All the Famous Voices Behind the Characters in Lightyear

Chris Evans is taking over for Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear. Allen voiced the iconic character in all of the Toy Story films. Evans, a self-proclaimed Pixar fan, has plenty of experience as the hero of the story. For years, he’s played Captain America in numerous Marvel movies, including The Avengers, Captain America and Spider-Man: Homecoming. He also played Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four films. Outside of the fantastical genre, Evans has had memorable roles in plenty of projects, including Free Guy with Ryan Reynolds, Knives Out with Daniel Craig and Ana De Armas, and Not Another Teen Movie.

Uzo Aduba is voicing Alisha Hawthorne. During a press junket about Lightyear, producer Gayle Susman described Hawthorne (via Murphy’s Multiverse) as “the emotional anchor” of the movie’s first act. She’s “commanding and compassionate, a straight shooter who cares about living a good life.” Aduba is an Emmy-winning actress most well-known for starring in Orange Is the New Black on Netflix. She also starred in the shows In Treatment and Mrs. America.

Keke Palmer is set to voice Izzy Hawthorne, Alicia’s granddaughter, introduced in the movie through its elements of time travel. According to Susman, she “has a striking resemblance to her grandmother until she’s put in a tough spot. She has spunk, she has the courage, but she’s completely untrained and unproven, and not sure that she can live up to the family name.”

Palmer is a singer and actress with a history with Nickelodeon on shows like Winx Club and True Jackson: VP but eventually moved onto bigger roles in things like Grease Live, Scream Queens, Hustlers and more.

James Brolin has been tapped to voice Lightyear‘s villain, Zurg. Considering Emperor Zurg is toy Buzz Lightyear’s arch nemesis and even serves as a villain in Toy Story 2, Lightyear will likely introduce the backstory behind how the toy villain came to be.

Brolin is an Emmy-winning actor who has a long resume with roles in projects like Traffic, The Amityville Horror, Life in Pieces, and Westworld.

Taika Waititi is set to voice Mo Morrison in the upcoming film, According to Susman, Mo is “uniquely able to challenge Buzz where he most needs to grow. Mo is a feather in the wind, never quite able to commit to any one direction.”

The Oscar-winning filmmaker has worked as a writer, director and actor in a variety of projects. He won an Oscar for writing Jojo Rabbit and also wrote on What We Do in the Shadows, Flight of the Conchords, and more. He directed all of those projects as well. His acting credits include all of the previously mentioned projects, plus Our Flag Means Death, Free Guy and more.

Dale Soules will voice Darby Steel in Lightyear. Darby, along with Mo, are the comic relief in the movie. Susman shared that the character is “the classic tough curmudgeon with a record. She’s handy, inventive and extremely salty.” Soules starred alongside Uzo Aduba in Orange Is the New Black, and also had roles in Unforgettable, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, New Amsterdam and more.

Isiah Whitlock Jr. will voice Commander Burnside in Lightyear. He’s had roles in TV shows like Atlanta, Elementary and BoJack Horseman, and movies like Cars 3 and Da 5 Bloods.

Efren Ramirez is voicing Diaz in Lightyear. Though the actor has had a number of roles in his career, his most well-known is probably still as Pedro in Napoleon Dynamite. He was also in Mad Families, Casa de mi Padre, Crank: High Voltage and many more projects.

Peter Sohn, an animator and director for Pixar, will voice Buzz’s robotic kitten, Sox. He has lent his voice to a number of other Pixar projects, like Monsters University and WALL-E. He was a production artist on Toy Story 3 and worked as an animator on Ratatouille and The Incredibles.