Voice Actor Stanton: On Giving Roger Ebert A Voice
Voice actor Stephen Stanton, who provides the voice of Roger Ebert in the documentary 'Life Itself.' (Stephen Stanton)
An acclaimed documentary 'Life Itself' looking at the life of Roger Ebert begins its theatrical run in Champaign this weekend. Many of the late film critic's best known family and friends are part of it. But some words come from Roger himself.
To bring his life story to the screen, documentary filmmaker Steve James relied heavily on the words of those who knew Ebert best -- his wife Chaz, fellow Chicago journalists, and other film critics from around the U.S.
But portions of the narration come from Ebert's own memoir of the same name.
A voice closely resembling that of Ebert’s in the film is that of voice actor Stephen Stanton, who’s credited with over 100 roles – ranging from Disney cartoons to video games.
Illinois Public Media's Jeff Bossert asked Stanton how he went about supplying the voice to a real person, especially someone as iconic as Roger Ebert.