Steve
Blum has spoken four words that have been heard by most North Americans
that watch television in English: "Thank heaven, Seven-Eleven." Anime
fans know him better for "Big O - showtime!" Along with his work on TV
and radio commercials, Blum's also written scripts for Digimon and has
played a few roles in that series' dub. But the dub roles that really
get people excited when they mention him (or "David Lucas") are Spike
Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop and Roger Smith in The Big O. We think Blum was
joking when he was asked about those roles and said he didn't know what
was going on the in the series, especially Big O. Blum has given some
thought to the differences between those characters. "It would be hard
to compare them," said Blum at a Saturday AnimeFEST panel. "Vocally,
they're very similar. I think that Spike is much more tortured on a
deeper level than Roger, while Roger Smith would seem to have more
control over his life until his life starts to fall apart at in the
last episodes. Spike is a lot cooler, a lot more sarcastic and a better
fighter."
Blum
was one of several actors considered for the Spike role. "The Japanese
guys picked, me as far as I know. If it happens, it happens and you
jump for glee. It's a simple process." Some anime dub productions are
created in studios with small booths, but Blum recalled that Bebop used
a large, theater-type dubbing stage that seemed empty when there was
only one actor recording lines at a time. The Bebop lead spends a lot
of time in fights and Blum admitted that he's one of the type of dub
actors who is "very physical in the booth," which can lead to almost
damaging equipment. Spike was a major role and its importance meant
that Blum had to do extensive advance preparation for the role, but
that was an exception. "For other roles it'll be done on the fly. If
the director trusts us, they'll say `Here's a little bit about the
character, go.' "
But
don't let the timbre of Blum's voice make you think that rough and
tough heroes are the only roles he gets. When it was time to cast an
actor as an updated version of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon duck,
Yakky Doodle, in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Blum got the part. He
told fans that Yakky Doodle was his favorite villain role. Blum's
Digimon work, where he often doubles as an actor and a writer, means he
has to record multiple voices, and often the characters need to have
conversations with each other. When that happens, "I walk out of a
session and my brain is ready to explode because i don't know what my
real voice is - it's schizophrenic." Some people question Blum's use of
pseudonyms, and he explained that he doesn't do that very often, while
some performers make that move because of union or work rules.
Steve
Blum has spoken four words that have been heard by most North Americans
that watch television in English: "Thank heaven, Seven-Eleven." Anime
fans know him better for "Big O - showtime!" Along with his work on TV
and radio commercials, Blum's also written scripts for Digimon and has
played a few roles in that series' dub. But the dub roles that really
get people excited when they mention him (or "David Lucas") are Spike
Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop and Roger Smith in The Big O. We think Blum was
joking when he was asked about those roles and said he didn't know what
was going on the in the series, especially Big O. Blum has given some
thought to the differences between those characters. "It would be hard
to compare them," said Blum at a Saturday AnimeFEST panel. "Vocally,
they're very similar. I think that Spike is much more tortured on a
deeper level than Roger, while Roger Smith would seem to have more
control over his life until his life starts to fall apart at in the
last episodes. Spike is a lot cooler, a lot more sarcastic and a better
fighter."
Blum
was one of several actors considered for the Spike role. "The Japanese
guys picked, me as far as I know. If it happens, it happens and you
jump for glee. It's a simple process." Some anime dub productions are
created in studios with small booths, but Blum recalled that Bebop used
a large, theater-type dubbing stage that seemed empty when there was
only one actor recording lines at a time. The Bebop lead spends a lot
of time in fights and Blum admitted that he's one of the type of dub
actors who is "very physical in the booth," which can lead to almost
damaging equipment. Spike was a major role and its importance meant
that Blum had to do extensive advance preparation for the role, but
that was an exception. "For other roles it'll be done on the fly. If
the director trusts us, they'll say `Here's a little bit about the
character, go.' "
But
don't let the timbre of Blum's voice make you think that rough and
tough heroes are the only roles he gets. When it was time to cast an
actor as an updated version of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon duck,
Yakky Doodle, in Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Blum got the part. He
told fans that Yakky Doodle was his favorite villain role. Blum's
Digimon work, where he often doubles as an actor and a writer, means he
has to record multiple voices, and often the characters need to have
conversations with each other. When that happens, "I walk out of a
session and my brain is ready to explode because i don't know what my
real voice is - it's schizophrenic." Some people question Blum's use of
pseudonyms, and he explained that he doesn't do that very often, while
some performers make that move because of union or work rules.
