Growing up in the late nineties, you probably didn't think much about the people behind the screen. You just saw three idiots trying to scam kids out of their allowance for giant jawbreakers. It felt real. The cul-de-sac felt like your neighborhood, and the voices? They were iconic. Honestly, looking back at the cast of Ed Edd n Eddy, it’s kind of a miracle how well that group clicked. Most cartoons swap actors every few seasons or rely on a single superstar doing twenty voices. Not this one. This was a tight-knit crew of Canadian voice talent that basically stayed together from 1999 all the way through the series finale movie in 2009.
Danny Antonucci, the creator, wanted something raw. He didn't want polished, "perfect" voices. He wanted grit. He wanted characters that sounded like they actually had dirt under their fingernails and a bit of spit in their mouths when they yelled. And boy, did they yell.
Matt Hill and the Art of Being Ed
Matt Hill is a legend in the Vancouver voice-acting scene. If you've ever watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, he was the guy in the Raphael suit. But as Ed, he tapped into something totally different. Ed was the "muscle," but also the heart—and the smell. Hill’s performance as Ed is a masterclass in controlled chaos. He wasn't just doing a "dumb guy" voice. He was doing a hyper-specific, sci-fi obsessed, buttered-toast-loving kid who had zero volume control.
Think about the physical toll of that role. Hill spent a decade screaming "GRAVY!" and "BUTTERED TOAST!" into a microphone. It’s a miracle he still has vocal cords. What most people don't realize is that Hill is actually quite articulate and soft-spoken in real life, which makes the transformation even more impressive. He brought a genuine sweetness to Ed that prevented the character from becoming annoying. You actually liked the big lug.
Samuel Vincent and the Intellectual Panic of Edd (Double D)
Then you have Samuel Vincent. If Matt Hill provided the volume, Vincent provided the anxiety. Double D was the moral compass, the kid with the label maker and the mysterious hat he never took off. Vincent’s performance was all about the "stutter-step." He had this way of making Double D sound like he was constantly three seconds away from a nervous breakdown.
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Interestingly, Samuel Vincent and Matt Hill are actually close friends. They’ve worked together on countless projects, including Gundam SEED and Slugterra. That real-world chemistry is probably why the dynamic between Ed and Double D felt so natural. When Double D was scolding Ed for eating a mattress, the frustration felt authentic because those two guys had been recording in booths together for years.
Tony Sampson: The Man Behind the Scam
The cast of Ed Edd n Eddy wouldn't be complete without the leader. Tony Sampson played Eddy, the loud-mouthed, short-statured mastermind of every failed business venture in Peach Creek. Eddy was a hard character to like on paper. He was greedy, loud, and often mean. But Sampson gave him a layer of desperation. You could hear that Eddy wasn't just trying to get money; he was trying to get respect.
Sampson’s career took a different turn later on. While Hill and Vincent are still deeply embedded in the industry, Sampson eventually stepped away from professional acting to pursue a career in the oil sands of Alberta. It’s a very "Eddy" move in a way—leaving the glitz of the booth for a more rugged, blue-collar path. It makes his performance feel even more grounded in hindsight. He wasn't some Hollywood kid; he was a guy who knew how to work.
The Supporting Players Who Stole the Show
You can't just talk about the three Eds. The "other kids" in the cul-de-sac were just as vital.
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- Keenan Christensen as Jimmy: He captured that fragile, high-pitched "retainer" voice perfectly.
- Janyse Jaud as Sarah and Lee Kanker: Talk about range. Jaud played the most spoiled brat on the block and the toughest leader of the Kanker sisters.
- Peter Kelamis as Rolf: This might be the best voice in the whole show. Kelamis based Rolf’s accent on a mix of his own Greek heritage and a general "Old Country" vibe. Every weird idiom about "The Son of a Shepherd" was delivered with such conviction that you believed Rolf’s culture actually existed somewhere in Europe.
- Kathleen Barr as Kevin and Marie Kanker: Barr is a titan in the industry. Her ability to switch between the cool-guy jock Kevin and the gravelly, menacing Marie Kanker is legendary.
Why the Voice Acting Felt So Different
Most cartoons today use "wall-to-wall" recording where everyone is in the booth at once. Ed Edd n Eddy did this too, but with a twist. Antonucci encouraged ad-libs. If a line didn't feel "gross" enough or "kid" enough, the actors were allowed to play with it. This led to a lot of the weird noises and non-sequiturs that fans still quote today.
There’s also the fact that the cast stayed largely stagnant. In the ten years the show ran, the main voices didn't change. You grew up with these specific voices. When you hear Tony Sampson’s rasp, you aren't just hearing a character; you’re hearing a decade of consistency. That’s rare in animation, especially when shows get rebooted or shifted between studios.
The Kanker Sisters: A Casting Masterclass
The Kanker sisters—Lee, Marie, and May—were the only real "villains" of the show. The casting here was brilliant because it paired veteran voice actresses like Janyse Jaud and Kathleen Barr with Jenn Forgie (and later Erin Fitzgerald) as May. They managed to make the sisters sound genuinely intimidating but also somehow like they belonged in the same world as the Eds. The vocal contrast between the sisters’ raspy, heavy-smoker voices and the Eds’ more youthful tones created a perfect tension.
The Impact of the 2009 Finale
When Ed Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show aired in 2009, it was the end of an era. The cast of Ed Edd n Eddy got to do something most voice actors don't: they got to give their characters a real ending. We finally met Eddy's brother (voiced by Terry Klassen), and the actors got to play scenes that were actually emotional.
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Seeing Eddy break down and admit his flaws was a huge moment. Tony Sampson’s performance in the final twenty minutes of that movie is arguably the best work in the entire series. It stripped away the "scam artist" persona and showed a scared kid. It’s rare for a slapstick comedy to land an emotional punch like that, and it only worked because the audience had spent a decade trusting these specific voices.
Where Are They Now?
If you're looking for these actors today, you'll find them in surprising places.
- Matt Hill: Still very active. He does a lot of work in Western animation and anime dubbing. He’s also a huge fitness enthusiast and runs a lot.
- Samuel Vincent: He is everywhere. If you watch a cartoon produced in Canada, there is a 90% chance he’s in the credits. He’s done everything from My Little Pony to Ninjago.
- Peter Kelamis: He’s had a successful transition into live-action acting, appearing in shows like Stargate Universe and The Man in the High Castle.
- Erin Fitzgerald (May Kanker): She’s become a massive star in the video game world, voicing characters in Persona, Danganronpa, and The Last of Us.
It’s interesting to see how their paths diverged. Some stayed in the booth, some went to the screen, and one went to work on the pipelines. But for a specific generation, they will always be the kids from the cul-de-sac.
How to Appreciate the Cast Today
If you want to really understand the work that went into this, don't just watch the show. Go find the "behind the scenes" clips on YouTube from the early 2000s. Watching Matt Hill and Tony Sampson record together is an eye-opener. They aren't just standing there reading lines; they are moving, sweating, and physically acting out the scams.
The best way to respect the legacy of the cast of Ed Edd n Eddy is to recognize that they weren't just "voices." They were performers who helped define the aesthetic of a whole decade of animation. They took a show about three losers and made it feel like a home.
Actionable Steps for Fans
- Watch the Big Picture Show: If you only remember the episodes, the movie is essential for seeing the cast’s emotional range.
- Check out the Vancouver VA Scene: Look up other shows from the same era like Beast Wars or ReBoot to see how this same pool of talent dominated the industry.
- Support the Actors: Many of them, like Samuel Vincent and Matt Hill, appear at smaller Canadian conventions. They are famously friendly to fans of the show.
- Listen for the "Voice Prints": Try to spot Peter Kelamis or Kathleen Barr in modern games or shows. Once you recognize their "voice print," you'll start hearing them everywhere.