Clancy Brown Returns As LEX LUTHOR In The Latest DC Animated Feature!
Star of The Shawshank Redemption, Highlander reprises iconic villain role for new Blu-ray/DVD feature-length animated film coming May 21
Over two nights in early February 2012, the versatile cast of LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite gathered to record the animated film in a spacious Studio City location. The room was filled with renowned voice talent, yet one man – literally and figuratively – stood above the rest: Clancy Brown.
As the definitive voice of Lex Luthor from his days creating the character for Superman: The Animated Series and numerous other series and films, Brown was the lone returning voice in a room of familiar heroes and villains. For the veteran actor known for memorable roles from The Shawshank Redemption to Highlander, voicing Lex Luthor in an animated Lego film offered an altogether new opportunity to play with the character.
“There’s lots of jokes in this version of Lex Luthor,” Brown says. “Lego knows their audience well – Jon Burton and the Lego team are very clever in the way they create entertainment that’s a little lighter but still hits all the notes. Lex is still Lex, but he’s got some funny asides and there are plenty of moments that’ll make both the kids and the adults laugh.
“I think Lex getting some laughs is a little overdue. And it’s fun for me to go a little bit out of character. Lex is usually so sincere and scary, and now he finally gets to say something clever to get some laughs. Of course, he doesn’t get the girl. Lex never gets the girl.”
For Brown’s self-proclaimed “fanboy” castmates like Troy Baker (Batman), Travis Willingham (Superman) and Christopher Corey Smith (Joker), acting alongside Brown was a dream come true.
“When Clancy’s voice rumbles, the whole room shakes,” Willingham says. “So when you’re playing back-and-forth with Clancy, you have to actually remember to say your line, because you’re so busy listening to him talk. It’s a total deer-in-the-headlights experience.”
“I am not going to lie – I kind of fanboy-ed out meeting Clancy,” Baker says. “Being a fan of the animated series and then getting to be in the room with him recording that role with that voice … that was a great fanboy moment for me.”
Smith had the good fortune of playing opposite Brown for much of the movie as the villains unite to battle their arch-rivals. “I’ve been a fan of his work for a long, long time, and it’s a good thing I was sitting at the other end of the room or I probably would’ve geeked out next to him. It was great that we were teamed up – putting the villains together, we got to make the crime. But Lex is not really a laugher, he’s not really a jolly fellow. I got to do most of the laughing. That was fun.”
Based on the popular video game, the TT Animation produced LEGO Batman: The Movie – DC Superheroes Unite arrives May 21, 2013 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD, On Demand and for Digital Download. The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack will include UltraViolet™*. Release will include an exclusive Lego Clark Kent/Superman figurine on pack while supplies last.
