Hynden Walch

Hynden Walch began on camera rather than behind a microphone. Born in Davenport, Iowa, in 1971, she is Debbie, the bride-to-be, in Groundhog Day, she has a small part in Jerry Maguire, and she played Mae Capone in the 1993 television version of The Untouchables. Then she moved into animation and effectively stayed there.

Two roles account for most of her recognition, and they demand opposite things. Starfire in Teen Titans is sincerity with no irony in it whatsoever, an alien who means every word she says, and holding that note without it curdling into a joke is far harder than the character sounds. She has now played her across the original series, Teen Titans Go!, the films and the crossovers, which is more than twenty years of the same voice. Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time is the tougher job: a monarch and a scientist whose warmth is at least partly a management technique, and Walch lets the calculation show through just often enough.

She also owns a substantial share of the DC animated slate, playing Harley Quinn in The Batman, Batman: Assault on Arkham, Batman: Hush and Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. Elsewhere: Penny Sanchez in ChalkZone, Elsie in Stanley, Alice May in Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, young Nia in Gurren Lagann, Yutaka Kobayakawa in Lucky Star, and the speaking voice of Disney's Alice.