Similar to Nolan North, who was a guest speaker at the Montreal Comiccon in 2023, American actor and voice actor Alan Tudyk is also a very influential name in the world of animation and sci-fi. Doesn’t sound familiar? Let’s try this, he’s the voice behind the Rogue One (2016) fan-favourite droid K2-SO, the voice of Heihei the chicken in Moana (2016) and its upcoming sequel, and a key crewmember of the now iconic show Firefly (2002-2003) and its subsequent film Serenity (2005). Not just that, he’s been in SO MANY projects under the radar, it becomes difficult to count. A recurrent personality trait from other voice actors who appeared at Comiccon before, Tudyk was a very colourful and entertaining speaker – especially as he gave weird presents from his ‘bag of crap’ to the brave participants who went to the mic (including an autographed backsplash tile from his kitchen). Although he wasn’t able to go into too many details in his anecdotes, he covered key moments in his career, mostly about his time on the set of Firefly and Serenity (2005), while also name-dropping some of his most recent work in the DC and Marvel animation universes.

Certainly his most famous role in recent memory, K2-SO was not even mentioned once during the entire Q&A, this was highly surprising! The ‘sassy’ Imperial droid reprogrammed by the Rebel Alliance was a scene-stealer every time in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and might be the third most popular droid in the Star Wars universe after C3-PO and R2-D2 (sorry BB-8). Oh well…maybe next time.

What Tudyk really went through was his time making the now cult classic sci-fi TV show Firefly, which clearly was a fan favourite amongst audience members. He revealed that he’s currently rewatching it for a third time and noticed that it aged like fine wine. Written and directed by now-controversial filmmaker Joss Whedon (The Avengers, Justice League), this show is iconic as it was cancelled midway through its first season. Tudyk fondly remembers his time on the set, revealing that the set of the ship always caught on fire during production. Although any chance of a remake, prequel or sequel is probably dead in the water, Tudyk mentioned that we would be highly interested in voicing his character, Wash, again in an animated adaptation. He does keep in touch with his fellow co-stars, including Nathan Fillion. Although Firefly is on my watchlist, I have good memories of going to the theatre with my father and brother to see Serenity. Good times!

Other than his work in sci-fi, Tudyk confirmed that one of his favourite movies in his filmography is Death at a Funeral (2007), directed by voice acting legend Frank Oz (yes…the voice of Yoda). As both an inspiration in his work and a great director, Tudyk recognized Frank Oz and invited audience members to remember him also for the voice of Miss Piggy and the Cookie Monster himself. Asked about the film legends who inspired him in his work, he briefly mentioned Charlie Chaplin and Jerry Lewis while adding that it takes great skill to be a clown – these were the best in their work because they respected how they looked on screen, the physicality of it. As his characters are clumsy at times, much like he is in real life, he likes and respects that about his legacy.

Considering that Tudyk is both a physical actor and a voice actor, like Mark Hamill, he believes that there might be more room for improvement and practice in voice acting. Using his work in Moana as an example, it might considered ‘easy’ to voice the chicken’s ‘coo-coo’, but he found the character’s true voice by experimenting with his intonations heavily. Coming back to his fellow voice actor Nolan North, Tudyk described his voice as not having as much range as other decorated actors; his voice can fade more easily (regardless, we LOVE his work).

As mentioned, Tudyk also made his name in animation, and more recently in James Gunn’s new DC universe. He will be voicing Doctor Phosphorus in Creature Commandos (2024), and confirmed that this might be some of his best animation work to date. The animated show is expected to air on HBO Max later this year. Stay tuned for that!

Finally, as a funny closure to the Q&A, Tudyk was asked about his character of Steve the Pirate in the comedy classic Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). He was asked about his long hair in the film and he actually revealed that this absurd character required so little work and that there was a lot of room for improvisation. His only inspiration to make Steve come to life was watching the Harry Potter movies and impersonating Hagrid’s (Robbie Coltrane) deep voice and cadence. Ben Stiller found that the voice was funny and he kept it during the shoot.

So, Alan Tudyk came to Montreal, hung out on the vendor floor with some reptiles, gave interesting presents to the crowd and then left for the autograph zone. We thank him for making the trip!