One of the most versatile actors working today, Alan Tudyk is probably in something you love whether you know it or not. From cult-favorite television roles to blockbuster movies, Tudyk has done them all. In fact, Tudyk’s resume seems to expand faster than most could keep up with and it’s because it’s not just his face you’re familiar with. He is also a consummate voice actor, and there’s a reason he’s been sought out for that type of work for nearly two decades.
Heihei - Moana
He may have only been making chicken sounds. He may have only been there for comic relief. But darn it, he’s the best scene-stealing, comedic chicken in film history! When someone is so abjectly silly that The Rock becomes their straight-man you’re doing something right. Heihei gets almost all the biggest laughs throughout Moana’s runtime. There’s no reason this chicken should be as funny as it is, but the writing is funny and Alan Tudyk’s performance does something more than most could expect from simple ‘clucks and caws’.
Steve The Pirate - Dodgeball
This iconic part in this hilarious Vince Vaughn comedy kinda doesn’t even need to exist. That’s what makes it so weirdly funny. A member of the Average Joe’s Gym and then of the Dodgeball team, he only seems there to yell wacky pirate things at odd moments. But somehow, Tudyk injects this character with his trademark likable earnestness and he becomes so much more than just piratey comic relief. By the end the viewer almost forgets he’s there, only for the final joke where the team’s prize money is needlessly presented in a giant treasure chest, necessitating one final ‘Gyargh, Peter’. Gyargh indeed, Ste… Alan.
Alpha - Dollhouse
We’re not used to seeing Alan Tudyk’s likable face attached to pure evil, so of course, Joss Whedon had to make it happen. Alpha is the mish-mash of dozens of personalities coming together and sharing one head. This is the result of what the series terms a ‘composite event’. Tudyk gets to wear multiple hats in this series, playing the unassuming Stephen Kepler before revealing his killer composite. You haven’t experienced anything until you’ve seen Alan Tudyk go from timid to torturous.
Wat - A Knight’s Tale
A Knights Tale shouldn’t really work, with its anachronistic soundtrack and offbeat humor, but work it does. Alan Tudyk’s Wat is a major part of that, with his rage and bellows of ‘I will fong you!’ liberally spread throughout. Once again, Tudyk takes what could’ve been a stock character and puts enough into them to make them memorable and likable. His gormless bemusement swinging to rage and back never gets old, and you feel for him when he feels. Proof that even in a small, side role Tudyk cannot be ignored.
6a & 6b. Duke Weaselton/The Duke (of Weselton) - Zootopia/Frozen
This ‘Duke’ twofer might’ve snuck under many noses in the Disney-verse. Alan Tudyk voiced both ‘Weasel’ characters and you’d only know it by checking his IMDb page. Both Dukes are major catalysts for the stories that unfold, one being an informant to Officer Hopps in Zootopia, and the other an opportunistic foreign diplomat in Frozen.
Both are hilarious though. Tudyk voices both with bravado and cowardice when needed and their decidedly ‘weasely’ temperaments shine through his vocal-work. With efforts like this, Tudyk has become a Disney mainstay.
K-2So - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The definition of pessimistic and dry, once again Alan Tudyk finds the heart with this stand-out character. Pretty universally praised as the best part of Rogue One, K-2SO brought both humor and badassery in equal measure. Top it off with a heroic sacrifice at the end and you have an instantly iconic Star Wars character to add to the top tier of favorites. Providing motion-capture along with the voice, he managed all this while wearing huge stilt lifts to get the required height for the character. So he had to deal with all that awesome acting and achieving a balancing act to boot.
Ludo - Star Vs The Forces Of Evil
Another unrecognizable turn in this great role as the evil Ludo. Ludo is some sort of inter-dimensional chicken-hawk-owl with a foul temper to boot, and he manically obsesses over the series’ heroine and getting her magic wand for himself. Screeching, yelling, scheming, and barking orders at his minions gives Tudyk ample room to play, and play he does. Ludo goes through as much of an arc as the main protagonists do in this show and Tudyk gives this villain more than enough sympathy and agency to make it work. Curiously, another ‘chickenish’ role Tudyk seems to have a monopoly on making great.
King Candy - Wreck-It Ralph
One more bit of pure voice-work from the man is his turn as the molasses-sweet monarch of Candy Land in Wreck-It Ralph. In what could end up being foreshadowing for his imminent turn as the next animated Joker, Tudyk lends a goofy but unpleasantly maniacal bent to this character. Exuberant yet domineering and callous, King Candy proves to be the ultimate sour-ball in this flick. Once again unrecognizable in the role, Tudyk knocks it out of the park and further cements his versatile credentials.
Hoban ‘Wash’ Washburn - Firefly/Serenity
Firefly is the cult classic sci-fi series that got cut abysmally short. Nevertheless, Alan Tudyk made a big impression in that short time as the pilot affectionately known as ‘Wash’. The goofier, lighthearted member of the crew, his marriage to first mate Zoe felt extremely real. He held moral values that raised him higher than most ‘comic relief’ characters, and Tudyk embodied that wonderfully. Every new facet fans learned complimented and enhanced him and that’s a testament to the man portraying the character.
Sonny - I, Robot
The only type of character that could top the Firefly pilot, this complex, nuanced performance stands up still. Again doing the voice and motion-capture for a robotic presence, Tudyk plays Sonny, who represents the uncertain future of Artificial Intelligence in its infancy. Tudyk’s pleasant but plausibly sinister tones never give away which side he’s truly on until it’s time. He is able to go toe to toe with prime Will Smith in this action-sci-fi thriller and feel genuine and fleshed-out. A criminally underrated motion capture performance on the level of Andy Serkis’ efforts.
