A talented voice actor can bring a role to life, no matter how big or small the part is, and Alan Tudyk is very talented in that department. Tudyk has had both voice acting and live-action acting roles, but his voice acting is really where his wide array of talents shine. Tudyk is mainly known for his voice work with Walt Disney Animation Studios, but he’s also worked on movies from other studios including Ice Age, Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, and Astro Boy. With such a massive career under his belt, Tudyk has given several memorable performances that stand out in each movie he’s in. Here are seven of his best performances to date.
Updated on September 12th, 2023, by Danilo Raúl: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
12 The Devil
Devil May Care (2021)
Imagine for a moment Hell is not the horrible place painted by every single religion in the world. Instead, it is the place where God sends everything that annoys him in Heaven. Devil was sent there to take care of the place but was never given any directives on how to do so.
He went with the most natural choice: gentrifying the whole thing and running it like a sleek city. The Devil, played by Tudyk, is an excitable fellow with an industrious-lie mindset bent on making Hell the best place possible, so he's finally acknowledged by God with a good performance review.
11 Arcade
M.O.D.O.K (2021)
While M.O.D.O.K. is Patton Oswald's show, Tudyk certainly made an impression as Arcade, the circus-themed supervillain ruler of Murderworld. Fans of the X-Men should be familiar with this character since he's a recurring villain in the comics.
He shines in the part in the eighth episode of the show "O, Were Blood Thicker Than Robot Juice!" where he enacts a plan to kidnap M.O.D.O.K.'s family to make them kill their doppelgangers who Young M.O.D.O.K. has created to give his old self a chance for happiness.
10 Optimus Prime
Transformers: EarthSpark (2022)
Talk about filling in some pretty big shoes! Alan Tudyk takes the lead as the voice of the Autobot leader Optimus Prime in the new Transformers Cartoon Transformers: EarthSpark. The show explores the aftermath of the civil war between the Autobots and the Decepticons.
They deal with a new breed of Transformer born on Earth named Terrans who feel no bounds to any side and try to live their lives out of the conflict of both sides, which proves difficult as the former Cybertronians have a keen interest in this new race of beings and seeks to bring them to their side.
9 Green Arrow
Young Justice (2010)
Young Justice is arguably the second-best show ever made by D.C. Studios and Cartoon Network after Justice League Unlimited. One of the best traits of the show is the recurring appearance of Superheroes in mentoring roles.
Alan Tudyk made a big splash in the first episode as Green Arrow, a part he would follow up in subsequent seasons of the show. Having Ollie voiced by one of the best and most wholesome Hollywood personalities fits the character's sensibilities like a glove.
8 Alistair Krei
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Big Hero 6 is a fun and heartwarming Disney movie about young robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada and his older brother's healthcare-providing robot Baymax as they form a superhero team to fight a masked villain responsible for Hiro's brother's death.
Tudyk plays Alistair Krei, an entrepreneur in the tech space who is always looking to get his hands on the next big thing before someone else does. Krei takes up an interest in Hiro's microbot invention, hoping to buy it and profit from it through his company, Krei Tech. At the start of the movie, it seems like Krei is the villain. However, that's not the case. He's just a businessman and Tudyk captures his character with just the right amount of sleaze.
7 Chatsberry
Adventure Time (2010-2018)
This well-loved Cartoon Network series has had many great actors give voice performances throughout the show's run. Tudyk took on the role of Chatsberry, an insightful candy elemental with candy-focused magical abilities, like being able to make jellybeans appear out of nowhere.
Chatsberry also helps Princess Bubblegum awaken her candy elemental powers. Tudyk gives Chatsberry a very wise, yet timid-sounding voice that fits his character quite well. Though he only shows up in a few episodes and is a secondary character at best, Chatsberry is a great addition to the extensive catalog of Adventure Time characters. Tudyk's voice performance makes this candy creature stand out.
6 Duke of Weselton
Frozen (2013)
At this point, there likely isn't a single person on the planet that's unfamiliar with Frozen. From "Let it Go" to the easily identifiable characters, the movie truly took the world by storm. Tudyk also had a role in this Disney hit as the Duke of Weselton, an arrogant, greedy, magic-fearing old royal.
The Duke of Weselton is the movie's secondary antagonist — right behind Prince Hans. When Elsa reveals she has magical powers, the Duke declares her a monster and for her to be killed. Though his bad-guy nature is the main focal point of his character, the Duke's most notable moments come from him constantly correcting people who pronounce his name wrong.
5 K-2SO
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the first of the standalone Star Wars movies, premiering in 2016. These standalone movies introduced a lot of new characters and reimagined versions of old characters to the franchise. One of the newbies is the droid K2 or K-2SO. Tudyk portrayed K2 both with his voice performance and motion capture.
Tudyk gave K2 a British accent and a proper dialect to play on the droid's Imperial roots. To portray K2, Trudy had to wear stilts and master walking and running in them to capture K2's movements. This is one of those roles that showcases Tudyk's abilities and dedication as an actor. His performance as K2 made the character become a fan-favorite and put him in high demand to return in follow-up Star Wars franchise installments.
4 Duke Weaslton
Zootopia (2016)
Zootopia is one of the great, more recent Disney movies. It has a great plot, well-crafted characters, and genuinely funny moments. It's about a rabbit police officer who pairs up with a con artist fox to uncover a criminal conspiracy in the city of Zootopia. Tudyk voices Duke Weaslton, one of the antagonists in the movie.
Duke is a career criminal who makes his living by selling pirated DVDs. He's a very sly and conniving weasel and can often be found picking pockets and doing anything to make a quick buck as he's essentially powered by greed. Duke Weaslton is also a bit of a pun, as it plays onto another character voiced by Tudyk, the Duke of Weselton from Frozen. Weselton's name was often mispronounced as "weasel town," and in Zootopia Tudyk's character, Duke is a weasel.
3 Joker
Harley Quinn (2019-Present)
Following the reemergence of Harley Quinn in the DC Universe through recent movies like Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, the animated series, premiered in 2019. The show follows the misadventures of Harley and Poison Ivy after Harley leaves her boyfriend, Joker. The show has been praised for its dark humor and excellent voice acting, and in August of this year, it was renewed for a fourth season on HBO Max.
Tudyk has a lot of roles on the show including Clayface, Firefly, and Ocean Master, but his most notable is his performance as Joker. Many, many people have played Joker and his character has been re-imagined in a variety of ways, both in animation and live-action. However, Tudyk brings a whole new feel to the table. His Joker is sinister, chaotic, and mostly unpredictable — all of which are characteristics people have come to love about the villain — but he also manages to blend in humor and charisma, and his performance is one of the main draws to the show.
2 Heihei
Moana (2016)
Another one of the great Disney movies to come out in recent years is Moana. This beautifully animated musical adventure is about Moana, a young girl who is called upon by the ocean to fulfill a destiny and save the people in her village. Moana saw the debut of singer and actress Auli'i Cravalho, as well as performances by Dwayne Johnson, Jemaine Clement, Nicole Scherzinger, and of course, Alan Tudyk. Tudyk plays Heihei, Moana's pet rooster.
Heihei is a clumsy, accident-prone rooster who unintentionally joins Moana on her journey. What's funny about this role, is that Tudyk doesn't have any real lines — at least not in English. His job is to cluck like a chicken and make rooster sounds. While it doesn't sound like it would be one of his top-ranking roles, his Heihei performance is one of the standouts from Moana. Heihei is oftentimes the comic relief, and you wouldn't think it, but you can convey a wide array of emotions through different rooster clucks. And who else to give such a memorable performance as a bird than Tudyk?
1 Turbo/King Candy
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Wreck-It Ralph is an innovative Disney movie that premiered in 2012. It's about an arcade game villain (Wreck-It Ralph) who dreams of being a hero and rebels against his bad-guy persona. Wreck-It Ralph is another Disney feature to showcase a cast of well-known stars including John C. Reilly, Jane Lynch, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, and Mindy Kaling. And of course, Alan Tudyk also has a role in the movie. He takes on another villain role in Wreck-It Ralph as King Candy, the attention-loving ruler of the kart racing, candy-themed game Sugar Rush. On the surface level, King Candy is very bubbly and posh, often seen giggling and tossing candy to fans.
Tudyk does an excellent job at creating a larger-than-life personality for King Candy simply by his voice and vocal mannerisms. However, underneath his sweet facade, King Candy is a short-tempered, power-hungry bad guy. Tudyk essentially pulls double duty with King Candy's character, giving two distinct performances, and both are great and make him a very memorable antagonist.