Just like real-life acting, voice acting is an equally challenging skill that any actor or actress in the field needs to perfect. Likewise, full-time voice actors gave the same commitment to their characters, even in just a recording booth. So, it is worth commending those stars known for their respective parts in pop culture who lent their voices in some animated films and TV series.
These are actors who did surprising vocal parts, masking their rather recognizable voice from public consciousness. They may play either the main characters or guest roles, as long as they exhibited a unique vocal range.
Alia Shawkat
Alia may be known as Maeby Fünke in Arrested Development or Dory Seif in Search Party, but apart from her indie projects, she played guest roles for Adventure Time, Summer Camp Island, Robot Chicken, and the HBO anthology Animals.
Her most prominent voice role came from I Lost My Body as a girl named Gabrielle embroiled in a boy’s search for redemption (and his severed hand). The French animated film currently receives rave reviews.
Jason Lee
There came a time when Jason Lee started his life road on a skateboard. Sooner, he provided memorable parts for Kevin Smith’s movies like Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma.
Little did anyone know that he was the voices behind Bones in Underdog (2007), Monster House (2006), and Charlie the Bigfoot in We Bare Bears (2015). But his best is obviously Syndrome/Buddy Pine for The Incredibles, whose character and performance was given much praise.
Hugh Laurie
Before jumping into the role of Dr. Gregory House for House M.D., Laurie was mostly known as a comedian, with roles in Blackadder and A Bit of Fry and Laurie. But alongside his active work, he also provided voices in British cartoons, most notably The Snow Queen and to both The Simpsons and Family Guy.
But he was also featured in animated films like Valiant, Monsters vs. Aliens, Arthur Christmas, and the animated/live-action hybrid Hop.
Lance Reddick
Mainstream viewers may associate Lance Reddick for playing the evenhanded Cedrick Daniels in The Wire or the hotel concierge Charon in the John Wick movies. But Reddick is secretly doing numerous voice work, including for two animated superhero series: Falcon in The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Ra’s al Ghul in Beware the Batman.
Gamers would immediately notice him as the voice behind Commander Zavala in the Destiny games and Martin Hatch in Quantum Break.
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane got her start in comedies before playing the chill girl archetype in movies like Reality Bites, The Truth About Cats and Dogs and Mystery Men.
Apart from her film roles, she is also a prominent voice artist. Knowing her audience, she mostly lends her voices to adult animated projects, which include Duckman, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, King of the Hill, and Metalocalypse. But her most recognizable voice role is Colette Tatou in Pixar’s Ratatouille.
Nathan Fillion
Riding the waves of the cult hits Firefly, Castle and currently The Rookie, Nathan Fillion is a reliable fan-favorite. This is why he guest-voiced in fan-favorite shows like Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty, The Venture Bros. and Big Mouth.
Fillion is also a prominent player for DC animated films, mostly as Hal Jordan/Green Lantern. And in gaming, he also voiced Cayde-6 in the Destiny games, and Sgt. Edward Buck in Halo installments.
Uzo Aduba
Crazy Eyes also has a prominent voice acting career beyond the metal bars of Orange is the New Black. In the world of animation, Uzo played Bismuth in Steven Universe, Anansi in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug at Cat Noir, and Officer Kubritz in 3Below: Tales of Arcadia.
In 2017, she voiced Queen Novo in the film adaptation of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, her first theatrical voiceover role, and from there, her range expanded.
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Middleditch may be the know-it-all spokesperson for Verizon and the genius Richard Hendricks in Silicon Valley, but he was also the titular character in Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero for the Disney Channel.
Like many others in this list, Middleditch did voice roles for adult projects like Beavis and Butthead, TripTank, Animals, and Bob’s Burgers. His best voice role is arguably Harold Hutchins in Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, along with Kevin Hart.
Regina King
Regina King had a prolific career in television before she went through a career renaissance with the Barry Jenkins film If Beale Street Could Talk that won her an Oscar and the HBO adaptation of Watchmen.
During her early TV career, she made a mark as Huey and Riley Freeman for the Adult Swim cult series The Boondocks. Beyond that, she also lent voice roles in The Ant Bully and Planes: Fire and Rescue.
Neil Patrick Harris
He was Doogie Howser, M.D., Barney Stinson, and Count Olaf. Prominently, he is a triple-threat performer, along with magic tricks.
And yet he had a prolific career as a voice artist. He provided voices mostly for animated superhero projects like Peter Parker/Spider-Man for Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, Barry Allen/The Flash for Justice League: The New Frontier and Dick Grayson/Nightwing for Batman: Under the Red Hood. He was also Prince Gumball in Adventure Time.