Rob Paulsen. What can I say? He’s toony and a whole lotta looney.
A role model is what he is.
Sure he’s big in the voice acting business. I mean BIG. He’s the voice of so many-a starry eyed kid’s childhood. You can hear him singing about llamas, going crazy over pizza, naming every country in the world, and Narfing up a storm on your screen. Some of his lesser credited roles are some of my favorites! Jack Phenton never ceases to send me into fits of laughter. Mark Chang is a thoroughly entertaining character. And Batroc the Leaper from The Ultimate Spiderman is an absolutely hysterical bit.
But these things aren’t what put him at the tippy top of my role model list. (Well, they do, but something else seriously solidifies his place there.)
He is a model citizen in socialization.
I mean it, you listen to him on his growingly popular Rob Paulsen’s Talkin’ Toons, hear him talk to his fans at conventions, or watch him in any interview and you’ll see that he’s what every entertainer should strive for. He’s stupidly polite and makes the person he’s talking to feel like a million bucks. He has a joke up his sleeve and a voice ready to pop out at any minute. He does his best not to bad mouth a soul and endlessly sings the praise of the people he’s so honored to work with.
I’m fascinated by the way he can essentially get along with anyone. You throw him in a crowded party without a soul he’s familiar with and you can bet he’d have a list of friends by the time the night’s over.
Don’t get me wrong, his acting chops are among the best. I mean, come on, I feel like I don’t even have to say anything to applaud his award winning performances. But it’s the way he gets along with everyone so well that draws me to him constantly.
He’s got it all. The right mind set for the business, the acting skills, AND the inability to be disliked.
We could all do well to take a page out of Paulsen’s book. Whether it’s self-deprecation, just as Rob mocks his own film career with credits such as “Body Double” and jokes of his age saying “I was the entertainment at the last supper”; whether it’s in humility, just as Rob praises the musicians and directors of Animaniacs and Tiny Toons saying they are the true rock stars; or whether it’s in charitable acts, just as Rob donates the proceeds of his ordered autographed photos to The Wounded Warrior Project and Operation Smile, Rob Paulsen is an icon to follow.
No, I’m not Rob’s secret promoter. And no, he didn’t slip me a twenty. 😉 I simply want to spread good advice: Be like Rob Paulsen.
NEXT WEEK’S FEATURED VOICE ACTOR: Is it Ricky Gervais? Is it President Bush? Is it Robert De Niro? NO! It’s…All of them! JIM MESKIMEN
Chrispoiriervo 