William Salyers: He put the OOOOOOH in 'Regular Show'
Meet the vocal artist who has lended his tenor to some iconic animated characters
This year at Motor City Comicon, I had the pleasure of interviewing William Salyers who provides the voice of Rigby in the popular Cartoon Network series "Regular Show." Born in 1964, Salyers is a professional voice actor who has lent his tenor to several shows and video games such as "Moral Oral," "Spider-Man" and "Persona 5."
This was his first time in Michigan. He chatted with Central Michigan Life about recording some iconic characters, donning the motion suit for a full performance capture and the very real nature of "Midwestern nice."
This interview has been edited for grammar and clarity.
Q: How are you doing today, Bill?
A: I'm good! I'm so happy to be here, as it's my first time in Michigan!
Q: Welcome! We're so happy to have you here!
A: Well, I'm glad to be here! The "Midwestern nice" thing is indeed a real thing. Everybody is so sweet and kind and I love it!
Q: How was your time on the Spider-Man games, specifically getting to play Doctor Octopus, who is such an iconic villain?
A: I'm still blown away by it. ... Even though IMDB will tell you my performance was a voice performance, the fact is that we did full performance capture. We were in the black suits with the dots and facial tracking markers and I got to act out all that stuff with Yuri Lowenthal ("Spider-Man") who was already a buddy of mine at that time.
Q: Oh really? That's an amazing coincidence. What did you guys work on together?
A: We didn't really, besides on an episode of "Regular Show," but we were members of a theater company called Circle X in Los Angeles and I met him through that. Just a great guy all around
Q: How was working with J.G. Quintel on "Regular Show"?
Salyers: Wonderful! I worked with J.G. from 2010 to 2016 and I never once saw him lose his cool, despite the high pressure from the Cartoon Network executives that produced the show.
There were times when his team was under a lot of pressure; like when we did "Regular Show: The Movie," they refused to give us extra time for that. So we were recording the movie alongside the recording of the series.
I could tell J. G. was under a lot of pressure and stress when he was quieter in the office. That was his only tell. He was always kind and always wore a big smile and was always great to be around.
Q: Thank you for the incredible insight Bill and it was a great pleasure getting to interview you.
A: Thank you and you were wonderful to talk to!
