SpongeBob SquarePants Stars Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke Speak Out on Playing Iconic Characters

Tom Kenny and Bill Fagerbakke talk playing Bikini Bottom's two biggest characters and their continuing approach.

By Evan Valentine

Bill Fagerbakke and Tom Kenny have played the parts of Spongebob and Patrick on Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants for almost twenty-five years. In that time, the series has skyrocketed in popularity as it has garnered hundreds of television episodes, several feature-length films, and a handful of spin-off series. In a new interview with the legendary voice actor, Tom and Bill were able to dive deeper into their respective roles and whether or not they've approached the parts of Patrick and Spongebob any differently since they first began the parts. While Spongebob is about to turn twenty-five, many fans are hoping for twenty-five more years of Bikini Bottom.

Tom Kenny kicked off the interview by stating that he hasn't changed his approach to bringing to life the Krusty Krab fry cook, "I would say that my approach to the character hasn't changed because regardless of what the technology is, whether its motion capture at a live event or we're doing an episode or a video game or cel animation from the first season or computer animation like from the movies, our job is the same as it was in 1999. We just had to be them. Just to be Spongebob and be Patrick, to channel them."

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(Photo: Paramount)

Spongebob, Patrick, Bill, Tom, And Steve

Bill Fagerbakke added to Kenny's thoughts, as the voice actor continues to portray Patrick in both the main series and his spin-off, The Patrick Star Show, "When you do Spongebob, I see it as a Venn Diagram where you're overlapping with him. I also see Spongebob intertwining with Hillenburg (the series creator)."

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Kenny then took the chance to reflect on Stephen Hillenburg's influence on the series, "I kind of see that with Patrick and you too now that you mention it. So much of Spongebob's DNA is Steve and then there's a little bit of mustard that we can slap on the characters, what we bring to it. We just trust what's on the page and be them. The roadmap is so good and so clear, it's like Waze telling you where to go." 

If you're looking for more from the Krusty Krab in our world, The 2024 Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by SpongeBob SquarePants (voiced by Tom Kenny) and Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke) live from Bikini Bottom, will air Saturday, July 13, at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. Fans in the U.S. can now cast their votes across 33 categories on the official Kids' Choice Awards website: KidsChoiceAwards.com.  

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