AFTER a decade-long hiatus, the sci-fi comedy series Futurama will return for an 11th season on Hulu. With it, voice actor John DiMaggio will be making a comeback by reprising his role as Bender, the foul-mouthed, human-hating robot.
Initially, DiMaggio’s name was absent from the long list of returning cast members when Hulu revealed the reboot plan, and it was due to him being deadlocked in a salary negotiation.
“When they made the announcement, it wasn’t like I had said no. We had been negotiating for a long time. It was a stalemate,” DiMaggio told Variety.
A month later, amid fan campaigns to boycott any revival without DiMaggio, the actor and Hulu jointly revealed he had officially signed on to the series.
“It was just like, I have to say yes, because I don’t want the demise of the show on my shoulders.’ They were ready to bring in other people. It was what it was.”
Despite everything, DiMaggio didn’t receive the pay increase he was looking for, and instead claimed that he received respect for the fight he put up.
“When you’re David with a sling and you’re standing up to Goliath, you try to do what you can to get your side heard. I think I did.”
The rocky start didn’t dampen DiMaggio’s elation over coming back as Bender, a character he’s voiced since Futurama’s premiere in 1999.
More than two decades later, even the show’s earliest episodes still hold up when viewed through a 2023 lens.
“That’s a testament to the writers and to the way the jokes are cultivated on this show. There are raunchy and off-colour jokes, but they don’t punch down on this show,” DiMaggio says.
“We always punched up. And that always works. That’s how you win over people.”
As SAG-AFTRA and the WGA continue to strike, the actor is feeling “vindicated” about his self-advocacy.
“Now it’s not just me versus them. Now it’s everybody versus them.”
