Whether you know him best for his live-action comedy on NBC’s Night Court sequel series or as a voice actor on various animated series like Disney’s Puppy Dog Pals and Cartoon Network’s The Boondocks, Gary Anthony Williams is a presence that fills a room and touches the heart.
Since 2024, Apple TV viewers have gotten to know Williams as the voice of Rovender Kitt on two seasons of the animated series WondLa.
A Cærulean wanderer travelling with Eva Nine, the show’s protagonist, he acts as guide, mentor, and cantankerous protector.
The third and final season of WondLa premieres on November 26.
Speaking with TV Fanatic via Zoom, Williams shared the joys of the journey he took in portraying Rovender. The interview below has been edited for clarity.
Gary Anthony Williams as Rovender Kitt
Your character, Rovender — whom Eva calls Rovee — has changed so much since WondLa Season 1. My first impression when screening Wondla Season 3 was that he sounds much happier than I remember. What are your thoughts on his development?
His dealing with his loss was key because he has been through a lot in his life. His family is no longer there. His entire village basically shunned him.
Finding this person, Eva, who is now his best friend — it’s like a father-daughter, best-friend journeying relationship — has definitely put him in a very different place in his life. And it’s given him something to think about, hold onto, concentrate on, live for, than just himself. Than just his past.
There’s a future now. There’s something going on right now with somebody he really cares about. It’s great.
The relationship between them, where they’ve come from, from being just combative and transactional — “I need to get here.”
“Great, you give me this, I’ll get you there, and then I’m done with you.” — to somebody that you would not do without, it is beautiful to get a chance to play.
And it keeps me connected to what’s important to me. Every time I do Rovee, I think of my dad. Every time I speak to Eva, I think of my son.
It gives me something to really ground the performance in and keeps me where my heart needs to be, with my people.
What Rovee Does Well
Rovee’s such a departure from [Night Court’s] Flobert, wouldn’t you say?
[laughing] Flobert, the man of a million jobs, and he does none of them well.
And Rovee does everything well!
Rovee does! I like that he listens to Eva just enough, but he tries to give her what he thinks she needs, but then backs off when she knows more than he does. It’s about her needs and what needs to happen. It’s a great relationship. I love how it’s developed.
And Jeanine, who plays Eva, her performances are just great. It’s been so long since I recorded that I didn’t even remember a lot of the storyline. So I was getting to watch a lot of it just… fresh. Hearing her performance and watching was just fantastic. She rules, just wonderful.
The Journey
Rovee’s backstory unfolded very slowly and… respectfully throughout Seasons 1 and 2. We learned it as Eva learned it. How much did you know going into Season 1?
I think they kind of kept tricking me by laying little M&Ms along the path for me to gobble up. I did not know exactly what had happened with his family. I knew that there was loss there.
There was a lot that I didn’t know going in. And Rovee was also very different. We rerecorded his voice, changed him up several times from the beginning. We’d go back and rerecord… eight times, I think I remember one episode — something like that.
There was a lot of learning to do. Not just what the character was, but the more we would dive in, the more things would change with him. It was a journey just going from Episode 1 to the season finale.
As an actor, it was a journey getting there, and definitely for Rovee, emotionally, and how he feels and thinks about [Eva] and the world around him. He learns a lot like having a kid. My child has taught me more than I’ve taught him. I am convinced of that 100%. I think the same is true for Rovee.
The World of WondLa
With voice acting, do you gel as much as a cast as you do with live acting?
This is different. I don’t think we ever recorded together. When there are big emotional moments, I always have them play me — if the other actor has recorded — I gotta know where we are. Please play me their stuff.
But this one, because everybody’s so busy, I don’t think we were ever in the room together. The one big thing that really, really helped me out with this is I was on tour with Whose Line Is It Anyway? and I met the creator, the guy who wrote the books, Tony [DiTerlizzi].
We met, had dinner together, and just chilled out together one evening. That was the best because I got to not only pick his brain about this, but just get to know him.
And that really opened up another way of seeing this entire world. Really getting the guy who put the words down on the page. That was incredible for me.
They just sent me these episodes two days ago. And as soon as I finished watching them, I texted him, “Dude, this is fire. You really knocked it out of the park.”
He’s like, “Well, the book is different than the animation, but yeah, I agree, they stay true to the world and, yes, I am very, very happy with where it wound up.”
The only thing I could ask for better for the end of this series is that it didn’t end. That’s the only thing that it did NOT end. Because I thought they wrapped it up beautifully.
Ending At A Beginning
There’s a theme, specifically in Season 3, of fulfilling a promise made. Do you feel that this series, this storyline, these relationships, were fulfilling a promise made to Rovee?
Wow. That’s a great question. I would say yes and at the same time, it ends at a beginning. It ends at a place where things are just literally blossoming. And I don’t think I give anything away by saying that.
But it ends at a beginning, so all of those possibilities of everything are still there. And the way it ends is so hopeful and joyful and bittersweet, satisfying yet I want to see more now. I’m probably more pleased with the way this series wrapped up than pretty much any series I’ve done.
I really thought it wrapped up beautifully, and still I want more to happen because now I’ve fallen in love with the characters, and Eva and what they mean to each other. It makes me want to see more. There are so many great characters. So many great voice actors.
There are so many great little pieces in this, it just makes you laugh — I don’t cry because I’m very tough — makes you almost want to cry. [laughs] They’re really working the emotions in all the best ways here. Great storytelling.
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