The Hulk Speaks!
With Lionsgate and Marvel just releasing their next collaboration entitled Planet Hulk, Killer Film got a chance to chat with the voice of the Hulk in this film, Rick D. Wasserman. A veteran theater actor, as well as appearing in numerous episodes for television projects like 24, House M.D., and now Marvel animation, Rick explains what it was like being the Big Green Machine, known as the Hulk!
Jon Peters: How did you get involved with voice acting, and how did Planet Hulk come up for you?
Rick Wasserman: Voice acting, for me, came to me when I was in New York, doing theater. I was doing the Lion King. I was also doing a lot of on-camera commercials, like I was the Zest soap guy, among other things, anyway, I had a meeting with my agent at that time. It was just one of those things, where a voice agent walked by and heard my voice. “Do you do voice overs?” he said, and I replied no. He pulled me out of the meeting and I started reading some lines off. I started off as the voice of the Wire, the HBO show, and then it just got going.
I did mostly television promos, things for Fox Sports, movie trailers, and then only recently I got into animation. That’s what I really like, because it’s a lot like acting. There is a storyline, which I really like, unlike walking around saying “Tonight at 8.” (laughs)
Planet Hulk came along through my animation agent, and he told me they’re looking for a new Hulk, still unsure what the project was. He said it’s not the typical Hulk, so don’t go in there screaming and ‘Hulk Smash!’, as they’re looking for some different, so I went out and bought the comic [of Planet Hulk].
Jon: Hulk has been a character without much dialogue, but in Planet Hulk the script calls for the Hulk to speak a lot. How did you approach the dialogue as an actor and as the Hulk?
Rick Wasserman: It turned out to be a lucky thing, since I wasn’t a Hulk-aphile. I didn’t know much about this storyline, or his huge history. All I knew, the the Lou Ferrigno/Bill Bixby Hulk, and that turned out to be a good thing. Greg Pak, the Planet Hulk writer [of the comics], got a lot of inspiration from that TV show, but I looked at his comics for inspiration. As an actor, I used those as my reference point. The vocal director and writer [Greg Johnson] were responsible for a lot of the tightening of the dialogue, helping me hone in certain beats.
But I approached this as any other script or character, and the best thing for me was not to think he was like all of the other Hulks, because you’re right, he is not in this.
Jon: What did Jaime Simone brought as the voice director for you in developing the character?
Rick Wasserman: We talked about it a lot, and most of it was on-the-fly. I recorded my stuff alone, and to this day, I haven’t met any of the other voice actors. This turned out to be a good thing; it was just me, in a dark studio, Jaime and a few other guys behind the glass, and for this project, it turned out to be beneficial since the Hulk himself was alone a lot, very secluded, and detached.
Jaime and Joshua Fine [producer] were dropping me seeds on where to land this character, and who this Hulk is. Certainly, we haven’t since a Hulk like this, and I currently work on another Marvel project, and while there’s a Hulk in this series, Fred Tatasciore plays him, so I’ve been exposed to his Hulk for a while, and it is just different. Fred’s Hulk is just brilliant, he’s spectacular and nobody screams like Fred, but Jaime was very specific about getting me to this different spot with the Planet Hulk’s Hulk.
Jon: Was there any fun or difficult times in the studio?
Rick Wasserman: Basically, it was this dark studio with a script in front of me. Now, I only saw a few sketches, so I didn’t know exactly what was going on. If you’ve seen Planet Hulk, you know if differs from the comic. So a lot of it was just using images they had to paint a picture to help me out. The hard part was, even though the Hulk speaks and has his soft moments, he still has to kick ass a lot! So there’s a lot of screaming and yelling, and that’s tough in the studio. Luckily, I got a chance to work out a lot of aggression it there! (laughs)
The fun parts were trying to image so of the things, that I hadn’t seen that was in the script. Hulk has to destroy a giant metal worm and tear it apart like a FedEx package. They were like “just go with it!” Okay? (laughs) But that’s always fun. He’s brooding, and angry, and even hurt. You finally get to see the reason for that hurt, and as an actor, that’s tough to play, yet you can dig your heels into playing that.
Jon: As a voice actor, can you explain the current field in the industry as one, in terms of work and competition from now celebrities doing voice work?
Rick Wasserman: I just want to tell those celebrities, “ya know, you got so much going on, so much money, let some of these other people have a shot!” There’s a lot of wonderful people in voice acting, and I’m not taking away from those celebrities, as they certainly do what they do well, but they made their mark. They carved out their niche. There’s some incredibly talented voice actors out there and don’t get a chance, because of the huge celebrity influx. But beyond that, it is extremely competitive. Like when we do Ultimate Avengers ten people get to record at the same time, as that’s it fun. When they’re not recording, they are sitting down and reading a comic! Even for one’s they are not working on, and they love this stuff, so it’s a real joy for them.
I think that’s great. To be surround by a group of people like the Marvel Universe, and while a lot of them always wanted to be a voice, they still worked on it, worked on it, and finally they’re doing it. That dream come true aspect if perfect, yet it’s scarce. I’m one of those guys who lucked into it, as I know little about all of this. I said at the premiere, “Now, I get it”. I just recently got to understand the great love of comics, I got it now.
Jon: Totally, I think this project is going to be huge, as I really liked it, so thanks for the time.
Rick Wasserman: My pleasure too, I really enjoyed Planet Hulk, and I hope other people do too.
Hulk Smash! The Blu-ray and DVD of Planet Hulk are currently out in stores, and be sure to look for the review, as well as, more interviews with Producer Joshua Fine and screenwriter Greg Johnson, only on Killer Film!
