Why You Never See The Original Verizon Commercial Guy Anymore

Long before the AT&T commercial girl, there was the Verizon "Can You Hear Me Now" guy. His real name is Paul Marcarelli, and he became known as the face of Verizon for nearly 10 years, although he was initially cast because of his ability to blend in. "Our casting specifications called for an everyman with something quirky or memorable about them," Marvin Davis, vice president of Verizon Wireless, told USA Today in 2004 when Marcarelli's commercials were in full swing. The actor became so recognizable that he was approached by fans during inopportune times. Speaking to Time in 2015, Marcarelli recalled people saying the catchphrase to him while he was at a funeral.

A year after that interview, the Verizon guy turned into the Sprint guy. Marcarelli starred in the "Paul Switched" commercial for Verizon's competitor in 2016. "Hey, I'm Paul, and I used to ask, 'If you could hear me now with Verizon?' Not anymore. I'm with Sprint now," he said in the TV spot. People may not have known him by name, but Sprint was banking on consumer familiarity with the former Verizon spokesperson. "I think a lot of people are going to recognize Paul ... and ask themselves, 'what happened?'" Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure told USA Today in June 2016.

Prior to that campaign, people had not seen Marcarelli on their TV screens for several years, as he pivoted to working behind the camera in film.

Much like the iconic Flo from Progressive, Paul Marcarelli saw his net worth soar thanks to his Verizon campaigns. "[I] could pay my bills, and had the freedom to pursue other creative endeavors like writing and producing independent films," he told Time in 2015.

In 2011, around the time he stopped working for Verizon, Marcarelli wrote and produced his first feature film, "The Green." The semi-autobiographical film was about Michael (played by Jason Butler Harner), a gay man who moves from New York City back home to Connecticut. Marcarelli used his extensive commercial work to pull the independent project together on a budget under $1 million. "I've spent hundreds of days on commercial sets in the last ten years. If I didn't learn something along the way, I wasn't paying very close attention," he told Interview in October 2011.

A couple of years later, Marcarelli wrote and produced another feature film, "Clutter," released in 2013. The film was made by the former Verizon guy's Table Ten Films production company and starred Carol Kane and Natasha Lyonne. Marcarelli enjoyed being able to work with veteran actors. "They're more seasoned human beings," he told the CT Post in 2014. Similar to his first feature film, Marcarelli was inspired by a real-life experience when he wrote the script about an elderly woman who was a hoarder. Both movies were filmed in Connecticut, which is where Marcarelli spent the next chapter of his life.

Paul Marcarelli resides on a farm in Litchfield, Connecticut, alongside his husband, chef Ryan Brown, surrounded by 14 acres of picturesque land. After all his work as an actor, producer, and writer, Marcarelli is still best known as the "Can You Hear Me Now" guy. During an interview with Mountains Media in October 2023, the commercial actor was asked if being remembered for a catchphrase bothered him. "But the reality is, as Mad Men's Don Draper said, 'That's what the money is for,'" Marcarelli told the publication. "I have a fantastic life that working in commercials has afforded me." Even though Marcarelli lives a low-key life in Connecticut, that does not mean he has quit show business. He continues to produce short films and applies for potential acting and voiceover roles. "Basically, anything I can audition for from my home studio," he told the outlet.

While Marcarelli had not left film and television completely behind, most of his focus went to planting, as both he and his husband are avid gardeners. "Eventually, we're going to end up with one of those places that's so totally landscaped, no one will want to buy it," he told Mountains Media. Marcarelli even became an agriculture writer, working for Litchfield Magazine. "Every actor's resume ends with a list of special skills ... I now can add deworming waterfowl to mine," he wrote in an article for the outlet about the Ripley Waterfowl Conservancy.