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Why Does Patrick Dempsey Narrate Every Commercial?

Sat., Apr. 11, 2009 9:03 AM PDT by Leslie Gornstein

Flynet

Is there any ad campaign that Patrick Dempsey's not the voice of? I like him, but I'd like a little less of him. Is he strapped?
—Adam807, via Twitter

I have no evidence that Dempsey has fallen into the same financial pit as Nic Cage, who is selling off his German über-castle due to, in Cage's own words, "the difficult economic situation." (The horror of having to live in a mere house, without turrets or barbicans or pennant-shaped flags or anything. I just pray Cage can find the strength to stick it out in his New Orleans mansion until Ghost Rider II hits screens in 2011.)

As for Dempsey, yes, he's the voice in the State Farm ads. But come on, son. Haven't you recognized the other hunky names—er, voices—appearing in national campaigns these days?

One wants you to join him at the Applebee's salad bar. Seriously. One guess...

John Corbett. Really.

If you're a fan of the The Dude, you probably have made the connection between Duracell batteries and The Big Lebowski by now. If not, fine, let me spell it out for you: Jeff Bridges.

Also: Queen Latifah has been the voice of Pizza Hut, and George Clooney has pimped Arthur Andersen, AT&T, Aquafina and Budweiser, using nothing but his lungs and his lips.

Sometimes actors are taking this kind of work because of current economic conditions, voice-over talent agent Jenny Bosby George tells me. For an A-list actor, two hours in a booth is easy money. Lots and lots of easy money.

How much? A different source inside one of the top five Hollywood agencies tells me that these ads pay somewhere between $834 up into the six figures, based on the Screen Actors Guild scale. "Occasionally, we will book an A-list client on a massive campaign, knowing that he'll make a killing (six figures, sometimes seven) if the ads run for a long time."

Yes. That's right. Seven. Figures. Not that big actors can live on that alone. Castles, you understand.

"A celebrity would find it difficult to sustain a career just voicing commercials," says my Deep Throat on deep throats. "If the celeb stays out of the spotlight, they won't be worth as much."

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