The newest Star Wars show tells the story of a squad of elite clone troopers with genetic mutations (the titular Bad Batch) that were first introduced in The Clone Wars as they take on mercenary missions in the aftermath of the events of the Clone Wars. In an incredible feat, prolific voice actor Dee Bradley Baker is lending his voice to all 5 members of the Bad Batch, as well as other clones in the series (reprising some of his roles from The Clone Wars). His work on this show, and his career in general, just goes to show how talented voice actors are, and how their specific set of skills is so crucial to the industry.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Baker discussed his voice work on The Bad Batch, and how he differentiates the voices of each character and keeps them separate in his mind. He picks out traits from each character to emphasize in their voice - for example, he says that Hunter’s voice is close to the basic Clone voice, but has a carefulness to it, while Wrecker is “like a big kid.” He also discusses how Echo’s voice had to change slightly because of what’s he’s been through and likened the change to going home for Thanksgiving, where you have to become a slightly different person to fit the present company you’re with.
Baker has already proven that voice acting isn’t as simple as reading some lines into a microphone or doing a silly voice; it requires a lot of very specific choices and an in-depth understanding of the characters the actor is playing. The voice is one of the most important identifiers of a person and can tell you a lot about their personality, so making sure you get that right is an incredibly significant task.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, Baker goes on to explain how the recording process for the show works. Instead of recording all of the lines for one character and then moving on to the next one, he records scenes straight through as they’re written, jumping between characters. He said, “I don’t feel like I’m doing this. I don’t feel like it’s me. I feel like these are different people who are very distinct, and I can see them, and I know them, and I just switch to being each of them. But they’re different. They’re not me. They’re somebody else.” The brainpower and talent it would take to effortlessly jump around like this and fully embody each character in such a short amount of time is a testament to Baker’s influence and importance in the world of voice acting.
Anyone who has ever watched an animated show before has very likelye heard Dee Bradley Baker’s voice without even realizing it. Besides The Clone Wars where he voiced Captain Rex and other clone troopers, his past work includes various characters from Spongebob Squarepants, The Powerpuff Girls, and Dexter’s Laboratory, and The Fairly Oddparents. He voiced Numbuh 4 in Codename: Kids Next Door, Klaus Heisler in American Dad, Tarrlok in The Legend of Korra, and Daffy Duck and Taz in Space Jam. One of Baker’s specialties, however, is doing animal voice work. Many will be familiar with these characters as well, from Perry the Platypus in Phineas and Ferb, to Appa and Momo in Avatar: The Last Airbender, to Naga and Pabu in The Legend of Korra, just to name a few. Fans of Nickelodeon in the 90’s might even recognize him as the voice of Olmec, the rock-god narrator from Legends of the Hidden Temple.
In short, Baker is certainly a veteran in the voice acting industry, and his work on The Bad Batch is a testament to his versatility. Because he’s been involved in the world of Star Wars before, and even voiced some of these characters previously, he brings an excellent understanding of them to the table. He understands the characters so well that he can seamlessly switch between them, and keep all of the voices separate in his mind as totally separate entities. If anyone has the ability to bring pathos and relatability to the members of the Bad Batch, Dee Bradley Baker does.
Voice actors as a whole are rarely as well known as on-screen actors, and they don’t often get the same appreciation as other actors, despite the immense difficulty of their job. In a world where studios want to cast A-list superstars in voice roles simply to get people in theaters, it’s becoming clear that not everyone has can be a voice actor, and it requires a very particular set of skills. In general, Hollywood needs to keep casting people who are specifically voice actors in voiceover roles, because they know their craft better than anyone. Getting to watch Dee Bradley Baker show off his skills with every new episode of The Bad Batch is certainly going to be a treat.
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