Which actor voiced and performed motion capture for Pikachu in Detective Pikachu?

Ryan Reynolds voiced and performed motion capture for Pikachu in Detective Pikachu.

The 2019 film presents Pikachu as a talking detective whose voice is heard by Tim Goodman, played by Justice Smith. Reynolds supplied the character’s vocal performance and used motion capture to shape Pikachu’s facial expressions and movements.

This portrayal differs from the standard Pokémon anime, where Pikachu usually communicates with repeated versions of its name and is voiced in Japanese by Ikue Ōtani. The film’s talking Pikachu was a deliberate feature of its mystery-comedy story and its adaptation of the Detective Pikachu game.

Several actors were considered during development, but Reynolds became the final casting choice. Ken Watanabe appears as Detective Yoshida, while Justice Smith plays the human lead, so neither actor is the voice of the title Pokémon.