- 7 weeks ago
Tim Curry never just says a line — he attacks it with wit, menace, and pure theatrical flair. From horror icons to comic masterminds, his voice can make a whisper feel dangerous and a punchline land like lightning. Join us as we celebrate the most unforgettable Tim Curry line deliveries across film, TV, and games!
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00:00Very well, I know who did it.
00:02You do?
00:04And furthermore, I'm going to tell you how it was all done.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for The Times Tim Curry Devoured His Lines,
00:13proving that whether the scene called for comedy, horror, or a full-blown musical number,
00:17he always knew exactly how to make it his own.
00:20So, come up to the lab and see what's on the slab.
00:27Number 10. Sit and Talk With Me
00:30Legend
00:30Stepping out of the shadows as the literal prince of darkness,
00:34Curry anchors Ridley Scott's fantasy with pure theatrical magnetism.
00:39Eat!
00:39I'm not hungry.
00:40You lie.
00:44Just to please me.
00:47I do nothing for your pleasure.
00:49Under pounds of latex and those enormous horns, he still makes every word sound seductive.
00:54His raspy, low rumble never needs to shout.
00:57Instead, he draws Princess Lily in with a slow, hypnotic cadence that feels intimate one second and threatening the next.
01:04All I wish is for you to sit and talk with me.
01:10That contrast makes the performance so memorable.
01:14Curry understands that the quietest threat can be the most unsettling,
01:17especially when it sounds like the speaker is enjoying himself.
01:20It's a wonderfully controlled villain performance,
01:23and those wicked whispers have stuck with fans long after the makeup has faded.
01:28It is enough that we are alone together.
01:32Just the two of us.
01:42Some simple conversation.
01:45Number 9.
01:46The Last Thing I Am Is Beautiful
01:48Tales From The Crypt
01:49Curry gleefully dives into the EC Comics graveyard,
01:53delivering a full-blown performance in which he plays every member of the creepy, downright villainous Brackett family.
01:59Even a self-deprecating joke becomes an excuse to play with a word,
02:03like when he stretches out beauty,
02:05then abruptly chops it off with that harsh little stop,
02:08making the delivery feel gloriously wrong.
02:10Oh, you are so beautiful.
02:20We also love his maniacal cackle here.
02:24It's cold.
02:31There's so much personality packed into every continent that the joke barely needs the punchline.
02:37Curry understood that horror comedy lives in the timing,
02:40and he makes every syllable count.
02:42It's the kind of tiny vocal choice that turns a throwaway joke into something fans relish.
02:48Of course, if you don't love me,
02:49I'll just have to give you back to Paul and let him deal with you.
02:52Number 8.
02:53That's rather nice.
02:54Fern Gully, The Last Rainforest.
02:56As Hexus,
02:58Curry makes toxic waste sound like a high-end spa treatment.
03:02Boil and dry,
03:06poison sludge,
03:09diesel clouds and muck.
03:13When the loggers fire up their machinery,
03:16he slips into a smooth jazz club rhythm that's weirdly enticing.
03:20Rather than playing the villain as a snarling monster,
03:23Curry gives him an oily, decadent purr,
03:25like pollution is a luxury product he can't wait to sell you,
03:28and we can't help but buy into.
03:30He starts with a satisfied sigh,
03:33delivered with enough theatrical zest
03:35to make environmental destruction sound almost glamorous.
03:38Hit me one time.
03:42Hit me twice.
03:44Go!
03:46Ah!
03:46Oh!
03:48That's rather nice.
03:50It's ridiculous, sultry, and cartoonish,
03:53but Curry commits to every second.
03:55He makes Hexus so charmingly toxic
03:57that you almost forget he's literally made of pollution.
04:01Slime beneath me, mmm.
04:04Slime up above.
04:07Mmm, you love mine.
04:13Toxic love.
04:15Number 7.
04:16Smashing the Wild Thornberries.
04:18Swapping his usual dark repertoire for green cargo shorts and endless optimism,
04:23Curry gave Nigel Thornberry a voice that could brighten the jungle on a dark winter night.
04:27Dancing with a chimp in Sumatra of all places?
04:30If I didn't know better,
04:32I'd swear that the rhino was trying to throw me off the trail.
04:35That is odd.
04:37It's smashing!
04:38His signature catchphrase relies entirely on an outrageously exaggerated British inflection
04:43that hits your eardrums like a shot of pure caffeine.
04:46Every time he utters the word,
04:49his voice lifts into a cheerful crescendo that radiates genuine curiosity about the natural world.
04:54Smashing, Marianne!
04:56A camera customized to meet the requirements of the rare bird-eating spider.
05:01Curry could have played Nigel as a straightforward eccentric,
05:04but instead, he made him gloriously lovable and larger than life.
05:08Decades later, that voice is still instantly recognizable.
05:12As far as voice acting goes, this one is absolutely smashing.
05:16We'll visit your father later.
05:18How's that sound?
05:20Smashing!
05:23Smashing!
05:23A rather large elephant just came through this way.
05:26You can get even more smashing deliveries on Ms. Mojo's 24-7 live stream.
05:31Scan the QR code on screen to join us live for non-stop pop culture fun.
05:38That was smashing!
05:40Want to give it a go, darling?
05:42Number 6.
05:42Upstage, lads!
05:44This is my only number.
05:45Muppet Treasure Island.
05:46While educating Jim on professional piracy,
05:49Curry delivers this line with outward patience,
05:51but an unmistakable warning that anyone who doesn't follow orders
05:55may soon be taking their final bow off the plank.
05:58Upstage, lads!
05:59This is my only number.
06:02Surrounded by singing pirates and scene-stealing Muppets,
06:05he completely commands the stage
06:07and chews the scenery with supreme theatrical ego.
06:10His booming projection carries a brilliant winking irony,
06:14acknowledging the absolute hilarity of demanding center stage
06:17while singing a musical number with a bunch of felt shipmates.
06:20We'd never stab you in the back.
06:22We'd never lie or cheat.
06:25We're just a bit the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.
06:29It is wildly energetic and delightfully over-the-top,
06:32perfectly capturing a charismatic rogue
06:34who loves the pure drama of piracy
06:36just as much as the actual treasure itself.
06:39When you're a professional pirate,
06:43you're always in the best of company.
06:55Stepping into the oversized shoes of Stephen King's legendary shape-shifting entity,
07:00Curry redefined nightmare fuel for an entire generation.
07:03Beep, beep, Ritchie!
07:05I didn't hear that.
07:07I didn't!
07:09I think you're bummed.
07:11Come on up, Ritchie!
07:14I got a balloon for you!
07:17When he teases his victims with this vintage prank question,
07:21his voice dances with eerie sing-song playground innocence.
07:24He delivers it with the self-assured confidence of someone who has just told a joke
07:28and finds it far funnier than anyone else in the room.
07:31Excuse me, sir!
07:32Do you have Prince Albert in a can?
07:35You do?
07:36Well, you better let the poor guy out!
07:40Yet right underneath that chipper exterior lies a dangerous current of pure malice,
07:45ready to snap at any second.
07:47The tonal whiplash between playful trickster and ancient demons
07:51shows that his most effective scares relied as much on psychological manipulation
07:55and vocal mimicry as on monster makeup.
07:58Excuse me, ma'am!
07:59Is your refrigerator running?
08:02It is!
08:03Well, you better catch it before it runs away!
08:09Number four.
08:10Now, clue.
08:11As Wadsworth, Curry turns every line into a piece of physical comedy.
08:16His rhythm is so precise that the smallest change in emphasis
08:19can send a sentence completely off the rails.
08:22Whether he's indignantly snapping...
08:23I'm not shouting!
08:26All right, I am!
08:28I'm shouting!
08:29I'm shouting!
08:30I'm shouting!
08:32Defensively confessing...
08:33I know, because I was there.
08:34...or getting worked up over basic arithmetic.
08:36Even if you were right, that would be one plus one plus two plus one,
08:39not one plus two plus one plus one.
08:41But the real treat is watching him reenact the evening's events for the suspects.
08:45He moves through the story at full speed,
08:47changing voices and momentum without losing the thread.
08:50And then there's that wonderfully stretched out now,
08:53which gets funnier as he closes in on the killer.
08:56Curry performs with so much frantic precision
08:59that you almost forget there are actual murders to solve.
09:02Almost.
09:03But one of us wasn't here.
09:04No!
09:05No!
09:06No!
09:07Number three.
09:08Pizza.
09:08Home Alone 2.
09:09Lost in New York.
09:10As Mr. Hector, the concierge of the ultra-luxurious Plaza Hotel,
09:15Curry plays a man whose entire existence is wrapped up in high-class snobbery.
09:19Cedric.
09:20Yes?
09:22Don't count your tips in public.
09:24I'm sorry.
09:25And find out everything you can about that young fellow.
09:30When listing the complimentary luxury amenities offered to smooth over an early mishap,
09:34he groups a limousine and a pizza together as if they carry equal weight.
09:38By the time he reaches pizza, Curry hits a massive micro-hesitation.
09:43And how are we this morning?
09:46Fine.
09:46Is my transportation here?
09:48Out in front, sir.
09:49A limousine and a pizza.
09:52Compliments of the Plaza Hotel.
09:54You can hear his brain briefly stall,
09:56trying to reconcile the humble, greasy cardboard box food
09:59with the posh vocabulary of a five-star hotel.
10:02We also love how quickly this concierge changes his approach,
10:06going from warning the McAllisters to offering advice,
10:09as if Kevin's mom's slap changed a channel in him.
10:12Madam, there are hundreds of parasites out there,
10:15armed to the teeth.
10:18Do bundle up.
10:19It's awfully cold outside.
10:22Number two.
10:23I see you shiver with Antissa.
10:25The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
10:27Patient.
10:28If there's one thing Curry understood better than almost anyone,
10:31it was making a line feel like temptation and threat at once.
10:36And his introduction, delivered in an upper-class Belgravia accent,
10:39does this perfectly.
10:41Lines like...
10:42Well, you got caught with a flat wheel.
10:45How about that?
10:47Demonstrate Frank's ability to toy with the sinister and seductive almost too well.
10:51I'm just a sweet transvestite.
11:04Yet no matter how often you've watched the movie,
11:07his grand exit still makes audiences sit forward, hooked on every single word.
11:12The gap in anticipation makes everyone catch their breath,
11:15as if even the smallest sigh might make us miss what comes next.
11:19He paces every word like he owns the room,
11:22holding audiences completely captive every single time.
11:32Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
11:40Curry's bewildered, nasally indignation turns a bizarre mistaken identity into comedic gold.
11:46Is it true you're really Japanese?
11:47I'm not Japanese!
11:49You just said you were!
11:51I didn't know you was Japanese!
11:53I'm not! I'm not Japanese!
11:55This car makes me want to weep and then die.
11:58Psych!
11:59His delivery drips with such theatrical, melodramatic disgust,
12:03that second-hand embarrassment becomes hilarious.
12:05I feel like I've been incarcerated in a blueberry.
12:09Sean?
12:09This car makes me want to weep and then die.
12:13That can be arranged!
12:14The Three Musketeers
12:15Cardinal Richelieu oozes suave, chilling menace,
12:19weaponizing smooth, aristocratic silk into pure threat.
12:22Ever so humbly assumes the throne,
12:27with the queen by his side.
12:30I would rather die.
12:31That can be arranged!
12:35I'm bolted to the wall!
12:36Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas.
12:39Capturing sheer, operatic, existential fury over immovable domestic fixtures.
12:44Well, I think I might.
12:46I'll just pick myself up and...
12:48Oh, what's this?
12:50Oh, heavens, Lord!
12:51I'm bolted to the wall!
12:54Fight Like a Man!
12:55The Shadow.
12:56Spitting pure, unhinged, sneering villainy.
12:59Elevating his henchman dialogue effortlessly.
13:02Come out of here and fight like a man!
13:06Number one.
13:07I'm escaping to the one place not corrupted by capitalism.
13:11Command and Conquer Red Alert 3.
13:13Now this is a masterclass in live-action video game cutscene acting
13:18that accidentally birthed one of the greatest viral memes of the internet age.
13:22Excellent work, Commander.
13:25I have no doubt that our coalition would prove to be successful.
13:31Playing a desperate, cornered Soviet premier,
13:34Curry leans hard into the campy Cold War sci-fi absurdity of the real-time strategy genre.
13:40When he drops the deadpan punchline about escaping to space,
13:43his delivery strikes a magnificent balance between absolute sincerity and a knowing wink to the player.
13:49You've reigned on my glorious parade.
13:52For this, I'm sending everything I've got at you.
13:56But I won't let you have the satisfaction of catching me.
14:00He plays the moment with such glee,
14:02making the sheer ridiculousness of Fleeing Earth even funnier.
14:06It's a legendary, wonderfully silly comedic exit
14:09that proves his voice acting remains unmatched across every medium.
14:13I'm escaping to the one place that hasn't been corrupted by capitalism.
14:21Space!
14:23Did we leave your favorite Tim Curry line delivery off the list?
14:26Let us know in the comments.