Detailed story of how Kevin Conroy landed the role of Batman in BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

The late Kevin Conroy played my favorite version of Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. He brought this version of the character to life in the most awesome, beautiful, and badass ways! Casting her had to be.

Voice director Andrew Romano he heard more than 500 entries for the role of Batman when they were in the process of casting him. They narrowed it down to 120 actors who showed up to audition, and from that group, Bruce Tim and Romano narrowed it down to just five.

None of these actors were Kevin Conroy, and of the five on the final list, Timm and Romano weren’t entirely convinced by any of them. Timm said in an interview with Vulture, “It got to the point where we were so desperate that anyone who walks through the door, even if it’s for a different side, we’re like, ‘Oh, by the way, would you like to be interested in playing too?’ to Batman? Because we can’t find our Batman.’”

Conroy ended up reading after Romano asked his casting director roommate if he knew of any actors who could play Batman and he mentioned Conroy. Conroy spoke about the moment he got the call: “I learned right after I got out of Julliard that a lot of stage actors dubbed to supplement their income, but I’d never done animation. [My agent] he just called me one day and said, “Warner Bros. is looking for voices for a new show they want to do, and they’re not looking at traditional voiceovers.” They want to look beyond. They’re watching theater and film actors, because it’s going to be very dramatic. Would you like to enter?’ I said, “Sure, that looks like fun.” So surprisingly, Batman was the first animated audition I ever had.

Timm spoke about the first time he met Conroy from the moment he walked in the door to read the role: “Out of the blue, this guy that none of us had ever heard of before walks in. All the women in the room were like, ‘Oh, he’s a dreamer,’ because he’s so handsome. And we told him what we were looking for: ‘A bit like Michael Keaton, but a bit not. We definitely want to reproduce a distinct difference between his Bruce Wayne voice and his Batman voice.

Conroy explained that he had no preconceptions about the character. When Timm asked what he knew about Batman, Conroy replied, “Well, I know the Adam West show from the 60s.” Timm explained to him that wasn’t what they were doing, and told Conroy to “forget it!”

Conroy explained, “He had to explain to me the legacy of the Dark Knight and how dark this character is: ‘He’s avenging his parents’ deaths and he has these double identities.’ I said, “You’re describing an archetypal hero, almost like a character in Hamlet.” I was putting it in terms of theater roles that I knew. I let my imagination go and went to [Batman voice] the darkest and most painful part of my voice [returns to normal voice] and it just came out. I saw them getting very horny in the booth.

Looking back on that moment, Timm said, “We had him read both Bruce Wayne and Batman dialogue and, right out the gate, with no extra direction from us, he just nailed it.”

Romano said of Conroy’s reading, “Kevin opened his mouth and Bruce and I had such a eureka moment, where we looked at each other and said, ‘Oh, my lord. Not only is there the voice, but he also understands this character and the distinction between Batman and Bruce Wayne!’ And we wanted there to be a very clear distinction, but we wanted it to be subtle. We didn’t want it to be really obvious.

Timm explained that everyone in the booth was looking at each other excitedly and knew they had found their boyfriend! Conroy spoke about the key to playing Batman, saying, “For me, the key to playing the character and sound of Batman is that the character of Batman is not the disguise. The disguise is Bruce Wayne.

After Conroy was sent the script for the pilot, while reading it, he thought Harvey Bullock and Commissioner Gordon were much more interesting characters, and he really wanted to audition for those roles! When she asked if he could, Andrea told him, “You understand that, if you get Batman, you’ll be in every episode? Stop trying to dissuade us from hiring you!

This is the story of how Kevin Conroy landed the role of Batman and became a legend! You can read how Batman: The Animated Series they gathered here.