TFW2005 Interviews Frank Welker Part 1 of 2

INTERVIEW PART 1:

TFW2005 was given the opportunity to talk to the legendary voice actor Frank Welker recently, the result being an interview so epic, we had to split it into two segments. In this first segment, Mr. Welker discusses the 2007 Transformers movie and video game, as well as his long and successful career in voice acting.


TFW:
What was your reaction, when you heard about the out-pouring of support from the fans for you to reprise your role as Megatron in the recent movie?

Welker:
Well, I was absolutely blown away. I really had no idea how big the Transformers were, let alone the size of the fan base. Their passion and knowledge of all things TF is pretty awesome. For me, knowing the fans felt my G1 Megatron was original and important to them and should have been included in the feature production was humbling. That loyalty has pretty much increased my hat size about two fold. Of course I realize it is "Megs" ultimately...not me.

TFW:
How did you feel about the role of Megatron in the recent transformers movie going to Hugo Weaving?


Welker:
Hey, if it can't be me or an immediate member of my family playing the role of Megaton, Hugo Weaving is not too shabby. He is a superb actor who always brings interesting interpretations to his work. His agent Smith from the Matrix series was an example, he used a very slight robotic twitch and underplayed it so nicely...top notch. The clips I saw of his Megatron seemed to work just fine, but it was pretty heavily processed and made the voice sound typical of what you might expect of a 40 foot mechanical villain. I think it would have been more interesting to hear less process and more Hugo.

TFW:
Can you describe what kind of interactions you had with the producers, and were these related to your later work on the video game adaptation?

Welker:
I really had no interaction with the producers or the director. We tried to get together several times to do an in person interview/audition but couldn't make our schedules meet. I sent a couple of lines in via audio tape but never saw or read a script. From what I heard, the ultimate decision came down to the director and he did not feel my G1 Megatron voice would work with his vision. As far as the game...no, my work on the game was separate from the film group.

TFW:
Have you been approached at all for any further work with the franchise, either with the movie
(Soundwave?) or another incarnation, such as Transformers: Animated?

Welker:
Well it is a little too early to be specific but I will say yes and no. No, I have not been approached by the movie folks but yes I am still involved in the franchise...more on that later.

TFW:
How did it feel reprising the role of Megatron for the Transformers Movie video game?

Welker:
It was great. It was a lot of fun to see my old buddy Peter Cullen and the folks at Activison are a very cool group and a pleasure to work with. Talk about loyalty...they insisted on the G1 Megatron voice and felt strongly that it was integral to the game and important to the fans.

TFW:
Was it hard to get back into the old voice? Some fans have noted that they feel your current Megatron performance for the video game and animated prequel comic was somewhat different from the old 80s performance.

Welker:
No, it wasn't hard getting back into the voice. I did watch some of the old shows for home work and I enjoyed seeing and hearing my friends and arch enemies again. As for the voices, the reviews of the game that I read were specifically very favorable to the voices and considering the blending of two different mediums with different ideas and personnel and voices I thought that was remarkable. I do remember reading that one reviewer thought Peter and I sounded more mature and this especially worked for a more evil Megatron and a stronger wiser Prime.

TFW:
Did you consciously go a slightly different way with the delivery, or is any difference a matter of different post-production editing?

Welker:
Whenever you work with a director, there is a good chance you will be asked to go on acting adventures ...but no, other than doing what is asked of me, I tried to stay true. As far as production and sound are concerned I don't believe Activision did much to the vocals. In the old TV shows we had an echo effect rolled in over our voice tracks. This was done by our sound designer and engineer Scott Brownlie. It gave the voices an interesting metal and other worldly quality. It was subtle but I liked it and it worked well with the scratchy Megatron.


TFW:
When you're not behind the mic, what does Frank Welker do in his spare time?

Welker:
Think about why I'm not behind a mic!

TFW:
Did you ever buy any toy versions of the characters you voiced? Were you ever given anything from Hasbro or any other companies?

Welker:
Yes, I once took bought a toy doll of Stripe from the "Gremlins" and used it as a prop on the Merv Griffin Show. It was a fantastic little creature. I went off and left it at the show and was totally bummed. Then about three years later my secretary gave me another one for Christmas. I still have it. I had a Megatron that Hasbro gave us in the 80's but it is gone...I have no Transformers stuff at all.

TFW:
Which voice actors have you felt most privileged to work with over the years? What was is like working with legends like Mel Blanc? Do you find that a lot of younger voice actors now look up to you? How you feel about this?

Welker:
I worked with Mel a few times and Daws Butler and Stan Freberg, Bill Scott and many others. Of course it was an honor working with these giants, and I will never forget it. Bill Scott, Bulwinkle and Dudley DoRight, was one of my all time heroes and we became friends and were planning a screen play with Mark Evanier, the premier director/writer of Garfield, and many other shows. I was so excited to be working with Bill and we had a deal with a major studio to develop our script. It was a complete shock but Bill died of a heart attack and we never got to page one. I really enjoyed his company and working with Mark and Bill was a dream that unfortunately didn't last. Bill used me as Boris, the announcer and other great Jay Ward characters for some commercials so at least we did get to voice together for a short while.

TFW:
What differences do you find in voicing animals, as opposed to "speaking" characters?

Welker:
I think people have more of a preconceived idea of what a human voice's should sound like but when you do animals there is more freedom of artistic movement. You are creating sound the listener hasn't pigeon holed ....directors are more apt to leave me alone with my etch-o-sketch and I like that.

TFW:
Recently, it seems like you've been voicing more animal roles. Do you feel that you have been typecast? Would you prefer to have more speaking roles?

Welker:
Yes and Yes.

TFW:
You've done a number of roles with characters that other actors have previously established, such as Barney Rubble and Ray Stanz. How do you approach such a role?

Welker:
First I try and replicate them as close as possible if that is what the show requires. Then over time you can change them carefully into your own… carefully. After all, it is you and your own personality and humor that will through osmosis rearrange the gene lines, but you are mixing with someone else's DNA. I look at it as a privilege and an honor, not a right.

TFW:
Is there any difficulty in doing multiple roles in the same show, especially all at once? How do you feel about times when you end up "talking to yourself"?

Welker:
I used to be very good at it. Now that I am older I talk to myself all the time just as a matter of course. I guess all those years were training. Most actors are good at talking to one's self and doing back to back characters...Jeff Bennett is very good at it. I have been in a session right next to him and thought there were two other actors, it was just Jeff.

TFW:
In the past few years, you've been given the opportunity to revisit some of your roles in a comedic fashion (Robot Chicken, Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law). How did you feel about that?

Welker:
It is always great fun, I like working with the young blokes and they always treat me with great reverence. It is interesting to hear the stories of how they grew up listening to me...a bit disconcerting considering I am now growing up listening to them!

TFW:
Do you stay in touch with many of the other voice actors you've worked with?

Welker:
Not enough, I actually live within minutes of Rob Paulsen and Jim Cummings and we never see each other, only at sessions. We do get in the occasional round of golf in fact the team of Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, Sue Blu and I won first place in the annual Cartoonists golf tournament representing Universal Studios this past year. Peter and I see each other a couple of times a year and spend more time talking about getting together than actually being together. It's just one of those things...

TFW:
What do you think makes a good voice director?

Welker:
In my opinion, the best directors hire people they know can do the job and then get out of the way. Too much time is wasted on interpretation and line readings and character building. Get folks who know what they’re doing and let them do it. All most actors need to know is what is the action and where is the microphone.