
Unlike the show’s protagonist, Philip J. Fry, fans will not have to wait 1,000 years for “Futurama” to thaw: On July 29, the animated comedy series returns for Season 12. Created by Matt Groening (of “The Simpsons” fame), “Futurama” originally ran on Fox from 1999 to 2003. The show was later revived by Comedy Central from 2008 to 2013 and once again by Hulu in 2023.
Now, as the Planet Express team sets its sights on not one but two additional seasons—Seasons 13 and 14 already got the green light—we’re looking at future opportunities for voiceover actors. In this in-depth guide, we’ll explore the casting process with the series’ current CD and highlight advice from the show’s talented voiceover artists.
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Set on the cusp of the 31st century, “Futurama” follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery person who accidentally falls into a cryogenic pod shortly after midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. When he finally emerges from his frozen state 1,000 years later, on New Year’s Eve 2999, Fry seeks out his last living relative, distant nephew Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, who puts Fry’s expertise to work at his company, Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery service that operates out of New New York. Along with the other crew members—a robot named Bender, a mutant named Leela, an accountant named Hermes, a Lobster-like alien named Dr. John A. Zoidberg, and an intern named Amy—Fry and his team find themselves getting into all sorts of intergalactic hijinks against a fertile backdrop for social and political commentary.
The original voice cast of “Futurama” will return for Season 12:
- Billy West as Philip J. Fry/Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth/Dr. John A. Zoidberg
- John DiMaggio as Bender Bending Rodriguez
- Katey Sagal as Turanga Leela
- Phil LaMarr as Hermes Conrad
- Lauren Tom as Amy Wong
- Tress MacNeille as Mom
- Maurice LaMarche as Lt. Kif Kroker/Morbo/Calculon
- David Herman as Scruffy
Season 12’s guest stars have not been revealed at this time.
Julie Mossberg (“King of the Hill”) and Jill Anthony Thomas (“Less Than Perfect'') cast “Futurama” during its initial run, from 1999 to 2003, with Scott Muller (“The Simpsons”) taking over for the reboot from 2010 to 2013. In its latest iteration, however, “Futurama” has teamed up with A-list voiceover CD Mary Hidalgo (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”).
While voiceover and live-action auditions might seem inherently different, Hidalgo told us they’re actually quite similar as both require one key ingredient—acting talent. “I think you have to be a really good actor. If you want to pursue being an actor, you pursue it on all levels; it all has the same importance. When you get in a booth by yourself to record a scene with somebody else who’s not there, it’s way more challenging than if you’re in front of a camera. You have to know what you’re doing, so studying acting and learning how to act is the best thing you can do for any form of entertainment,” she said.
As Hidalgo told us, she begins the audition process by contacting all the voiceover agents she has really good relationships with and says, “We’re looking for this character. Could you audition your actors?” That first step typically results in many self-recordings, with some actors even going to the agency to record inside a booth. “And then what I’ll do is I’ll listen to them again and if there’s something that I like, I’ll pull those actors out,” she said.
“Then we whittle it down to smaller groups and we’ll have callbacks in person with the creatives and me,” she continued. “If that’s good, we whittle it down even more and either we find the person or we whittle it down completely to a couple of people, and then maybe have another audition. But it always starts with the agents. That’s why it’s a lot of numbers. For actors who won’t audition, we sometimes put them to the side. For instance, on Matt Groening’s [“Disenchantment”], he wanted to hear everybody read the material. If they didn’t read, they weren’t going to be on the show. In the end, it all depends on who the creatives are. Some people are OK with just one audition.”
Of course, when it comes to recruiting A-listers for her projects, Hidalgo and her team will listen to clips of their latest work to determine whether their voice fits the character in question. “We’ll have a drawing of the character, and we’ll look at it with the voice behind it. That’s how you go about it. You go after your dream cast. If your dream cast says no, then you go out to your second dream cast, and it just keeps on going until it all kind of gets into place.”
Although there don’t appear to be any open casting calls for “Futurama” at this time, we can confirm the animated series has been renewed for Seasons 13 and 14, as part of Hulu’s “Animayhem” hub. While we await updates on these upcoming seasons, we recommend checking out our roundup of voiceover gigs that are casting right now. You might also want to bookmark our main voiceover casting call page for even more opportunities.
For those looking for advice on launching your voiceover career, these resources can help:
- How to Become a Voice Actor
- What Is Voiceover? An Intro to the Medium
- Voiceover Jobs for Beginners: What Your First Gig Might Look Like
- Make Your Voiceover Work Pop With Tips From These 7 Stars
- Voice Acting Tips: How to Record Audio for Voiceover Work
- 9 Types of Voiceover Work
- 7 Great Ways to Find Voice Acting Jobs
- 5 Voiceover Agencies to Amplify Your Success
- How to Practice Voice Acting at Home
- Voiceover Jobs From Home: What Kind of Gigs Are Out There?
- Top 11 Voice Acting Classes and Workshops
- How Long Does Voice Acting Work Take?
- How to Start Doing Voiceover Work Later in Life
Embrace those who are willing to help. Although Sagal became a household name after starring in “Married…with Children,” she had spent 11 years away from the audition room, so she sought help in the form of acting coach Julie Ariola, who taught her to shake the habits she’d formed as Peg Bundy. “I always work with a coach,” she said. “I don’t like to walk into a room completely cold, ’cause I’ve done that. Once I’ve kind of run it with my coach or understand what the role is, then I feel like it’s in my body. So when I show up, even if I get thrown by the environment or the person or whatever is happening in the room, I’ve already had the experience of what it is I’m about to do, so I can somewhat rely on it.”
Show how much you care about the opportunity. “Don’t apologize. Just do your best. That’s all I care about,” said Hidalgo. “Care about what you’re doing [as if] it’s not just another audition your agent sent to you. Really think about it. There are so many opportunities now in voiceover that I think a lot of actors get auditions all the time, every day. Just care a little bit.” Oh, and don’t act how you think you should. “I typically don’t like somebody to put on a silly voice, because the projects that I’m working on tend to not want that. Sometimes people think with animation that they have to do a ‘Ren & Stimpy’ kind of weird voice, but no,” Hidalgo noted. “Just do what you’re good at.”
Recognize that voice acting requires talent and training. As LaMarr told us, young voice actors need to understand that the medium does not somehow minimize the talent necessary to succeed. “[T]he very first thing you have to do is learn to act,” he said. “It’s sort of a misnomer to call it ‘voice acting’ because truly, the acting comes first, the voice is second—but to call it ‘acting voice’ would confuse people. A lot of people think, Oh, I talk all the time, why shouldn’t I get paid for it? They don’t understand that it really is the exact same thing you’re doing in any other [acting] field, just that you’re doing it into a microphone rather than into a camera or for a live audience. The job is the same: taking a script, bringing it to life in front of an audience, and making it real.” That’s why, he added, you must “always do your best” because “there’s very little that you’re in control of besides your own performance.”