READERSVOICE.COM: What do you talk about in your stage show and where have you taken it?
BOB BERGEN: If you are referring to my one man show, it was divided into 2 sections: how I got the gig to voice Porky Pig, and Universal. I talk about how I wanted to be Porky since I was 5 years old. I discussed studying with Daws Butler, the voice behind Yogi Bear and hundreds more. I talked about the day I met Mel Blanc and the day I heard about his death.
I take the audience from a 5 year old interested in doing Porky to being a working actor. For the Universal section I told anecdotes and stories that happened during my guide days. I took the audience through a tour, discussed bloopers, etc. It was a blast!
RV: Can you talk about the Hollywood Christmas Parade when you used to do commentary and interview actors? Did they just seem like normal people in a way? What about Jimmy Stewart, what was he like? Do you feel you see the real person when you interview legendary actors like that?
BB: I'm not sure if you ever see the "real" person when you meet a celeb. The real them they keep to themselves and show the public what they want them to see.
Interviewing James Stewart was a thrill because he's to this day my favorite actor. He was a gem! He was travelling in a moving car and I walked aside to him with a mic interviewing him along the route.
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At one point my mic cord was tugging, meaning I was running out of slack. I tried to tell him this but he didn't hear me. I eventually dropped the mic but he kept talking. He had me by the arm so I just walked about 1/4 a mile with him as he talked.
Roseanne was also "interesting." She slugged me!! I introduced her as Roseanne Barr and she had just married Tom Arnold. She backhanded me since I didn't call her Arnold. I think she's back to Barr now!!!
RV: What was the revoice work you did for Leonardo DiCaprio in Basketball Diaries?
BB: This was for the TV version to remove and re-dub profanity. With the advent of HDTV and digital sound many studios are going back into their libraries and re-dubbing/mixing films for better quality broadcasts.
I re-voiced Leo during his drug- induced scenes. Another actor re-voiced him when he was sober. Incidentally, I learned that they had Leo in to do his own voice but he couldn't get that young sound back, which is why we were hired.
RV: What were the special vocal effects you had to do for Born on the Fourth of July?
BB: I, along with other actors, dubbed all the battle sounds. We went to Wil Rogers State Park and spent a day on the polo field reenacting the war scenes as they recorded us. It was the only VO job where I got a torn hamstring and a sunburn.
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RV: In Spirited Away, where you did the voice for Frog and No Face, was it any different working for a Japanese film as far as matching the mouths of the pictures with voices?
BB: Dubbing is very different because you are a victim to the translation and matching sync. But they had a great production crew which made the process a blast.
RV: Is Porky Pig your favorite voice, and if not which character is your favorite and why?
BB: Porky is my fav! Mainly because doing his voice was my goal since I was a kid. He's a blast to do, especially when coming up with ad-libs while stuttering.
RV: When did you know you had achieved your childhood dream of doing voice-overs, particularly for Porky Pig, but in general when did you know you'd finally got there?
BB: Well, I'm not sure I'm "there" now. I don't know what "there" is. As an actor you never know where your next job will be. So you never have that feeling of security.
But I did my first Porky gig March of 1990, which was Tiny Tunes. I've been working full time as an actor since 1987.
RV: What are some of your plans?
BB: Future plans are to just keep working. I know that Duck Dodgers 2nd season starts airing this summer, and we start to record season 3 later this year. I have lots of travel plans, from fan conventions to teaching seminars/workshops all over the country.
copyright Simon Sandall
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