Kevin Conroy On Giving Batman A Voice
Courtesy of Warner Home Video, here is a revealing Q&A with
Kevin Conroy, the long-standing, beloved voice of Batman for the past
17 years in some 16 animated projects from Warner Bros. Conroy reprises his role as The Dark Knight in “Batman Gotham Knight,” the upcoming DC Universe animated original movie.
“Batman Gotham Knight” will arrive July 8, 2008 on DVD and Blu-Ray
disc, and will also be available that day On Demand via digital cable
and for download through broadband sites. The film is produced as a
collaboration between DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Home Video
and Warner Bros. Animation. The film will receive its world premiere
at Wizard World Chicago in late June.
From his home in New York City, Conroy spoke at length about the film,
his ongoing relationship with the character, and the surprising manner
in which he first approached and procured the role of Batman.
Kevin Conroy had studied for and starred on the stage, advanced his
career through soap operas, and was featured in television series like
“Dynasty” and “Tour of Duty.” He had no idea that stepping into a
sound booth in 1991 to audition for his first cartoon voiceover role
would forever cement his place in the annals of animation and help to
extend the Batman legacy to untold legions of fans.
Conroy quickly became the Batman voice by which all others are judged
– and rarely assessed as an equal. He has cast a loud shadow in
voicing the Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne for 17 years, beginning with
“Batman: The Animated Series” and continuing through 16 films, video
games and animated series (covering more than 220 episodes). He
reprises the role in triumphant fashion in “Batman Gotham Knight,” the
highly-anticipated third film in the ongoing series of DC Universe
animated original PG-13 movies.
Question:
What are your impressions of the film?
Kevin Conroy:
It’s a really rich experience. The artwork in this film is so
beautiful, so amazing. I love the adult-themed animated shows like
“The Simpsons” and “South Park” and “King of the Hill.” I love the
appeal of their writing, the irony, the sense of humor. Those are
great animated productions. But you forget just how rich animation
artwork can be until you see a film like this. There’s just no
comparison. I’ve never seen anything like this in terms of diverse and
rich animation in the industry – it’s like getting six movies in one.
The story is very interesting, especially the way it weaves in and out
of Bruce Wayne’s history – like the flashback to him training in
India, learning to endure pain. It’s very well conceived story and I
think it enhances a lot of the Batman mythology.
I don’t think there’s any question the fans will love it, because it’s
such a deep animation experience, and it gives such great background
into a character they already love. It’s a very positive piece.
After three years away from the character, what were the challenges of
donning the cape once again?
Kevin Conroy:
Getting back into the Batman voice was not hard – after so many years,
it’s so familiar to me now that it’s like putting on an old coat. As
you live with a character over the years, you fill out the skin. You
don’t even realize you’re doing it. Sometimes they ask during a
recording session, “What sound would Batman make here?” or “What would
he say here” and they trust me to do that. They know I’ve been living
with him for so long, I know what he’d say, and how he’d react.
Batman Gotham Knight has essentially 12 different looks at your
characters – nine of Batman and three of Bruce Wayne, varying in
design and age range. Were there any challenges to maintaining the
consistency of your performance despite voicing to so many different
image variations?
Kevin Conroy:
In the past, we’ve always treated the shows like a radio play – we
recorded the lines and then the animation took place. This time, the
artwork came first, and that made the process interesting. Sometimes
the artists put extra mouth flaps in, or they made the cadence
different from the way I’d usually deliver a line. So we had to work
within those parameters and try to time the acting to fill the space.
Interestingly, they originally they were going to cast another actor
to do the younger Bruce Wayne, and Andrea (Romano) convinced them to
let me take a stab at it. I had done the younger voice in a number of
the “Batman: The Animated Series” flashbacks, so Andrea knew that I
could do it. And once I got into the studio and gave them a sample,
they were convinced. The challenge is making the distinctions – you
have to make concessions for youth and give the character the sound of
a younger man, while still believably being the same guy.
At its core, this film represents several different perspectives of
Batman, providing many different layers to the character. Can you
discuss that range of emotions the film explores, and to what depths
you reach to capture those emotions?
Kevin Conroy:
It’s that delicate balance you get in voices. As an actor, it’s still
the same job – it’s acting – except that you only have your voice, and
you have to be a little more precise in finding the balance. You have
to keep it very minimal and you don’t want to be too cartoony, but at
the same time you only have your voice to tell the story – so you have
to juice it up a bit. Sometimes the hardest acting is in the
non-dialogue aspects of the performance. As an example, there was one
long scream when Batman is falling down a series of ladders into a
pit. They recorded that over and over and over again, trying to figure
out how to do it just right, and not overdue it. I had to give them
lots of variations and I’m sure they picked the best one later.
Overall, it was a little challenging with the different artistic
styles and the different stories, but it was still Batman.
The legions of Batman animation fans have hailed you as the definitive
voice of the character. How did you originally settle on that
particular voice?
Kevin Conroy:
To tell the truth, after reading the original script, I really went to
audition for the character voices – like Commissioner Gordon and
Harvey Bullock. Like most actors, I really love to be challenged, and
I thought they’d be more interesting and really push me. And then
Bruce (Timm) and Andrea (Romano) said they wanted to hear me do
Batman. The only exposure I’d had was the campy Adam West live-action
series, and they said that wasn’t what they wanted. So I put myself
into a very dark place in my voice, and my voice got deeper and darker
and huskier, and it came out very mysterious. I really just took a
stab at what I thought the voice would be, and then I saw Bruce and
Andrea and Paul (Dini) running around the booth, so I knew I either
was very good or very bad. That’s how it started—just me in a sound
booth, them on the other side of the glass describing the character,
and then the voice just came out of my imagination. And it worked. So
initially I was much more interested in doing the character voices,
but luckily they talked me into Batman.
Do you require a certain mindset to approach the voice of Batman?
Kevin Conroy:
There’s an emotional place I go to – Bruce (Timm) says he see it in me
in the booth. It’s much more a psychology than just producing the
sound. Batman is very complex. The Bruce Wayne voice is the real
put-on. This is a guy who saw his parents murdered in front of him,
and nobody would be normal and together after that. He feels like a
freak inside. So to do the voice, you have to take on all that drama.
That’s why everyone relates to Batman – because everyone feels like a
freak inside. Everyone has ghosts that they don’t want to show anyone
else. All of us feel like we have that inside us. For me, that’s one
of the most interesting aspects of the character – that a super hero
would ultimately be based on that inner-freak that we all feel that we
have.
In your mind, what’s special about playing Batman?
Kevin Conroy:
I think what I didn’t anticipate about voicing Batman was the fact
that I was playing an icon – I just didn’t take into account how much
Batman meant to so many people. Coming from a very conservative
background, and not having extensive exposure to comic books and the
character, it just never occurred to me. So in the beginning, I only
thought of it as an acting job.
And now … you’re an icon in the Batman universe?
Kevin Conroy:
I’m always flattered that people actually know who the voices are. It
seems to me such an anonymous job. But periodically, somebody
recognizes me – it happened in a furniture store recently. To me,
that’s truly amazing – first that someone knows who does the voice,
and it’s even more amazing that someone would know the face of the
voice. I think a lot of the reason that I’m so linked to Batman is
because I’ve been doing it for so long. Before “Batman: The Animated
Series,” there really hadn’t been a voice aside from Adam West. People
knew Batman from the campy live action series, and the fans knew the
Dark Knight comic books, but there hadn’t been a voice associated with
the character, and certainly not a dramatic voice. I think I just
lucked out because I was the one who started with it, and people grew
up with that voice.
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• Batman • Batman Gotham Knight (animated)
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