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Stephen Hawking debuts new voice (for fun, of course)

Commentary: In a charity skit, the physicist listens to Liam Neeson, Bill Gates and Miss Piggy -- among many others -- before choosing, well, someone more appropriate.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


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Some stars really didn't impress.

Comic Relief/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

Ever tried listening to yourself?

It's not always pleasant, is it?

Haven't you ever wished that your voice could be more enticing, more mellifluous?

Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking is clearly tired of the Intel-designed machine that emits his words for him.

So he auditioned some of the great and the mediocre to see whose voice fits best. It was all for amusement, you understand -- part of the UK's Comic Relief charity drive.

But look at all the desperate famous faces who thought they were just right for the part. Liam Neeson tried his best to be, well, Liam Neeson.

Rebel Wilson was surely one of the favorites. Until she pronounced "Stephen" like the first name of the Golden State Warriors' Curry.

When confronted with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, Hawking could only muse: "I don't think anyone would take me f***ing seriously if I sounded like that."

Miss Piggy tried her best. Bill Gates, well, tried. Lin-Manuel Miranda and John Boyega offered their own perspectives. Boyega, for example, said he should get the job because he's actually been to space before.

Eddie Redmayne, who played Hawking in "The Theory of Everything," was appalled he even had to audition.

I won't spoil the ending. The winner, however, was so devilishly appropriate that one wonders why they even bothered with auditions.

The video has already leaped into the YouTube Trending chart and will surely give many food for thought and imagination for the robot world to come.

Still, there was one star who didn't see the point of the audition. She believes Hawking's voice is "super sexy and cool."

That was Siri.