‘Bob’s Burgers’ Star Says How Show Permanently Changed His Voice
The actor who voices Bob Belcher on Bob's Burgers confesses that he sounds way different now than he did 15 years ago, and it's all because of his work on the Fox animated hit show.
In an interview with Variety, H. Jon Benjamin says it all started when he was doing standup in Boston and he auditioned for a voiceover role on a show called Dr. Katz. Bob's Burgers creator Loren Bouchard was an editor on that show, and when he started developing his own shows he called on Benjamin to do the voiceover work.
“I just kept working with him,” Benjamin tells Variety. “So, he gave me the part [of Bob], I said yes, and it hasn’t stopped in 30 years.”
Bob's Burgers premiered on Fox in 2011, and the show has since been a mainstay not just for an animated series but a comedy series in general. Its dominance on the airwaves wasn't just a surprise to critics, but those involved on the show as well.
“Whenever you start doing a television show, you feel like it’s gonna get canceled after a season,” he said. “You do one, and you’re happy to get two, then three—then, oh my God, four—then holy shit, five. And then, no way, six. And then—f--k—seven!”
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All these years later, Benjamin says his voice changed permanently, thanks to Bob himself.
“I didn’t sound like this at all 15 years ago,” he quipped. “Now I talk like Bob.”
He added, "I’ve become him.”
Benjamin also voiced Sterling Archer on FX's Archer. But lending his voice for roles proved too taxing.
“I’d have a 10 a.m. Archer session, then go to Bob’s, and I’d have no voice left," he said. "That was the day I realized I can’t do both shows in the same day.”
And for those wondering, Benjamin's not on the grill.
“I don’t make burgers," he shared. "They’re better made elsewhere.”