Mike Henry (The Cleveland Show) interview

The voice of Herbert, Bruce and Cleveland Brown on Family Guy, actor Mike Henry reveals all about The Cleveland Show., coming to E4 on Mondays at 10pm from 1st February 2010.

> Take a look at our Top 10 Family Guy Episodes feature.

> Buy Family Guy on DVD.


Hi, Mike! How’s business in Cleveland's deli? Does the credit crunch mean he’s doing things on the cheap?

The deli is going to shit! People still need sandwiches but Cleveland has absolutely lost interest in the deli and has decided to move on.

How come Cleveland speaks so slowly?

[Does impression]. He just doesn’t need to be in a hurry. He’s just laid back. He just lets what’s going to be going to be and you just do the best you can, but why be in a hurry?

Does Cleveland ever hurry?

Well, when some relations are planned upstairs with his new wife, that’ll get him up there pretty quickly!

How many times has the front wall of Cleveland’s house fallen off now? How many bathtubs does he get through a year?

I’d think maybe five or six. And maybe one last time in our pilot. I guess it’s funny enough. It was funny enough for it to be Cleveland’s last straw. Now we can’t do it any more.

Cleveland now stars in his own Family Guy spin-off show The Cleveland Show. Cleveland moves from Rhode Island to Virginia. Did he ever consider moving to Britain instead?

Britain is a great place. But I don’t really know very much about Great Britain. I’m from Virginia so that was a much easier place for us to set the show in.

Do you get British humour? We’re big Family Guys fans over here!

The single best sitcom ever is The Office with Ricky Gervais. That’s it absolutely pure gold. It’s one of my favourite comedy things ever.

Better than the American version of The Office which is still pretty ace?

I’ve got to go with the original!

Are your fellow Family Guy cast members annoyed that you’ve jumped ship?

I don’t think so. Seth Green [voice of Chris Griffin] has his own show. And Alex Borstein [voice of Lois Griffin] is working on plenty of other cool projects. I don’t think they’re too upset. Seth and Alex are on our show too.

Is it weird being famous for your voice but no one knows what you look like?

It’s the greatest thing of all. I can walk the streets anonymously. When I really want something I can turn on the Cleveland or whoever and that might open a few doors. It’s really cool to not be recognised. I know plenty of people who are. Sometimes you just want to go to the store.

Jennifer Lopez has her legs insured, cos that’s her best bit. Do you have your larynx insured?

Um. Gosh. Now maybe I should! Don’t even say that! I’m going to call my car insurance agent right now and see if he does voice boxes! Ha ha!

When did you first realise you could do impressions?

When I was little I just imitated people around me and people I’d see on TV. People laughed and would say, “Hey that’s pretty good.” So I’ve always been impersonating people.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and think you are Cleveland?

Um. More often than I care to admit.

Thanks, Mike! Cleveland lives next door to Peter Griffin. Who’s been your worst ever neighbour?

I used to live in a condo in LA and our downstairs neighbour often had really loud sex in the middle of the night. My favourite occurrence was when I heard a girl screaming, “Oh my god! Oh my god! Wait! What are you doing?” You can stretch your imagination as to what was happening!