William Emerson Arnett (born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian actor. Before his Star-Making Role as Arrested Development's G.O.B. Bluth, Arnett would audition for numerous television pilots that would fail in various ways, which was discouraging for his career. Once he had made it into TV as an acclaimed actor, however, opportunities throughout film and television opened up for him. He has a distinct gravelly voice and was originally in high demand as a television commercial voice-over artist, and has since done many voice acting performances, voicing LEGO Batman and the title character on Netflix's BoJack Horseman, one of his few dramatic roles (Arnett also served as producer for the first season and executive producer from season two on).
He and his Arrested Development co-star Jason Bateman have a production company focusing on digital content called "DumbDumb Productions". He also served as executive producer to ABC's 2017 summer revival of The Gong Show (though not as its host; that role went to Mike Myers under the fictional persona of "Tommy Maitland").
He was married to Penelope Ann Miller and Amy Poehler.
Selected filmography:
- 30 Rock: Devon Banks
- Arrested Development: George Oscar "G.O.B." Bluth II
- Series 7: The Contenders: Narrator
- Blades of Glory: Stranz Van Waldenberg
- The Brothers Solomon: John Solomon
- Ratatouille: Horst
- The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret : Brent Wilts
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008): Vlad Vladikoff
- Monsters vs. Aliens: The Missing Link
- Despicable Me: Mr. Perkins
- BoJack Horseman: BoJack Horseman, Butterscotch Horseman
- The LEGO Movie: Batman/Bruce Wayne
- The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part: Batman/Bruce Wayne
- Let's Go to Prison: Nelson
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014): Vern Fenwick
- LEGO Dimensions: LEGO Batman/Excalibur Batman/Bruce Wayne
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows: Vern Fenwick
- The LEGO Batman Movie: Batman/Bruce Wayne
- A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017): Father/Mr. Quagmire
- The Magic School Bus Rides Again: Galapagos Gil
- Teen Titans Go! To the Movies: Slade
- LEGO Masters: Host of the US version
- Muppets Haunted Mansion: The Ghost Host
- Murderville: Terry Seattle
- Our Flag Means Death: Calico Jack
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands: The Dragon Lord
- Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (2022): Sweet Pete
- Island of the Sea Wolves: Narrator
- Twisted Metal (2023): Sweet Tooth (voice only, physically portrayed by Samoa Joe)
- Next Goal Wins (2023)
Tropes associated with his acting roles:
- Evil Sounds Deep: His deep voice lets him play threatening villains, like Mr. Perkins in Despicable Me and Vlad in Horton Hears a Who! (2008).
- What Could Have Been: Apparently he was a serious contender for the next boss of Dunder Mifflin on The Office, but due to fears that his role in The Millers would conflict with said part, he was turned down.
