Redd Pepper Explained

Redd Pepper
Birth Name:Richardson Green
Birth Date:23 June 1961
Birth Place:Barbados
Occupation:Voice actor
Years Active:1996–present

Richardson Green (born 23 June 1961), known professionally as Redd Pepper, is a Barbadian-British voice actor. With his unusually deep voice and vocal style similar to that of Don LaFontaine, he is known for his work on movie trailers.

Early life

Pepper was born Richardson Green in Barbados on 23 June 1961,[1] and moved to London as a child. He has six sisters and three brothers.[1] He attended Sedgehill School in the Lewisham area of London. His first job was at a McDonald's, after which he spent six months as a firefighter. He then became a train driver on the London Underground.[1] He later claimed to have become bored very easily during this job, and would prank passengers by stopping the train between stations, turning off the lights, and talking over the loudspeakers: "I used to say stuff like: 'This is your driver speaking... or is it?' in a really spooky voice."[1]

Career

In 1996, a television executive was a passenger on a London Underground train being driven by Pepper; upon hearing his voice over the loudspeakers, the man gave Pepper his business card and asked Pepper to call him.[1] This led to numerous jobs providing voiceovers for TV channels and adverts, and he began voicing film trailers soon after, with his first being Space Jam.[2] He also voiced Mike LeRoi/Shadow Man in the video game Shadow Man.

Pepper came to prominence when he was mistaken for Hollywood voice artist Don LaFontaine following his voice work on the trailers for Armageddon and Independence Day.[3] He has also appeared onstage as an actor, having acted in an Edinburgh Festival production of Jeffrey Archer's Prison Diaries. On 24 December 2010, he appeared on a celebrity edition of the BBC quiz show Eggheads. When asked if he missed being a train driver, he responded, "I make £3,000 to £4,000 per movie trailer. What do you think?"[1]

In October 2015, Pepper briefly replaced Peter Dickson as the voiceover of British reality show The X Factor. However, he was only present as a voiceover at Judges' Houses, as Dickson returned at the end of the month. In April 2017, he served as announcer during Bradley Walsh's week of hosting The Nightly Show.

Personal life

Redd is a supporter of football club Aston Villa F.C.[4]

Filmography

Film trailers

YearTitleNotes
1996Independence DayUK dub
Space Jam
1997
Men in Black
Boogie Nights
1998Armageddon
1999The Blair Witch Project
2005Are We There Yet?
2007Are We Done Yet?
Mr. Bean's Holiday

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2004Boo, Zino & the SnurksBramph (voice)English dub
2019SerenityPlymouth DJ (voice)

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2007DeadlineHimself1 episode
2008The Culture ShowHimself1 episode
2010Celebrity EggheadsHimself
2011The One Show1 episode
2013Never Mind the Buzzcocks1 episode
Golden Joystick Awards: The BriefingNarrator
2014How to be epic at everythingHimself1 episode
2014–2015Ant & Dec's Saturday Night TakeawayHimself2 episodes
2015The X FactorAnnouncer
2017The Nightly ShowHimself5 episodes
2017–2019Pointless Celebrities2 episodes
2021Big Fat Quiz of EverythingHimself1 episode
2021Life of a Teddy BearHarriet Bear1 episode
2021Flamingo FantasiesHamilton28 episodes
2022Virgin Atlantic TV advert "I Am What I Am"Passenger reading newspaper[5] 1 advert

Video games

YearTitleRoleRef
1999Shadow ManMike/Shadow Man
2000Additional voices
BladeBlade[6]
GothicDrax
2001Mike/Shadow Man
2002VietcongAdditional voices
2004Additional voices
Additional voices
2017Additional voices
2023Baldur's Gate 3Sarevok Anchev[7]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sound of the Underground. 2007-08-04. Deadline. 2007. Dom Joly. Dom Joly. 8 & 9.
  2. Web site: Meet Redd Pepper, the voice over artist behind some of the biggest movie trailers . August 21, 2018 . . November 30, 2021.
  3. News: Meet Redd Pepper, The Iconic Voiceover Artist Behind Hollywood's Biggest Trailers . August 6, 2018 . Monique . Jones . Shadow & Act . November 30, 2021.
  4. Web site: Movie trailer man Redd Pepper's booming brilliance on AVTV. March 22, 2011. acfc.co.uk. August 14, 2023.
  5. https://www.tvadsongs.uk/virgin-atlantic-advert-music-i-am-what-singer/
  6. Web site: Redd Pepper - 2 Character Images. Behind The Voice Actors.
  7. Baldur's Gate 3. Larian Studios. August 3, 2023. Credits.