{"id":591,"date":"2014-01-09T01:24:51","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T09:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/66.147.244.209\/~canadiu3\/?p=591"},"modified":"2014-01-16T01:28:02","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T09:28:02","slug":"voice-actor-h-jon-benjamin-relishes-success-of-bobs-burgers-archer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2014\/01\/09\/voice-actor-h-jon-benjamin-relishes-success-of-bobs-burgers-archer\/","title":{"rendered":"Voice actor H. Jon Benjamin relishes success of ‘Bob’s Burgers,’ ‘Archer’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: Facebook Page of H. John Benjamin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014It\u2019s not often that crack comic voice actor H. Jon Benjamin whose laconic drone enlivens the titular stars of animated comedies \u201cArcher\u201d and \u201cBob\u2019s Burgers\u201d is recognized publicly by his voice, rather than his appearance.<\/p>\n

But when it happens, it\u2019s a memorable experience for the 47-year-old, who to put it delicately scarcely resembles the svelte, chiselled super-spy he portrays on \u201cArcher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose have been the best reactions, because they\u2019re like: \u2018Oh my God.\u2019 They didn\u2019t know what I look like,\u201d he conveyed in a recent telephone interview. \u201c\u2018Holy (crap), that\u2019s crazy.\u2019 It\u2019s like they\u2019re meeting an alien. \u2018That\u2019s so funny. That\u2019s you?\u2019 They also end up being like, \u2018Aww. This sucks. Too bad. I thought you were like Archer.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I prefer the interactions where they already know that I don\u2019t look like Archer. It just makes me feel less hideous to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n

If such aural recognitions are less frequent now, it\u2019s likely because the profile of both Benjamin\u2019s signature projects have simultaneously swelled.<\/p>\n

\u201cArcher\u201d launches its fifth season on Teletoon this Monday. The daffy spy satire, which casts Benjamin as a womanizing, murderous narcissist with a booze-obliterated liver and a dysfunctional relationship with his mother, ended its last campaign with a semi-cliffhanger centred on the news that fellow agent Lana (Aisha Tyler) was pregnant.<\/p>\n

Benjamin coyly promises that the storyline will provide a major shakeup, with the show\u2019s deficient agency ISIS \u201ctotally changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s growth-challenged lead character, however, undergoes no such transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything seems to be with Archer like a test to become more of a whole person and it never seems to pan out,\u201d Benjamin says with a laugh. \u201cHe\u2019s constantly being challenged to get there, so it\u2019s a really heightened way of dealing with it, especially considering what he does.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, if there\u2019s anybody that makes more mistakes and thereby can change from them, it\u2019s Archer. So it\u2019s not for lack of making mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benjamin, a Massachussetts native, has an accomplished comedic career both in live action and animation, but his longest stints have been in the latter field, with regular roles on \u201cDr. Katz, Professional Therapist\u201d and \u201cHome Movies\u201d on his resume.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the project, he sounds pretty much the same gravelly, weary, dismissive. When he auditioned for \u201cArcher\u201d prior to its 2009 premiere, he was reading the script for the very first time. He had no idea what the role required.<\/p>\n

He immediately realized he was completely wrong for the part.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went in for the show, I honestly didn\u2019t know what it was,\u201d he recalled. \u201cI was like: \u2018Oh, I\u2019m just doing my voice…. (But) this is a spy.\u2019 They\u2019re like, \u2018Yeah, yeah.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m so sorry. A spy would never be this Jewish.\u2019 And they said, \u2018No no no, that\u2019s why I\u2019ve called you. To do your voice.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI sort of felt bad. I was like, oh, I have the least spy voice in the world. But it\u2019s what they wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

He realized he was a fit in another way, however.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very good at I guess being aggressively a (jerk),\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Benjamin records both \u201cArcher\u201d and \u201cBob\u2019s Burgers\u201d in New York. The latter is very much a team effort, with the cast\u2019s East Coast residents gathering together in a studio and linking up with their L.A.-based co-stars for improv-heavy recording sessions.<\/p>\n

\u201cArcher,\u201d meanwhile, he records alone, without seeing or hearing the rest of the cast. At times, the fast-paced show feels like a cacophonous blur of gun-shots and shrill one-liners, and Benjamin acknowledges that it takes a certain toll on his precious, precious vocal chords.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve blown out my voice doing \u2018Archer\u2019 because some episodes I feel like every scene description is \u2018Archer yelling over heavy artillery\u2019 or \u2018Archer yelling over biplane.\u2019 It\u2019s so much ridiculous yelling. I think once in the middle, I couldn\u2019t continue \u2018cause I pinched my vocal cords.\u201d<\/p>\n

So does Benjamin, like an accomplished opera singer, take any special steps to nurture his voice?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have anything that works really well except for cocaine and the occasional ecstasy tablet,\u201d he quips.<\/p>\n

\u201cBob\u2019s Burgers,\u201d meanwhile, has become a rare critical and commercial success. Focusing on Benjamin\u2019s put-upon patriarch, his mildly unsuccessful burger joint and his eccentric family, the show has been hailed by critics for razor-sharp writing and a subtle sweetness that calls to mind early seasons of \u201cThe Simpsons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subtlety is generally in short supply amid Fox\u2019s Sunday night animated lineup where \u201cBob\u2019s Burgers\u201d is scheduled alongside raucous Seth MacFarlane properties \u201cFamily Guy\u201d and \u201cAmerican Dad\u201d as well as the aged \u201cSimpsons\u201d so Benjamin\u2019s show might seem an uneasy fit, but \u201cBob\u2019s Burgers\u201d was renewed for a full fifth season days before its fourth set had even begun airing in September.<\/p>\n

Benjamin, for one, is thrilled by the success, even as he agrees that \u201cBob\u2019s Burgers\u201d is fundamentally different than the shows with which it\u2019s packaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know much about \u2018Family Guy,\u2019 I never really watched it so I can\u2019t comment on it,\u201d begins Benjamin, who has nevertheless appeared in a dozen episodes of the raunchy cartoon, \u201cbut even \u2018The Simpsons,\u2019 it has gotten like anything else I think after a while … (where) it\u2019s much more of a \u2018write as much funny stuff as you can pack in\u2019 (show).<\/p>\n

\u201cI think \u2018Bob\u2019s Burgers\u2019 was a bit of a relief from that kind of suffocating \u2018how much humour can be packaged into one show\u2019 (mentality). … I think it\u2019s kind of more like a really well-done sitcom that doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be animated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hear a lot more people talking about \u2018Bob\u2019s Burgers,\u2019 more and more. I think it\u2019s really found its voice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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