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For Sale Mar 26, 2026 at 9:30 PM

Great actors who are awful voice actors?

Posted by SkeletorTwoFourK

Any actors, any region too. Popularity is no factor. There are no "generic" or "lame" answers, just what you think. I'll start: Sean Connery. He hadn't many voice over roles (mainly just 3), but none of them were particularly stand out performances, nor were they any much at all expressive or even full of any emotion. His main VO roles were in Dragonheart (only the first one), From Russoa With Love (Bond Game), and Sir Billi (Bad Scottish animated film). I actually had no clue he was in Dragonheart OR From Russia With Love. He was actually so bad in FRWL, that I thought they hired a sound alike but no, that was just him either barely trying or just sounding old (as he was, of course). As for Dragonheart, I mostly didnt realise it was him because I've not seen that movie in forever, and I don't think I even particularly liked it when I was a kid unfortunately. If anyone then even told me "Hey thats James Bond, kiddo", I probably wouldn't believe them because I wasn't smart enough yet to put a voice to face like that yet (I was like 3, dont ask how I remember the movie or that I know I've seen it). With all that out of the way, I reiterate: What great actors are horrible in voice over?
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Few-Improvement-5655 Mar 26, 2026 +603
Toby Maguire is the Spidey games sounds like he can't wait to get the hell out of there, which may well have been true.
603
sheetskees Mar 27, 2026 +314
Bruce Campbell however was iconic, as always.
314
Chrispy0074 Mar 27, 2026 +88
Yes! His VA for the tutorial missions always made me laugh. "Alright kid you get to swinging, I'm gonna go make myself a sandwich" *finishes web-swinging tutorial* "*Eating sounds* That was delicious. Hey good job on the swinging there."
88
Dash_Underscore Mar 27, 2026 +32
"You follow me? Well, stop following me or I'll have you arrested."
32
JohnRCC Mar 27, 2026 +17
"Now you need to time it right if you don't wanna get hit, okay? So don't just freak out, jam on the grab button 'ner ner ner ner ner'in a fight, okay?"
17
CeeArthur Mar 27, 2026 +13
"Great, you can jump. Now go jump in a lake..."
13
BaritBrit Mar 27, 2026 +71
Meanwhile RDJ has done all of one video game role, ever, and it was the adaptation for the first Iron Man that is considered a truly terrible game even by the standards of 2000s movie adaptations. 
71
-Nightopian- Mar 27, 2026 +55
What do you expect when you blow 95% of your budget on 1 voice actor?
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charliemike Mar 27, 2026 +55
It was keeping him from berating cocktail waitresses.
55
matheww19 Mar 26, 2026 +445
A lot of actors are shitty VOs. Most on camera actors memorize the script in advance and do a lot of homework, depending on their process, to find the character and their motivations. Then, when shooting they have other actors to react to and be in the moment with. When doing VO work, they sit in a sound booth, usually alone, and are cold reading from a script. Its a completely different skillset. Some are great at both. A lot of actors who are theater trained and move into movies also do fantastic VO work.
445
Dallywack3r Mar 26, 2026 +107
A lot of that also rests on the vocal director.
107
wecangetbetter Mar 27, 2026 +28
meanwhile Charlie cox walks in, bangs out his Gustav lines in like three hours and KILLS it
28
matheww19 Mar 27, 2026 +6
He's a theater actor, so its not a surprise.
6
ChuckCarmichael Mar 27, 2026 +27
I remember reading somewhere that apparently for voice recordings for anime in Japan, they put all the actors that are in a scene in the recording booth together. This allows them to play off of each other better. Seems like a good idea to me.
27
KeniRoo Mar 27, 2026 +20
They do this in many production studios. All the big ones do this to a certain degree.
20
CubitsTNE Mar 27, 2026 +47
I worked behind the camera and helped with casting for a while before auditioning myself, and the first time the person reading the other part gave *zero* energy i totally blew it. Theatre kid.
47
originalchaosinabox Mar 27, 2026 +10
I’m reminded of the story of Helena Bonham Carter doing a voice in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. She stunned the producers by showing up to her recording session with the script memorized. When they asked her why, she said, “I had to. It’s part of my process.”
10
paul_having_a_ball Mar 26, 2026 +222
I thought Sean Connery was outstanding as that dragon. But it has been about 20 years since I last saw it.
222
MatthewHecht Mar 26, 2026 +89
Everybody I know in real life loves him in it.
89
AmbitiousAd5668 Mar 27, 2026 +58
It's been a long time since I watched Dragonheart and recall how well his voice suited the dragon. The older booming voice was terrific. And I think it's a great movie.
58
Jewel-jones Mar 27, 2026 +34
Saw it pretty recently, it’s an under appreciated movie. The Cg was better than its time and the cast is great.
34
Bookvyrm Mar 27, 2026 +55
Watched it recently and OP is off base using this as an example. Connery WAS outstanding. "To the stars, Bowen. To the stars."
55
TeutonJon78 Mar 27, 2026 +22
Don't you mean "shtars"?
22
Sinister_Crayon Mar 27, 2026 +8
I think the only thing I can say against Dragonheart was that it was so weird that the relative size of the dragon varied so much from scene to scene. They were in a lot of instances tied to sight-lines of the actors so had to adjust the size often because the sight-lines weren't where they thought they were when filming and it would've been far too expensive to re-shoot those scenes, but it does just show how much work goes into actually getting scaling right for CG characters. Beyond that it's still one of my favourite movies. Has an amazing cast, good old-school fantasy story and feel and an absolute banger of a soundtrack. And yeah, I think Connery was perfect as the dragon. I have never thought that was poor VO work on his part... there was plenty of feeling in it.
8
Sparrowsabre7 Mar 27, 2026 +6
He was good in Dragonheart, bad in the From Russia With Love video game
6
Raiziell Mar 27, 2026 +8
I still randomly shout I AM THE LASHT ONE! when playing games with others and am the last person standing.
8
TheAlmightyJanitor Mar 26, 2026 +1348
Peter Dinklage was so awful in the first Destiny game that they literally patched his performance out and replaced him with Nolan North.
1348
Competitive_Help8485 Mar 26, 2026 +311
His performance in Destiny was the first thing that came to mind for me.
311
Shandd Mar 27, 2026 +100
God damn I remember laughing my ass off high as hell while playing that on release day
100
revolutionutena Mar 26, 2026 +27
Me too
27
cupholdery Mar 27, 2026 +39
Any idea why he was so bad? Just bored while recording?
39
MyManD Mar 27, 2026 +140
Marty O’Donnell on a podcast a few years ago lit a few behind the scenes tidbits slip about Destiny and Dinklage’s experience. Apparently Dinklage was only contracted to play one of *many* AI companions. Ghost was front and centre due to Dinklage’s celebrity but he was only supposed to be the introductory robot and then be on his way after the players are acclimated to the game. Then Joe Staten left the project and the other AI companions were scrapped with him. Which left Ghost, and Dinklage, as the sole companion and therefore his script exploded in size. This, along with constant rewrites because the developers had no idea what the story would be, frustrated Dinklage but he was contracted to finish out the voice recording. What happened after that we don’t know because Marty also left, but we can assume the lackluster performance was the ultimate result.
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Wooden_Dependent_982 Mar 27, 2026 +45
Think he was trying to sound robotic but it just came off as emotionless
45
badaimbadjokes Mar 26, 2026 +43
"We've woken the hive."
43
Javerage Mar 26, 2026 +128
That Wizard came from the moon! (All things considered, was this not still when the story was a mess due to Activision Blizzard seniors not understanding everything and asking them to make a bunch of changes?)
128
Eaglesun Mar 27, 2026 +45
Isn't the story still a mess? I tried playing it last year and I had no idea wtf was happening - it throws you in midway into an evolving story without a clear way to play the story up to that point. I had no idea what was going on and eventually dropped the game because of it
45
Javerage Mar 27, 2026 +27
Destiny 1 had a better structure but during a 3+ hour demo the summarise it all the Activision Blizzard suits went: "This isn't Marvel. Why isn't this a marvel? We want that." So they had to desperately cut things and re-staple random story parts. I don't think Destiny 1 would've improved all that much (If that's what you're referencing), as for Destiny 2, I never truly followed what was going on. I enjoyed it, but mostly as a co-op thing to randomly drop in/out with friends. I checked it out the other day and I Couldn't figure out WHAT I was supposed to do. It's a near impossible mess to approach if you ask me.
27
WolfColaCompany Mar 27, 2026 +6
Yeah I don’t understand how it works but I don’t think you can even play the story from the beginning even if it’s your first time playing.
6
Grandahl13 Mar 26, 2026 +191
I’m one of the 10 weirdos who preferred him. His emotion was far more subdued than Nolan North which made a lot more sense because Ghost was, you know, a robot.
191
fredthegreat Mar 26, 2026 +85
Finally, I find someone else who agrees with me. I suppose I'm another of the 10.
85
Mazjerai Mar 27, 2026 +29
I too prefer the dinklghost
29
mikebills Mar 27, 2026 +39
We always called him Dinklebot
39
Mazjerai Mar 27, 2026 +18
Dinklebot! That's what I couldn't remember
18
doctor_7 Mar 27, 2026 +22
THERE ARE DOZENS OF US *DOZENS*
22
WretchedMotorcade Mar 27, 2026 +28
Dinklebot for ever.
28
BeebleBoxn Mar 27, 2026 +11
Dinklebot sounded better imo.
11
BearWrangler Mar 27, 2026 +40
also was really getting tired of hearing Nolan North literally everywhere back then
40
Qyro Mar 27, 2026 +18
He wasn't replaced because he was bad. He was replaced because he had such a big role and they couldn't afford to keep hiring him. Almost all the big names have been replaced eventually. If I remember correctly, even Nathan Fillion got replaced by a sound-alike at some point.
18
4N0NYM0US_GUY Mar 26, 2026 +26
Peter…North.
26
badaimbadjokes Mar 26, 2026 +7
I hate myself right now.
7
Eat_a_Snickers4 Mar 26, 2026 +33
I also found him pretty bland as the Hans Gruber guy in Rick and Morty
33
Xtratos69 Mar 26, 2026 +15
I was wondering if I would see this on a movie forum 🙂 I remember this. He just sounded so totally bored of the whole thing.
15
FrameworkisDigimon Mar 26, 2026 +15
I mean, people don't think he sounds bored in live action??
15
Zukez Mar 27, 2026 +14
I never understood people saying he did a good accent in game of thrones. Maybe to the North American ear, but I've told North Americans to imagine a British man attempting a New York accent and ending up with a blend of New York, California, Minnesota, Tennessee and London UK. That's what his accent was like.
14
Siggi_Starduust Mar 27, 2026 +14
I’m just glad they didn’t have him try a Scottish accent like they seem to do for every other bloody dwarf in popular culture. (I’m looking at you, Witcher) It’s basically furthering a racist stereotype that Scottish men are all short with anger management issues and it makes me so f****** angry I wanna jump up and headbutt the cunts responsible in the f****** balls!!!
14
Fractales Mar 26, 2026 +24
They got rid of Dinklage because he was too expensive, didn’t they? I thought he made a convincing ghost
24
SmoothAsSlick Mar 27, 2026 +14
Yeah I’m pretty sure he was too expensive and difficult to book.
14
WesleyRiot Mar 26, 2026 +15
I miss dinklebot. Nolan was never quite the same
15
dennythedinosaur Mar 27, 2026 +44
Not a great actor, but Justin Timberlake in Shrek the Third is probably the worst for me. And I do like JT in some films: The Social Network, Alpha Dog, Inside LLewyn Davis.
44
BattlinBud Mar 26, 2026 +134
Harrison Ford. Though to be fair, supposedly the Blade Runner narration was bad on purpose.
134
Gibby1293 Mar 26, 2026 +73
Yes I heard he hoped that the studio wouldn’t use it and would go with Ridley Scott’s cut.
73
riegspsych325 Mar 27, 2026 +24
he probably took a huge hit of his strongest stuff just to get through the recording sessions
24
Lespaul42 Mar 26, 2026 +156
We are just going to sit here and allow this Dragonheart slander?!? I AM THE LAST ONE!!!
156
Bookvyrm Mar 27, 2026 +29
I adore this movie and cannot imagine anyone else voicing Draco. 
29
DinkleWottom Mar 26, 2026 +307
I honestly thought Billy Bob Thornton's performance in Princess Mononoke was distractingly bad
307
Pale_Possibility5083 Mar 26, 2026 +144
Fred Armisen as Kranky Kong was nightmarishly bad to me, I’m Super Mario. Like actually threw me out of the picture. He’s a hilarious talent normally whose voice is part of it. But he’s like taking this swing as this Long Island Jewish guy or something and each line sounds like a swing and miss out take.
144
mikehatesthis Mar 26, 2026 +154
>I’m Super Mario Stop trying to promote your movie, Chris!
154
Pale_Possibility5083 Mar 26, 2026 +49
In theaters April 1st! ;)
49
Deo-Gratias Mar 26, 2026 +14
😆 fantastic call out of a typo. Can you imagine him getting on listnook to c*** on his costar in this way
14
mikehatesthis Mar 26, 2026 +22
"Oh so you think you're so cute by having the most memorable gag from Parks & Rec, you four eyed b****?" Chris Pratt every time he thinks of Fred.
22
COHERENCE_CROQUETTE Mar 26, 2026 +17
It didn't throw me out of the picture, but it wasn't memorable in any positive way. Which, considering how much I always enjoy Fred Armisen in pretty much everything (the dream of the 90s is alive!), is definitely an indication that you're right.
17
Boomdiddy Mar 26, 2026 +6
I thought that was Seth Green because it sounds exactly like some of his characters on Robot Chicken.
6
Nirrim Mar 26, 2026 +38
That's so interesting. For me, that was the first role I ever saw of him - and it was so memorable that in my mind whenever I hear his voice it is his character in Princess Mononoke. I thought the whole dub was incredible.
38
ghost_in_the_potato Mar 27, 2026 +8
Me too! I probably would have hated it if I'd watched the original first and had an idea in my head of how the character should sound, but I thought the voice was really unique and memorable.
8
chronfx Mar 26, 2026 +24
Weird, I thought he was excellent. One of the few times having a twangy accent worked for me in an anime dub
24
theglenlovinet Mar 27, 2026 +24
I thought Liam Neeson in Ponyo was also pretty bad.
24
Shopworn_Soul Mar 27, 2026 +49
To be fair, he had full-blown AIDS.
49
SinkHoleDeMayo Mar 27, 2026 +7
*not HIV but full-blown AAAIIIIIIIIIDS*
7
SteveCastGames Mar 26, 2026 +5
I read that and looked up who he was. Though “oh he wasn’t that bad”. Went back and watched it though since it’s been a while… yeah that’s pretty bad lol.
5
hipnotyq Mar 26, 2026 +27
I have never watched a single Ghibli movie with an english dub... always japanese... I need to check this out!
27
SquirrelBird88 Mar 26, 2026 +129
Most of the English dubs for Ghibli movies are frankly fantastic.And im a sub guy.  Patrick Stewart, Christian Bale etc.. good stuff
129
mikeycp253 Mar 27, 2026 +33
Kirsten Dunst in Kiki’s Delivery Service
33
shotgun_riding Mar 27, 2026 +18
And Phil Hartman!
18
GentlemanOctopus Mar 26, 2026 +29
Cary Elwes in The Cat Returns
29
sexandliquor Mar 26, 2026 +67
Just the crazy voice Robert Pattinson did as the heron in The Boy and the Heron english dub was alone worth watching it for.
67
sinkwiththeship Mar 26, 2026 +17
Billy Crudup in Princess Mononoke was also great
17
Foxgirltori Mar 26, 2026 +77
I recommend Howl's Moving Castle in English. Billy Crystal is excellent as Calcifer
77
comrade_batman Mar 26, 2026 +44
“Sophie, put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!”
44
SinkHoleDeMayo Mar 27, 2026 +10
The ONLY movies that are as good in English as in Japanese. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away are phenomenal. Phil Hartman in Kiki's Delivery Service deserves an honorable mention.
10
Grabate Mar 26, 2026 +79
David Duchovny did the protagonists voice in Area 51 game remake in the 2000's and sounded like he was falling asleep. Best part was the game came with a behind the scenes video where the voice director didn't say but implied it wasn't great working with him.
79
theglenlovinet Mar 27, 2026 +64
That’s just David Duchovny, some people enjoy how bad he is at VOs. Check out the game XIII (the original, not the remake).
64
kiwichick286 Mar 27, 2026 +42
Isn't he more of a hand model, anyway?
42
DanGram77 Mar 27, 2026 +16
He doesn’t think the same as the face and body boys do, he’s a different breed
16
KeepTangoAndFoxtrot Mar 27, 2026 +3
>That’s just David Duchovny, some people enjoy how bad he is at VOs. If you've watched the X Files at any length, you've heard his awful VO. He sounds like he resents being there. It's great.
3
Floodhunter345 Mar 27, 2026 +14
"I was all of history's great acting robots: Acting Unit 0.8, Thespo-mat, David Duchovny!"
14
kjepps Mar 26, 2026 +58
Celebrity voice acting is a pet peeve of mine. They usually just sound like themselves in a way that distracts from the character they are voicing. I will always prefer professional voice actors.
58
Wild-Illustrator477 Mar 26, 2026 +194
Will Smith in Shark Tale was genuinely painful to sit through. Dude just sounded like he was reading lines off a teleprompter with zero energy or connection to the character Also gotta mention Keanu in Toy Story 4 - love the guy but Duke Caboom felt so flat compared to his live action stuff where his wooden delivery actually works
194
A_Lively Mar 26, 2026 +71
I liked Duke, the somewhat dimwitted stiffness is built into the character.
71
HumerousMoniker Mar 26, 2026 +20
Yeah I agree. He’s a single minded character who is a bit dumb. Reading his lines like he wasn’t aware of what was going on around him was perfect. But I accept that it may have been unintentional
20
ManassaxMauler Mar 26, 2026 +161
Keanu's delivery actually worked great in Cyberpunk 2077. He was perfect as Johnny Silverhand
161
quondam47 Mar 26, 2026 +73
It helped that the character was written with Keanu in mind.
73
Donner_Party_Animal Mar 26, 2026 +37
I suspect he was also able to walk around and do some of Johnny's Mo cap while he recorded his lines
37
iz-Moff Mar 27, 2026 +27
Maybe so, but it's not just the matter of being or not being a good fit for the character, his delivery is better than many of his movies. Also, Keanu's main problem as an actor is that he is kind of wooden, his face is just not very expressive. In a video game that's not really a problem, since facial animations rarely even look realistic, never mind the subtleties.
27
Snuffl3s7 Mar 27, 2026 +6
Nah, his dialogue delivery is also frequently very flat.
6
TheGardenBlinked Mar 26, 2026 +61
He definitely turned that around as Shadow in Sonic 3. Inspired casting.
61
Riqitch Mar 26, 2026 +14
What I genuinely thought most of the performances in Shark Tale were good 😭 Shout out to Scorcese as Sykes
14
CakeMadeOfHam Mar 27, 2026 +6
Well Keanu doesn't really fall under the category of "great actors"
6
zowietremendously Mar 26, 2026 +15
Horrible take. I f****** love Shark Tale. Will Smith is so funny in that movie.
15
Diligent_Sir4952 Mar 26, 2026 +13
I thought Keanu was alright as Duke in Toy story four but let’s be real. His best voice acting role is hands-down shadow in sonic movie three I mean talk about perfect casting and I can’t wait to hear what he does with shadow in the next sonic movie next year and in future sonic movies but low-key I would kill to see a shadow spinoff movie
13
LifeguardMundane5668 Mar 27, 2026 +9
I think Keanu Reeves is really really good in Cyberpunk and Secret Level
9
redmostofit Mar 26, 2026 +45
Some people talk with their face. It can’t be replicated through just audio.
45
aircooledJenkins Mar 26, 2026 +58
Danny Devito as Phil in Hercules. The animators had to watch video of him recording his lines and mimic him in the animation or it just looked wrong.
58
WolfColaCompany Mar 27, 2026 +26
I thought he was great and fitting though, I guess maybe it didn’t match up well with the original animations.
26
aircooledJenkins Mar 27, 2026 +14
I thought he was great in the roll. Just amusing they had to tailor the animation to him to make it work.
14
Quirderph Mar 27, 2026 +8
To be fair, I’ve heard it’s actually pretty common for Disney to film the voice actors and have the animators use them as reference material. Though Danny DeVito might be an extreme case if it looked outright *strange* without his specific expressions.
8
missmortimer_ Mar 27, 2026 +17
Devito was excellent as Homer’s long last brother on the Simpsons, so I don’t believe he’d be the problem.
17
BillytheMagicToilet Mar 27, 2026 +6
"Gewowowow Whatareyadoin? Get ya sword!" I'll get my word for you Danny!
6
R3ckl3ss Mar 27, 2026 +29
As a VO recording engineer I can tell you with confidence that the failure is in the director. Actors, especially for video games, are working off text that they haven’t memorized and they are blind as to the larger narrative of the project. They give usually three different reads, the director gives feedback, they do another maybe three reads and then move to the next line or block of text. If their performance doesn’t rise to the level of the project they should only shoulder some of the blame. That being said, the actor I worked with who exemplified this the most in my whole career was Natalie Portman. The director was too green to work with her, was afraid to give her direction, and she didn’t really care about the performance. She wasn’t interested in the subject and was only giving as much as she was asked. Other end of the spectrum: Robert Patrick was just about the most fun I’ve had working with an actor. Gave it his all, really put himself into it.
29
SmoreOfBabylon Mar 27, 2026 +7
An interesting microcosm of the difference that voice directing can make is in the 2020/2021 patches of Final Fantasy XIV. For one of the main story updates (I think it was patch 5.4?), the voice actors had to do remote recording work, with remote voice direction, due to COVID lockdowns. You could tell that some performances were just…*off* from how those characters were usually portrayed.
7
tyderian Mar 27, 2026 +39
Star Trek Online has some impressively bad voice work from various TV cast members. I blame it on remote recording, poor direction, and the actors not having the context of both the script and the visuals.
39
ChuckCarmichael Mar 27, 2026 +15
A lot of them did voice work before, like the Disney cartoon Gargoyles had a lot of former Star Trek actors in it, as did the game XCOM 2, and they were good in those. Bad direction can really mess things up.
15
Sinister_Crayon Mar 27, 2026 +5
God... Jonathan Frakes in Gargoyles was just stunning. Such a nuanced performance for such an interesting character. That whole show was just amazing and was only barely a kids show at times LOL.
5
mpersand02 Mar 26, 2026 +62
I don't remember it well, but wasn't Brad Pitt terrible in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)? People seem to like Megamind so maybe he got better.
62
NoSpoilerAlertPlease Mar 27, 2026 +18
For some strange reason I adore that movie
18
sirnumbskull Mar 26, 2026 +32
This was the first thing that came to mind. Michelle Pfeiffer killed it as Eres, and rest were perfectly serviceable, but something about Pitt's flat affect made many of his lines land like thrown toasters.
32
pastadudde Mar 27, 2026 +11
Pfeiffer was also really good in Prince of Egypt, especially when she sang her lines in When You Believe
11
Zalakael Mar 27, 2026 +65
On the opposite end Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis were incredible in the game Expedition 33, it was even Cox's first VA role too.
65
mundus1520 Mar 27, 2026 +12
Serkis was in E33?
12
bergsveen Mar 27, 2026 +14
Played Renoir, the old guy
14
Whatifyoudidtho Mar 27, 2026 +6
I haven't played it yet, but I know he's an old dude with a cane and a dope coat if that rings a bell, lol
6
HighSpeedDonuts Mar 27, 2026 +11
Serkis has a LOTR audio book and f****** kills it.
11
PyroneusUltrin Mar 27, 2026 +9
Serkis even said it was his hardest role because the motion capture was already done and he had to express someone else’s emotions with every line
9
InDeathProcess Mar 27, 2026 +28
I thought everyone in the Lion King “live action” remake was awful. Just reading lines.
28
TheUnknown_General Mar 26, 2026 +71
Half the celebrity cameos in Invincible. We know they're willing to get actual VAs like Fred Tatasciore, Grey Griffin, Phil Lamarr, Kevin Michael Richardson, John DiMaggio, Eric Bauza, Troy Baker, and Peter Cullen, the actors known for voice work like J.K. Simmons, Mark Hamill, Khary Payton, Clancy Brown, and Michael Dorn are all good, and the Walking Dead alumni in the cast are to be expected since both were created by Robert Kirkman, but otherwise the celebrity voices are excessive and distracting. It's just another one of a disappointingly large number of technical and stylistic flaws with the show.
71
smoothallday Mar 27, 2026 +69
Bruce Campbell as Satan was both hilarious and awesome.
69
milkandcookiesTW Mar 26, 2026 +53
I did not super enjoy Aaron Paul as Powerplex lol. Every single voice line was the same Whiny “HE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS” type of over the top emoting. It works when it’s a big scene, it gets grating when it’s your entire character. I wish they’d cool it with the celebrities, hire some more legit professional voice actors and redirect some of that budget towards animation. I still really like the show though
53
aconsul73 Mar 27, 2026 +63
Aaron was great in Bojack Horseman where this really fit his character, Todd. 
63
wecangetbetter Mar 27, 2026 +4
he's great in dispatch too
4
This_Charmless_Man Mar 26, 2026 +21
I actually quite liked Aaron Paul as Powerplex. Mostly because he's presented as a conspiracy whacko and absolutely sounds like it. The dude is a mental case *but crucially* is wrong. He should sound like he's a tinfoil hat away from trying to blow up a Toys'r'Us because he stubbed his toe and that was somehow Invincible's fault. He should sound like someone who yells about the lizard people. He'd somehow find a way to pin the failure of privatisation of British railways on Invincible.
21
TheUnknown_General Mar 27, 2026 +30
Aaron Paul did an infinitely better voice acting job in Dispatch. Ironically, he's able to get across more emotion and character while speaking mostly in a flat deadpan than when he's screaming at the top of his lungs.
30
RadioEditVersion Mar 27, 2026 +5
Just finished Dispatch and I was really impressed with him.
5
zowietremendously Mar 26, 2026 +68
Gad Gadot is a terrible actor. Everyone knows that. Ironically enough, her best acting role was in Ralph Breaks The Internet. I didn't even recognize her voice, because she wasn't terrible. Turns out, when she has her lines right in front of her, and competent directors, who are willing to do hundreds of takes, she can give a performance that's actually palletable.
68
Mr_BillyB Mar 27, 2026 +28
Palatable
28
PoliteQueef Mar 27, 2026 +64
No, he meant “palletable,” as in: “her performances are so wooden that they can be used to construct pallets.”
64
Kamakaziturtle Mar 26, 2026 +59
Most of them, though honestly I'm not sure if it's really their fault most of the time. The biggest issue is that they usually just sound like themselves... but I also imagine thats the direction they are given becuase if they are paying for a well known actor I'm sure said studios are also wanting people to *know* they paid for that big actor. I'll never understand the call of hiring actors for VA roles. Get a nice professional VA who can deliver a stellar experience, and it's going to be a fraction of the cost.
59
Chief_White_Halfoat Mar 27, 2026 +44
I love that Robert Pattinson does a weird voice that is completely unrecognizable in the Ghibli movie recently. Very much an exception. 
44
Leader342 Mar 26, 2026 +19
It’s for people who will only watch things if they see a recognizable name on the poster. My mom only saw Guardians of the Galaxy because Bradley Cooper was in it. There’s a reason why dreamworks films like Shrek front the marketing with the celebrity voice talent. It works.
19
norathar Mar 26, 2026 +15
There are actors who have done VA work who sound like themselves but are excellent - if the acting is good and fits the character, that's what matters, even if I can tell it's the same VA in multiple different roles. (Admittedly, the examples that come to mind for me here are mostly video games, not movies, and they're generally minor/working actors, not Chris Pratt.) I think it's more noticeable when a big name actor does a bad job and sounds like themselves, but I'm fine with, say, Angela Lansbury or Robin Williams sounding like themselves and think they did a good job in those respective roles. I will say I'd agree with VAs giving a better performance than many A-listers in general and disliking casting A-listers just for the name.
15
Hot-Manager-2789 Mar 26, 2026 +34
I think Alan Tudyk is another example of one who can do it well. (Granted, he has been voice acting for a while, now).
34
Imperium_Dragon Mar 26, 2026 +11
Also Bryan Cranston and Clancy Brown
11
DisreputablePenguin Mar 26, 2026 +20
Clancy Brown is the definitive Lex Luthor for me.
20
Steamedcarpet Mar 26, 2026 +19
Like Keith David I just love anytime Clancy Brown shows up.
19
Astrium6 Mar 26, 2026 +21
Alan Tudyk has basically permanently ruined Clayface for me. Can’t think about him without hearing him go “Laydee GaGAaaaAAaa!”
21
FiftyShadesOfGregg Mar 26, 2026 +33
David S**** as Kuzco is one! His voice doesn’t really sound tonally different from his speaking voice but somehow the fact it’s David S**** speaking gets lost in the character. Same movie actually, I’d say John Goodman as Pacha falls in the same category!
33
stoodlemayer Mar 27, 2026 +30
One of my favorite tidbits from Vulture's [Oral History of *The Emperor's New Groove*](https://www.vulture.com/article/an-oral-history-of-disney-the-emperors-new-groove.html) is about how they recorded his dialogue: >**Don Hahn (executive producer):** This is a terrible thing to tell you and you don’t necessarily need to print this, but David S**** would always do better if we had lights there and a camera crew — even if it wasn’t a real camera crew. The recording stage is kind of dark and dim. It’s like a music recording stage. He’s there with the microphone. He just didn’t have any energy. Then we would turn on some shooting lights and have a video camera, so he had somebody to perform to. I think when you’re a stand-up comic and you’re looking for a reaction, you benefit from having those lights and knowing you’re on. Eddie Murphy was the same way.
30
KookofaTook Mar 27, 2026 +3
He shouldn't have been worried about them printing that, it's just a story about a producer understanding how to get the best performance from his actor lol
3
pm_me_ur_demotape Mar 26, 2026 +15
Robin Williams works because he was an animated character in real life!
15
BaritBrit Mar 27, 2026 +6
> I'll never understand the call of hiring actors for VA roles. Get a nice professional VA who can deliver a stellar experience, and it's going to be a fraction of the cost. And will have a fraction of the draw. Like, she does great work, but no casual audience are watching the Sonic movie for Colleen O'Shaughnessey, but they might for Idris Elba or Keanu Reeves. 
6
Yojo0o Mar 26, 2026 +20
I remember Sebastian Stan's line delivery in Marvel's What If? standing out as just sounding *wrong.*
20
riegspsych325 Mar 27, 2026 +18
meanwhile Djimon Hounsou sounded like he was having a ball of a time, he really should do more voice work
18
TheMHBehindThePage Mar 27, 2026 +15
I mean, he was the villain in *How to Train Your Dragon 2* and while the character wasn't all that interesting Hounsou *commits* to the delivery. He does like a guttural warcry in a few scenes that's genuinely intimidating and memorable.
15
VampireHunterAlex Mar 26, 2026 +65
Most of them: Rarely do bigger actors who do voice roles actually give a performance that’s other than their own voice. (Chris Pratt is a great example) I’d much rather hear professional voice actors with a number of different characters in their repertoire over a celeb.
65
FatBoiEatingGoldfish Mar 26, 2026 +83
A ton of huge actors completely knocked it out of the ballpark in The Boy and the Heron. Robert Pattinson’s voice was completely unrecognizable.
83
quondam47 Mar 26, 2026 +67
Robert Pattinson is a big name almost entirely against his will though.
67
PatrioticPariah Mar 26, 2026 +12
I love that movie. I think alot of big names treat studio Ghibli Movies with the respect it deserves.
12
MyUsernameIsAwful Mar 26, 2026 +50
As much as I hate Chris Pratt, I think he did a good job in The Lego Movie.
50
craybo Mar 26, 2026 +59
The difference is in The Lego Movie he’s playing a character whose whole deal is being the most generic man in the entire universe
59
MyUsernameIsAwful Mar 26, 2026 +25
It for sure has a lot to do with the character being closer to his wheelhouse than Mario, but it’s not his typical generic white guy movie protagonist shtick. Emmett is very childlike and chipper, and most importantly, uncool. He’s not the hero type.
25
Active-Ad-2527 Mar 26, 2026 +10
While I think you're right about what's closer to his skill set, I also think that back in the Lego movie era he still had to TRY. Back around Jurassic World and Guardians he would still at least somewhat emote and have a range. Then around the sequels for both he clearly started thinking people were watching to see him. No dude, you just got signed on to a series of franchises with built in audiences
10
BaronVonBearenstein Mar 26, 2026 +14
I 100% agree! My partner is tired of hearing me rage about this. Animated movies are so much better when you believe that THAT'S the voice of that character instead of being like "oh, that's George Clooney". I find it takes me out of the movie and all I can focus on is their voice. Zootopia is a great example of this, where I spend half the movie just figuring out who the voice cast is. I'm not saying celebrities can't be voice actors, I just think that to be a real voice actor you have to create a voice for the character and not just use your regular one. There's obviously exceptions like Robin Williams as the Genie in Aladdin and Tim Curry in Ferngully. Stars like Alan Tudyk really do create voices for characters but more often than not the voices are their own and so distracting to me.
14
zowietremendously Mar 26, 2026 +6
> Rarely do bigger actors who do voice roles actually give a performance that’s other than their own voice. That's the whole point of casting them. You want their distinctive voice.
6
AnUnbeatableUsername Mar 27, 2026 +20
Chris Evans had absolutely no personality as Buzz Lightyear.
20
PckMan Mar 27, 2026 +27
Matthew Perry was notoriously bad as Benny in Fallout: New Vegas. He wasn't a bad actor. He didn't have an incredible range sure but he was generally really good in his roles, always nailing this laid back, sarcastic wise ass that always seemed to come out so effortlessly from him. You could even see this in Friends where most of his co stars were often over acting characters that were steadily becoming caricatures of themselves. But his character felt like a real actual guy in comparison and it was all down to the delivery. Que Fallout: NV and he sounds like he's doing a table read for the first time. Completely flat delivery that really pulls you out of the experience.
27
Fewenel Mar 27, 2026 +7
Hearing him in NV is what made me think voice acting must be a whole different experience for people. On paper he should have smashed that, but his choices seemed so odd. If I didn't know he loved the series, I would have assumed he was contractually obliged somehow but thought it was beneath him, it seemed so low effort.
7
dgbgb Mar 26, 2026 +38
Benedict Cumberbatch. Can’t even say penguin
38
No_Application_8698 Mar 26, 2026 +30
Peng wing
30
No_Room_3932 Mar 26, 2026 +7
Penling
7
Mathetria Mar 27, 2026 +17
But he’s amazing as Smaug!
17
No_Room_3932 Mar 27, 2026 +19
That’s because Smaug didn’t have to say penguin.
19
saintsithney Mar 27, 2026 +8
If only Thorin had thought of that!
8
No_Room_3932 Mar 27, 2026 +5
Now I’m thinking: do penguins exist in Middle Earth and if they do how could Thorin trick Smaug into saying penguin? It’s 3:15 in the morning here and I have work tomorrow. This is not good.
5
Dallywack3r Mar 26, 2026 +10
Brent Spiner is a great actor but holy shit he is a terrible VA and his version of the Joker is the absolute worst of the worst.
10
balrogthane Mar 27, 2026 +13
I'd push back on him being a great actor, honestly. He was born to play Data and knocked that role out of the park, heck, out of the county! But I've been underwhelmed by him in _everything_ else.
13
champ11228 Mar 27, 2026 +4
He's way too hammy
4
aleister94 Mar 27, 2026 +8
He was great in gargoyles tho
8
Flaherty_Joanl Mar 26, 2026 +9
Honestly I kinda feel like a lot of "serious" actors phone it in with VO work because they think it's easy money. Like they don't realize it's a completely different skill set.
9
Huge-Dependent3506 Mar 27, 2026 +17
I’ll give you an opposite. I like Seth Rogan as a voice actor, for instance playing Allan in Invincible. But I hate him in regular movies
17
SevroAuShitTalker Mar 26, 2026 +8
Connery was awesome in dragonheart Im not surprised he half assed a videogame. Would have assumed it based on his personality, they probably just offered him a ridiculous amount of money for studio time
8
smoothallday Mar 27, 2026 +4
I’m listening to book narrated by Taye Diggs. It’s terrible. I’m struggling to finish it.
4
voivoivoi183 Mar 26, 2026 +11
Idris Elba has done a few VOs for Disney and he always seems pretty flat but his Shere Khan is really bad IMO.
11
louie3723jr Mar 26, 2026 +27
He’s pretty good voicing knuckles in the sonic movies
27
misanthropenis Mar 27, 2026 +10
He's also amazing in CP2077 Phantom Liberty
10
sebrebc Mar 26, 2026 +13
He's not terrible at the craft, but every time I hear Patrick Warburton I can't not "see" him. Like his voice is so identifiable I literally picture him delivering the lines. 
13
Tr0nLenon Mar 26, 2026 +22
First thing I heard him as was Kronk.. and his voice absolutely embodied that character. Then came Joe on family guy.. and turns out it's literally just his normal voice. After that, I started seeing him and hearing his voice everywhere. But I still hear/see Kronk lol Oh oh ohh.. riiiiiight
22
riegspsych325 Mar 27, 2026 +9
he’s still Puddy to me
9
typewriter6986 Mar 26, 2026 +11
I feel like it kinda depends on the role with him. Joe on Family Guy, yes. Brock Sampson on The Venture Brothers, no. My opinion of course, Joe is just such a flat character in a ridiculous comedy. A show like Family Guy doesn't grow beyond each episode. The Venture Brothers has growth, change, back story, characters are more fleshed out and 3 dimensional.
11
YellowHammerDown Mar 27, 2026 +5
Warburton did the voice Mr Barken in Kim Possible and you can tell it's his voice but it's not just a cut and paste of Kronk, if that makes sense
5
blothman Mar 27, 2026 +4
They call me... 'The Tick'.
4
Rude_Sugar_6219 Mar 27, 2026 +5
I never truly appreciated voice acting until ‘Marvel What If?’ Some A-listers reprised their roles while others were VA and the difference was insane. Death Stranding 2 was another big one. Almost every celebrity character’s voice is flat and monotone except the villain, who turned out to be Troy Baker. That’s not to say it’s exclusive. Some actors nail it. Invincible is pretty solid with casting Hollywood stars who can also pull off the VA.
5
Dragamaroon Mar 26, 2026 +7
Not a movie but has to be mentioned. “That wizard came from the moon”
7
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