Kwanzoo: I want to preface this by saying I feel a little guilty because even though you’re a respected dramatic actor, I’m mostly going to ask you about your work as a cartoon scientist.

Urbaniak: I’m proud of my work as a cartoon scientist. Ask away!

Kwanzoo: For those at home unfamiliar with The Venture Brothers, you play Dr. Thaddeus “Rusty” Venture, a former boy adventurer and current superscientist never-was. How did you get involved with that?

Urbaniak: Many years ago in NY my roommate was a cartoonist named Bob Sikoryak and through him I met a lot of cartoon/animation people, including VB creator Jackson Publick. Bob does slide show performances of his comic strips and has friends read the dialogue out loud. It was after one of these shows that Jackson asked me if I’d be interested in doing voices for the Venture Brothers pilot. We did the pilot and, lo and behold, it got picked up. I think he had probably seen me in some other things, films or whatnot. But he just asked me to do it, there was no auditioning or anything, thank God.

Kwanzoo: Is it fair to say that The Venture Brothers is what you’re best known for now?

Urbaniak: I have several cult followings. VB is one of them. I suppose it’s the most current.

Kwanzoo: My own bias, I guess. I’ve only seen you in American Splendor and the Domino’s commercial. What are your other followings?

Urbaniak: I’ve done a bunch of films with the independent director Hal Hartley. “Henry Fool” is one of the best known. His movies definitely have their own cult. And of course I occasionally recognized for my infamous turn as a foot-fetishist shoe salesman on a Season Two episode of “Sex and the City.” Also, I did a lot of theatre in NY; that’s its own little cult.

Kwanzoo: How do you like doing voice work compared to stage or movie acting?

Urbaniak: Well, of course you don’t have to shave. You can just roll out of bed and show up in your pajamas.

Kwanzoo: Something I’m curious about, for voice work, it’s generally reading alone, right? Is it tough not having anyone to play off of?

Urbaniak: That’s just the way it’s done. It is kind of weird; I think Patrick Warburton and I have great chemistry on the show and for the first couple of years we didnt’ even record in the same STATE.

You do several takes of each scene and Jackson and Doc give notes and thoughts and tweaks. Somehow it all comes together. It’s just the way it is so not having the other performer there isn’t that big a deal.

Kwanzoo: Now that you and Warburton are both living in L.A., do you guys hang out much? There was a picture of him giving you a ride on a tire swing, if I’m remembering correctly.

Urbaniak: That picture was taken on the front lawn of a house in Burbank where the L.A. actors recorded the show in last year. There was a sound booth in what I think was once the laundry room. In fact, I used to call that studio “The Laundry Room.” Anyway, no, I haven’t seen Patrick since the day that photo was taken. Although I’d love to hang out with him; he’s a lovely guy. Much mellower than his onscreen persona. (Fun Fact: Almost ten years ago Patrick and I were both in a live action sci-fi comedy pilot together that never got picked up.)

Kwanzoo: What was that called?

Urbaniak: It was called “Jeff of the Universe” and it exists only as a VHS tape on the shelves of the people who worked on it. Maybe one day I will upload it to YouTube and by “maybe one day” I mean “never.”

Kwanzoo: That bad?

Urbaniak: There were many talented people behind it but it didn’t quite “pop.” Also, I’m quite bad in it.

Kwanzoo: You realize you’re going to get a thousand requests to upload this to YouTube now.

Urbaniak: Sorry, people.

Kwanzoo: Back to more recent stuff, how do you feel about how Venture Brothers Season 3 turned out?

Urbaniak: Well, I’m partial, but it just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?

Kwanzoo: Seems like Rusty got to have a rare moment of introspection, for one thing.

“Brock… Am I a bad person?” And then Warburton: *hand waggle* “Enh.”

Urbaniak: Doc did have some surprisingly humanized moments this season.

Kwanzoo: Any favorites?

Urbaniak: I rather like his “You only live once” comment to Hank during the finale.

Kwanzoo: I’m kind of surprised he let Sgt. Hatred march out into the middle of battle with his army of gooey half-baked clones of his sons. Did he just get caught up in the moment?

Urbaniak: I suppose so. Much like McCain choosing Sarah Palin.

Kwanzoo: Oh zing.

Urbaniak: Yeah baby! HOW YA LIKE ME NOW?!
*raises the roof*

Kwanzoo: “It seemed like a good idea at the time, but before I knew it, a pedophile was getting my replacement offspring shot full of holes/I’d chosen a relatively untried governor from Alaska as a running mate.”

Yeah, I can see how those are comparable.

Urbaniak: Nothing more cartoony than what you see on CNN. But ANYWAY…

Kwanzoo: Ahem, anyway.

So yeah, how do you like playing such a self-centered jackass?

Urbaniak: I love it. Assholes are always the best characters.

Kwanzoo: Between Phantom Limb and Jonas Venture Jr., you’re getting plenty of opportunities.

Urbaniak: Of course, those are all very different self-centered jackasses.

Kwanzoo: It’s like the Baskin-Robbins of jackassery.

JJ kind of got a selfish streak to him this season, didn’t he?

Urbaniak: He’s always had that, hasn’t he?

Kwanzoo: Well, he did try to off his brother…

But after that, he always seemed to be held up as a paragon of everything Rusty wasn’t.

Urbaniak: In a “be careful what you wish for” kind of way.

Kwanzoo: How so?

Urbaniak: Well, I think he was always fueled by competition. He’s a Venture, it’s inevitable that there’ll be some cracks in the surface.

Kwanzoo: Which character is your favorite to do?

Urbaniak: Well, you know, that’s sort of a “which of your children do you love best” sort of question. They all have their own distinct energy that’s fun to access. I really super enjoy doing pickup characters like “Guard #2″ but I didn’t do that many of those this past season.

Kwanzoo: Wait! I have to go back to the JJ thing.

So back in season 2, when he was offering Dr. Venture all sorts of help, he was really just crushing his ego instead of crushing his chest?

I probably was supposed to have picked up on that before now.

Urbaniak: Well, the great joke of the character was that after 40-something years stuck inside Dr. Venture he pops out and in short order becomes the mirror image of their suave, successful, globe-trotting dad. But surely he knew that that GOT at Rusty. Also: what do I know? I just work there. If you really want to understand the characters’ motivations, talk to Doc or Jackson or go to toddalcott.livejournal.com.

Kwanzoo: Heh. Fair enough.

So, you just wrapped up filming on a movie called “Kingdom of Gravy,” right?

Urbaniak: Yup.

Kwanzoo: What’s that about?

The Internet is uncommonly silent on the matter.

Urbaniak: It follows three different stories of characters who share a sort of emotional confusion. I play a guy who lives alone who becomes a sort of odd helper/companion to the older widow who lives next door.

Kwanzoo: Do you know about when it’s supposed to come out?

Urbaniak: It’s still being edited. Then it’ll probably apply to festivals over the course of the year. What happens then is anybody’s guess.

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Venture Bros. trivia

Venture Bros. Season 3 in the forum

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