 Together again
for the first time in 2001: actors Amanda Winn Lee (left) and Tiffany Grant
(right) talked to fans on Friday at Fanime Con. These actors have essayed
many roles in their anime dubbing career, but they're always asked
about their roles as Rei and Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion, roles they
will revisit when the Eva movies are dubbed for Manga Entertainment. Lee,
who enjoys the process of creating convincing performances and directed
the original Evangelion dubs, will be in charge of the new version. |
 "Rei is this
way out, surreal voice," Lee said. "I get in the weirdest, scariest place
with Rei. I say `Tell me a joke - I can't take it any more.' " Actors need
to believe in a character to generate a good performance, she said. When
she played a role in Blue Seed, "You could tell in my voice that I was
irritated with my character." Lee can tell if actors don't care for their
characters, feeling that's the reason for the flat performances that fans
dislike in dubs. She won't accept those lifeless characters in the dubs
she directs for her Gaijin Productions along with husband Jason Lee, including
some english-language voice tracks for PlayStation games. |
 Asuka remains
one of Grant's favorite characters, to the point that she has an Asuka
plug suit and shops for Asuka merchandise at anime conventions. Grant also
enjoyed the Madame President character from Golden Boy (but won't dress
as her). She develops characters as "...all the crazy people who run around
in my head." For the fans who want to get into acting, both actors recommend
that people get as much community theater experience as possible; grant
still plays Snow White in childrens' theater. Important to getting roles
in anime dubs are a convincing, brief demo tape - and living in the area
where the dub studios are located, they said, noting that some companies
like ADV Films advertise for actors in local newspapers. |
