The MVP: Alex Brightman Is the Chameleonic, Triple-Cast Denizen of the Hellaverse

Editor’s Note: Welcome to The MVP, a column where we celebrate the best performances TV has to offer. Whether it be through heart-wrenching outbursts, powerful looks, or perfectly-timed comedy, TV’s most memorable moments are made by the medium’s greatest players—top-billed or otherwise. Join us as we dive deep on our favorite TV performances, past and present:

You don’t have to look very deep to see that Hazbin Hotel is full of colorful characters. They become even more than their outlandish designs thanks to a roster of Broadway megastars and underrated Hollywood A-listers. There is a bit of double-casting within Hazbin, as well as between it and its sister show Helluva Boss, which make up the Hellaverse. But everything from Kimiko Glenn’s constant frenetic energy as Niffty to Richard Steven Horvitz nailing Moxxie’s darker side is surpassed by the triple-casting of two-time Tony nominee Alex Brightman.

Brightman’s foremost role in Hazbin Hotel is Sir Pentious, a humanoid cobra (many of this Hell’s residents have animalistic designs) with animate “Egg Boiz” to do his “evil bidding.” In creator Vivienne Mednrano’s lore, Pentious was a Victorian-era inventor in life. He is very pompous, fitting the image of a villain who seeks validation by defeating an enemy, possibly gaining the approval of fellow, obviously much more competent villains.

Brightman gives an enjoyable performance in the scene that introduces Pentious to the show. With puffed-up importance and goofy bravado, the actor places the character in the school of performative, bumbling villains such as Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Megamind. The funny thing about this archetype is that they can easily flip into a ride-or-die friend. Brightman also maintains the character’s signature affectation, using a raspy “snake” voice with a hiss on every “s” sound.

As Pentious becomes one of the residents of Charlie Morningstar’s (Erika Henningsen) Hell-based hotel, where Sinners can redeem themselves to go to Heaven, Brightman mixes Pentious’s bombast with meekness. Without losing his swagger, Pentious is timid in how he interacts with the hotel’s staff and other residents, anxious to find his place there. As the most melodramatic main character, Brightman’s delivery of pontifical or teary lines is emphasized by Pentious’s hood perking up or his getting anime eyes.

Because of his obvious quest for acceptance, Pentious’s decision to stay at the hotel might have come across as superficial. But an especially important scene for him is the one leading into the song “It Starts With Sorry.” Having been caught in a lie, Pentious is small and defeated as he states that he doesn’t deserve any grace. However, the crux of the show is that Charlie is willing to give him a second chance.

Pentious is entirely cartonesque in concept, yet his arc and relationships are still touching, especially in his lowest moment. And this is what allows Pentious to poignantly contrast with Brightman’s other major Hazbin Hotel character, who is truly pathetic. The main villain of Hazbin Hotel Season 1 is First Man Adam, who perhaps once had some noble qualities, but in the millennia since his death, he has become a nightmare alpha male. Described as a toxic rock star, Adam is outstandingly entitled, utterly convinced of his superiority, and always having fun in an ugly way.  

He is presented in an abundantly negative light, abusing his power to bring extermination day back to Hell early and launch an attack on the hotel. Adam is awful, but Brightman is punchy in his line delivery (though not using one of his obvious character voices in this case), accompanied by Adam’s fast movements in the animation. I, at least, still laugh at his mean humor, waiting for the fallout. 

When this happens in the Season 1 finale, it is the defining moment of Brightman’s performance as Adam. Having led the exorcist angel army against Charlie and friends, he is taunted and beaten down by Lucifer (Jeremy Jordan) until Charlie calls off her father. But Adam is more pissed about not having the final word. He rages, clinging to his superiority, while the main cast simply looks on at him, with little left to prove. The slight desperate edge that Brightman brings to this dialogue proves how immature and pathetic Adam is.

It’s poetic that Brightman voices both Pentious and Adam, as they are mirror opposites — especially in the context of the widespread theory that Adam must reincarnate in Hell since Pentious ascended to Heaven, after their respective “deaths.” Furthermore, Pentious’s growth contrasted with Adam’s lack thereof is portrayed as being due to interpersonal connections. Vital throughout the Hellaverse is the depiction of characters who are or are not able to acknowledge their vulnerabilities in healthy ways, and how these worries are best soothed by loved ones.

Apropos of this is Brightman’s character in Helluva Boss, the companion piece set in the same world but far away from the storylines surrounding Hell’s rapport with Heaven. One subplot concerns protagonist Blitzø (Brandon Rogers) making amends with his estranged childhood best friend, Brightman’s semi-robotic clown superstar Fizzarolli. Fizz has another challenging voice for the actor to adopt; his speech is gravelly, implied to be the result of damaged vocal chords from being caught in an explosion in his youth, which is also the cause of his acrobatic, Doc Ock-style limbs.

For a while, Fizzarolli is all about his confidence, as one of Hell’s favorite celebrities, living the high life and acting as another extension of the hallucinogenic setting. Brightman is a riot as this character, who is overtly flirty, savagely derisive, and operatically showy; one of the Hellaverse’s optimal examples of wild character design meeting a range of comedy and a resonant arc underlying it all. Fizz makes some brief appearances before, but his arc and its importance come into focus in the back-to-back Helluva Boss Season 2 installments “Oops” and “Mammon’s Magnificent Musical Mid-season Special” (episodes 6 and 7). In the former, Fizz and Blitzø are briefly taken hostage and resolve most of their problems as they fight to escape. 

Neither of them gives way in terms of being obstinate characters. Throughout, Fizz sarcastically calls out Blitzø and points out with annoyance that a clown does not have the skills to fight bad guys. But Fizz also has an uplifting moment during this sequence, after Blitzø, anguished, establishes that the explosion he caused really was an accident (but still apologizes). Fizz is proven to be very grounded when saying that his rehabilitation was “painful and challenging,” but that he’s not “broken,” now has a great partner and lucrative career, and has lived a “pretty great” life. And Brightman’s voice acting is again great here because Fizz is audibly occupied by the fight while simultaneously saying all this casually, but from the heart.

Fizz’s distraction song of pure randomness in “Oops” and his cathartic power ballad in “Mammon” are also highlights. But the latter episode is also the one that flips the script and reveals his deeply insecure side. In an abusive relationship with his manager, intense anxiety is apparent in everything Fizz says during this episode. His panic attack backstage is distressing to watch, with the short breathing and the very feeling of it clearly coming through. However, Fizz and his partner Ozzie (James Monroe Iglehart) have a beautiful scene when Fizz breaks down and Ozzie lovingly tells him that his fame isn’t why they are together.

Obviously, just the fact that Brightman is doing all these theatrical voices while pulling off multiple coherent arcs is a huge deal, before you even think about the emotions they provoke. These three tangible characters all have flair and are cornerstones of the Hellaverse as Pentious and Fizz heartbreakingly reveal their insecurities and are lifted up by others, while Adam refuses to admit his flaws. Many of the actors in this universe have to balance wacky characterizations with sincerity, but no other instances are quite as impressive as Brightman’s (mostly) endearing selection. 

Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss are currently streaming on Prime Video.

Abigail Stevens is a Boston-based culture and travel writer who is obsessed with epic fantasy, Broadway musical numbers, and adult animation. More of her work can be found on her website, abbyloveswriting.com.

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