Gravitational Pull

Curious Aaron solves iPhone voice-over mystery

Posted on 09 June 2007

It was driving me a little crazy — no, make that A LOT crazy. Couldn’t sleep, couldn’t focus on reading the paper, couldn’t think about washing my hair in the shower — WHO was the voice behind Apple’s compelling new iPhones ads? You know the one where the guy is watching “Pirates of the Carribean” on his iPhone? “Hmm, did anybody say calamari?” he asks and then gee-whizzes his way through the phone’s menus and maps and all to call a seafood restaurant. Or the one where he’s reading the New York Times on his iPhone. It’s not “the kinda, sorta looks like the Internet Internet,” he says as he zooms around the phone’s browser. Who was the actor behind the voiceover?

For once, Google totally failed me. Searching for every combination of words turned up nothing. I even resorted to reading all 141 comments on Engadget to see if anyone named the mystery voice. Nope, nada. I’m reading blogs I’ve never heard of before, like iPhone Gossip and AdFreak. Nobody had it.

Ok, I can figure this out, I thought. I don’t watch all that much TV and the voice was familiar enough that I was pretty sure it was someone I had heard recently. Could it be one of the actors on “30 Rock”? Hmm, definitely not Alec Baldwin. Maybe that guy who plays Pete? Nope. Okay, someone from a kids show, maybe? Not Joe from Blue’s Clues. Definitely not Dora the Explorer.

Stayed up listening again and again. No luck. Finally, this morning, emptying the dishwasher and not even thinking about it, it came to me…

From the best kids movie in ages, Curious George, it’s not the star Will Ferrell, but the guy who voices “Junior,” son of the owner of the Natural History Museum. That’s David Cross! He was hilarious as Tobias on Arrested Development, too. Now I need a nap.