Seth Rogen, Nardwuar, and Ryan Reynolds among suggested stand-ins for Morgan Freeman in TransLink announcements
When news that Morgan Freeman would be voicing a series of announcements for TransLink hit the Interweb on Tuesday (May 22), some couldn’t help but to be a little cynical: exactly how much were these recordings costing taxpayers? (Full disclosure: nada, due to a partnership with Visa for which Freeman is a spokesperson.)
And, more importantly, couldn’t TransLink, the regional transit authority of a Canadian city, have sprung for a Canadian voice actor?
Well, thanks to sexual-misconduct allegations that have surfaced against Freeman today (May 24)—and TransLink’s quick actions in pausing the rollout of the actor’s pre-recorded Visa ads masquerading as transit announcements—Vancouver’s Twittersphere is having a field day with which Canuck voices could and should replace the 80-year-old in a number of commute-oriented broadcasts.
Leading the pack is Vancouver-born comic and actor Seth Rogen. The funnyman has a rather, erm, distinct laugh, and was first suggested by Postmedia reporter Stephanie Ip. Rogen said he is down to serve as a replacement for Freeman, even asking TransLink to “hit me up”.
Yo if they need a replacement now let me know.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) May 24, 2018
Hit me up
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) May 24, 2018
Many Vancouverites expressed their approval of the idea on Twitter.
Sweet geezus please make this happen. Imagine being stuck between Commercial and Main for 5 minutes but Seth comes on and laughs about there being delays. We'd all relax a little bit.
— Wyatt Arndt (@TheStanchion) May 24, 2018
YES!!! Logically, the West Coast Express would have to be renamed The Pineapple Express pic.twitter.com/6cvC8ga5YU
— Richard Lee (@dadudeSevrythng) May 24, 2018
PLEASE. And instead of the musical dings when the doors are about to close on the sky trains can it be Seth’s laugh??
— ˗ˏˋ Kaiya ˊˎ˗ (@heyhiyakaiya) May 24, 2018
And for 4/20, he has to get stoned first and record a whole new set of translink announcements for single-day usage.
— Christina Myers (@ChristinaMyersA) May 24, 2018
Ryan Reynolds has also been thrown into the ring, with some saying that Rogen and the Deadpool 2 star should team up on a set of announcements.
Can @VancityReynolds Deadpool voice the @TransLink announcements instead?
— Jane Ryu (@lovejaneee) May 24, 2018
I want ryan reynolds. Deadpool telling you facts & making up BS about Vancouver would make any delay on @TransLink worth it
— Scott Welsh (@SHW11990) May 24, 2018
Please do this! I would have a much more enjoyable ride home. I agree with others though, you need to team up with @VancityReynolds for the announcements!
— Casey Sunshine (@The0ri) May 24, 2018
..in Deadpool character, "Mind the #@*&ing gap" or "The next station is $&#@ Holdom".
— Grace Wong (@ggrraccee) May 24, 2018
Other names that have been suggested include Nardwuar the Human Serviette, Michael Bublé, Tamara Taggart, and criminally underrated Mission-born chanteuse Carly Rae Jepsen.
The most recognizable voice in #vancouver is @nardwuar. @TransLink should have gotten him to do the station announcements.
— Kay Higgins (@kghiggins) May 23, 2018
Ongoing list of Vancouver celebrities who could do @TransLink announcements instead of Morgan Freeman:
— Mel Woods (@intothemelwoods) May 24, 2018
-Seth Rogan
-Ryan Reynolds
-Michael Buble
-Baklava Man
-that one bus driver who already does announcements like he's a commercial airline pilot
-Canuck the crow
@TransLink can turn lemons into lemonade here. How about getting one of your major sponsors to fund recording some local voices for randomly programmed and subtly personalized train announcements. I nominate @nardwuar and @jbshaynevan #MorganFreeman
— John BC Clark (aka Louis Cyphre) (@BCBillyCarter) May 24, 2018
Why not see if @tamarataggart will voice @TransLink announcements? She has a friendly voice & has taken transit locally. Or I'll do it.
— BethofBC (@BethofBC) May 24, 2018
More distinctive voices from the hood, @SiriusAdventure. Like your 1 per station suggestion. Fun!@MichaelJFoxOrg @VancityReynolds @michaelbuble @Grimezsz
— judy rudin (@judyrudin) May 24, 2018
Hayden Christensen
Cobie Smulders@kristinkruk
Noel Fisher
Dan Mangan
Carly Rae Jepsen (repping SOF!)
TransLink has stated that it has reached out to Visa, which purchased ad space on Metro Vancouver's transit system to air the Morgan Freeman–voiced announcements, to determine how it will proceed with the campaign. The recordings were launched with the intention of promoting the use of credit cards in TransLink's new tap-to-pay function.
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