Project:
A-Kon has a history of panel discussions featuring large numbers of
actors. One panel a few years ago had eleven actors, and the group that
assembled on the convention's Saturday had eight members. Last to
arrive was Scott McNeil, who again was asked to sing the mysterious
"cucumber" song. "I do for a living what I used to get kicked out of
school for," he said about his ability to make voices. McNeil's been in
dozens of shows since he voiced a character in the New Adventures of
He-Man in 1988, including a Project: A-Ko dub in which he played three
different women. "That was when I realized that anime was a little bit
different," he joked. Aside from Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing, his
favorites were non-anime shows, though: Hermie the dentist elf in the
sequel to the stop-motion Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Wolverine in
X-Men, his role in Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars, and Transformers
Beast Wars - "For a North American show, the writing was the best in
any show I've been involved in."
After
the panel, Vic Mignogna (left) and Michael Coleman (right) showed they
can handle a soccer ball as well as they can act. "There are very few
people who can make a full time exclusive career in voice acting,"
Mignogna said, who also is a composer and video producer. In the
recording booth, Mignogna said he's enjoyed performing his lead roles
in Generator Gawl, Legend of the Mystical Ninja and Saiyuki. While
Coleman said, "I like the tough sexy guys, so I like Stan in Hamtaro
because he gets all the girls."
Most
actors would have been overjoyed with the role of Goku in Dragon Ball,
but Sean Schemmel (left) said he wanted to be Capt. Ginyu instead. It
took some persuasion from a Funimation director and a look at Goku's
design to get Schemmel to accept the role, he joked. Schemmel started
as a French horn player, while Samantha Inoue-Harte (right) began as an
animator. "You do a lot of acting when you're animating your
character," she said. "A bunch of producers came into the studio, and a
producer from Chicago said `Oh my God, you have the most annoying voice
in the world - you should be in anime.' He took me over to ADV, shoved
me into a studio and said `Auditon.' I bombed it, but i came back
a couple of weeks later and got in Soul Ranger." Inoue-Harte said she
likes her roles in Cosplay Complex and Magical Play; "They're both
really spunky and they're both Playboy bunny characters - I always
wanted to be them." Her most fun roles were as cactaurs and chocobos in
Final Fantasy Unlimited.
J.
Shannon Weaver (left) runs a theater production company in Austin,
Texas. As an actor, once Weaver was "...a random cavalier in Romeo and
Juliet, running around in a top hat and a sword - it had nothing to do
with anime." Monica Rial (center) said she always wanted to be an actor
"...and I still am, but not on stage. I loved the stage. I did all that
legitimate stuff, then I started doing the legit stuff in the studio
for ADV films." Goodnight, who went from this panel to teach acting to
costumers who want to be effective costume contest performers, said she
liked her roles in Aquarian Age and New Snow White Legend Pretear.
Not
a guest of A-Kon, but joining the panel at the last minute, was Nancy
Novotny, whose husband also voice acts. "He's very proud and very
sweet, and he tells me I do pretty well," she said. Her favorite
character was Mia from Kalideostar - "She's such a sweetie, and she's
like my personality."
Project:
A-Kon has a history of panel discussions featuring large numbers of
actors. One panel a few years ago had eleven actors, and the group that
assembled on the convention's Saturday had eight members. Last to
arrive was Scott McNeil, who again was asked to sing the mysterious
"cucumber" song. "I do for a living what I used to get kicked out of
school for," he said about his ability to make voices. McNeil's been in
dozens of shows since he voiced a character in the New Adventures of
He-Man in 1988, including a Project: A-Ko dub in which he played three
different women. "That was when I realized that anime was a little bit
different," he joked. Aside from Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing, his
favorites were non-anime shows, though: Hermie the dentist elf in the
sequel to the stop-motion Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Wolverine in
X-Men, his role in Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars, and Transformers
Beast Wars - "For a North American show, the writing was the best in
any show I've been involved in."
After
the panel, Vic Mignogna (left) and Michael Coleman (right) showed they
can handle a soccer ball as well as they can act. "There are very few
people who can make a full time exclusive career in voice acting,"
Mignogna said, who also is a composer and video producer. In the
recording booth, Mignogna said he's enjoyed performing his lead roles
in Generator Gawl, Legend of the Mystical Ninja and Saiyuki. While
Coleman said, "I like the tough sexy guys, so I like Stan in Hamtaro
because he gets all the girls."
Most
actors would have been overjoyed with the role of Goku in Dragon Ball,
but Sean Schemmel (left) said he wanted to be Capt. Ginyu instead. It
took some persuasion from a Funimation director and a look at Goku's
design to get Schemmel to accept the role, he joked. Schemmel started
as a French horn player, while Samantha Inoue-Harte (right) began as an
animator. "You do a lot of acting when you're animating your
character," she said. "A bunch of producers came into the studio, and a
producer from Chicago said `Oh my God, you have the most annoying voice
in the world - you should be in anime.' He took me over to ADV, shoved
me into a studio and said `Auditon.' I bombed it, but i came back
a couple of weeks later and got in Soul Ranger." Inoue-Harte said she
likes her roles in Cosplay Complex and Magical Play; "They're both
really spunky and they're both Playboy bunny characters - I always
wanted to be them." Her most fun roles were as cactaurs and chocobos in
Final Fantasy Unlimited.
J.
Shannon Weaver (left) runs a theater production company in Austin,
Texas. As an actor, once Weaver was "...a random cavalier in Romeo and
Juliet, running around in a top hat and a sword - it had nothing to do
with anime." Monica Rial (center) said she always wanted to be an actor
"...and I still am, but not on stage. I loved the stage. I did all that
legitimate stuff, then I started doing the legit stuff in the studio
for ADV films." Goodnight, who went from this panel to teach acting to
costumers who want to be effective costume contest performers, said she
liked her roles in Aquarian Age and New Snow White Legend Pretear.
Not
a guest of A-Kon, but joining the panel at the last minute, was Nancy
Novotny, whose husband also voice acts. "He's very proud and very
sweet, and he tells me I do pretty well," she said. Her favorite
character was Mia from Kalideostar - "She's such a sweetie, and she's
like my personality."
