You may be unfamiliar with the names Tom Kenny and Bill Fagebakke, but we can bet you know the legendary characters they bring to life.
If you scan the highest-paid actors lists, you’ll come across the same crop of Hollywood hotshots; Tom Cruise, Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio and more.
Icons you rarely see gracing these lists though are voice actors - the unsung heroes of the entertainment industry.
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Because without Nancy Cartwright, there’d be no Bart Simpson and if Seth MacFarlane wasn’t in the voice acting game, Peter Griffin would cease to exist.
And if Kenny and Fagebakke weren’t working? Well, Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants just wouldn’t be the same.
The pair, who have helmed the children’s cartoon since 1999, have been voicing the same two characters for 25 years and there’s no signs of them slowing down.
In a new interview, the duo have claimed it’s ‘absurd’ they’ve been employed together for 14 consecutive seasons on screen.
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Speaking to Metro, Fagerbakke, 66, said voicing the loveable Patrick Star for a quarter of a century has been a ‘fantastic’ experience.
“Patrick still makes me laugh,” he explained. “I’ll read a storyboard, and I giggle. I love it, I love doing Patrick. I love working with my castmates.”
Echoing his co-star’s comments, Kenny, 62, who voices SpongeBob, continued: “25 years is definitely a milestone and to still have it be enjoyable and fun – to have it be a milestone instead of a millstone around your neck – is a really unusual state of affairs.
“It’s rather unheard of I think, maybe it’s only happened once or twice ever, so to be a part of one of the times that’s happened is just mind blowing.”
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Elsewhere in the interview, father-of-two Kenny revealed that he doesn’t categorise himself as a celebrity despite his success in the entertainment industry.
He said: “I remember my son was pretty young and he said, ‘Hey dad, some kids at school say you’re famous. Are you famous?’
“I said, ‘First of all, we don’t use the ‘F’ word in this house. Tell them I’m not famous, but I do the voice of a drawing that’s famous.
“'The drawing that I do the voice for is famous. I’m not famous. SpongeBob is famous.’ That put the kids off the scent a little bit.”
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As well as speaking as SpongeBob for a quarter of a century, Kenny has also lent his voice to Cartoon Network’s The Powerpuff Girls, the Spyro video game series and Rick and Morty.
Meanwhile, Fagerbakke has appeared in a variety of live-action movies such as Halloween II and Jennifer’s Body and TV shows such as Young Sheldon, Netflix’s Dynasty and Black-ish.
As well as Patrick, the Californian has voiced characters such as Myron in Kim Possible, and the Ghost of Christmas Present in 2018’s DuckTales.
Topics: TV, Celebrity, Entertainment
Ella Scott