Phil LaMarr is an actor whose had a long career and has landed roles in big time movies like Pulp Fiction as well as successful TV cartoons Family Guy and Futurama. Phil will be a guest at the annual science fiction convention Sun City SciFi happening March 14-16 at the El Paso Convention Center in downtown El Paso, TX. Fusion caught with Phil to talk about some of his biggest gigs.
You’ve had a long and successful career. What is your formula to success?
There’s a line in a play called “Pippin” that goes, “It’s smarter to be lucky than it’s lucky to be smart.” And that’s basically been my plan: to be lucky. For me, it’s a tough thing to say because there is such a huge amount of luck. You have to have drive, you have to not give up. That’s basically the main thing. The only way you can fail as an actor is if you stop acting. So for me, it’s been about continuing and I’ve been blessed with the temperament that I can take the rejection and uncertainty and keep going.
Do you find yourself still struggling to get certain roles or have you reached a comfort level to pick and choose what you want to do?
That’s interesting. No. I’m a working middle class actor. There’s very little choosing that goes on when you’re a middle class actor. You try out for jobs and someone else decides whether you get them. I have friends who are very successful and you can get a level where you can pick and choose, but even then it’s not all about your choices.
How did you land your role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction?
Julia Sweeney is a friend of mine from our comedy troupe in LA, the Groundlings. She was friends with Quentin Tarantino. She invited him to come to an improv comedy show at the Groundling and I met him through that. He wound up asking me to come in and audition for him. Again, when I say I get lucky, I’m not joking. It was a random chance that turned into an opportunity to be a part of history.
While the movie was being filmed, was there something special in the air? Did you know you were onto something great or was it just a routine shoot?
No, it was not routine. It was definitely special. “Pulp Fiction” was one of those things that you knew was special when you read the script which is why I think they were able to get so many big stars for so little money. The movie was made for $8 million in 1994. You couldn’t even buy film for that amount! And you had Bruce Willis and John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson. It’s all because of that script. Everybody who read that script said, “Wow, this is incredible. I want to be a part of this.” And that energy translated on set. Every person that was there wanted to be there. And everybody was committed to trying to make that script come to life. And Quentin Tarantino set up this very cool tone to his set. Everybody was basically equal. There was no hierarchy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxdL1HFo8oM
When did you discover that you could do voices?
It’s funny because I did voice – I’m realizing now – before I did plays. I remember a neighborhood buddy had got a tape recorder for his birthday or something and we would sit around pressing “Record” on the tape recorder us doing voices or reading Dynamite Magazine or making up bizarre sketches. I didn’t even remember that until many years after Mad TV. Like, “Oh right! I used to do that before I knew it was a thing.” I think voices and skits and sketches are just somewhere in my DNA.
How did you get involved with Family Guy?
I recorded a voice for the presentation that Seth (McFarlane, creator of “Family Guy”) made to Fox to sell the show initially. There was an executive who was working with Seth McFarlane and she was also working with Mad TV and she asked me and Alex Borstein (former Mad TV cast member and voice of Lois), as a favor, to do this recording for this kid who was putting this show together. So we went and recorded. It took about 10 to 12 minutes worth of script. At the end, Seth pulled out his personal checkbook and wrote us out a check for, like, $50 or something.
I would say, playing Green Lantern in the Justice League animated series. One, because I’m a huge comic book fan from way back and, two, because it was just so good. I think it really think it changed the way people thought about animation, particularly from comic books. The UPS Guy from Mad TV. That was one that was very special just because it’s a character I created on stage and it’s something that just sort of popped to life in a way that you can never really plan. I just always enjoyed playing it. To be able to create a character like that and have people respond to it was really, really fun.
Third, I would have to say playing Cowboy Curtis in the stage version of the “Pee Wee Herman Show.” Even though it was a small role, it was so much fun to be a part of. Even though I had to step into Laurence Fishburne’s chaps, playing that role alongside Paul Ruebens as Pee Wee Herman, it’s like being in a Mickey Mouse cartoon. It got me a chance to perform on Broadway which is a dream come true.