Kevin Conroy has worked with some of the most incredible voice actors because of his legendary work as Batman. The many villains he had to face, either minor or major, all impacted him in one way or another. The cast was a variety of enormous talent all mixed in one big familial project. Andrea Romano, the voice director of Batman: The Animated Series had a lot to say about the cast as well.
With the talented actors she had managed to get cast, one would wonder if there was one that she wanted to get but couldn’t. An array as extravagant as this would make that very factor impossible. However, Romano had other plans.
In her mind, there was one actor who could have portrayed a villain surpassing even Mark Hamill’s Joker.
Kevin Conroy Almost Had a Different Ra’s Al Ghul
Andrea Romano, in an interview with Bleeding Cool for the San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, revealed that there was one actor she had wanted to bring into Batman: The Animated Series but couldn’t. Christopher Lee, best known for playing the titular character in 1958’s Dracula was Romano’s number one choice for playing Ra’s Al Ghul.
“It wasn’t that he said no to me, Because I did make him some offers, it’s just that we could never work the schedule out. He would have been an awesome Ra’s A Ghul. He would have been a beautiful voice for that. But, David Warner was stunning, just really terrific, so I was glad to have David.”
Romano had approached the actor countless times with offers for the role but there seemed to be scheduling conflicts neither could avoid. She kept on complimenting him and how wonderful of a villain he could have played in the series, alongside Kevin Conroy’s Batman and Mark Hamill’s Joker.
Unfortunately, her wishes never came to be and she went on to cast David Warner for the role instead. Not that casting him was a downgrade for her since Warner too gave a splendid performance for the role.
Andrea Romano Never Got the Chance to Work with Christopher Lee
Speaking with Bleeding Cool, Andrea Romano expressed that there were only a few people she ever put on a list that she wanted to work with. Out of those rare and lucky few, Christopher Lee unfortunately was the one actor she never got a chance to collaborate with.
“he passed away before I could get him.” She added, “He was one actor that got away. I always kept a list of people that I wanted to work with and there were only a handful.”
At first, it was their tied and overbearing schedules that they could not push away from. Then he became the one who got away. Someone she could not reach no matter how much she tried.
It was even more disheartening to learn that the opportunity can never come to be either. Before Romano ever got a chance to work with him, the actor sadly passed away.
