Lumiere
and Eclair took a day off from E-shift at the GOTT to meet fans in
Seattle. Of course, they used their English-language code names of
Monica Rial (Lumiere, left) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (Eclair, right).
Clinkenbeard, a stage actor in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is the
newcomer to anime dub acting and to anime conventions. She might still
be concentrating on stage plays had not her roommate, another actor,
talked her into auditioning for a role in the Dragon Ball dubs at
Funimation. The brief android roles impressed Funimation's directors
who chose to cast Clinkenbeard as the lead in the Kiddy Grade dub.
Eclair is a complex character who shows several personalities, from
superpowered combat fighter to baby-loving mommy, in the early episodes
of Kiddy Grade. "She's really all of the above," said Clinkenbeard.
"She really has every one of those personalities in her as well, as ten
more...after episode eight, a lot kicks in that you don't know about.
You start to learn who the characters are and what they're about and in
a very intriguing way - and no, Eclair is not who she seems to be."
Clinkenbeard
started her voice acting in the Funimation studios in a "walla" session
where she was told to make the background noise that fills the
background in some scenes. "The first time I went in, I was going blah
blah, but the first time I auditioned I had met everybody. I think I
was very lucky - it wasn't very nerve-wracking." As with Rial,
Clinkenbeard started with stage experience, including some lead roles
in theatrical productions in the Dallas area, before moving to voice
acting. The theatrical experience helps in making sure a dub actor is
ready to handle the job, especially working with a director such as
Justin Cook, who handles Kiddy Grade for Funimation. Clinkenbeard said
she had never handled the chore of making guttural noises in fight
scenes before Kiddy Grade, but Cook got her through that part of the
job. Both actors said the hardest part of Kiddy Grade acting is the
names of the planets used in the series; often Cook has to make some
phone calls to get the pronunciation right.
In
Kiddy Grade, both lead actors are older than their characters - and
ironically, Rial, the older of the pair, plays the youngest character.
"There's always one characteristic that sticks out for you," Rial said
about her appreciation for Kiddy Grade. "It was the character designs
and the story - it's not like The Simpsons, they don't look the same
throughout the same series." After the actors finish their work on
Kiddy Grade, the two actors will be heard again in another Funimation
project, the Case Closed series (renamed from Detective Conan). It'll
be an unique opportunity for Rial (who voices Amy) and Clinkenbeard
(who plays Rachel) because it'll be cablecast on the Cartoon Network,
and it's a series with hundreds of episodes - which means a lot of work
if the series turns out to be a hit and Funimation chooses to dub all
of the shows. Most anime series have no more than 23-26 episodes, of
course.
Lumiere
and Eclair took a day off from E-shift at the GOTT to meet fans in
Seattle. Of course, they used their English-language code names of
Monica Rial (Lumiere, left) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (Eclair, right).
Clinkenbeard, a stage actor in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is the
newcomer to anime dub acting and to anime conventions. She might still
be concentrating on stage plays had not her roommate, another actor,
talked her into auditioning for a role in the Dragon Ball dubs at
Funimation. The brief android roles impressed Funimation's directors
who chose to cast Clinkenbeard as the lead in the Kiddy Grade dub.
Eclair is a complex character who shows several personalities, from
superpowered combat fighter to baby-loving mommy, in the early episodes
of Kiddy Grade. "She's really all of the above," said Clinkenbeard.
"She really has every one of those personalities in her as well, as ten
more...after episode eight, a lot kicks in that you don't know about.
You start to learn who the characters are and what they're about and in
a very intriguing way - and no, Eclair is not who she seems to be."
Clinkenbeard
started her voice acting in the Funimation studios in a "walla" session
where she was told to make the background noise that fills the
background in some scenes. "The first time I went in, I was going blah
blah, but the first time I auditioned I had met everybody. I think I
was very lucky - it wasn't very nerve-wracking." As with Rial,
Clinkenbeard started with stage experience, including some lead roles
in theatrical productions in the Dallas area, before moving to voice
acting. The theatrical experience helps in making sure a dub actor is
ready to handle the job, especially working with a director such as
Justin Cook, who handles Kiddy Grade for Funimation. Clinkenbeard said
she had never handled the chore of making guttural noises in fight
scenes before Kiddy Grade, but Cook got her through that part of the
job. Both actors said the hardest part of Kiddy Grade acting is the
names of the planets used in the series; often Cook has to make some
phone calls to get the pronunciation right.
In
Kiddy Grade, both lead actors are older than their characters - and
ironically, Rial, the older of the pair, plays the youngest character.
"There's always one characteristic that sticks out for you," Rial said
about her appreciation for Kiddy Grade. "It was the character designs
and the story - it's not like The Simpsons, they don't look the same
throughout the same series." After the actors finish their work on
Kiddy Grade, the two actors will be heard again in another Funimation
project, the Case Closed series (renamed from Detective Conan). It'll
be an unique opportunity for Rial (who voices Amy) and Clinkenbeard
(who plays Rachel) because it'll be cablecast on the Cartoon Network,
and it's a series with hundreds of episodes - which means a lot of work
if the series turns out to be a hit and Funimation chooses to dub all
of the shows. Most anime series have no more than 23-26 episodes, of
course.
