Contrary to internet rumors of being Mako Iwamatsu’s understudy in preparation for voicing Iroh in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Baldwin had actually earned the part by auditioning for it. He first began voicing the character for brief pieces of dialogue in the show’s second season due to Iwamatsu being unable to record for them before passing on, all of which were mixed in with the material Iwamatsu already completed. Baldwin would later voice the character full-time for the final season, various video games based on the franchise, and for the second and third seasons of The Legend of Korra.
Before The Last Airbender's final season aired, Baldwin also performed a substantial portion of Splinter's dialogue in the movie TMNT after Mako died during production. His recordings would once again be mixed in with Iwamatsu’s, thanks to their uncanny similarities.[3]
Nearly six months after The Last Airbender concluded, Baldwin would once again succeed Iwamatsu by voicing Aku in the 2009 video game Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall. And nearly three years after Korra concluded production, and after Iroh’s final appearance in Season 3’s “The Ultimatum”, Baldwin reprised the role of Aku for the fifth season of Samurai Jack.[4] In 2020, he’d later play Aku once again in the Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time video game.
At the time the fifth season of Samurai Jack was being released, series creator Genndy Tartakovsky was asked about Baldwin's casting and made the following statement in an interview with The Verge:
"It was hard. For a while, I thought we should reimagine Aku with a different voice, perhaps even use a different character. But then I realized I love Aku too much, so we auditioned a few people, and Greg really did the best job. Honestly, nobody can replace Mako, he was that special, that unique, especially the performance he made for Aku. But Greg did really well. On the last episode, Mako’s daughter and grandson came by, and they watched him record, and they were crying. It was really amazing, because they heard the voice of their dad and grandfather."[5]
On April 2, 2021, Baldwin announced that he was cast in an undisclosed original role for the Disney Television Animation program, The Ghost and Molly McGee.[8] Upon release, Baldwin’s role was later revealed to be one of the members of the Ghost Council, and the show’s second season revealed his character’s name to be Bartholomew. Baldwin would also go on to provide additional voices for the series.
In a rare live-action performance, he appeared as communist writer Dutch Zweistrong in Hail, Caesar!.[9]
Personal life
Baldwin currently resides in Albuquerque with his wife Melissa Baldwin.[10] Together they have two children, Sydney and Cooper.[11]
According to an interview with The Dot and Line, Baldwin was able to fill-in for Mako on his voice roles by listening to the cast album of Pacific Overtures, a musical that Mako starred in, which was a personal favorite album of Baldwin’s.[12]
In May 2023, Baldwin posed the question on his Twitter account as to whether he should run for Governor of New Mexico in 2026.[13] In November 2024, Baldwin reiterated his interest in running for governor "beyond [the] fractured two party system" as part of the White Lotus Party, named in reference to the secret society in Avatar: The Last Airbender which his voiced character, Iroh, is part of.[14]
^"White Knight Chronicles (2010 video game)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 28 July 2021. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
