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Syfy

You Definitely Recognize The Voice Of Happy On Syfy's New Series

by Chrissy Bobic

When you add one ex-cop-turned-hitman, a gritty New York City setting, and an imaginary flying unicorn, you get Syfy’s new crime comedy (and yes, apparently that’s a genre now) Happy!, starring Christopher Meloni, who played a much more serious cop on Law & Order. But who voices Happy on Syfy’s Happy!? His voice is all too familiar and right away, you might recognize it as belonging to none other than comedian actor Patton Oswalt.

Over the years, Oswalt has been in a number of TV shows and movies, and for some of them, his voice was his main selling point. Most recently, he’s been voicing the narrator on The Goldbergs on ABC, as well as Nom Nom on the Cartoon Network animated series We Bare Bears. Typically, Oswalt is all about working in comedy, which is why it makes perfect sense that he’s the voice behind the imaginary unicorn, Happy.

In fact, while he’s been in some pretty big movies, like 22 Jump Street, and TV shows, like Veep and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Oswalt has been a steady voice actor over the years, despite having a famous face as well. For Happy!, Oswalt will probably be voicing his most adorable animated character yet though, and that includes the time he voiced Remy in Ratatouille, and we all remember how adorable Remy was.

On the new Syfy series, which follows the drunken exploits of former cop and current hitman Nick Sax (Meloni), the character is eventually befriended by a missing girl’s imaginary friend, Happy, and for some reason, who Nick can see it. Per the trailer for Happy!, it’s definitely going to be a dark, adult comedy that includes plenty of violence and action to live up to the graphic novel it’s based on, so Oswalt’s chipper voice in the middle of everything is sure to help lighten the mood.

He recently spoke to Syfy.com about the upcoming role (Happy! premieres on Dec. 6 at 10 p.m. EST) and how it feels to be working with Meloni, but also not exactly working side by side. "I was able to click into this because I was doing scenes with Chris Meloni back and forth, and that really helped me," Oswalt said. "We were on Skype; he was in New York, and I was in L.A. It made the performance so much easier and more fun to do. It was way more alive. I wasn't just reading lines, I was interacting back and forth."

Oswalt also gave some insight on what to expect from Happy, in terms of what kind of imaginary friend we’re talking about here, since a seemingly random man who returns from death is the only person who can see him. "I think Happy fits more into the realm of Drop Dead Fred, the imaginary friend you do not want. He doesn't actually help you as much as he wants to," Oswalt revealed to Syfy.com.

Aside from taking on this new voice role, Oswalt has been plenty busy with other things, in both his professional and personal life. He recently remarried after his wife unexpectedly died in her sleep. With his new bride, Oswalt has been raising his eight-year-old daughter from his previous marriage.

Oswalt also has a new Netflix stand-up special Annihilation, which premiered this fall and brought him back on-stage to give commentary on almost everything, from President Trump to white privilege. As Happy on Syfy’s Happy!, Oswalt probably isn't going to be as vulgar as some of his stand-up content, but it’s just another platform for the very recognizable voice of the comedian to shine.

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