
don't know many people who's list of off camera on camera credits are are fighting
like that. So that's a beautiful thing. I've been very, very lucky.
Yeah, yeah, well so have we. Yeah, good night,
everybody. That was a pretty good ending line. I will save that for
later. Can we got that out and use it later? Fix it in
editing? Yes? Yes? Yes? Oh man, Well what do you
think they're Brandon? I hope we should keep going, is it I'm enjoying
being in the audience. Getting back to your Futurama, though, Like,
let's talk about Hermes because that's where I was first introduced to you. I
mean, I may have watched Marvin back when I was a kid, when
I wasn't supposed to, but my first prop introduction was Herms when I was
when I was a bit older, and I found it incredible that he wasn't
originally Jamaican. That was something that Matt Groening pitched to you. So now
that you know of all the controversi that's come out with the you know,
a particular racehould voice particular race of that character, would you have agreed to
do a Jamaican accent at that point? Knowing now what you know now with
the way people react to say, for example, it should be a Jamaican
actor doing that for example. Oh well, I mean look that whole like
twenty twenty controversy. Yeah, you know, it's one thing to go back
to the old days when nobody ever thought about representation. But the big thing
they got to go straighten out is it's not about authenticity. Acting is about
making fiction real, right, I mean, what you ain't never gonna cast
nobody but somebody who's actual Danish royalty to play Hamlet. Yeah, don't make
no sense. Yeah, yeah, yeah, apparently Clint Eastwood isn't a real
cop exactly. I've heard the rumor. It's an ugly rumor, but it's
true. No, no, I mean it's it's funny because you know,
I've had this conversation a lot of people. Know. There's it's about the
principle any actor should be able to play any role they can believably portray.
But there's also and especially back in the old days, there's this sort of
you know, pragmatic element where you know it's like, well, no,
no, cast somebody you know of a different color to play a different just
so you can make it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know,
because back in the eighties and nineties, you know, there were so few
characters of color that if you didn't get cast because you know, m because
I mean, the color of character doesn't matter the color of the actor.
But you know, and back in the old days, they wouldn't bring you
in, you know, as a woman or a person of color or something
unless the character looked like you, which didn't make no sense. No,
but no, you know, especially nowadays that there's much more diversity in different
shows and in the characters. You don't need everybody to be you know what.
Otherwise what you what you you got to cast rabbits to play bugs bunny.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. That's very true.
Wow. Yeah, that's a good way to put it, because it's
like, you can only just be so diverse and then you're shooting yourself from
the foot. You know, it's not the the The end product should be
a good product, not we touched all the right bases well, And actually,
what's more important than the diversity of the actors is the diversity of the
people making decisions. Because the thing is, if they're casting a Jamaican character
and then the people who decide from the auditions don't know nobody Jamaican, can't
tell which accent is good. Yeah, that's a problem. Yeah yeah,
it's like so, but if you have good writers, you know that's gonna
have what the background is. They go dig deep into what makes the character
work best, which is actually why Hermes got turned into Jamaican because they realize
that would make him more interesting because originally that was just a dumpy accountant,
bureaucrat type character named Dexter. Oh wow, I didn't know that but you
know, I remember Matt going, oh, dang it, I think I
have too many characters whose names end in er bender, dexter, Oh,
it's a hazard. But then I think the writers got together and the thought,
you know, what might be funny is if we were able to take
you know, sort of Jamaican cultural stuff and lay that into that accountant character.
Because nobody had ever seen that before. No, no, a cool
Caribbean bureaucrat. Yeah, you know, so that gave them more to work
with. Yes, it did, as opposed to I am the bureaucrat Planet
Express everybody'd been doing. Everybody's seeing that character. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Wow, that was a good bureaucrat. Though, I gotta I gotta
give it to you. I'd love to go back to when you first auditioned
for the role of Hermises because obviously you're still on Adativy at the time.
He said it was the same people, so you sort of had an in
there, but you know, the Simpsons was still peak of the animation world
at that point. How nerve wrecking was it going knowing you're going to be
auditioning for Matt Groening? It was pretty like, I mean, in your
head. It's intimidating, but then you walk into the room and the guy's
energy is so nice. Yeah, and he's some guy that that it comes
back. It's like, oh, okay, he's not looking at me like
he's gonna step on me, right right, smiling and saying hi, welcome,
you know. But yeah, the fact that it's somebody that big.
Oh my god. This guy changed the culture of the world so much.
He had to son's name because you had eight year old boy in an American
named Homer. Oh ooh, you're kidding his name His son's name was Homer.
Yeah, because it's just the character Homer was named after, I see,
and his son was named after his dad. But then there came us
like dad, I can't go to school anymore. Yeah, okay, okay
abe Yeah, and they kept trying to paint him yellow so that that's that's
not right. Yeah, and I have an overbite. Oh god, God
bless him. How did they pitch Featurama to you? What was there?
Because they couldn't reveal too much, But what was the what idea in your
mind did you have? What did they create for you to sort of create
the Hemi's voice and just the show in general. Did you have any idea
of what you were auditioning for. Was it just a show that the same
guy that Simpsons made? Well, I mean all we knew is that it
was the next show by the creator of The Simpsons. But then they give
us the you know, explanations like set in the year three thousand and you
know it's a thousand years from now, and you know, they give you
the premise, so like there's a guy from now who gets frozen for a
thousand years and then winds up in the future. So it's you know,
you realize it's a sci fi comedy, but for the audition, you're really
more focused on what the character is. It's like, oh, this guy
is you know, in the in the future, every business must have a
certified bureaucrat to make sure that all the paper gets done. Yeah, that's
true. That's good, that's perfect. Yeah, So that's that's what you
know, I was focused on, and and apparently they liked what I did.
It was definitely easier than you know, having to do the voice of
Bender. Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember auditioning for that.
Yeah, of course you do. Yeah. I think it was just
for Bender and it's And it was always kind of funny because I used to
do this guy named Gosh what was his name? He was on Chippendale's Rescue
Rangers, and I think it was Snively or anyway it was. It was
a cop and he sounded like this, and God Rest her soul. It
was my aunt Grace. It was a really good impression of my aunt Grace.
And you know she just sounded like that. Well, everybody in Alliens
Alliens kids, come on, pick up the plights here, help your mother's
for Christ's sake. Everything was we're very religious home. Everything was for the
sake of our Lord God. And uh and and and Bender's not quite there,
but they're brothers. Oh yeah, definitely you hell man, you will
call John Demagio's wife with that voice. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm
not saying he did. I'm not saying you. Yeah, I'm not.
I didn't hardly ever. I never I never did. I never did.
I don't know what you're talking about anyway. So where were we as a
not there? Do you do? You look for you for family for expression
too, don't you? Phil? Because you had I believe it was green
Latin was an homage to your dad's swichy voice. Right. Well, yes,
because well when I went to audition for Justice League, you know,
I'm a big old comic book guy, and uh, I just came from
the comfort books. I know you had a stack, and but they were
not using the you know main you know, Hal Jordan Green Lantern like great,
but going into audition for Green Lantern, you just go with the character.
And also the way Bruce tim draws all of the characters have those enormous
chess yeah, yeah, big shoulders. And also the person who auditioned ahead
of me was the actor Dennis Haysbert. Oh who had he walked in in
a green shirt, they would have thought the cartoons. Yeah, yeah,
he's a cool dude. And Dennis has im looking and just like dang,
he's a live action version. Yeah. His voice was in my head.
Oh yeah, and so you're doing a hero voice. But then they described
the character. It's pretty heroic. Yeah. They described the characters like,
well, John Stewart, he's you know, from Detroit and he was a
marine. And I'm like, oh, well, I mean not because my
dad was from Detroit and his brother wasn't that Oh okay, So I figured
actually let me just add a little bit of so it's not oh, it's
just more of a real man. Yeah, yeah, yo, John Stewart
Green Lantern sector to eight one four. I mean it wasn't doing an impression
of mind. Yeah, I was trying to bring a little bit of that
energy. Shure up. I was like, well, this is what a
real guy I sound like, as opposed to just a cartoon. Yeah,
yes, that's right. Don't don't don't voice the suit, voice the person.
Oh yeah, that's a good one. You guys are writing that down,
oun't there? Right? Phil just gave that's a little gem right there.
And I always another thing that I thinking of we're referring to your family
is if you do a perfect impression of like I say, my aunt Grace,
nobody knows her, that's a new character exactly. So there you go.
And it's also something that's deeply rooted. Yeah, you can always go
back to it exactly. Just a family reunion nineteen eighty two, you know,
over the potato salad, he said, and you're there. That's wonderful.
That is too cool. So what excites you more these days? Is
it on camera or off camera? Well? Actually, it's funny because people
always ask me that, well, which is your favorite? Oh yeah,
And what I've realized over these years is that it's not about the medium,
it's about the quality. Yeah. You know, if you work on a
good script with a good creator, you know, I mean, working on
Samurai Jack with Ndi Tartakowski, that's to me the same experiences working on pulp
fiction with Quentin Tarantino, because you're working with a creative person, and when
you have great material, it makes you a good actor. Yeah. Yeah,
that's so true. You know, there's another one we have to write
down this is good, this is good to fill them. Yeah, and
you know, and we've been very lucky to work on really good quality stuff,
you know. I mean you're doing Winnie the Pooh, a character that
people have loved for one hundred years, you know, yeah, just recently
I think turned one hundred. I really he really did, I think from
the from the book. But of course we all know, I'm gonna say
nothing, you know, for particular, Well, we all have jobs that
aren't necessarily great. Wait, I don't know what you're talking about. Well,
you know, because especially well, because of the nature of ko we
can do two gigs in a day. Yeah, unlike those on camera people.
Yeah, that's true. Not every show is an iconic. Yeah.
Sometimes you just do a little guest on a little show and get canceled after
one season. Yeah, so you saw the Snorks. What you're saying?
All right? Fine, right, that was one of my first gigs.
Yeah, it would still be fun if you're working with nice people. Oh
yeah, because I believe that the voiceover is the kindest corner of show business.
Yeah, oh, buy that. You know, it's like a village.
You know, everybody feels like a community, much more so than the
movie world, the on camera Oh yeah. You know, if you're working
on one movie, there might be somebody else shooting a movie on the same
you know lot. You don't hang out with those people's right, that's right.
Voiceover you run into people at the same studio they're working on a different
show, and you hang out in the parking lot or in the lobby.
Yeah. Yeah, so true, so true. And my theory over the
years has been that it's the reason that the voiceover world is nicer than a
lot of parts of show business is because of the sense of community, but
also because nobody's getting paid enough to put up with nastiness. Yeah, you
know, because the vast majority of voiceover jobs are scale you know. But
in the movie world, Oh, that person's getting paid twenty million dollars,
like, well, he's a heroine. Don't wtter hire them any well,
jesus, Yeah, yeah, he's got a famous name. But voiceover it's
a group record, you know, at least it was not sure it was
yeah, you know, you want a good vibe, so and you have
a lot of people who have that, yeah, you know, and that's
why it's all such and not a ton of people who bring a big ego
to the sessions exactly. That helps, you know, that really does help,
because once every now and then you'll run into somebody, and I mean
every now and then, like two or three times in my lifetime, and
so it's very very rare because I'm sure between us we work with thousands of
people at this point. Yeah, you know, and I do. For
the record, I missed the the the group sessions where everybody's sitting around and
we're all in the same room. And uh, I think COVID knocked that
out. And and I think a lot of people that had sitcoms or whatever.
We're starting to bleed into the do a veo and uh, it's just
you know, it just kind of got screwed up, screwed the poocha,
a little bit muddy the water. Yeah, but you know, definitely,
I mean because yeah, when I started out in FO everything was a group
record. Then too, in the last few years prior to COVID, more
and more sessions started being just your recording, which you can do. Yeah,
but it's tougher, I agree. I mean it's always easier to be
able to perform a scene with other actors. Yes, I mean, this
is like vacuum, this recording by yourself. I always think of it as
like, well, if I was an on camera actor and they're like,
yeah, yeah, when you go home, shoot your close ups? Yeah
yeah, okay, yeah, let me do that for you. Yeah yeah,
yeah. Well I've done a lot of Shark Weeks and that's just me
talking. We see Felipe going beneath the waves, will he return? Felipe
screwed, He's not coming. So those you can do all by yourself,
absolutely, and of course Felipe, but you know, but other than that,
it's nice to have somebody to bounce off. Yeah, but you're right,
you know sometimes you know, like when you're there are scenes where you're
doing a loan, you're doing a monologue, or you're doing narration. You
don't need another person. I mean, it's not a need, it's a
it's a yeah, you bet, and it makes it better. And it's
not like cartoons have gotten worse since they stopped doing group records. No,
oh yeah, it just means they spend more time editing. Yeah, yeah,
you're right, give us right, give us take twenty five. Yes,
I did that today. Oh wow, and you know that some poor
guy has to sit there and listen to all twenty five of your takes.
Yeah, all twenty five of the other three characters in the scene. Yeah,
let me put this with this. Yeah, I can't imagine. I
cannot imagine. I don't have that kind of head or bright or anything.
No way, Yeah, yeah, I hope they can. I think they
should all get a raise. Okay, there we just and you're welcome.
Damn you just just kidding. Well, that's awesome. Here at the Full
Finger Discat Network, we produce over twenty hours of podcasts each month covering the
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Discount network links. Earned description of this podcast compare the energy of the Mad
TV ensemble with when you joined Futurama. Was there similarities? And you think
because you worked with that ensemble already, it helped you with Futurama. With
the rest of the crew, Well, I mean, you know, having
come up doing improv and sketch, Yeah, you just you know, take
the benefit of a group work. But walking into a studio with Billy West
and Tress McNeil and Maurice LaMarsh and Katie Sagal, Yeah, that's like getting
drafted onto this show Chicago Bulls. Yeah, yeah, yeah, eighties time
to move. And it's funny because I remember the first session of Futurama,
there was a scene where Billy, who's voicing three different characters, There's one
scene where one of his characters introduces another character to his third character. Oh
that's great old scene alone, yeah, on the run, And I was
just like, oh yeah, oh my god, So it gave me the
bar for like, someday I got to learn how to do that. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, well congratulations you've done it. Yeah yeah. Twenty
years later and Chris had something. Yeah, we've been talking about on camera,
we've been talking about voiceover, and this is still voiceover. But how
do you feel about performing in video games? I know you've done Mortal Kombat,
which I was surprised to see, and you've done quite a few,
quite a few video games. How does that differ. Well, the difference
about you know, doing voice work for video games is, unless you're working
with a talented director, it can't. In general, it's a little more
difficult because, you know, one, it's a lot more work, but
you don't get a whole script. You don't get as much context. You
know, a lot of times they just give you, like and excel with
line line line line line line line. So, and I mean, the
good directors tell you the context. Okay, no for this line, you're
gonna be doing this, and they explain it to you, you know,
but sometimes the good the ones who aren't that good, don't just give me
one more faster go yeah, yeah, better, more talent because like I'm
like, well, wait, what is this line? Force Like, I
don't know, we'll figure out later. Yeah, what was your what was
your experience like working on Mortal Kombat one? I know that just came out
and there was like a very cinematic storyline to that, you know, it
was well, Actually, the Mortal Kombat games are on the higher end because
even though it's just, you know, a violent fighting game, they focus
on the characters. You know. That's good in a way that a lot
of games don't. Yeah, so a lot of games like yeah, yeah,
okay, you've done saying your your word lines. Okay, now we're
going to the important part, the screams. Yeah yeah, we're gonna be
save hours of you die, save those to the end. Yeah, boy,
I agree. Okay, now get you electricuted short, medium long.
But but for Mortal Kombat, they have plots, they have relationships. And
Dominic Chencolo who is the director for most of the Mortal Kombat stuff and the
writer, he knows how to direct. Oh good, So you feel like
you're performing as I posed the jazz rating lines, you know, which some
games I think that's all they think of, you know. Yeah, they're
just spread and water a lot of a lot of the video game companies just
think of everybody as just you know, cogs in the machine. Yeah,
yeah, you know whatever, just put it all together, speckle it together
here. Yeah, but you know, I mean I had it a little
easier because I had played video games growing up. So sometimes you can look
at the line and realize, Okay, this is you know, coaching the
player to know what they're going to do in the next you know thing.
So you know how to get that line out there because you know what it's
for. But if you don't play that game, it's like, I don't
know what I'm saying. Yeah, there you go. Well I had a
Space Invaders and I learned nothing from it. So you got to get the
right game. You gotta use. You got to play there end. That
was the pinball machine. It was a pin ball machine. Yeah yeah,
because I'm like, no, I know. That's why I was so ill
prepared. See, I just I was able to stand there and go it's
just not the same no. Well yeah, yeah, and a name name
that sound effect ladies and gentlemen. Okay, oh that's that's painful. Like
before I was in the business. I can't believe I'm telling anybody this,
but I had a stand up Donkey Kong and a stand up Space Invaders,
and I would I would put them in pizza parlors for like six months,
and then you kind of give the guy a ten ten dollars ten percent commission,
and then you go there like once a week and to dump it,
and you have all these great quarters. Nice. So I made dozens and
dozens of dollars. Oh it was that out hero? Is that bad?
No? It was yeah, Anaheim, all right, right, that's amazing.
I remember it was a long time ago. I was but a lad.
I love that. At one point you were outside the video game,
now you're inside. Yeah, that's true. I never thought of that.
Yeah, that's that's very true. Yeah. I haven't done many video games,
but I was sergeant sorry, no, the arm army man, Sergeant's
army Men, Serget's heroes, right, Charge's heroes. Yeah. Oh and
one that everybody, I can't believe it. I did this twenty five years
ago, and it was oh goshl Gate bal was it? Balders, thank
you? Yeah, go Ford the ice booz and I was some big Norwegian
goof and he was basically Lenny and a mice and men and instead of a
Gerbil, it was the Heimpster up Justice Boob will get you now. So
okay, but enough about him. Yeah, I mean the thing is actually
a little easier when it's a character from a show that you've done. It's
like, oh, now we're doing a video game version. Yeah, yeah,
that's true. Like, did they ever take your Star Wars character into
a video game? No? No, but he's in these two big giant
Yeah, he's he's in these two big giant almost video game rides at Disneyland
disney World. Oh wow. Yeah, And I stealed the Millennium Falcon about
five hundred times a day, and I can Chewbacca into helping me, nice
cub boom. What was the recording process for those animatronics? What was that
like? Was it just like regular video kinda? Yeah? Yeah it was.
I I'll never forget. They brought me in over at Disney Imagineering,
which is a slightly it's an offshoot obviously off of Disney's lot. And uh
so these guys are walking me through there and they've got this thing for Hondo
and they've got big play like it was a movie. It was just like
with with a movie where you see, like you know, Spielberg and everybody
these big kind of like that big stills of this game and and they've got
they're doing that, and they're walking at room after room after room, and
then you go from here and then you then then if you make it through,
you get to hop on the Millennium Falcon and then you go blah blah
blah blah blah, and then you and I go, I go, man,
this is a lot of game of stuff to do on spec How how
are you? And I realized they were pitching me, and it was like,
you don't think I want to do it? I mean, I mean
I would almost Okay, I wouldn't pay to do it, but I would
take care I I need to do it. And then and they would go,
but wouldn't this be something you'd be interested in? I go, gee,
let me think, hell, yes, you know, what do you
are? What are you gonna turned down? Yeah? No, you know
change that third line? Yeah yeah, it's the biggest ride in disney World
of Disneyville. And uh and I said, yeah that that's okay, sure
you know, And now you know, all my friends and niece's nephews,
we really like your ride. Thank you. What are we talking about?
Because they recognized that voice. Oh yeah, I guess even though it's I
mean a little weird. Yeah, it's not you talking like you's Charles Bronson
and Yule Brenner. Right, you ever do that put together two people?
You know, that's it's just fun stuff. Yeah. Yeah, and uh
and you have worked with a lot of interesting people and now helped me out
because I want to know, speaking of interesting people, God rest his soul,
your buddy pe Wee Herman, the one and all. Yes, well,
a lot of people don't know that you were the live action cowboy Curtis.
Were you not well or I was the on stage there we go,
okay, that's yeah, well you were live at the time. Yeah,
because you know, originally Paul first did Pee Wee Herman as this midnight show
at the Roxy. Oh yes, that's right, Yeah, that's right.
So back in was it? They did a stage version and it was such
a hit, like people were lined up for a midnight show, and that's
how he got the the thing bought his for the for the wait was it
the movie or the TV show? You know? And it blew up but
you know later, you know, thirty years later, he decided to restage
the original you know, stage show. But there was all of this stuff
that he had created for the Saturday Morning Show because the original show he was
just doing it at the ground. Yeah, you'd have a big budget.
You'd have enough budget to hire Puppy Tears and Sherry and all the rest of
them. Yeah. Yeah, So he wrote all of that into the original,
the original show that he had co written with Phil Hartman. Yes,
And because Phil Hartman had passed away, he took Phil's character, Captain Carl
and that was in the original stage version, and replaced him with Laurence Fishburn's
character from the Saturday Morning Show, Cowboy Curtis. So it was the same
plot, but now it was Cowboy Curtis who was in love with miss Yvonne.
Yes, I remember, but apparently, you know, when they were
doing in twenty ten, Lawrence Fishburne was a little busy, so he couldn't
come to a stage place. Yeah, yeah, well good for him.
No, I'm starring and producing Blackish, yes, yeah, and so a
little busy, and so Paul he said, hey, Phil, will you
come audition because Paul and I had done a comedy show on stage, the
Groundlings, because you know, he had been in the Groundings for years before
me and I've been in Groundings in the nineties, and that's where we got
to meet. And then because I got to meet this incredible genius guy who
was you know, had a character that was basically like the human Mickey Mouse.
Generations of people who just like love that character. I got to do
Broadway because Paul was my friend. Oh and he said, okay, we
did the show in LA It's like, hey, guys, guess what,
We're moving it to New York in the fall. And that was a joy
wow, because that character was so like popular that the people who showed up
after each performance, you know, to come say hi to Paul in his
dressing room. Oh yeah, that list. Oh blow your mind. I
remember after show, will come backstage and I look up and there's Lou Reed
and the author Salmon Rushty walking together down and thing like, oh man,
and those two knuckleheads right together. Oh man. Wow. Another time there
was you know, David Duchovny and Tayleione trying to get a picture with their
kids with pee wee okay, And while they're taking their picture. Paul Simon
is standing in line waiting to take a picture with his kids. And another
time, David Bowie and Inmon were hanging out in Paul's dressing room. You're
just hanging out and oh man, that because that's you know, a character
that's that deeply, you know, hard to the culture. Yeah, yeah,
wow, it was crazy. I hardly ever run into those guys,
you know, I mean almost never. Never. I must say, oh
no, that that was Ed Brimley, that was the anti pee wee.
Never mind cut that on. We don't want that. But there's something that
can be said for being a character that takes people back to their childhood.
I mean, you guys both know that. Oh and now you know you
cons a fill with these kinds of people. But this that connection reminding people
of a happier time. You can just it's bank these days, isn't it.
Oh God? Yeah, very true. Well, you know I do
these cons and you know, I'll throw a little Winny the Pooh out to
these people, and all of a sudden, you see this forty year old
you usually a woman go do do do Do do do, And she's seven,
Yes, she's seven. On the spot, I didn't know you could
do what you have to do something, and I go, well, no,
just say a little, you know, And they think they think there's
a filter or there's something, and I go, you know, pull the
string, you know, chatty Cathy. But yeah, that's a blessing,
isn't it. Oh? Absolutely? I mean, because I've realized that there
is something about the way voices from your childhood live in your head, like
your parents' voice. Like remember when you, you know, were a little
kid and your parents your mom would say Philip, you know yep. But
when you're forty and your mom says Philip, you hear this? Yeah yeah,
yeah, Well I know, Shane can spank me now, but yeah,
but it's still there in your head. And cartoon characters are like that.
I remember the first time I got to do a Scooby Doo and we
were, you know, there at Warner Brothers. We did a read through
beforehand row and it was funny because Tom Kenny was guesting and me and John
DiMaggio, and for the read through, Tom read Shaggy just in the script.
He was just reading and I was like, oh, wow, that's
such a good Shaggy casey. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but then,
you know, after we finished reading through the script, we went into the
recording studio and then Casey showed up. I think maybe he's been doing his
radio show that more. Probably yeah, And so he goes onto the mic
and they're like, all right, Casey, can you just give us a
couple of lines for the for the volume, and he starts doing the voice.
But it's the real voice. Yes, I mean Tom's was really good.
Impression good. Yeah, But all of a sudden, I heard my
mom's voice. Oh yeah, shaggy voice. Sure, sure, And I
felt the hair on the back of my neck. That's great, And like
you said that, lady, Yeah, I felt myself shrink. Yeah.
Yeah, to be a six year old yeah la yeah, just hearing Casey
do that voice, yes, because it lived in my head. Yeah,
because I've grown up watching episodes of school for sure. Yeah. Wow,
that's so cool. And it was weird because I'm like, oh, you
go about shaggers, like, dude, you're not watching this at home?
Yeah yeah, yeah, you're at work. Yeah, go get on the
mic, put the cereal down. Yeah. Oh god, yeah, yeah,
that's good stuff. Been very fortunate with a lot of different things.
I had something like that. I worked with Carol Channing and she was sitting
there making all this noise because she had too many bracelets on and all this.
And then she took those off and she was still moving around it.
But she had some kind of linen, crinoline, starch blouse everything. And
she said, oh, don't worry, s wady, Oh geez kake,
don't worry. And she stands up in this robe and she looks like this
albino crow standing there with the bra and she's got like a pound and a
half of cotton under each cross. Oh she's marvelous. I can move now,
and nobody can tell move lette the show. And I'm sitting there going,
okay, I'm just gonna look over here, you know. And and
Warren, our engineer, he had his little video camera and and and he
looked at it and he goes yeah, and he put it down. He
he just couldn't justify videoing it right. Oh man, oh my god,
have you ever do you do that a lot? I mean, stand up?
No, I don't need That's why I'm wearing this. One doesn't make
any but it's funny because I remember you telling that story the first and I
think maybe that is the thing that made me think about what shirt I wear.
That's right, get a gunnysack, stick my head out there, you
go, all right, ready to go and scene wear that leather jacket.
That's right, Yes, but that is one of my most favorite story.
Yeah, it really is. It's crazy. Yeah, well we have a
lot of them, don't Oh yeah, yeah, and I bet you have
a lot of them from that little drawing on the wall. Do I dare
poking poke that bear? So to speak? Do we Does anybody know what
behind us here? Should we? Can we see? Oh? They can't
see in the in the wide shot. I'll add an insert in Oh okay,
oh okay, good, there you go. Yes, yes, it's
uh, yeah, it's it's it's tough to look at that. Or yeah,
pooh fiction, pooh fiction. Right, it's pooh fiction. I love
that. Well, that's where you gotta set that is, yes, you
do, but make sure you put the right size otherwise you get a billboard
right right, that adn't go fit on a shirt. No. To describe
the difference between I say, a Futurama fan or Samurai Jack fan and a
fan of someone who's like, oh my god, I can't believe you are
Mavn in pulp fiction, because it's gonna be that's two different audiences all of
the time, right, Yeah. Yeah, well that's one of the wild
things about the you know, I've been very fortunate to work on a lot
of you know, great projects, but they don't all cross over. There's
like some Futurama fans who don't even know I was in pulp fiction or whatever,
you know, you know, or a mad TV fan that never watched
Samurai Jack, you know. So it's all different demographics, I guess.
Yeah. So it's funny because sometimes you'll have you'll be at a convention and
I have, you know, different pictures of all the characters out on the
table, and someoney goes, oh my god, I never knew that was
your voice. Yeah, yeah, it's like, that's okay, you don't
need to watch everything at once. Yeah, that's all right. Yeah,
well, Harry, then you should have this one. Although my favorite is
when the generations come and I'm sure you probably get this sometimes where there's like
a kid who's a fan of one of your Star Wars characters, but their
mom loves Winnie the Poo. Oh. Yeah, you know, so you
get you cross over, you know, it's like oh wow, you know
yeah, it's like somebody who you know watches Craig the Creek, but their
mom used to get up stay up late to watch Mad TV. Oh cool,
you know that's nice. Yes, like, no, take it,
but I won't show that to my kids. Yeah right right, that's smart
mo. Yeah. Oh that is God, that's a great memory of the
Mad TV stuff. That was good stuff. I mean, that was a
damn good show. Yeah. Well, I mean, but it wasn't a
hit. I thought it was. See. I like weird stuff though,
right, you know because back in the day when it was before Fox was
as big as it is now, so late night on Fox was kind of
like the low end neighborhood. Yeah yeah, because and everyone's like, yeah,
you're not SnO, well that's back when there were three networks, right,
and there's who are these people on Channel eleven? You know? And
I know sometimes, you know, I'll be somewhere and it's like, yeah,
I work on this late night comedy show on Fox, Like oh Fox,
No, we don't have cable. Yeah yeah, no, no,
it's a channel yeah, it's a yeah, Channel eleven. Okay, how
about that. But now depending on where you know well, and that's the
big difference between the old days and now, because in the old days,
if you didn't watch a show when it aired, you didn't know about it.
You know, you can just go to a video store and get a
tape of a show. Yeah, that's right the way. Nowadays, it's
like, well, I missed one episode of this thing in nineteen eighty three.
Let me go on YouTube. Here it is. Yeah, like no,
wait, no I didn't. I got it right here I ever worked
on somebody can just see. And then sometimes they'll they'll come up and that's
like I said earlier, do the voice? Do the voice? And you
go through three or four and they go, no, not that one.
Remember the Postman in the third episode of the Mask I think it was from
Sweden, do the voice? I go, oh, yeah, do booting.
That's it. That's it. Yeah, that's good. He's not just
liking Well it was the three I had three lines, you know, and
I'm you know, I'm lucky twenty years ago. No, I don't remember
them. Yeah, are hard to believe, but dude, I didn't memorize
the script twenty years ago. Yeah, I wouldn't have known it the next
day. So yeah, yeah, but it's good stuff. Yeah. So
where do you go from here? What's is there anything new we should know
about it? I mean even conventions and stuff, you know, because I
mean I've been doing a lot of those. I guess COVID's over. We're
allowed to get out of the house. I'm knocking on wood when I say
that. Us. Yeah, well, I mean, in terms of conventions,
my next one is Rhode Island Comic Con. If you're oh, yeah,
I'm gonna I think I'm gonna go there. Oh great, I'll see
there. Good good, good, Yeah, that's gonna be fun. Although
well good, now it's on a weekend. As far as what's next,
now that the Writer's Guild strike is over, there may be a next step,
although I'm not exactly sure when. Because this year twenty twenty three,
a big life changed happened in the beginning of the year. Out of nowhere,
an old buddy of mine who I used to act with twenty years ago.
He since become a showrunner, Michael Malley, Okay, and he called
me out of nowhere. He's like, Hey, I'm working on this new
show and i'd love for you to be one of my writers. So I
took a professional sitcom writing job, wow, on a sitcom starring John Cryer,
Donald Faison and Abigail Spencer, because I love I knew John and Donald.
I'm like, oh, oh, dang it, I love those guys.
Yeah, I'll be on your show. Of course, forgetting after doing
sitcoms for thirty years, like, dude, the writers don't hang out with
the actors. Oh yeah, well oh right, yeah, never mind.
I don't know any of the sitcom writers that I worked on shows with.
No, that's true. Yeah, but it was wild to suddenly be on
this other side of the sitcom world. That's great on sitcom since you know,
the early nineties, and this was an old fashioned multi caam sitcom.
We performed, you know, they performed in front of audiences, no kidding.
Yeah, and John Cryer is a genius wow, you know, and
Donald was amazing, and Abigail was wonderful. They were all so fun,
and I realized, you know, I'd had this experience, you know,
from the actors side, where the writers go, thank you so much,
because you realize, as a writer, you type up some words. Yeah,
but then when good actors perform it. Yeah, it makes your writing
look great. Yeah. And if you have an ad lib better in their
line, right, they're even smarter and they get yeah because the writer gets
credit for your ad loop. Yeah, that's right. What what was that
process like to find the writing process for a sitcom? It was It was
interesting because I had not you know, as an actor, when you're reading
a sitcom scene, you don't think about the act structure of the episode.
No, I just think about what I'm doing and what what props I pick
up? No, No, you got to think about the scene. You
gotta what are the beats? You know, where's it? Where's it going
to next? And then you know down the road of this, you know,
season, what what do you reference like if you bring in if you
write in a character like his mom, we're gonna have to cast somebody like
oh yeah, I never thought about that. So yeah, it made me
think about episodes of a show in a completely different way for the first time
in forty years. Yeah, because you you haven't had to Yeah, what
in your job right now? They're paying you, Okay, I'll do it,
right, So now I'm thinking it's like, oh wow, if I
get you know cast there's a guest spot on a sitcom? Now am I
gonna go? Can I read the three episodes before this? Yeah? Yeah,
yeah, I want to. I wanna have context? Why? Yeah?
Yeah? Okay, scale plus ten? I don't know that you know
that's okay? Well, well just for the first one second one I get
a little bump. Oh man? Is it very much? You would write
the script and then it's a team contribution after that? Is it how you
sort of you would come through an episode, so you'd write sort of the
skeleton, and then everyone gets together and adds in extra jokes or is the
whole process The writing group is all together and you work together. It's like
everybody throws out, oh, I think what about if this is an idea?
This is an idea and if people respond to it then or if the
showrunner respond to it or sees the good vibe from everybody else, you put
everything together. It's collaborative and if you get a signed a script, you
write it up. But then the rest of the group will go through it
and go, hey, Phil, what about this? Oh I can add
this line? What do you think of? You had this? And this
is so everybody helps everybody you know, wait, Chris, what was nice?
I was just asking if you've done a lot of writing before. Well,
yeah, on Mad TV and well at the Groundlings. You know,
when I came up on training, we were writing sketches. But that's just
writing for yourself, and it's all about yeah, just what I think is
funny. Yeah, you know, or if you were in a liquor store
and somebody in line is being really weird and dumb, like if I get
a wig, it looks like that, I can write this as a sketch.
Oh yeah. Although the one experience I had as a writer where performers
made my writing amazing was with this man right here, because we did.
We were we were still working on it. I remember a show called Goblins.
That was my next question. Yes, yeah, I was wondering about
that. There's a there's a webcomic that my friend Ellipses created that's set in
the D and D world, but from the point of view of the monsters,
not just the warriors, and it's called Goblins Life through their Eyes And
my friend Matt King and I were trying to develop that into an animated show,
and so we put together a you know, a short version to try
to you know, use that to sell it. And it was damn good
too, by the way, And we were lucky enough to get the most
amazing voice actors Jim and Maurice LaMarsh and Jennifer Hale, Seve Bloom. And
it was funny because you know, I love the webcomic and Matt and I
you know, as because Matt and I are both actors. So when we
were writing it, we would act out all the scenes and think, Okay,
I think this is going to go. But then when you guys performed
in, I was like, oh, oh my god, that's seventy eight
times better than it was when we had performed it. Maybe marginally so,
but okay, no, I'll take it. You brought so much, oh
good life energy and fun to those characters. Like yes, well, God,
God speed and break a finger whatever you break when you're a writer.
Yes, hopefully now once all the strikes are over, we can get Goblins
going. We'll have another show together on okay, right in who do we
tell everybody to write into? And you know, whoever you write in stuff
like that to or text or whatever you do nowadays, do a petition?
Yeah that's right. Why am I looking at the screen. Hopefully after that
live action Dungeons and Dragons movies. Oh, maybe some people will now be
more interested in getting a cartoon. It's like, oh yeah, because you
know how it is once they realize, oh, there's an audience that likes
that thing. Oh get let's go get some of them. Yeah, their
money's good. Yeah, well we can make money off them. Future has
been rebooted what three four times these days? Yes, we are buck from
the Dead for the fourth time. Were the zombie of animation? Oh bother.
Yeah. It's funny because I remember when we ended last time. You
know, the showrunner was like, you know, we were doing the read
through of the last episode. He's like, all right, everyone, welcome
to the third last episode. Ever. That's cool. Well, at least
they have a sense of yuma. Yeah, yeah, because you gotta and
thank goodness they brought us all back. Because every time a show gets rebooted,
oh, you never know, I know what you're gonna say, Yeah,
what the new executives who just bought it's like, uh no, let's
uh, let's make it hipper you know or something or something? Yeah,
oh god, yeah. But but I think it's because we've all been through
that, Yeah, exactly. Something They replace people. It's like, no,
these voices of these characters live in the fans' heads. Yeah. You
don't want to che you don't want to change your mama's voice. Yeah,
something like that. Huh. I had an experience like that with Chris for
Robin and I was always Pool, but in the midst of someone's genius.
They and I won't say the guy's name because that wouldn't be nice, but
they had somebody else do Tigger. Yeah, they had somebody else do Tiger
and yeah, yeah, and they they did it. Uh, you know,
they they did it all the way, did the whole movie, and
they animated mostly to him and uh. I remember my daughter, uh,
my third daughter, Gracie and I we went down to this is years ago,
obviously, went down to see a rough cut. You know, it
was about seventy five seventy percent done, and we're there and we're watching it.
Oh, it's so cute, and you know, and they've got the
gray stuff. He's out there. They're not animated yet, they're not computer
generated, and they're all sitting around. It looks kind of funky, and
everything in Tigger came on and he sounded like Rodney DG. Jiffield and had
Jimmy Doretti Tigger. All right, hey, okay, forget a but it
pulled my figure. I don't have one, get out of here, you
know. And it was it was just and and and she looks, she
goes like this, And there were the three producers behind us, and we're
the only people in the room, us two and them. And I was
like, we can't even pretend, you know. And and sure enough,
you know, we went through it a great movie. And uh left her
on the way home and she looks at me. She goes, Daddy,
you have to save Tigger. So we did. And then then Mark Forster
called two minutes later and said, Jim, I've asserted that I couldn't be
there today. I had to not appointment. That popped up something I had
to do. I think we should talk about Tiger, And I said,
and so we talked about Tigger. So anyway, so we all got see
Gracey would be a better executive. Yeah, yeah, we all have little
stories like that. I mean recasting yeah, you I mean Tigger. I
mean recasting Tigger when you when they already have you. That's like, that's
like pulling Michael Jordan out of the fourth quarter of a championship game. I
was just gonna say that, it's okay, Michael, Michael, Yeah,
yeah, you're good. You're good. We don't want to win. Yeah
yeah, mister DeVito, Danny give me, yeah, here we go.
No, that don't make no sense. No, anyway, we all came
out in the wash. But okay, at least at least there their execu
you think shift, Yeah, the execut you think there's a new term for
you. Everybody. That's good stuff. Man, how has a bang?
Getting back with the crew full featurama? Could We spoke to Billy earlier in
the year and he said he was loving the process. Yeah. Yeah,
getting back to it is always great because it's such an amazingly talented and lovely
group of actors, writers, artists. And the thing is, you know,
been doing a show since ninety eight, you've gotten to know everybody,
even like the animation directors. I mean most shows get to meet the animation
directors. But over the years, you know, oh we into San Diego
Comic Con whatever. Oh sure, so you definitely definitely feel like a family.
That's so nice. Although it's funny because Lauren Tom pointed out that it's
like, oh my god, Phil, do you realize that when we started
Futurama, many of us weren't married or didn't have kids yet, and now
most of us have adults. Yeah, wow, that's pretty cool. Yeah,
and we've all shared chunks of our lives together. Sure and sure,
you know, I mean it doesn't every job you work on isn't necessarily you
know. Oh yeah, they're not all Futuramas, right, that one is
great? Yeah? Nice? And Chris had something on his mind. Yeah,
I just wanted to jump back to pul fishing really quick and ask about
your time on set and if you have any stories of John Travolta or Sam
Jackson, I'm curious to know. Well it actually I got a couple of
fun stories. One I have to say thank you to Julia Sweeney because Julia
Sweeney, you know, you know, grownling alum just like me, and
she was on Saturday Night Live. And that is the reason I'm in pulp
fiction. Oh, because Harvey Kaitel was host of SNL one time when Julie
was still and Quinton came with him to the taping and Julia and Quinton met
and became friends. And so then later after Julia left Saturday Night Live and
came back to LA she was doing an improv show at the Groundlings and she
invited Quinton to come do it. So the first time I met him we
were doing an improv comedy show. He was actually good. Oh you're kidding,
that's amazing. Well, of course it was. And so then when
they were casting pulp fiction like a year later. It funny because the woman
who was casting Ronnie Eskull, had cast me in an episode of l A
Law, just some little bit part, and you know, I heard the
story later she said, Quentin, for the character of Marvin, there's a
young actor, Phil Lamar, who I think would be good for. He's
like, okay, okay, but you know there's this black guy at the
Growling, so I think it'd be great find him. Oh man, did
you get the job? Oh yeah, but you also lost it. That's
wonderful. Yeah, And it's great just being able to audition for I mean
that script was so great, yeah, because I mean generally when you're auditioning
for something, you just whatever whatever. Like after I read through it the
second time, I had it memorized because that's how well written. Every line
came that tweaked, and so doing that audition felt like you were performing.
And I got to read it with Quentin. It's a great observation, yeah,
you know. And so then I got the part. And because that
the quality of that script is how he was able to make a movie with
stars that big for only eight million dollars. Because I bet you Bruce Willis,
John Sam Jackson, all those guys took a pay cut, oh just
to be part of this, wow, but also to save money. What
Quentin did was he had rehearsals like it was a play. Oh that's cool.
Yeah. So we went to the Sony Studio lot and they, like,
you know, had us act out our apartment scenes. So I remember
going out to Culver City and I walk in there and there's John Travolta,
who I grew up watching. Oh yeah, Samuel L. Jackson, who's
amazing. Oh wow, they just created an award for him at the con
festival. And when I walk in, John goes, oh, wow,
that's a kid. I gotta shoot. The audience is gonna hate me.
Yeah. And the funny thing, I thought he was just joking, Yeah,
but he was I hated him, but he was because and he actually
they actually wound up changing the scene because there was originally the scene in the
car where I'm riding in the back seat and Sam's driving and John's reads from
backwards to talk to me with his gun. He was supposed to shoot me
twice. Oh the gun is supposed to go off accidentally hit me in the
throat, and I was supposed to think, and then they decide, all
right, let's let's put him out of his misery. I'm hit the horn
one, two, three, and that's when the blast blood and it gets
all over them and the like, yeah, what are we gonna do?
But John talked Quintin out of having it be two shots, like, no,
Quentin, I can't kill him on purpose. The artist is not gonna
like the character there. Yeah that's right, that's not funny. And Quentin
said, oh, you're right, and so they change it so it's now
so it was just one shot. But yeah, John was so sweet,
so fun And I remember after the rehearsal we went to lunch. It's this
little you know, was it Dominican or Honduran restaurants, Cuver City or something,
and the waitress like I don't even know if she spoke barely any English.
But when she was serving our food, she goes to Quentin's, like
Burto, she goes to Sam Kayada, she goes young John Travolta, and
I was like, oh my god, that's how famous he is. Like
whatever village in whatever country she grew up in, everybody had Saturday Night Fever
records. Yes, yes, that's true's by that, you know, that's
how world famous that guy was. But he was so sweet. He wasn't
like stay away from me. Yeah, you know because on the during the
shoot every Friday, you know, at the end of shoot, all right,
we're going out to drink. That would pass out flyers this, we're
going to drink, and John would go out to the bar with everybody.
It's like then he got then he got seven forty seven and in your house.
Yeah, I was gonna say he got it then, Yeah, Nope,
he wanted to hang out with the crew. Well maybe he owned them.
You never know. It might have been one of those Bill Gates kind
of thing. Pulp fiction was that film though that tended it made John cool
again, didn't it exact? Because he was he was doing the Look who's
talking films and things like that, and then boom, he's now you know,
he's vincent in pulp fiction. Yeah, yeah, that, and I
think maybe Urban Cowboy get him a little boost in there somehow. So I
want to go, I want to talk about that tasty burger scene. Right,
So we there when Samuel was just doing that big rant. Was he
doing it in front of you or was that done by himself? No,
No, that was that we were all in that room together, all in
that room. Yeah, take us take me into your mind in that moment,
because that's one of the most iconic scenes of Yeah. Well, actually,
in my mind, I was taking a masterclass of acting because before we
show the scene, you were off set and Sam's just nice to talking about
his daughter or golf or whatever, you know, whatever. Then when the
cameras start rolling, I'm like, wait, he went away. He went
away, And all of a sudden, I looked over there and I was
looking into the eyes of a different human being. He had completely transformed.
I'm like, oh, okay, so that's how you do it. Yeah,
yeah, that's how it's done. Yeah, Because there was one point
in the scene where, you know, in rehearsals, you know, I
say, no, I think it's over there. It's like, I don't
remember asking you a goddamn thing. And then he was supposed to look back
to Frank Whaley's character, but while we were shooting the cameras of rolling,
he said, I don't remember asking you a goddamn thing, and he kept
looking at me and I felt actual scared. Yeah yeah, yeah, I'm
actually mad at me. Yeah yeah, yeah. You don't really want to
get him pissed even faint, right, even acting it's not Oh yeah,
that was that. That taught me a lesson about you got to be able
to transform and let the camera feel that. Because I could feel it in
the room, but you could feel it through the camera too. It's like,
yeah, yeah, that's how good he is. Wow. Amen.
Well, I think at one point was it was it on IMDb or what
what is that thing where you look up the biggest box office stars of all
times or something? And I think once he sunk all the way down to
third, you know, but it was it's people like, I mean,
well, because he's done so many movies, yeah yeah, and there's always
behind Frank Welker. Uh yes, yes, I met it to eight A
long time ago I was eight. I believe it only because you know,
I was, hey, look out, you know, and that was you
know, and it was in Lion King or something, you know, and
it was stupid stuff like that. But uh but yeah, I remember that.
And uh but Sam has always been I mean, all the Star Wars
right for bring ding Ding Ding ding Ding? What else is left? You
know, right? Right? And Avengers? Yeah, the Marvel Yeah,
yeah, I mean he's he only does franchises. I can't believe there's not
like a pulp fiction five out there somewhere now. Yeah. Well, but
that's what's so interesting about Sam is there are for most actors at his level,
you know, they're not in super popular franchise like Robert de Niro in
a no Marvel movies now, huh uh. But Sam's at that same level
and also at that same level of success. Yeah. Yeah, then he
bought the block that Robert de Niro lives on and shut all your ass on
down the street. I would actually I wish that was true. Actually that
would be fun, right. Yeah. I feel like that's starting to change
with the superhero movies now though, Like the they're getting bigger and bigger actors
in it, and I remember, you know, like not too long ago,
it was kind of like taboo for big actors, you know, like
to really do those superhero movies. But then I guess they got the funds
and they can't say no or well yeah now I think you know, a
lot of the big actors have stopped listening to Martin Scorsese. It's like,
no, no, these are actually good movies, Martin, Yeah, yeah,
yeah, no kidding. Well, and the fact that I mean,
I think in the beginning they're you know, especially with some of those DC
movies, except for Superman. In the first Batman, yes, there weren't
a lot of real quality acting in it. I agree. It's just like,
no, I was just making a comic book movie. Yeah, get
the colors in. Yeah. But now they've got a higher quality. Yeah,
I agree for sure. So you feel these characters, like I said
before, they're not just playing the suits no more. Yeah, they're playing
Yeah that's right, boy, that's so true. What's your thoughts on the
idea of some people say, you know, the actors aren't famous, the
characters are in these Marvel films. Do you believe in that? So the
hell with those people? Yeah? The actors aren't famous the characters. Well,
see the tricky thing there is to who Yeah, because those characters are
famous for a certain you know group of US comic nerds. Yeah, you
know, but for a lot of the mainstream people, at least in the
beginning. I think that's actually the reason that Marvel was able to jump off
so well, because they started with one of their B list heroes, not
one of their A lists, so that they could transform it and make it
the kind the version of the character that worked best in the movie, Like
when you do iron like we needed iron Man. When John fefrou did iron
Man, most people in mainstream American culture they didn't know nothing about iron Man.
Oh wow. But if iron Man had been Superman or Batman, even
the people who didn't read comic books would have an opinion. No, no,
you can't give him that kind of goate. Yeah, and I'd love
those movies, by the way, the Iron Man movies. Yeah, I
don't think Marvel makes it. I mean what you're talking about. That was
the first one, right, Yeah, yeah, I think so too.
And I remember seeing him flying through the sky then all of a sudden it
hits the after burner and then he just fantished. I go, okay,
I'm gonna go see that. I'm gonna go see that because it looked like
the comic books were drawn. They drew the comic book. Yeah, I
was like, oh hell, yes, well and and I mean Favreaux was
genius in that. Yeah. He wasn't like trying to make it just like
a filmed version of the comic book. He took the good stuff from the
comics, the action designs, but he shifted, you know. He gave
us this sense of this you know guy, yeah, this rich guy.
But also the technology. Well, if Tony Stark is a tech person,
let's do it like that whole thing where the robots oh yes, absolutely are
doing things like you never saw that in a comic Yeah yeah, oh yeah,
but that works better in a movie. Like in a comic book,
if you were just to draw a machine that is like, no, I
don't it doesn't have an expression. Yeah yeah, but on film you can
give it a feel. And I remember thinking, oh boyd, the times
have changed, because when I first started reading it, it wasn't the war
in Afghanistan. It was Vietnam. Yes, it was in Vietnam that that
happened and uh shifted it. Yeah. You gotta keep up with the times.
You gotta shift bad guys, you know. And also, I mean
when you adapt something from one you know, medium to another, you gotta
make changes. Oh yeah, you know, you can't just know. I'm
gonna do it exacts. I'm gonna just film the blocks, you know,
the panels from the comic. No, yeah, the comic book is not
you know, yeah, the sketch. So he adapted it, you know,
just like a novel. You bet. You don't make sure the scene
is as long as it takes me to read it. Yeah, that's true.
Yeah, it'd be weeks long for me. Yeah. He did the
same thing with Mandalorian as well, as he was able to take something that
took the elements at the hard cores owls fans would love and also things that
just a mainstream audience would love and can bond them. Because for a while,
after those sakes came out for Star Wars, people were sort of going
yeah, not really wasn't really sold on those, But when Mandalorian came out,
it was like unbelievated. Who would have thought a show about a Mandalorian
would take off like it? Did right. Well, I mean it's again
back to Jean Favreau exactly, but also with Dave Filoni, Dave Felona.
Yeah, yeah, because they with the Mandalorian, I felt like they relaunched
Star Wars like the way the original movie did. I agree, And it's
I think it's because they approached that series very similar to the way George approached
the first movie. Like he was thinking about those you know movies he had
grown up watching, you know, and he's like, Okay, but now
I'm gonna put it in space. You know those Cliffhangers. Yeah, he
did a space version of that. But for the Mandalorian, they had this,
they did a space version of a sixties classic western, and you know,
it sort of felt that way because if everything there felt genuine, Yes,
you know, the props and the you know, the street light was
broken, you know stuff like that. I mean, you know, there's
rust on this thing over there, and that's that's how it would be,
you know, out there in the desert getting pounded by the sand and everything.
And and I just thought the idea of the Mandalorian always wearing the hat
was good. And then they took it off, and then I thought Okay,
so he's not like then now he's human, right, you know,
he wasn't the guy on behind the thing, you know that guy whatever.
Yeah, stroke of genius, absolutely, yeah. I mean I have a
interesting mandalorians for that. I guess I can tell now, yes you can.
For a while I couldn't. But when they were first developing it,
because one of the new things they were doing was taking favreause technology from Lion
King, where he had the digital CG backgrounds, but they were going to
use that for live action, you know, so instead of having to fly
to the Middle East, you know, for tattooine, they could build it
digitally. And yeah, they did that with the last Jungle Book, right
yeah, jungle Bo jungle Bo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're talking
about the volume, right yeah, yeah, shooting it in a volume.
And so as a sort of proof to the executives, to show them how
great this was gonna be, they had to do a semi animated version of
the first couple of episodes, and so they brought a handful of US voice
actors in to help them do that. They had like the first couple of
scripts and they said, hey, guys, can you just voice this we're
gonna do a little rough animation but use the actual backgrounds. So I flew
up to Lucasfilm and voiced the Mandalorian. Baby wow, wow is right.
And it was amazing because I remember there was another session where we were doing
it and they brought Dee Baker in to voice that little like pig faced alien.
Right. Episode wound up being voiced by Nick Nolty. Oh okay,
yes that's right. But you know they were thinking at the times like,
well, we're not gonna We're gonna just have him speak in his alien language
and you know, have the dialogue, you know, subtitles underneath him.
So I'm in this booth, you know, playing voicing the Mandalorian and d
is doing this He's making up an alien language. Yes, yes, you
know, like this this big alien. And it's like, okay, D.
In this next scene he's meeting with these Javas, so he's speaking jaw.
So then he's speaking Jawa with his pig alien accent, and I just
remember going, yeah, yeah, that's cool. How the hell somebody to
do that? Yeah, yeah, oh that's good stuff. Yeah, he
was incredible, And did they any of that get hit? See the light
of day was it? Did it make it just to show it was just
panamatic? They get rid of all that stuff just to show how the would
look. Yeah. So did you know about the baby Yoda thing or is
that not part of that? No? No, I didn't know about that
until AFA because you know, because they didn't show us the entire thing.
Yeah, but yeah, that that was. That was an amazing thing that
they put into it. Wow, you know, yeah, actually kidding,
I bet you when George watched his like, oh damn it, I wish
I had done that in seventy seven. I want to sell five times more
toys. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah. Boy, you see
that little guy everywhere, don't you. Oh yeah, I go to these
cons and what do you how do you like that little bit? And there's
a tattoo of the little guy? And I go, oh that's great,
right, I mean, oh, okay, Yeah. Do you ever have
a lot of people have you ever come up to you and showed you a
tattoo of your character here and there? Any given character? I well,
actually I see a lot of Futurama tattoos. Yes, so maybe it's usually
you know, probably of a planet express ship or yeah, a bender or
something. Yeah, that's true. I actually I'm trying to remember if anybody
has ever had a Hermes maybe just a Hermi's wig. Okay, everybody,
you've got your you've got your walking orders. Now more Hermies character, more
fill my tattoos out here, please. Although, have you ever had an
experience at a con where the fans taught you a you know, catchphrase?
Oh, because I remember, like, you know, we've we've been doing
Futurama for a while, but somebody said, hey, can can you?
I don't can when you signing that? Can you do that great phrase?
You do? Like what sweet lion? No, no, my man?
And which like whoa I forgot I said that in episode once. Oh,
but then I realized that everybody considered that something, that that's Herms's catchphrase.
Mike, it is oh okay, yeah, yeah it is okay. Not
the rhyming ones. Oh yeah yeah. I would think, my mind,
witch, everybody wants that sign. That's funny, my man, witch.
Although occasionally somebody will come up to the table with a can of man.
Yeah, that's what I was gonna do this. I was thinking, that's
a real thing, isn't it kind of like Sloppy Joe's or something. It's
like, oh right, I'll sign it, but make sure you eat it
before it's a thousand years. Yes, no kidding, Oh god, Oh
that's great. Well this seems like a good segue. We like to do
this thing on Jim's podcast where we trade trade voices and trade lines. Would
you be willing to do that? So I'll feed you align with one of
his characters. You say it in one of your characters voices and vice versa.
Okay, okay, Well how about should I start with dark Wing?
Yeah, I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the
terror that flaps in the night. Oh man, that's good. That's wicked
good. Okay, so don't slap me there. We don't try this at
home, kids, We did get We need to get a Samurai Jack one
in there somewhere as well. No matter where you go, there you are,
so keep on bouncing. No matter where you go, there you are,
so keep on the bouncing. That's perfectly in character. Yeah, oh
man, I have to hear Winnie the Pooh scream my man with my man
witch with a little honey onto hippefo s book twist to eat. Yeah,
it's not a gummy bears. We book good away, it's not a gummy
anything. Yes, that's right. Oh man, can we just touch on
can we just touch on Clone Wars before we wrap up? Because you know
you both have been in Clone Wars with Hondo and Kit fist because Kit is
such he's like the coolest Jedi, don't you think? Yes, Kit Fistoo
is the one that shows you that even a Jedi con smaye or even sometimes
tick off your shirt. Oh man, and he's a Clone Wars or oh
no, Kit was in Clone Wars okay? Good? In Rebels, I
uh voiced bail Senator Bayle Organa because apparently Jimmy Smith is a little busy.
Yeah yeah, well I voted for you first enator. Did you grow did
you grow up a Star Wars fan? Philm oh yes? Yes, And
to finally be able to play a Jedi after watching the first Star Wars movie
at ten, Yeah, yeah, that was such a dream come true.
Yeah yeah, I agree. Just being involved with it and as a hubcap
would would be fine with me, right, yeah, yeah, I couldn't
agree more. Something to be really proud of, you know. Yeah,
well, of course I remember that time I worked with George Lucas, my
close personal friend George. Yeah that's fun. Yeah that works. Oh that's
good stuff man. Well, thank you so very much for being here.
Thank you. I'm so so so happy. Oh my gosh, Phil Lamar,
everybody and any any parting questions phrases or because we're going to keep this
guy and get him in trouble with the wife. All right, Well,
that was tuned in with Jim Cummings. Thank you for joining us for another
episode with Phil Lamar. Pleasure to have you, and don't forget to like
and subscribe on YouTube. You can find us on Patreon for bonus content and
additional watch alongs, and of course Spotify, Apple Podcasts, all that good
stuff. Thank you so much for tuning in with Jim Cummings.