When Scott McNeil holds a panel at an anime convention, it's a performance
and acting seminar all at once. He puts on a show for his fans, but listen
closely and you'll understand the talent and skill needed to make a living
as a voice actor. "The most important part of voice acting is the acting
part of it," McNeil said. "I spent years training as an actor, and I think
that is the ultimate part. I met a lot of people who can do lots of voices,
but they can't deliver as part of the acting." McNeil's voice acting hero
is Mel Blanc, best known for providing most of the voices for three decades
of Warner Bros. theatrical cartoons. "They were fully rendered characters.
The voices were pretty similar but he brought them to life, and he was great
at the actors' craft. Where they have other people doing the voices, and
even when they get the voices right, they don't have the heart and soul of
the the character."
McNeil can effortlessly fire off a dozen voices, but how? He spends spare
time making up voices, especially when driving. "I come up with my voices
in my car, which scares people because i have a convertible." Then he changes
those voices with accents. "If you do two voices and one accent and you throw
them into those voices, you have four voices. If you combine that with a
lisp you have eight." McNeil's good enough to be able to handle two voices
in a single conversation. "It's a little schizoid but it's no stranger than
what goes on in my head all day long."
As with the other Gundam Wing pilot actors, McNeil was asked about yaoi.
He replied that he didn't know about it until got he was shown a yaoi fan
painting of his Duo Maxwell character with Heero Yui. "Heero was always a
gentleman to me," McNeil joked. The fans at McNeil's panel wanted him
to repeat their favorite lines and he went along, as long as he could remember
the lines from the shows he's voiced. When he said "Man, roll over, quit
hogging the pillow" in a Duo Maxwell voice, the crowd cheered. Then
a fan asked McNeil what he thought about Relena Peacecraft. "She was always
a perfect gentleman to me - I don't know, I love her," the crowd playfully
jeered. McNeil quickly came back with "I hated her," which drew cheers. "I'll
stick with plan B," McNeil joked.
When Scott McNeil holds a panel at an anime convention, it's a performance
and acting seminar all at once. He puts on a show for his fans, but listen
closely and you'll understand the talent and skill needed to make a living
as a voice actor. "The most important part of voice acting is the acting
part of it," McNeil said. "I spent years training as an actor, and I think
that is the ultimate part. I met a lot of people who can do lots of voices,
but they can't deliver as part of the acting." McNeil's voice acting hero
is Mel Blanc, best known for providing most of the voices for three decades
of Warner Bros. theatrical cartoons. "They were fully rendered characters.
The voices were pretty similar but he brought them to life, and he was great
at the actors' craft. Where they have other people doing the voices, and
even when they get the voices right, they don't have the heart and soul of
the the character."
McNeil can effortlessly fire off a dozen voices, but how? He spends spare
time making up voices, especially when driving. "I come up with my voices
in my car, which scares people because i have a convertible." Then he changes
those voices with accents. "If you do two voices and one accent and you throw
them into those voices, you have four voices. If you combine that with a
lisp you have eight." McNeil's good enough to be able to handle two voices
in a single conversation. "It's a little schizoid but it's no stranger than
what goes on in my head all day long."
As with the other Gundam Wing pilot actors, McNeil was asked about yaoi.
He replied that he didn't know about it until got he was shown a yaoi fan
painting of his Duo Maxwell character with Heero Yui. "Heero was always a
gentleman to me," McNeil joked. The fans at McNeil's panel wanted him
to repeat their favorite lines and he went along, as long as he could remember
the lines from the shows he's voiced. When he said "Man, roll over, quit
hogging the pillow" in a Duo Maxwell voice, the crowd cheered. Then
a fan asked McNeil what he thought about Relena Peacecraft. "She was always
a perfect gentleman to me - I don't know, I love her," the crowd playfully
jeered. McNeil quickly came back with "I hated her," which drew cheers. "I'll
stick with plan B," McNeil joked.
.
