Apple TV+’s crime series ‘Black Bird’ centres around the suspected serial killer Larry DeWayne Hall, who is imprisoned at a federal prison referred to as Springfield for abducting and raping Jessica Roach. Federal prosecutor Edmund Beaumont and FBI Special Agent Lauren McCauley send James “Jimmy” Keene undercover to Springfield to befriend Larry and elicit his confession to the supposed murder of Tricia Reitler, along with the location of her believed dead body.

In addition, the series also takes a deep look at the investigations of Larry’s claimed victims and his life. One thing that strikes out in Paul Walter Hauser’s portrayal of the purported serial killer is his high-pitched voice. Naturally, the viewers must be thinking whether the genuine Larry Hall has such a voice. Let’s find out!

Larry Hall

Is Larry Hall’s Voice Real in Black Bird?

Larry Hall really has a high-pitched voice. Larry’s voice is described as “quiet,” “little,” “flat,” and “high-pitched” in ‘In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption,’ the original text of the program, written by Jimmy Keene and Hillel Levin. “Larry’s genuine voice is, from what I heard, fairly outrageously high-pitched and distracting,” Paul Walter Hauser said in an interview with EW. The actor had to rely on audio accessible on YouTube to prepare for his part.

According to Hauser, the actual Larry’s high-pitched voice is an intrinsic part of his nature and qualities. “It [Larry’s genuine voice] felt kind of dishonest. It felt very much like he was putting it on sometimes to elicit pity or to seem naive or to seem dim-witted,” Hauser told E! News. In his portrayal, Hauser uses the high-pitched voice as a tool of deception and to present Larry’s obviously arrogant innocence.

How Did Paul Walter Hauser Change His Voice?

To polish his impersonation, Paul Walter Hauser had to capture the high-pitch of Larry’s true voice. “His [Larry’s] true voice is high-pitched like that. […] It’s cartoonishly high. I have to attempt to capture that,” the actor told E! News in the same interview. According to Hauser, Larry’s voice is pitched higher than the voice he employs in the show. “I actually diluted it [Larry’s voice]. It was higher and more bizarre than I even played it. He was at like an 11 out of 10, the true voice. And I took it down to maybe an eight, eight and a half,” the actor added.

Since mimicking the actual Larry’s higher register is a key component of his performance, Hauser had to make modifications to his own voice carefully. “When Mahershala Ali did that film Green Book, the real guy he was playing, he said the register was so high-pitched that he had to kind of cut it in half to make it believable and also not distracting for the viewer in the film, and I kind of did the same thing with Larry,” Hauser told EW in the same interview. Even though he “hated” doing the high-pitched voice, Hauser was aware of its significance.

“I was mindful that this [‘Black Bird’] is a genre work. We are attempting to shock people and freak them out and that voice would definitely go a long way in making the audience feel uncomfortable,” Hauser stated to E! News about the importance of his high-pitched voice in the program.

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