Still fooling around: A conversation with legendary voice actor Fred Tatasciore

Fred Tatasciore was not always Punch Monkey. And since becoming Hit-Monkey in 2021, it hasn’t stopped him from taking on some other characters either. What characters has he played, you ask? He is Lieutenant Shaxs in Star Trek: Lower DecksBang in Ask the StoryBotsSuper brain in The Boys presents: DiabolicalQuinn in LuckOctoboss and Killcannon in Invincibleand Murphy and Dipply and Archi and Argyle and Mango and Snorton (among others) in Disney’s Eureka! Tatasciore has also voiced characters for Cursed, Tangled, Phineas and Ferb, Welcome to Gravity Falls, family Guy, American father!, Trollhunters: Tales from Arcadia, Batman: The Bold and the Brave, Avatar – The Last Airbender, Team America World Police, Kung Fu Panda 2, The Mandalorianand half a dozen Marvel products. In fact, if you’ve watched an animated series or movie or played a video game in the last 20 years, there’s a good chance you’ve enjoyed Tatasciore’s work.

But back to Punch MonkeyThe series – which also stars Leslie Jones, Ally Maki, Olivia Munn and Jason Sudeikis alongside Tatasciore – is based on the 2010 Marvel comic by Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajić and premiered on Hulu in November 2021. As the title suggests, the story follows a monkey killer, more specifically a Japanese macaque, whose mentor is the spirit of American hitman Bryce Fowler (Sudeikis). While the first season focused on the pair’s violent escapades in the Tokyo underworld, season 2 finds them in New York City, where Monkey battles his darker nature while trying to escape his life as a killer, and Fowler tries to undo the damage he caused during his physical existence.

For Tatasciore, the role of Monkey proved to be an unexpectedly challenging and eye-opening journey, from the difficulties that come with portraying a non-speaking main character to the actor’s gradual discovery that the show was both funnier and deeper than he originally thought. Before diving into the details of his work on the series, we began the interview by noting that the man of countless voices, who has just under 1,000 credits on IMDb, was in no danger of being out of a job anytime soon.

But first, check out the trailer featuring Monkey, Fowler and their New York adventure in Season 2:

Dan Sarto: Is it safe to say that you are currently busier than ever before?

Fred Tatasciore: Yes, thank God. I’m so grateful that I can keep doing this and that they keep bringing me back. It’s a real honor. Really.

DS: How do you prepare for a role? I realize that every role is different, but it seems that some actors prepare better than others. For example, H. John Benjamin, who of course voiced Sterling Archer, told me that he likes to approach the role unprepared to maximize spontaneity.

FT: That’s a good question, because that’s all. Often I play a non-verbal role – in other words, I’m a dinosaur or a monkey. I want to know what shapes I’m going to work with and what I intend with each sound. I prepare for that. But I understand what Benjamin says about spontaneity. If you know your character really well, you can just turn it around and have fun with it. You have to have that. Even if you prepare, you have to be fresh because you don’t want to be stuck with your idea. You have to be tractable.

A cartoon character is the creation of many people. I’m kind of one quarter of a cartoon character. I’m the voice and the soul of this thing, but there’s also the writer, the designer, the animator, the director. All of these elements come together to make a character. You have to be like clay or an instrument.

When we were looking for the monkey’s voice, I knew I had to be very specific to a certain monkey and be realistic. The key was how realistic I could be but also express emotion at the same time. We had to find the voice. “Is this too big?” “Yeah, it’s too big.” So I got feedback from the writers and directors saying, “Hey, lighten him up here, move over here.” When you’re working with everyone, you just have to be able to be like glue. You change, you have an idea, you throw something out there and try to do it the way it’s written.

DS: How many opportunities do you have to improvise? Is your strategy to do what’s written first and then see where it can go?

FT: Definitely. I always try to give everyone what they want, what they have written. People want to play their music. But with Punch Monkeythere’s a lot of room for improvisation. They like comedians, they like improvisation. The script is tight, but there’s enough room for a monkey to say, “I’m making a different sound,” and I can change it. There’s a lot of room for improvisation in the show.

DS: Did it help with season 2 to have the first season as a reference?

FT: Yes, absolutely. When I started, I knew Punch Monkey. I mean, I knew the character, I knew the comics and the graphic novel. I knew what it was about, but I didn’t know the specific story. Plus, I was working on Hit-Monkey and trying to find his voice. He’s a wonderful, soulful character who is very human, very sad, and kind of depressed at this point.

The monkey is the serious guy, right? I didn’t really know. I mean, I read the scripts, but I didn’t know how funny it would be until I saw the show together. Jason Sudeikis is just amazing – he’s so funny. His lines are so hilarious because it’s such a dark scene and then you laugh yourself. It’s so pulp Fiction Moment when it seems like the worst things are happening and you still laugh.

This show just goes to places you can’t believe. In the second season, I was a little more in on the joke, even though I hadn’t changed. I just knew what was happening, I knew their relationship more. Then we went deeper – we’re dealing with hell, ghosts, a talking monkey, and redemption for all of us. There’s me dealing with revenge, and someone who wants revenge on me. We’re dealing with Bryce’s relationship with his daughter, and the devil. And I’m like, “Oh, OK.” I didn’t know it was going to go that far.

DS: What do you like most about your performance on this show?

FT: I love doing it because I love this job and I just love reading the scripts and going in and trying to express myself. I love Monkey. I understand him and I just really feel for him. I’m having so much fun experimenting with all the voices and then they’re throwing some great supporting characters at me as well, which is really fun. The real joy for me lately has been seeing how it all comes together and how it plays out.

DS: What was the most difficult part of working on the show?

FT: That has to be the beginning. In the beginning, the challenge was how do I get an accurate monkey sound from the recordings – trying to do this very specific thing without it sounding like I was trying to make a language and/or making it too cartoonish? The temptation was to make it too cartoonish because it’s animation. The challenge was to keep it real and grounded – to express emotion through these sounds without sounding threatening, without doing the normal things you would do for an animated animal. The first few sessions were really the hardest.

DS: Finally, a more philosophical question: Would you say there is a big difference between imitating voices and dubbing?

FT: Oh, sure. That’s a very good distinction. Voices are fun. Anyone can do different voices, and that’s great. All you need is an instrument. Anyone can play guitar, learn a chord or two, but can you play the song? Can you play it with feeling? Voices are great, but I think the most important thing – especially for someone going into this field – is to remember that it’s about acting first and foremost. What are your intentions? Who are you? What do you want? What are you afraid of? Where is this character going? Those are really simple questions. The voice you put on top of it is the flesh and bones of the character’s soul.

It’s always acting, even if you’re a monkey.

Dan Sarto is publisher and editor-in-chief of the Animation World Network.