‘Psych 2: Lassie Come Home’ Actor Timothy Omundson Says Something’s ‘Missing’ From His Performance Because of Stroke
Psych is the TV show that keeps on giving. The series went off the air in 2014 but it keeps coming back to give fans more from Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez), Burton “Gus” Guster (Dulé Hill), and the rest of the Psych cast.
After a TV movie in 2017, the cast reunited for a sequel. Debuting July 15, 2020, on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, Psych 2: Lassie Come Home focuses on Carlton “Lassie” Lassiter (Timothy Omundson). Keep reading to learn what Omundson says he couldn’t bring to the character this time around as the result of a stroke.
Timothy Omundson had a stroke in 2017
In late April 2017, Omundson experienced a massive stroke. His recovery meant taking fewer acting jobs. And he documents his physical therapy milestones on social media. Since the accident, he also slowly returned to work. He appeared in guest roles on This Is Us and American Housewife.
He made a brief appearance in ‘Psych: The Movie’
Because of the timing of the stroke, Omundson only made a brief appearance in Psych: The Movie. Fans may remember the actor appearing as Lassiter on a FaceTime call, explaining he couldn’t join the gang to work on a case.
Disappointed they didn’t get to see more of the surly detective, the second Psych movie makes up for it. The sequel is all about Lassiter. In the movie, Omundson’s character is in a recovery facility after getting shot on the job.
Timothy Omundson says he had difficulty getting his character’s voice right
During a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, Omundson discussed returning to the character he first portrayed on screen in 2006. When asked about revisiting the role, he said “it came pretty easily, although there was something that was missing.” What did he have trouble with? Replicating Lassiter’s voice.
“So much of Lassie was his voice, because where that voice was located sort of deep in his chest was very much how I got that character,” he said. “And my voice was really affected by the stroke, my lungs were pretty affected, so I wasn’t able to have that same sort of boom that I used to.”
He continued, saying he’d prefer to redo some takes in Psych 2: Lassie Come Home.
“In fact, I was watching the movie again last night, and felt that I wish I could’ve shot the whole day again because my voice is much stronger than when we did it,” he said. “And so, I mean, I can tell the difference, but hopefully nobody else will.”
Back on set for the first time, he had mixed emotions
Filming Psych 2: Lassie Come Home in the spring of 2019 marked Omundson’s big return to set. Understandably, he had all sorts of feelings on his first day back.
“It’s pretty complicated,” he said. “I mean, mostly, it was overwhelmingly wonderful. And then it was also really kind of terrifying because I was trying to figure out how to work with my new brain and new body post-stroke, which was a very, very different process.”
He also noted a “pretty steep learning curve.” He realized his former “superpower” of being able to almost instantly memorize lines had disappeared.
Watch Psych 2: Lassie Come Home on Peacock.
