Nan
Desu Kan in 2003 had a wealth of English-language voice acting guests, performers
who enjoy even the most unusual roles. Take the parts of the "shadow girls"
in Revolutionary Girl Utena, the characters who appear only in silhouette
and provide useful commentary on the story. Carol Jacobanis, a New Yorker,
plays that role - and says it's one of her favorites. "In the span of about
a minute, she plays a million characters in that time, Jacobanis said. "I'm
a mommy mouse...no I'm a baby mouse...I'm a monster." Compare that to Jacobanis'
role in Comic Party, which she describes as a tender and gentle character.
"She's a very beautiful person in a very timid shell. I put myself in her
place, looking at what's going on here and what makes her the way she is."
Jacobanis' mezzo-soprano voice gets her roles that are older or evil women
- "Evil is good," she said about her career, which took a big turn because
of a cocktail napkin. She told the story of how she was called for a role,
and when she asked why she got the audition, she was told by the producer
that he had her phone number n a cocktail napkin. Nothing sinister there,
though. the napkin was the only thing a friend had to write on when she recommended
Jacobanis to a friend.
So
how do you land those auditions? You need to know someone, said Bob "Porky
Pig" Bergen, but you also have to be in the right place at the right time.
"Right place" means the right city if you want to be a dub actor, because
that industry is centered in only a few locations including Houston, New
York, Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles. Anyplace else and a voice actor
is going to have to settle for narration work, said Bergen. The competition
might discourage some prospective actors, but there's another side to the
game, Bergen noted. Even though there seem to be a limited number of top-level
voice acting jobs, there's a constant demand for new talent. To develop that
talent, Bergen is seriously considering a voice over convention in the next
couple of years - and he's thinking about making it a cruise. Actors Billy
West and Mark Hamill are interested in the cruise, according to Bergen.
Chris
Patton got his start with ADV Films because Jessica Calvello, who Patton
knew, recommended that he look there for work. Now, Patton has several major
roles each year at ADV, and has to work harder all the time to get ready
for his roles. Patton said he's discovered that E-mail and the World-wide
Web are good ways to learn about his roles. There are plenty of fans who
are obsessed with series before they reach commercial release in the U.S.,
and Patton finds it useful to pick their brains for information. Before Patton
got the lead in Rahxephon, he got a all-caps E-mail from a fan who said `you
must play the lead in Rahxephon-LOL.' "I said `I'll bite, but tell
me what you know about the characters,' " Patton recalled. "People are not
afraid to write you theses on the characters. Then I looked up pictures of
the character - that's the main inspiration. At least before you start the
recording, you know what the character sounds like."
However. Vic Mignogna said he prefers an approach that is the opposite of
Patton's. Mignogna prefers spontaneity to preparation, and he'd rather show
up at the studio, learn about his character there and give what he feels
is s fresh performance. "For me there's not a great deal to prepare for,"
said Mignogna. "I really like it that way. In the story, a character has
an instinctive response and the reaction is supposed to be spontaneous."
While Mignogna has moved to lead roles, Matt Greenfield
(right) has built his reputation as a director, but he was a theater major
in college and has spent his time at ADV filling in roles where no one else
was available. Greenfield said he almost had too much fun playing a "big
brain eating wrestler" in Battle Angel, recalling that when the dubbing was
done, I couldn't speak for two days after."
Nan
Desu Kan in 2003 had a wealth of English-language voice acting guests, performers
who enjoy even the most unusual roles. Take the parts of the "shadow girls"
in Revolutionary Girl Utena, the characters who appear only in silhouette
and provide useful commentary on the story. Carol Jacobanis, a New Yorker,
plays that role - and says it's one of her favorites. "In the span of about
a minute, she plays a million characters in that time, Jacobanis said. "I'm
a mommy mouse...no I'm a baby mouse...I'm a monster." Compare that to Jacobanis'
role in Comic Party, which she describes as a tender and gentle character.
"She's a very beautiful person in a very timid shell. I put myself in her
place, looking at what's going on here and what makes her the way she is."
Jacobanis' mezzo-soprano voice gets her roles that are older or evil women
- "Evil is good," she said about her career, which took a big turn because
of a cocktail napkin. She told the story of how she was called for a role,
and when she asked why she got the audition, she was told by the producer
that he had her phone number n a cocktail napkin. Nothing sinister there,
though. the napkin was the only thing a friend had to write on when she recommended
Jacobanis to a friend.
So
how do you land those auditions? You need to know someone, said Bob "Porky
Pig" Bergen, but you also have to be in the right place at the right time.
"Right place" means the right city if you want to be a dub actor, because
that industry is centered in only a few locations including Houston, New
York, Vancouver, Toronto and Los Angeles. Anyplace else and a voice actor
is going to have to settle for narration work, said Bergen. The competition
might discourage some prospective actors, but there's another side to the
game, Bergen noted. Even though there seem to be a limited number of top-level
voice acting jobs, there's a constant demand for new talent. To develop that
talent, Bergen is seriously considering a voice over convention in the next
couple of years - and he's thinking about making it a cruise. Actors Billy
West and Mark Hamill are interested in the cruise, according to Bergen.
Chris
Patton got his start with ADV Films because Jessica Calvello, who Patton
knew, recommended that he look there for work. Now, Patton has several major
roles each year at ADV, and has to work harder all the time to get ready
for his roles. Patton said he's discovered that E-mail and the World-wide
Web are good ways to learn about his roles. There are plenty of fans who
are obsessed with series before they reach commercial release in the U.S.,
and Patton finds it useful to pick their brains for information. Before Patton
got the lead in Rahxephon, he got a all-caps E-mail from a fan who said `you
must play the lead in Rahxephon-LOL.' "I said `I'll bite, but tell
me what you know about the characters,' " Patton recalled. "People are not
afraid to write you theses on the characters. Then I looked up pictures of
the character - that's the main inspiration. At least before you start the
recording, you know what the character sounds like."
However. Vic Mignogna said he prefers an approach that is the opposite of
Patton's. Mignogna prefers spontaneity to preparation, and he'd rather show
up at the studio, learn about his character there and give what he feels
is s fresh performance. "For me there's not a great deal to prepare for,"
said Mignogna. "I really like it that way. In the story, a character has
an instinctive response and the reaction is supposed to be spontaneous."
While Mignogna has moved to lead roles, Matt Greenfield
(right) has built his reputation as a director, but he was a theater major
in college and has spent his time at ADV filling in roles where no one else
was available. Greenfield said he almost had too much fun playing a "big
brain eating wrestler" in Battle Angel, recalling that when the dubbing was
done, I couldn't speak for two days after."
