What Wallace and Gromit actor really looks like and 'trigger' word that gets him into character
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Even though British actor Ben Whitehead has been the voice of Wallace for over a decade, he was very nervous about staring as the titular protagonist in the new Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl film. After British actor Peter Sallis’ retirement, who was the voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit films, followed by his death in 2017 aged 96, Whitehead, 47, took over the role having filled in for him in Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures, a series of BBC One Christmas adverts which aired in 2008, and later performed as Wallace in Wallace & Gromit’s Musical Marvels at The BBC Proms and Jubilee Bunt-a-thon.
"The most exciting thing is when you see your first bit of animation, where they have started filming and put your voice to it. I was very nervous about doing this job. I was really nervous and excited because it was a big undertaking,” says Whitehead when speaking to PA.
"It was a feature film, and you’re thinking, ‘God, am I doing it right?’ And you don’t have a cast of actors there with you to help you calm down when you’re feeling hysterical. It was a daunting prospect. So nothing specifically stands out. The whole thing was just really, really exciting.
"When you see that first animation, you realise it’s got nothing to do with me. Well, that’s not quite true, but usually it’s not. Why was I so worried? I’m not the genius here. The animators putting this together are. Everyone working on this film is doing much more than I am, working millisecond by millisecond, and just creating this amazing thing. That’s the most exciting, fun part when you start to see the fruits.".
