Dee Bradley Baker is among the most prolific voice actors out there. He’s had roles in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, and many more. Star Wars fans know him best as the voice of the series’ many, many Clone troopers across animation and video games.
He tells Polygon that while there are certain clones that have really stuck out to him — Fives, Mayday, Captain Rex — he “can't really pick a favorite.” He doesn’t keep track of how many he’s voiced in total, instead leaving that to the fans. Those fans all have their favorites, some of whom Baker can’t recognize. Baker still strives to make each clone their own unique person — even if he can’t remember them all.
One of Baker’s newest clones is Trick, an operator in Bit Reactor’s Star Wars Zero Company. Baker calls Trick an “unusual guy.” He was injured prior to events of Zero Company and was slated to be decommissioned, but instead later joined the misfits that make up the mercenary group. Baker approached Trick the same way he does all his clones: by learning what the writers are looking for.
Trick isn’t Baker’s only new clone in Zero Company. The other notable addition is CT-4646, the evil clone science officer working for the Empire who performed cruel experiments to improve the clones’ inhibitor chips. Baker found voicing CT-4646 interesting because “there are very few clones that are like that.” Most clones are admirable soldiers, but CT-4646 is the rare one who turned on his brothers.
To get in the evil clone’s mindset, Baker had to interrogate what he’s all about, his ultimate goals, and the sinister way he views his victims. Baker has voiced clones for almost 20 years now across media. But whether he’s working on an animated series or a video game, he says that “ultimately, your job as an actor is the same.” Baker sets out to make sure his characters feel as realistic as possible, regardless of medium.
Video games can be “a little more challenging” than animation, given the potential for branching paths and variations in storytelling (Zero Company even features character permadeath). Even so, his goal remains the same: to have the characters connect with the audience. While it’s unlikely that the creepy CT-4646 becomes anyone’s favorite clone, Baker says the reception to Trick and Star Wars Zero Company overall has been “overwhelming.” A weekly cheat sheet to what you’ll eventually love to play.
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