“This wonderful soap opera actor who was Juilliard trained”: Hollywood Giant Personally Recommended Kevin Conroy after Andrea Romano Struck Out With 750 Auditions

Despite the mysticism of voice-over acting and the mysterious voices behind the animated parts, there remains a strong attraction to the medium of animation for actors who strive for real creative potential beyond the allure of recognition and glamor. Kevin Conroy stands out, among the millions of other faceless heroes, as one of the most respected and famous voice actors whose contribution to the DC comics lore has made him synonymous with Batman.

Kevin Conroyʼs enigmatic foray into the world of DC is well-known to all who have even a basic understanding of the Dark Knight mythology. The origin of the Adam West serial that turned the IP into a cartoonish, campy, caricature was viewed through the lens of vengeance and brooding melodrama. For the first time, “I am Batman” instilled ice-cold terror in the listenerʼs veins rather than sound like a cursory introduction at an AA meeting.

Kevin Conroy Introduces Himself to the World of DC

Even when the best and the brightest of voice actors from all over the world were availed at the behest of Andrea Romano, one of the most in-demand voice casting agents in Hollywood, Batman always remained out of reach for the people at DC. Bruce Timmʼs need to establish a separate identity through a darker, moodier version of the IP would not find closure without the right man for the job.

As such, dozens of agencies with hundreds of actors each rained down upon Romano in their search for the perfect voice behind the cowl of the Caped Crusader. In an interview with Starburst Magazine, the voice-casting agent revealed the harrowing ordeal behind the audition to find the leading man for Batman: The Animated Series:

“I listened to 750 voices just for Batman, just for the voice of Batman and Bruce Wayne! I called back about 150 people… We’re down to the final call-back, and Bruce Timm and I are realising, “Well, we have a handful of guys who could do it, but we haven’t fallen in love with anyone.” When you have such an important character on such an important series, you’ve gotta love the guy that you have as the title character.”

Romanoʼs search eventually filtered onto her neighboring partisans. Fortunately for her, Hollywood casting legend, Anthony Barnao, was on call, and with one final recommendation from the veteran agent, Kevin Conroyʼs destiny was finally interlinking itself with Batman. Romano revealed:

“I talked to my friend Anthony Barnao, who was my roommate here in Los Angeles… He worked in the live-action field, so I said, “Do you know any actors that I should read for this?” He said, “There’s this wonderful soap opera actor who was Juilliard trained, who has this gorgeous voice, and who also does a lot of primetime soap operas and has some good film credits. His name’s Kevin Conroy. You should see him, you should bring him in for an audition.”

He added:

“So I brought Kevin in during the call-back process. He walked in and asked a few very, very sharp questions about how we were going to play this character, then opened his mouth and went through the copy. Bruce and I turned to each other with this, I don’t know how to describe it, but it was certainly this eureka moment. It was, “Oh… my… gosh! We’ve found Batman!” He had an understanding truly from an actor’s viewpoint. He understood this guy, and he told us about his thoughts on the process as he was going through the audition.”

As was his destiny, Kevin Conroy went above and beyond the expectations of Bruce Timm & Co. for his role as Batman in what would later become one of the most iconic renditions of the DC IP. Batman: The Animated Series and Conroy became legendary in their own right as the superheroʼs identity began to transcend the one set by Adam West’s cartoonish rendition and Tim Burton’s gothic version.

The Legacy of Kevin Conroy’s Batman in Pop Culture

The untenable legacy of Kevin Conroy and his personification of Batman was so iconic in its originality that Batman: The Animated Series etched itself into the collective consciousness of modern pop culture. Andrea Romano pulled back the curtain further to reveal Conroy’s singular approach to the character:

“Kevin looked at it as if this guy is Hamlet, which is a really good analogy. This is a guy whose father has been murdered, he’s got vengeance on his mind, he’s a class act, he’s a wealthy man, he’s not just some street thug who’s going to try and seek vengeance. There were a lot of parallels that he drew that made great sense to me.”

With the advent of the 21st century and Warner Bros.’ demands to establish Batman in a new light after the nightmare of 1997 titled Batman & Robin, Christopher Nolan set DC back on track with his inimitable trilogy that will forever be recognized as one of the best-fulfilled arcs of Batman and a character study of Bruce Wayne.

Kevin Conroy’s legacy that originated with Batman: The Animated Series then filtered into the dregs of Nolan’s vision and the even darker arc of Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson’s The Batman duology. With James Gunn securing DCU’s future with an outrageous creative oversight, the audience will always find the lingering influence and memories of the late Kevin Conroy’s classically immortalized version of Gotham’s messiah.

Batman: The Animated Series is available for streaming on Max.