The
first gathering of dub actors at Anime Weekend Atlanta in 2004 featured
performers from various coasts and schools of acting. On the right is
Amy Howard Wilson, the original Nova from the Star Blazers dub. In the
middle is Lauren Goodnight, who worked for ADV Films in Houston on
shows such as Aquarian Age. On the right is Jennifer Sekiguchi, Mamimi
in the dub of FLCL. While they're all dub actors, they don't have much
more in common. They come from different parts of the country - Wilson
from New York, Goodnight originally from Texas and Sekiguchi from
California. They don't even necessarily agree on pets - Wilson and
Goodnight have cats and Sekiguchi has a dog. Where they do agree is on
the need to have a solid acting background before anyone tries to
become a dub actor. The success of dubbed anime has inspired many
actors and fans to try the same thing...
...and
these performers said that's increased the number of people who want to
audition for dub roles. Wilson recalled the days when she was working
in an acting school and one of the school officials encouraged students
to audition for one of the first anime dubs of the late 1970's; that
show turned out to be the Americanized version of Space Cruiser Yamato
called Star Blazers. Nowadays, as Goodnight noted from her ADV Films
experience, auditions take months to arrange, "and you're either cast
or you're not cast. It could be months before you learn if you're cast
or not." Sekiguchi noted that her background is in sketch comedy and
improvisation, which teach the sort of quick reactions and timing
needed to match onscreen lip flaps and deliver a convincing
performance. Another way to prepare for dubbing is to be able to make
music; Goodnight sang in high school in college. Musicianship teaches a
sense of rhythm that is needed to sync with animated mouth movements,
she said.
The
first gathering of dub actors at Anime Weekend Atlanta in 2004 featured
performers from various coasts and schools of acting. On the right is
Amy Howard Wilson, the original Nova from the Star Blazers dub. In the
middle is Lauren Goodnight, who worked for ADV Films in Houston on
shows such as Aquarian Age. On the right is Jennifer Sekiguchi, Mamimi
in the dub of FLCL. While they're all dub actors, they don't have much
more in common. They come from different parts of the country - Wilson
from New York, Goodnight originally from Texas and Sekiguchi from
California. They don't even necessarily agree on pets - Wilson and
Goodnight have cats and Sekiguchi has a dog. Where they do agree is on
the need to have a solid acting background before anyone tries to
become a dub actor. The success of dubbed anime has inspired many
actors and fans to try the same thing...
...and
these performers said that's increased the number of people who want to
audition for dub roles. Wilson recalled the days when she was working
in an acting school and one of the school officials encouraged students
to audition for one of the first anime dubs of the late 1970's; that
show turned out to be the Americanized version of Space Cruiser Yamato
called Star Blazers. Nowadays, as Goodnight noted from her ADV Films
experience, auditions take months to arrange, "and you're either cast
or you're not cast. It could be months before you learn if you're cast
or not." Sekiguchi noted that her background is in sketch comedy and
improvisation, which teach the sort of quick reactions and timing
needed to match onscreen lip flaps and deliver a convincing
performance. Another way to prepare for dubbing is to be able to make
music; Goodnight sang in high school in college. Musicianship teaches a
sense of rhythm that is needed to sync with animated mouth movements,
she said.
