Alan Tudyk

***Alan Wray Tudyk*** (/ˈtjuːdɪk/ TEW-dik; March 16, 1971, El Paso, Texas, USA) is an American actor. His film work includes roles in 28 Days (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), voicing Sonny in I, Robot (2004), and 3:10 to Yuma (2007). He starred in the black comedy horror film Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010). Tudyk has also appeared in the films, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), 42 (2013), Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015) and Trumbo (2015). He has voiced characters in every Walt Disney Animation Studios film since 2012.

Tudyk is known for television roles, such as Wash on the space Western drama series Firefly (2002–2003). The show ran for one season and developed a cult following after the series aired. He reprised the role in the 2005 continuation film Serenity based on the events of the final episode of the series. His other roles include the 2007 English black comedy film Death at a Funeral, the sitcom Arrested Development (2005, 2013, 2019), the science fiction series Dollhouse (2009–2010), superhero animated series Young Justice (2010–2013, 2019), and various Voices on the animated series American Dad! (2011–present). Tudyk played Dr. Noah Werner on the sitcom Suburgatory (2011–2014). He also starred in the comedy series Newsreaders (2014–2015), the animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2015–2019), voiced Dangerboat in the series The Tick (2017–2019), played K-2SO in the 2016 film Rogue One, and Eric Morden / Mr. Nobody on the series Doom Patrol (2019).

Since 2019, Tudyk has voiced The Joker and Clayface in the series Harley Quinn. Tudyk currently plays Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle in the science fiction comedy series Resident Alien, and voices Optimus Prime in the animated series Transformers: EarthSpark.

Tudyk was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Betty Loyce (née Wiley) and Timothy Nicholas Tudyk. He is of Polish, German, French, and English ancestry. Tudyk was raised in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, where he attended Plano Senior High School.[citation needed] He had a brief experience as a stand-up comic before quitting after an angry audience member threatened to kill him. Tudyk studied drama at the Methodist-affiliated Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, Texas, where he won the Academic Excellence award for drama. While in college, he played Beaver Smith in an eastern New Mexico summer stock theater production of Billy the Kid. Tudyk entered Juilliard but left in 1996 before earning a degree.

Tudyk's film debut was in 1997 in Mark Schwahn's independent drama film 35 Miles from Normal. A year later, he had a minor role in the biographical comedy-drama Patch Adams with Robin Williams where he played patient Everton. Tudyk said of the role, that a doctor had given him a shot of adrenaline prior to filming as he had an allergic reaction to food the night before and his windpipe was closing up. In 2000, Tudyk played a gay German drug addict in 28 Days opposite Sandra Bullock. He played Wat in A Knight's Tale, Steve the Pirate in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and the emotional robot Sonny in I, Robot. In 2005, he reprised his role as the playful, easy-going Hoban "Wash" Washburne in the film Serenity, derived from the television series Firefly by Joss Whedon.