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Since the English-language release of the original
Oh My Goddess series, the lead roles of Belldandy and Keiichi have been
identified with actors Scott Simpson and Juliet Cesario. That ends with
the acquisition of the English-language rights to the new generation of
Goddess films by Pioneer Entertainment, which plans to recast the series
with different actors. Simpson and Cesario will stay busy as actors with
the You're Under Arrest TV series and running the Theater Exchange Society
in North Carolina, and there will be more anime roles ahead, but the Goddess
characters won't be part of their future. |
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Simpson is not bitter or angry over the change. "We
hope that everyone shows the same openness to them. We were asked `Are
we disappointed?' Yes, we were, but it's a standard part of the business.
Anyway, more Belldandy is a great thing." So, Simpson will continue to
work on more anime roles, exercising the unique skill of giving a convincing
performance within the limits of animation that's already completed. "A
lot of my friends who are brilliant theater and film actors have a problem
with it. One actor said, `I don't think my character should be angry there,'
but you can't redraw the face. We call it `egoless acting.' " |
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Cesario got a chance to stretch her range in the
dub of Blue Submarine No. Six when she voiced Mutio, the enemy fish girl
who befriends the male hero. It was a challenging role because "She doesn't
speak...there were parts when she had to growl and hiss." And rather than
reuse the Japanese voice track, the dub producers chose to have Cesario
make the sounds in English. "It was lots of fun. My director, Scott Houle
led me through this. In your early acting training, your teacher tells
you to act as an animal, and I got to use that. Since Scott was also in
the show it was like the dark version of Bell and Kei." And Cesario has
moved from anime to video games in playing Sarah Bryant, "...a real warrior.
After playing so many softer roles, it was nice to be able to kick butt." |
