Mark Hamill Shares Birthday Tribute for Batman Co-Star Kevin Conroy

Multiple different age groups have grown up with the Joker and Batman’s rivalry. Today, the voice of The Clown Prince of Crime in Batman: The Animated Series saluted his opposition on his birthday. That’s right, today was Kevin Conroy‘s birthday as the Dark Knight’s voice actor for more than 25 years turned 64 today. Conroy has voiced the World’s Greatest Detective through Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, the Batman Arkham video game series, and several DC Comics animated films. Still, when people think about him, they usually go back to the cartoon that started that run. Now, this year, he will get to play Batman in real life as a version of the hero in The CW’s mega-crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. The star talked about what it was like to actually play Batman in real life and how he handled that change.

“Everybody was so generous to work with,” Conroy told Entertainment Weekly. “I can’t emphasize how enough how welcoming everyone was, especially Ruby. She is so open and giving. I just fell into her eyes at one point and we just connected on camera. It was wonderful… I felt like I was working with old friends I’d known for years. There was just such trust there that I could open up to them on camera.”

“It threw me at first,” Conroy continued. “I never approached this character from that physicalized aspect. I always just inhabited him with my voice. When you do that in a recording studio, it’s a very intimate experience and you’re sort of living in your own imagination. You do it with your eyes clothes and you’re in this other world, and you have Mark Hamill feeding you all the energy you [need], and the other actors (because we always recorded together in the booths). To actually be on the set, in the physical world, and to be walking as the character and inhabiting the character in three dimensions, it was a real transition for me. It did take a while to get used to, I have to admit. I was surprised because I know the character so well.”

Conroy joins an impressive list of cameo appearances during the event. The talents assembled include Smallville‘s Tom Welling and Erica Durance, Black Lightning‘s Cress Williams, Stargirl‘s Brec Bassinger, and Batman‘s Burt Ward.

Crisis on Infinite Earths will begin with Supergirl on Sunday, December 8th at 8/7c.

Photo by Craig Barritt/Getty Images for ReedPOP and Michael Tullberg/Getty Images