After starting on Phineas and Ferb as a thirteen-year-old actor, Vincent Martella has spent the last twenty years honing his craft. As a vocal performer, he helped build an iconic Disney cartoon, bring Jason Todd and the Red Hood to life, and crossover with Star Wars. The Disney+ revival of Phineas and Ferb launches on June 6, just in time for summer vacation. FandomWire got to speak with Vincent Martella about the revival, what it’s like to work with TikTok superstar Dan Povenmire, and the irony of also returning to work on a new Everybody Hates Chris (Everybody Still Hates Chris on Comedy Central) series in 2025.
Interview with Vincent Martella on Phineas and Ferb Season 5, Everybody Still Hates Chris, and voicing Jason Todd/The Red Hood
FandomWire: Phineas and Ferb has been one of those Disney shows that has now crossed over for more than two decades. What is it like to have not only originated that character as a teenager but also continue to play the character today?
I cannot express how much of a fun ride and surreal experience it is working on a show like Phineas and Ferb. I’ve been fortunate to work on some really good, fun stuff. I originated this character when I was 13, and now I’m 32. There are people my age who have watched this show and have introduced it to their children. It means enough to them that they’re sharing it with their family now. It’s so rare to be a part of something with that much influence and meaning to its fan base.
I still get excited when I see Phineas and Ferb walk-around characters at Disney World and Disneyland. I could work on a lot of really cool things in my life, but it is so rare to have your character walk around Disney. It’s so special to me. To be here talking to you about this in 2025? I never could have expected this.
FandomWire: Obviously, you work a lot with Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh. They’re very hands-on and very online. What can you tell us about those relationships?
What’s amazing is that I’ve worked with Dan and Swampy so long now, it’s truly like we’re members of each other’s family. We call each other and catch up, even when we weren’t back in production. There was a period during COVID when I was literally talking to Dan every single day. We were talking, catching up, and just trying to stay present with each other.
I’ve learned so much about voice acting, animation, and comedy writing from these two people who are so incredibly good at it. They’ve given me a lot of advice that goes beyond just animation. I’ve spent days with them in the writers’ rooms and shadowing them when they go to post-production and when they go to the edits.
I’ve worked with a lot of showrunners, and being a showrunner is like one of the hardest jobs in the industry. It is so difficult, the amount of things you have to keep in your orbit. But watching them work still blows my mind. They’re writing it; they’re voicing these characters. They’re writing music for these characters when they go home at night. They’re overseeing such an amazing, talented team of writers and making sure the tone stays true to these characters they created. They wrote the show together in 1993, and they didn’t sell the show for 13 years. That’s how long they’ve had these characters in their lives.
I have learned so much from them. They are the heart and soul of the show. It’s fun now because so many people have been able to connect with Dan through TikTok. He’s embraced the power of the internet, which is awesome.
FandomWire: Now that you guys have started backup production, I know at least 40 episodes have already been greenlit. How is it different than what’s come before, and what’s most exciting for you as a vocal performer?
Vincent Martella: I appreciate that question because a couple of things are different. The first time around with our show was originally storyboard-driven, which means that all of our scripts were storyboarded first, and then the scene would fill out around them. What we would get as performers are dialogue scripts without the action.
I would go into the studio, and they’d give me this giant book that had storyboards on it. It would fill in the information for me. As a performer, it’s difficult, especially on a show like Phineas and Ferb, where we’re building things that don’t exist. The information I was getting right before I walked into the booth was, “Where am I located in this scene? How far away are the other characters? How big is the item that we’re building?”
This time, we’re a normal scripted show. For me, that is a huge help, just in preparation, going in and knowing every detail of everything I can do. That’s been a huge advantage for me. On top of that, our writers have taken the opportunity to explore stories and characters in ways that I can guarantee you we did not do the first time around. I think it’s some of the best stuff we’ve done.
We’ve given focus to characters who didn’t have as much focus on them. We’ve got stories that explore ideas and people while obeying the Phineas and Ferb format: It’s summer, having these great inventions, and Candace trying to bust us. We’ve done it in a way that is true to the original series while also being new and offering more depth to these characters.
FandomWire: You have done a lot of other voice work outside of Phineas and Ferb. Our readers are especially big on DC and Marvel stuff, and you’ve voiced Jason Todd several times. Tell us about how it’s different when you go to prepare for somebody as iconic as Jason Todd.
Vincent Martella: The biggest difference is the content of what these characters are dealing with. Jason Todd is dealing with really serious topics. And those sessions were really exciting and informative. DC animated movies have a very specific style, and they have a performance style that is specific to them. Getting to work on something so dark, gritty, brooding, and emotional, those sessions were very taxing but very exciting.
I love Batman graphic novels in general. Those are my favorite graphic novels. I have numerous graphic novels on my shelf, but most are Batman. I was excited when I did Batman: Under the Red Hood. I’m really proud of that movie. I think that movie is really, really good. I love everyone’s performance, and I think it’s written so well.
Then I got even more excited when I came back to do Death in the Family, because they let me play Red Hood as well. I love Red Hood’s material in the comics. I’ll go to Comic Con, and I see people dressed as Red Hood all the time. I’ll get to sign the Red Hood masks. It’s so cool.
FandomWire: Something else that you’re already working on is Everybody Still Hates Chris. What was it like to see a show that you were on in live action get converted over to animation and still ask for your involvement?
Vincent Martella: Yeah. I mean, that is very odd that has happened to me. When I first started working on Phineas and Ferb, it was the last two seasons of me working on Everybody Hates Chris. And then, all of a sudden, I’m working on Phineas and Ferb and Everybody Still Hates Chris. It was a very odd moment for me.
I love the people I got to work with on that. I got to play six different characters in Everybody Still Hates Chris. I don’t play my character [from the original sitcom], Greg, on that show. But they asked, “Vincent, do you want to be involved in the show? Can we hand you a ton of characters and see what you do with them?”
One of my favorite things to do as a voice actor is a bunch of utility stuff and additional voices. I’m playing like a newscaster, so I’m doing my version of Tom Brokaw, and then I’m like a scummy Boston Celtics guy. I got to do a wide variety of stuff that I feel like will be hard for anyone to pick out who didn’t know I was playing them. And that was my goal.
FandomWire: On Phineas and Ferb, you guys have done a lot of fun crossovers. What is a crossover that you hope you guys are able to pull off in this next phase of this show?
Vincent Martella: I would love it if we did an Empire Strikes Back. Star Wars is my biggest fandom. I have the Japanese version of the poster. The one that I would love to do, that I know we can’t do, is Lord of the Rings. We have enough people to make up a fellowship. I feel like Doofenshmirtz would make a perfect Smeagol/Gollum. He would be fantastic. He’s built to play that role. I feel like Dan Povenmire is built to play our version of Smeagol. But if there was one that we could do, I’d love to do Indiana Jones.
Fandomwire: Honestly, that was where my mind went. It’s a perfect fit for you guys.
Vincent Martella: It makes sense. I mean, that’s the adventure of a lifetime, which is, I think, like the tagline of Raiders of the Lost Ark. We could be hunting down treasure and replace so many of the characters with our characters. Save an artifact in Danville. It would be great.
Phineas & Ferb Season 5 releases on June 6, 2025, on Disney+.
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