Wallace Shawn makes anxiety funny without treating the anxious person as a nuisance. His high, nasal voice is instantly recognisable; we value the precision beneath it, though small comic parts can give him too little to do.
Fi1m perspective
Rex sounds sorry to have joined the conversation. In John Lasseter’s Toy Story (1995), Wallace Shawn gives the dinosaur enough worry to make a small contribution feel like a considerable risk. We laughed at the anxiety in his voice, because he seems to regret speaking before anyone has had a chance to object. Don Rickles gives Mr. Potato Head a sharper edge, while Shawn makes insecurity funny without making it tiresome. Both keep the quarrel between Woody and Buzz from swallowing the comedy.
The leading roles complicate the familiar picture of a comic supporting actor. Shawn co-wrote and starred in My Dinner with André (1981), built almost entirely from philosophical conversation with André Gregory. The intensity required there matters to our view of him: he can sustain attention when the talk is the film. The Princess Bride (1987) puts his precise delivery to work as Vizzini, a comic villain, while Louis Malle’s Vanya on 42nd Street (1994) gives him the title role.
Clueless (1995) puts him in another supporting role, as high-school teacher Mr. Wendell Hall, and it is a comedy we recommend with affection. Amy Heckerling’s ear for teenage slang and Alicia Silverstone’s earnest conviction do most of the work; the story still runs thin. Toy Story, released the same year, gives us stronger grounds for singling Shawn out. Its screenplay by Joss Whedon, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow and Andrew Stanton makes room for awkward personalities, and Shawn’s delivery lets Rex be insecure and funny at once.
The limitation is how readily that distinctive, high-pitched nasal voice can become the whole job. Smaller comic roles leave little space for the dramatic intensity of the conversation-led work, though the long run as Rex makes a fair case for returning to a familiar character. We would welcome more parts that give him time to develop a character beyond the first laugh. Start with Toy Story for the timing, then try My Dinner with André to hear what happens when he has longer to speak.
Biography
Wallace Shawn is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for voicing Rex in the Toy Story films (1995–present) and Gilbert Huph in The Incredibles (2004). His live-action roles include Vizzini in The Princess Bride (1987), appearances in six Woody Allen films such as Manhattan (1979) and Radio Days (1987), and Frank in Marriage Story (2019).
Shawn has also worked extensively in television, with recurring roles including Jeff Engels in The Cosby Show (1987–1991), Grand Nagus Zek in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999), Cyrus Rose in Gossip Girl (2008–2012), Dr John Sturgis in Young Sheldon (2017–2024) and Father Frank Ignatius in Evil (2022–2024).
A playwright as well as an actor, Shawn wrote and starred in My Dinner with Andre (1981) and has written plays including the Obie Award-winning Aunt Dan and Lemon (1985) and The Designated Mourner (1996).
