Time may have lost its effect on Samurai Jack, but the past 40 years have seen Supa-Star Phil LaMarr lend his talents to some of the most memorable pop culture properties on the planet, and beyond. Whether you know him as a samurai warrior lost in time, an iconic member of the Green Lantern Corps, the Jamaican accountant for Futurama’s Planet Express, or the guy John Travolta accidentally shot in the face in Pulp Fiction, LaMarr has done it all.

With an enormous career spanning live-action, animation, podcasts, and videogame roles of every stripe imaginable, there’s barely a major pop culture IP out there that LaMarr has not been involved in at one point or another.

Ahead of his appearance at Supanova on the Gold Coast (13-14 April), we caught up with the time-travelling samurai prince and master of voices to look back over his incredible career.

“I’m lucky enough that have TONS of favourites!” LaMarr says of his expansive list of credits, and whether he regards any one role as his personal favourite. “It wouldn’t be possible to pick ONE favourite from Samurai Jack, Green Lantern alongside the incredible Batman, Kevin Conroy, a Jedi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars or a guy who gets to ride in a car with Sam Jackson and John Travolta.”

Phil LaMarr

Making his debut as a voice actor in the 1980s Mister T cartoon series, LaMarr would also make the leap into live-action television via a series of roles before eventually becoming a cast member and writer on Mad TV for over five years. However, in 1994 an up-and-coming filmmaker by the name of Quentin Tarantino would also tap him to play the small yet memorable role of Pulp Fiction’s Marvin, the unfortunate victim of a road bump that accidentally causes Vincent Vega’s gun to turn the interior of Samuel L. Jackson’s car into a Jackson Pollock painting.

“Having read the incredible script and seen the amazing cast, I knew the movie was going to be fantastic,” LaMarr says of his time on Pulp Fiction. “But did not know for certain how successful it would be and how it would change the movie business!”

Yet, as for whether he prefers to be in front of the camera or behind a microphone, LaMarr says he instead prefers to focus on the quality of the roles presented to him. “I have no medium preference,” he admits. “Just a preference of quality. Because honestly when you’re working with geniuses like Quentin Tarantino or Dwayne McDuffie (Static Shock, Justice League) it’s an incredible pleasure regardless of whether you’re on a camera or a microphone.”

Though for someone who has had such an instrumental role in bringing so many classic DC characters to life, including John Stewart’s Green Lantern, Static, Aquaman, Cyborg, and Hawkman just to name a few, he admits to having no real preference for the direction of the franchise’s looming casting decisions.

“Well, actors don’t get to decide who gets cast,” he clarifies. “And who is the best choice for one of those roles depends on what story they decide to tell. Although I have to say, when I auditioned for John Stewart in the Justice League cartoon alongside the iconic actor, Dennis Haysbert, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, he looks just like the character!’”

More recently, however, LaMarr has swapped his Green Lantern Corps power ring for Sherlock Holmes’ infamous deerstalker cap. Voicing the iconic detective opposite Lord of the Rings’ Dominic Monaghan for the critically acclaimed audio drama Moriarty, LaMarr’s inspiration for his own Sherlock harkens back to one of cinema’s greatest takes on the character.

“Well, my primary inspiration was having read all of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories,” he says of approaching the role. “But as we recorded, I definitely wanted my voice to sound the way Basil Rathbone looked in the movies I grew up watching.”

Of course, LaMarr’s own incredible filmography does not make him immune from the possibility of being starstruck by those he encounters along the way. When asked if he ever geeked out meeting a fellow guest at a convention, he immediately thought of some of the most iconic comic book artists and writers he has crossed paths with.

“As a longtime comic book fan, I always bring a sketchbook to a comic con,” he admits. “But when I met legends like Neal Adams, George Perez, John Byrne and Frank Miller, I geeked out so much I could only ask for a selfie, not a drawing!”

The legendary Phil LaMarr will be ready to field your own questions at Supanova on the Gold Coast (13-14 April).

LEAD IMAGE: Phil LaMarr at Supanova 2024 – Melbourne by Brittany Mackay