Exclusive Interview: Billy West of Futurama

 

We know the story by now. After seven seasons, four direct-to-DVD films, and a Facebook fan base with 27 million fans, Futurama will conclude its final season on September 4, 2013.  Ironically enough, the final episode of Futurama airs two days after Labor Day, but whenever you ask Billy West, of whom has had the enviable task of voicing some of the show’s most important characters like Zapp Brannigan, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, and of course the one and only Philip J. Fry,  about his time on the show the one word that comes to mind whenever he describes his time on the series is  ‘appreciation’. Why?  We asked him that same question and to describe his emotions post-hearing about Futurama’s sudden cancellation, “I already I have separation anxiety I just knew everyone so well as I worked with them for so long…11 years or something. It does become like a family as I loved everyone on the show including Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, the writers were spectacular and you couldn’t have  asked  for better.  I don’t think I could ever run into a situation as serendipitous as Futurama, but you never  know!!

Futurama provided a lot of things for Billy aside from fortune and fame the latter of which Billy never cared for anyway, “ I never wanted to be famous, I just loved to work.  None of my heroes were celebrities they were artists like Mel Blanc and June Foray.” Considering these influences, its no wonder Billy eventually turned out to be a voice-actor but he hadn’t thought of it earlier in his career instead pursuing a musical career after being inspired by the likes of Jeff Beck. Like most careers in music, Billy had to get a real job to support his art as he worked in a factory where he would sometimes complain (as we all do)  about some of the menial jobs he had to do.  These complaints would manifest into whiny characters that would go on to lay the foundation for a lot of the stuff you hear today, but at the time he hadn’t a clue how to display his talents. His first thought was to try a few voices  in the local stand-up comedy scene in Boston, a city that would eventually give us the likes of David Cross, Jon Benjamin, and Sarah Silverman,  but Billy wasn’t exactly thrilled with the medium, “‘I tried throwing shit up against the wall, even though I was willing to fly over Burma, I was willing to die on stage, but you can’t do that on stage because the venue patrons paid money to see you. ”

Billy would soon turn his attention towards radio landing a job at WBCN in Boston and he loved it because it gave him free reign to try on new characters , “On radio I could really express myself and come up with voices . Whenever I tried to be funny in stand-up, I wasn’t funny, but when I ad-libbed on radio that’s when I’m at my funniest.”  Billy would then go on to work on The Howard Stern Show where his renditions of Al Michaels, Larry Fine, and my personal favorite Jackie Martling, would cause laugh riots everywhere and as such would help pave the way to Hollywood where Billy would find work on Nickelodeon shows Ren & Stimpy and Doug. Eventually, Billy would link up with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, two guys looking to do something a bit different than their previous success with The Simpsons, “Matt Groening always told me The Simpsons were a cartoon whereas Futurama was real life, and after a few years on the show I got what he meant!”

Futurama would find some success on FOX, but it wasn’t until several years later when Comedy Central got notice of some of the cable-ratings success the show was getting on Adult Swim post its cancellation, and as such commissioned four direct to DVD movies plus 26 additional episodes to go along with its acquisition of the off-network rights.  Futurama would go on to be a smashing success and yes the show has an army of internet fans, but its the real-life fans of Futurama that would turn into a rabid base that is maybe only comparable to The Venture Bros., where they are definitely noticed at Cons, a notion Billy can attest to because he’s traveled the world over meeting them, “I feel like I know a lot of them because I travel the world to different Cons in London, New Zealand, Australia, and I feel like I need them. They show how much they love that show (Futurama). And there is never a sense of entitlement on my end because its a show that I get to apply the best of myself. Its mind blowing with the number of people that love the show. I’ve had fighter pilots in Afghanistan in Iraq telling me that they are swapping Futurama lines like  (As Farnsworth) “I don’t wanna live on this planet anymore”, or (As Zoidberg) “Why Not Zoidberg?”  God Bless them, and to hear them use that as inspiration it is surreal. I have to pretend that I have nothing to do with it so I can enjoy it.”

Having worked with artists in the past, I found that there are some that don’t really grasp what they have accomplished until they stop, stand back, and look at what they did. Futurama is just that and it’s hard to think that whenever someone does a character for so long they don’t fall in love. Thanks to the likes of Billy West, John DiMaggio, and others, almost 30 million people know what Futurama is. But, every show starts off with a sense of wonder of how it’s going to play out and I vividly remember watching episode one of Futurama airing on March 28th, 1999 with Fry stumbling into a freezer chamber where he would eventually be thawed out during the 31st Century. If this is good bye for Futurama then it has been an esteemed pleasure to take part in this flight as the show holds a special place in my heart.  Billy West helped bring Fry to life and he did so with the basic ingredient for the character that only Billy West could have done and that’s because he put his heart and soul into Futurama, “Fry is my way of expressing myself that my heart is in right place  (Fry’s voice) “I can do anything I want to be”.

Not only has Futurama created a fan base that certainly sees Philip J. Fry as a celebrity, but the show also helped solidify an artist…his name is Billy West.

 

Futurama is all new this Wednesday Night on Comedy Central @ 10pm EST for a one-hour premier, check your local listings! Check out our interview with Futurama executive producer David X. Cohen