Legendary actor Billy Dee Williams of has joined the cast of Pocket Universe Productions’ John Carter of Mars: The Audio Series as Tardos Mors, Jeddak of Helium, opposite Wasé Chief as his granddaughter, Dejah Thoris.
Williams brings seven decades of stage and screen work to the role, debuting on Broadway at age seven. Audio drama is familiar ground for him: in addition to originating Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, he played the character in the NPR radio adaptations of both films and performed in radio plays on New York college stations in the 1960s.
“Billy brings a true majesty to the role as a Martian warrior-king,” says Michael Kogge, writer and director of the audio series. “He is authoritative and regal, yet he can also shift his tone at a moment’s notice to being the kind and wise grandfather of Princess Dejah Thoris. There are scenes he performs that moved us all to tears in the studio. Billy does it all with his voice.”
Williams has completed recording. Further details on his episodes will be announced in the coming months.
Also joining the cast is Saturn Award-winning actress Clare Kramer as Gozava, mother of the Thark rebel Sola. Kramer is best known as Glory in season five of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a performance TV Guide ranked among television’s best villains, and as Courtney Egbert in Bring It On. She also co-produced the boxing documentary Tyson, which premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
Kramer is also an established voice in genre media, having moderated convention panels internationally and worked as a correspondent for CNN, Access Hollywood, and E! News, interviewing pop-culture icons such as William Shatner and Stan Lee. She can currently be heard in the first season of the audio fiction podcast Elfquest, adapted from Richard and Wendy Pini’s comic series.
“Clare is a marvelous performer and person to boot,” says Lance Roger Axt, the head of Pocket Universe. “To have her in John Carter of Mars is nothing short of a privilege. She brings out the soulful side of the otherwise brutal Tharks.”
