BILLY WEST Futurama / Ren and Stimpy Interview - Farpoint 30

Voice actor Billy West spoke to us at Farpoint 30 in Hunt Valley, Maryland, to talk about his career, the upcoming Futurama show, dealing with autism, and the M&M controversy.
Billy West portrays Phillip J. Fry, Zoidberg, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, Captain Zapp Brannigan, and others on Futurama, but he has also portrayed characters in hundreds of other shows. His credits also include Disenchantment, Doug, Skylanders Academy, The Looney Tunes Show, Ren and Stimpy, Jungle Junction, Drawn Together, Squirrel Boy, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius, CatDog, Johnny Bravo, The Oblongs, Men in Black: The Series, Voltron: The Third Dimension, King of the Hill, Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs, Scooby-Doo and so many more.
This interview was conducted on February 11th, 2023.
To learn more about Farpoint Convention, visit www.farpointcon.com
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#FandomSpotlite #futurama #billywest #renandstimpy #disenchantment #voiceactor #interview

[@DMfilmfan]

Great seeing Billy again; I'm looking forward to the new Futurama episode(s).

[@nimravus01]

Billy is going to be at my local comic con in Bell County Texas, Aug 3&4 2024. I'm looking forward to meeting him!

[@Tommyr]

I love Billy. I love voice actors. Always wanted to be one myself but alas it never happened. Thank you Billy!

[@monstermastergodzilla6813]

I met Billy West at SC Comicon. He's really cool.

[@gamecitysavior2910]

Grew up with the red m&m, first time seeing him, didn't know he was always around. Wow 😂

[@VinceTrousers4]

This was really insightful and candid from Billy, hope he's hanging in there I wish the interviewer was a little more engaged unfortunately

[@MeteoXavier]

Age is finally starting to catch up to Billy, though I'm sure several years of COVID lockdown stuff contributed as well. Still doesn't look 71, but he doesn't look like he's 40 like he has since 1992 either. Can hear it in his voice, too, but it's amazing he can still talk at all after decades of screaming and pitching his voice box all over the goshdarn place.

[@jonnynice8366]

I started looking this guy up after I noticed Fry was sounding less young in the first episode of new Futurama. And unsurprisingly, the voice actor guy is getting old. Hopefully he has a few more good years though, what a legend!

[@joevoigt9219]

Rude much? Nobody is allowed to age anymore without being judged? Keep on kicking ass, Mr. West 🤟🏻 Live life! However you wish!

[@MeteoXavier]

@@joevoigt9219 People are allowed to assess the qualities of the public individual without it being implied to be a judgment on their value in context or overall. The last third of my post up there is supposed to clue you in on that but I'm guessing you didn't get that far before typing in reaction. Billy West is and will always be one of the greatest and most influential in the voice industry, there is no question there, but it's apparent age and doing extreme vocal performances is finally starting to show its wear. There is some importance to making this observation as more than a few of us identify as Billy West-likes (I myself identify quite a bit with Billy, except my childhood was a little bit better and my voice acting talents proved weaker than my ability to actually be able to do what's required to get voice acting work) and may be able to get a glimpse of what we might expect when we become 71-year-old cancer survivors.

[@TigerGreene]

Poor guy looks like a trainwreck

[@ChewyToeNails]

I've always connected with this man and Mel Blanc. I also used to make sound effects, and fun voices (to me at least) in school. I never knew I was autistic until around the turn of the century when search engines made my questions about myself easier to start piecing together. Years of childhood wasted on pills and therapists through the "let's experiment on kids" 1980's, never revealed what was really "wrong" with me. My parents thought I was weird. My teachers, and classmates thought I was weird. Though like Mr. West said here, once we find our thing, a skill, a talent, it becomes like a super power and watch out. That, combined with my wife's grandfather's wisdom, is something that I have come to grips with and has made me feel better about myself. Which makes life easier. My wife's grandfather said to me one day after I had left another job (because as always, I was weird and I could sense it coming anyways so I left). I blurted out that I should have just picked a career and stuck to it. He looked at me and smirked and said, " If a person learns how to work on computers and does that as a career their entire life, at retirement, they know how to do just one thing. A person like yourself will know how to do MANY things.) I first seen Mr. West in an interview about Doug/Ren and Stimpy long ago. I instantly recognized his body language, his mannerisms, his nerves, his only wanting to bring people joy mentality. Suddenly I felt less alone. I felt like, well hell. If he can do what he has done... Because of Billy and the many others out there that have done well with what they have been given, it only makes life seem more survivable for the rest of us. So THANK YOU Mr. West! You are an outstanding human being to me. I did not have understanding, support, or love growing up. All I had was two humans that should never have gotten together and had an "oops". (Their words not mine). They just tolerated me. Barely. The "love" I got was the kind that was only to make sure others didn't think less of them. They were burdened every day they had to have me around. Now that I've been free from them for quite sometime now, I have learned a lot. I have found actual love and support from the most wonderful woman, my wife. Together, for over a decade now, we fall asleep every night to Futurama. (She's a BIG Doug fan!) This way we awaken refreshed with the energy and confidence to face another day on this planet like Billy. Again. Billy is wonderful. For anyone out there that has doubts about themselves, do not! You can! Look to Mr. West and others like him. Find out what makes you tick, yourself. Don't listen to others labeling you to comfort themselves. Find out what matches how your mind an heart works. Find like minded people, ignore the rest. Find a skill(s) and/or talent(s) that you enjoy. You do not have to be the best or great at it, but do you enjoy it!? I myself was telling my next door neighbor long ago when I was 16 about the new job I just got. He looked intrigued for a minute of silence and then looked at me with a smirk and asked "So, you've decided to go the route of a jack of all trades, master of none route?" Perplexed at that time I didn't know what to answer with. He was right in my eyes. I'd much rather have dabbled in many things, than only one of them. I have no desire to be the "best" at anything. Though if something really clicks with me and I really enjoy it, I automatically become good at it without knowing it. I just do it and suddenly my wife, or someone close to me or a random person will say, "hey, your really good at that." At which point I am bewildered on how that happened. Because when I actually try to get good at something.... lol forget about it. So. To anyone out there, explore. Learn. Try new things. I must have had at least 40 jobs in my life so far. But I can fix cars, fix houses, fly planes, drive semitrucks, cook and serve food, teach kids, on and on. Am I great at any of them? Eh? I can do them though. It also leaves me to be be amazed and inspired by those that really can do that skill or talent well. I have more appreciation for it and understanding how difficult it may be. I still need to learn to surf. Never even been on a boat. I'm pretty sure I will end up shark food. But look at the positives there, the shark will be full and I will have saved others! Keep the chin up!

[@StillJustMike]

This video and channel are both criminally undervalued. I wish this group all the success

[@edbrewer5123]

Modern day Mel Blanc

[@mtndewisawesome3951]

I just love how his voice hasnt aged much.

[@TigerGreene]

Too bad his body has. Yikes

[@oscarsunden3764]

🙏😌All hail, Billy West!😌🙏

[@KOZMOGRAFX]

As Billy dispenses nuggets of anecdotal gold, he's fidgeting with what appears to be one of those chocolate-filled pretzel bites, placing it on top of a playing card, or a business card. The interviewer asks a lot of great questions, but it's too bad that his generic/uninspired responses to Billy's answers fall flat (ie "yeah, definitely")... Billy was a patient saint.

[@mnpd3]

Doing Popeye requires two simultaneous voices on different frequencies that stay on those respective frequencies through all the changes in pitch. How anyone can do that blows my mind! I'm betting Billy is a phenomenal singer too.

[@mussapie5002]

Epic.....

[@DSMan-pu2kz]

It’s like I’m looking at Jerry Lewis when he ballooned up from the early to mid 2000s

[@ethanchaotic]

man this futurama reboot is really under tight wraps, no one is revealing ANYTHING and I just a crumb of more information from it

[@thegreat1007]

Billy is starting to turn into Wilbur Cobb

[@TigerGreene]

🤣🤣🤣

[@maxrebo8455]

Great to see a fellow ADHD aspie.

[@TheDrizzle56]

Journeyman? Psh! Billy West is a master.

[@danfoss1535]

He's a legend, like Mel Blanc or anyone

[@elmerserranoportillo4319]

Up coming, the good, the bad, and the huckleberry hound the movie, is coming soon, it was 35th Anniversary of years, it’s coming soon in 2023 or 2024 like that, let’s use 2023, Billy west will voice huckleberry hound when the movie is coming soon

[@comoyoko]

How did you manage to interview him?

[@FandomSpotlite]

We attended Farpoint Con as press, and they arranged it.

[@user-ub3wk8ov1u]

Does BILLY WEST Voice This FUTURAMA CHARACTER? FRY? Yes BENDER? No LEELA? No AMY? No HERMES? No ZOIDBERG? Yes PROFESSOR FARNSWORTH? Yes ZAPP BRANNIGAN? Yes

[@TigerGreene]

Good grief! When did Han Solo turn into Jabba the Hutt?? Billy þh†ï†s had one too many moon pies

[@chad9186]

Do you hate liver and onions

[@iambetterthanu]

What a terrible interviewer. He's not even listening.