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Phil LaMarr: The Voice of Kit Fisto
Many skilled and famous actors lend their voices to Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and a few have faces that are as recognizable as their sound. Viewers will know Phil LaMarr as one of the brilliant comedians who started MadTV, and as the actor who played the ill-fated Marvin in Pulp Fiction. For many, his voice will always evoke Hermes Conrad, the Rastafarian accountant from Futurama.
LaMarr is now voicing the Jedi Master Kit Fisto in Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series and video games. starwars.com had a chance to chat with him.
Kit Fisto is one of those characters in the Star Wars universe who keeps popping up at incredibly important moments. Since those moments are rather rare, what did you base your voice off of when forming him?
The character hadn’t been used much and spoke even less so there wasn’t much to go on vocally. I worked with director Dave Filoni to try to find something that captured the strength, bravado and humor that they were planning to bring to Kit Fisto that hadn’t really been seen before. I’m not positive but I think it was George Lucas had suggested to Dave the idea of giving Fisto a little bit of a Caribbean feel. Once we did that, it clicked.
Your work history reads like a who’s-who of geek-culture icons. From Hermes in Futurama, to characters in Metal Gear Solid and The Animatrix, you seem to be involved in every corner of the sci-fi and videogame world. What keeps you coming back?
As a performer, there’s never a better time than when you’re working on something you’d want to watch or listen to. I’ve been a comic book, sci-fi, videogame fan since I was a kid. And I’ve been fortunate enough to be acting at a time when all those genres have moved into the mainstream of American entertainment. It’s possible I do a higher percentage of “genre”-oriented voice work than some other V/O people. If so, it might be because I watch all this stuff, and when you “get it” it not only makes it more fun, it makes it easier to do.
What are some challenges that voice actors face that the viewer — who only sees the end product — would never know about?
One thing that is a huge difference between videogames and any other kind of performance is the sheer volume of work required. In a TV series, and even feature films, you’re voicing, at most, two hours of entertainment. And that is if you are the lead character and speak in every scene. But a videogame encompasses so many hours of gameplay, some of which the player may never get to. You have to voice all the scenes they might play as well as all of the ways they might kill even the most minor character.
What would be your favorite experience working in the Star Wars universe? Knights of the Old Republic I, II or being Kit Fisto in his (hopefully) first of many appearances?
Definitely, Kit Fisto, for the games and the Clone Wars series. One, because there’s just nothing better than being a Jedi Knight and two, because it’s the one that’s most impressive to my seven-year-old.
Were you a Star Wars fan as a kid? Is it exciting to finally be a Jedi?
I was. Han Solo was my favorite character. It’s fantastic to be a Jedi. I just have to remember not to make the lightsaber sound when we’re doing fight scenes.
Are there any Star Wars characters you felt deserved a voice but weren’t given one? Any that were voiced that you would have loved to tackle yourself?
It’s hard to say. I mean, there’s certainly no shortage of characters in the Star Wars universe. And there are so many really interesting looking ones in the background and you wonder, “What does the clarinet guy in the cantina band sound like when they’re on break?”