Voice actor John DiMaggio is speaking out on the new revival of “Futurama” on Hulu.
The voice actor plays the role of Bender in the long-running animated series, which originally ran on Fox for four seasons before being canceled in 2004. The series became even more popular when old episodes aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.
Four movies were then released on home video before it was renewed for new seasons on Comedy Central. After being canceled and brought back several times, season 11 finally debuted last week on Hulu.
John DiMaggio Says New ‘Futurama’ Hulu Revival Is ‘As Good If Not Better’ Than Original Series
John DiMaggio, who voices the foul-mouthed robot, believes that the new season is “as good if not better” than the original series in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, which was conducted over Zoom before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
That being said, DiMaggio almost didn’t return for the Hulu revival. Although the renewed series was announced in early 2022, DiMaggio was already in contract negotiations for months before the official announcement. He had been fighting for better pay, not just for himself, but for his colleagues. Unfortunately, contract negotiations stalled, but he decided to return to the show anyway.
“Like I’ve said before, it was a situation where it was better to be in the room eating Thanksgiving dinner as opposed to standing outside in the cold, wet rain across the street, looking in through the window,” DiMaggio told the publication.
John DiMaggio Is ‘Happy To Be Back On The Show’
“But I’m happy to be back on the show,” he continued. “I’m not knocking it… It’s just great to get to work with these people again, and I’m grateful for it. It’s always exciting to get back on this bike every time. It’s just like, these are new tires.”
Still, he called the contract negotiations “heartbreaking for many reasons.” He went on to call it “bittersweet and frustrating” before adding, “People don’t know how long we had been [going] back and forth. People just assumed it was when it was announced until I said yes. That’s not the case.”
He said his own contract battle “was like throwing rocks at Goliath,” adding, “A lot of my colleagues, a lot of the people that I’ve worked with in the past, a lot of the community backed me up. People were not coming in to read for it. It made it very difficult for our poor casting director. I apologized to her, but it was tough. It’s one of those things where you learn how resilient you can be.”
DiMaggio Reveals He Has A ‘Completely Different Relationship’ With Bender Now
Fortunately, he is happy to return for another season and see what shenanigans Bender and the rest of the Planet Express crew can get up to this time. “There’s always something that’s new [with the show],” he said. “The longer you have this universe, the more there is to do within it.”
John DiMaggio went on to say that he has “this completely different relationship with the character” of Bender than he did when he first voiced the character decades ago. “Bender’s that Bender in me,” he said, adding. “When I started this, I was really alone. Like Bender, pretty out of control. But now, Bender’s like my kid. I still love it. I still cherish it. He’s like a best friend. So, it’s a real gift to be able to do this and be better.”
John DiMaggio Reveals Other Voice Actors Can’t Replicate His Bender Voice
That being said, he emphasized that “it’s never hard” for him to pick up where he left off. “That’s always at the tip of my tongue. It’s always right there,” he said, although he revealed that it is actually much harder to pull off Bender’s signature voice than one would think.
“It’s hard to replicate. I work with some of the best in the business, in the world, and they can’t do it,” he shared. “After I die, they’re going to have to do a big autopsy for science. They’re going to have to figure out how it worked.”
New episodes of “Futurama” are available to stream on Hulu.