During the 2022 Dragon Con, voice actor Jim Cummings attended a panel where he talked about performing voicework for several Star Wars projects. Cummings is a veteran of the industry and well known for a plethora of famous characters, including Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck, and several other movies, TV shows, and videogames. However, Star Wars fans will know him as lovable rogue and space pirate Hondo Ohnaka, which Cummings first voiced in 2008’s The Clone Wars series, and continued to voice in Star Wars Rebels and Smuggler’s Run, an interactive attraction at Disney Parks’ Star Wars themed Galaxy Edge. At the panel, Cummings shared his experience with the character and the franchise.

How He Got the Role
Before Cummings was even a part of The Clone Wars cast, he was following the show and admired it from afar: “I remember seeing the animation and it was brand new, like nothing you’ve ever seen before. I was over there and Hondo wasn’t even born yet. We were looking at animation stills. It doesn’t look like anything else, it’s a very singular look. I just thought it was magnificent. The year after that I would end up being a part of it.”
Cummings was originally invited by Lucasfilm to read for a different part in Clone Wars. “I got a call sheet and auditioned for another character, then I saw [concept art of] Hondo and he looked pretty cool.”
When Cummings was finally able to read for Hondo, he made sure to give as much complexity in his performance. “I just saw him and he seemed like the coolest cat. But I said, ‘I don’t want him to be just a bad guy’ […] so I put a lot of humor in him and slowly but surely he became an endearing rogue as opposed to just a rogue.”
Where Hondo’s Voice Comes From

Cummings used two real life vices for inspiration, and also shared that most people are unable to guess the inspiration he uses. “Hondo is two accents put together; two character voices put together. I always ask this, and nobody ever gets it. It’s two actors, who are bodacious character actors in their own right, Charles Bronson and Yul Brenner. So I put them together, and out came Hondo Ohnaka.”
Cummings was also asked to give Hondo an accent, and Cummings tried his best to give him one that was not easily identifiable.
Working with Dave Filoni and George Lucas
While working on Clone Wars, Cummings got to work with Lucas, who Cummings remarks was surprisingly invested in the entire process, rather than treat the show as a small side project.
He also praised showrunner and producer Dave Filoni, who is currently executive creative director of Lucasfilm and directs several episodes of Disney+’s Star Wars projects such as The Mandolorian. He’s a great great guy, and a fantastic director too, and by that I mean he kept all my ad-libs [laughs].” Cummings also stated that he loved how Filoni would have the voice cast record together for greater chemistry and allowed them to read the script at their own pace “He’d let us read four or five pages at a time, so you got this great flow.”
What the Future Holds
Toward the end of the panel, one fan asked Cummings if, with so many animated characters such as Ahsoka and Cad Bane making the jump to live action Star Wars projects, if it was possible if he would voice a live action version of his favorite space pirate. While it’s unlikely Disney would ask Jim Cummings to play Hondo on set in full makeup, it’s not too far-fetched to think that he might be tapped to dub the character’s lines. Cummings seemed ecstatic about the idea. “I’ll do Hondo forever. I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”