It can be hard for any actor to stand out on a Mike Judge project, given the sheer amount of talent involved from one end to the next, whether it’s a live-action series like Silicon Valley or an animated comedy like Beavis and Butt-Head, with the creator himself in the starring roles. But I don’t think anyone ever mentioned that to actor Chris Diamantopoulos, who seemingly effortlessly serves as a highlight anytime he pops into a scene. He was, of course, the GOAT of fictional billionaires Ross Hanneman in the aforementioned HBO satire, and reteamed with Judge for Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe and then again for the dim-witted teen slackers’ episodic reboot (which can both be streamed with Paramount+ subscriptions).
Diamantopoulos, who is also currently starring in the mystery sci-fi adventure Mrs. Davis, talked to CinemaBlend about his ever-blooming career, and he had nothing but great things to say about bringing his talents to Mike Judge’s creations, as well as about working with the man himself.
Then there's Mike, right, who has more success, and has been more successful at everything that he's fucking touched and tried to do, and couldn't be more salt of the earth. Salt looks at Mike Judge and it's like, 'Wow, that guy's fucking real.' Like, he is such a good, nice dude. And I had a ball doing voices on Beavis and Butthead.
Magically enough, the Three Stooges vet brought up my very favorite installment from the animated series’ latest reboot, as taken from the first season’s fourth episode, in which he voiced an extremely annoying and self-obsessed character, Keith, whom Beavis initially mistakes for Butt-Head, and then cannot seem to get away from the guy. The funniest moments are when Keith attempts to impress Beavis by playing a gloriously awful rendition of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” that is still an earworm in my brain to this day. Diamantopoulos explained why it was such a great role for him, saying:
I have to do this one episode called 'The Doppelganger.' Dude, isn't that so funny? I play the most annoying guy in the world? You know, I think someone's trying to tell me something, because I play that often, and I'm wondering...eh, whatever, who cares. But no, it was great fun. . . . What I love is that he allowed me to [sing], because I have a huge musical theater background; I did Broadway for 15 years, and I actually studied opera. So he gave me a chance to do you know that that way of enunciating that's not English, but it's similar enunciation. 'Off to forever always la-a-a-and.' [Laughs.] It's so fucking pretentious. I love it.
Even just looking at the character's not-quite-right face makes me giggle.
Whether it's animated or live-action, the Inside Job star says Mike Judge has a way of making every project great from a director's perspective, because he's such a collaborator and enjoys embracing others' work. In his words:
Mike is such a great director, because he really sort of just lets things happen. And what he does is he trusts in the writing. And when the writing is as good as it is, when you're on a Mike Judge project, you just fucking show up and deliver, and it's so much fun.
Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are currently in the throes of riviving King of the Hill for fans with Hulu subscriptions, and I know I'm not the only person hoping that Chris Diamantopoulos finds his way into Arlen, Texas for that show's highly anticipated return. Hank Hill definitely needs a fast-talking neighbor that's easier to understand than ol' Boomhauer.
While he didn't say one way or another whether that's in the cards, he did share that he'll be in yet another one of Judge's productions, and one that also involves a reteaming Silicon Valley's Zach Woods. The actor will be supplying his vocal skills for the in-development Peacock animated series In the Know, which will star Judge, Woods, Succession's J. Smith-Cameron, Grand Crew's Carl Tart, Percy Jackson's Charlie Bushnell and Hacks' Caitlin Reilly.
And to be expected, Diamantopoulos also had some very kind words for Zach Woods, saying:
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna be doing some voices on that. Oh, God, have you ever interviewed Zach? What a sweetheart of a human being. He is. I wish the world was like Zach Woods. He's just so gentle and sweet and fiercely intelligent, and funny as fuck.
It's a great time to be a Chris Diamantopoulos fan, as he can be heard in Beavis and Butt-Head airing new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+, he can be seen in Mrs. Davis (also airing on Thursdays on Peacock), and he can be heard in an entirely different context as part of the wildly popular new video game Star Wars Jedi: Survivor . Not to mention his work in other recent series such as AMC's Lucky Hank and Prime Video's Daisy Jones & the Six.
