Billy West

Billy: I don't get to watch Futurama, until it's on TV.

Billy: (Jokingly.)I've never watched the news in my life.

Billy: Robin Williams understands sonic performances. He understands what it's like to change your voice up. He understands what it's like to have theatre of the mind—and with your little strip of vocal cords, you're going to create heavens and hells and universes and populations of people, which is the whole idea that a voice person has in their head. It's like, "Whatever it is, I'll be it."

Billy: (On Futurama.) It had more layers than an onion. These writers meant business. There was a level for everybody. Your major could be celestial mechanics, and there'd be celestial-mechanics jokes.

Billy: (Talking About Improv And ab-libing On Futurama) After you do what the writers kind of ask you to do, and then they have everything to choose from. And then David Cohen (head writer and executive producer) will say to me, "Do you have any idea what you want to do? Just whatever you feel like." I'll give it a try and sometimes it works and sometimes it just doesn't.

Billy: (About Futurama table reads.) They treated it like a sitcom because it was in prime time.

Billy: (on the differences between The Simpsons and Futurama) These characters are together all the time but they're not a family; they're distinctive, well-crafted people. There's no kids and a grandfather and this and that, it's just them, and they're relating to each other every single day like that. And on The Simpsons, I think they go outside the box and they have interfaces with a lot more people. Sometimes in Futurama it's a whole... I'm not sure; I know there's differences, like uh... I don't know, what's the word... Like flow, the type of writing.

Billy: (on going into audition for Futurama and the writing of the show) They had pieces of dialogue. And once I got into it and got that part of the show, I began to see what he was all about. And I loved the writing; the writing had more layers than an onion.

Billy: (talking about the reasons John Kricfalusi got fired from The Ren and Stimpy Show) It was a bunch of things, but you know, it was non-delivery of episodes... but he did fight like hell, because they (Nickelodeon) would approve storyboards and then they'd renege on it, I mean that's what I heard.

Billy: (talking about Queer Duck: The Movie) It's from Mike Reiss, he was one of the creators of The Simpsons, for getting it on TV and everything, and he decided he was going to do this project, and he called me up. I used to do webisodes for the Queer Duck webisode site, and it was extremely funny, it was a riot. So they finally decided to make a movie. And I play a character in it called Bi Polar Bear.

Billy: (talking about The Ren and Stimpy Show) Originally, I was chosen to do both voices before the show started and then they dropped that idea, and John was going to do the character (Ren) and I was going to do Stimpy. And then he got fired after the first season, and they went out and had this huge casting call, and they remembered that "Hey, wasn't Billy supposed to do it?", and then they went and fished out my old audition tape and gave it (the part of Ren) to me. I never lobbied for it.

Billy: (after being asked how it feels to be part of shows that are classics) It feels great, but after all these years, I've come to discover that it's not about how great it was – it was about the experience personally, on a human level.

Billy: (on his scare with prostate cancer) I didn't even tell my mom about this junk until I was out of the woods. The whole thing just snuck up on me but never, ever did I play the victim or bemoan my fate. Life is for the living. I was a little scared before surgery 'cause of the release you sign that says there's always a very small percent chance that you'll die during the operation.

Billy: (On why he didn't continue the voice of Doug, when it moved to ABC) I pretty much felt I did all that I could with the character. I was ready to move on to different projects and opportunities.

Billy: (summing up his expierence on Futurama) I thought the whole experience – from top to bottom – was totally professional and really cool. I never had anybody bugging me for anything – no directors standing on my throat while they're directing me. That kind of abuse came with Ren & Stimpy... just being battered, and where other actors were beaten down. Just emotional wrecks, where they had to come in with a tow truck and pick up the bodies and get them out of there. That's what I was told by Nickelodeon – they were saying, "You've gotta watch out – this guy wears actors out." And I said, "Bring it on! I had the worst things that can happen to a human being happen in the first 10 years of my life happen to me, so I was tailor-made for abuse." But I didn't know how long I would last with all the screaming and yelling – but not just screaming and yelling, it was particular screaming and yelling.

Billy: (talking about going in and auditioning for Futurama, while meeting Matt Groening) I was thrilled out of my mind! Because I came in and I shook hands with him, and I said, "It's really nice to meet you…" He says, "I'm a big fan…" And I go, "And I sort of know who you are, too!"

Billy: (Talking about his role of 'Fry,' on Futurama.)It's basically just a twenty-five year old version of me.

Billy West: If celebrities that are schnoring in on our field started out trying to do what we do and were held to the standards we started out upholding, a great many of them would've never made it.