Barry became famous for some lines that are kind of funnier than the expected, and one of the most known sentences are “you were almost a Jill sandwich”. These lines, were they improvised or they were indeed part of the script?
Barry Burton had some strange lines, indeed. No, I did not improvise those lines. Repeat: I did not make them up! I remember being surprised when I initially saw them. I did them because they were in the script. As a voice actor, I did my job. What’s more, there was no comment about these lines from the director(s). The scripts had been approved. As a voice actor, you don’t complain too much if you want to keep working. So, I did the lines and, subsequently, was severely criticized for them on the Internet.
For those that do not know, a recording session is not a democracy. It is the performance of a script that is created after long preparation and decision-making by people that the voice actors have (usually) never met. It’s all part of a big process, related to a budget, part of which will pay the actors’ and others’ wages. The voice actor is there to deliver lines written by someone else, and under the guidance of the director, who works to satisfy the client’s vision. The writers are very important, probably more so than the actors.