How much did Anime Boston fans identify actor Mark Hildreth with his Heero
Yui character from Gundam Wing? They asked him which anime character he would
date. When Hildreth replied "Relena, I guess," the audience yelled "No!"
"That was the wrong answer," joked Hildreth. When he asked the fans "Who
do you think I should date," the crowd yelled "Duo!" Hildreth took an even
larger risk when he admitted he was a hockey player and a Vancouver Canucks
fan in Boston, where the Bruins had just been swept out of the first round
of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Hildreth feels Heero was his best character voice. "There's something about
Gundam Wing that people relate to that they don't with any American cartoon.
There aren't any wacky voices of people being hit on the head with pianos.
I had to discover a way to do it that wasn't so cartoony - there's a certain
way to hit a certain dramatic quality that didn't come naturally to me."
After playing so many extreme voice roles, a naturalistic voice style for
Gundam Wing seemed flat to Hildreth, but "...eventually I trained my ear
to this and I started to enjoy it. If you don't make it real to yourself
as the actor, people won't believe it."
Voice directors say musicians have the timing instinct that makes them valuable
actors. Hildreth is a keyboard player and singer who is composing and writing
an album which he expected to release by the end of the year. Whether it's
for anime and album, Hildreth spends plenty of time in recording studios.
"In anime you're in a room four hours a day to record four episodes. It can
be pretty grueling, but it's nothing to get pissed off at - it's a great
job. It gets hot and bothersome but it's a great job, and I wouldn't trade
it for anything...it pays pretty well."
How much did Anime Boston fans identify actor Mark Hildreth with his Heero
Yui character from Gundam Wing? They asked him which anime character he would
date. When Hildreth replied "Relena, I guess," the audience yelled "No!"
"That was the wrong answer," joked Hildreth. When he asked the fans "Who
do you think I should date," the crowd yelled "Duo!" Hildreth took an even
larger risk when he admitted he was a hockey player and a Vancouver Canucks
fan in Boston, where the Bruins had just been swept out of the first round
of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Hildreth feels Heero was his best character voice. "There's something about
Gundam Wing that people relate to that they don't with any American cartoon.
There aren't any wacky voices of people being hit on the head with pianos.
I had to discover a way to do it that wasn't so cartoony - there's a certain
way to hit a certain dramatic quality that didn't come naturally to me."
After playing so many extreme voice roles, a naturalistic voice style for
Gundam Wing seemed flat to Hildreth, but "...eventually I trained my ear
to this and I started to enjoy it. If you don't make it real to yourself
as the actor, people won't believe it."
Voice directors say musicians have the timing instinct that makes them valuable
actors. Hildreth is a keyboard player and singer who is composing and writing
an album which he expected to release by the end of the year. Whether it's
for anime and album, Hildreth spends plenty of time in recording studios.
"In anime you're in a room four hours a day to record four episodes. It can
be pretty grueling, but it's nothing to get pissed off at - it's a great
job. It gets hot and bothersome but it's a great job, and I wouldn't trade
it for anything...it pays pretty well."
