Steve
Blum, the voice of Spike Spiegel in the Cowboy Bebop dub, who voices
ads for Geico insurance, Drano drain cleaners, Hefty bags and is one of
the busiest voice performers in southern California, has no formal
acting training. And most of the time when he gets an acting job, he
goes into the studio and is expected to read his lines "cold," with
little or no rehearsal. Beyond the God-given talent Blum takes to the
table, how can he do that all the time? Blum has no acting background,
but he has a solid background in music, studying voice and instruments
in college. "I have drums in my living room and every chance I get I
play that," said Blum in an interview session. "It's therapy for
me...the great thing for music for me is that it's for fun." Studying
music and playing instruments means getting a sense of rhythm and
timing, and both are important in acting. The rhythm is especially
vital in dubbing, where a performance must match existing lip flaps.
"It's become a natural process for me. I've been doing it for a decade,
and at first the technical part of it became daunting, but over
the years it became a very natural process for me." Blum is not a "face
actor" who appears on camera; that takes too long, he feels, with
moments of acting accompanied by hours of waiting. For voice acting, he
expects to go through a minimum of rehearsal...
...but
the Cowboy Bebop series, considered a major project, was different.
That series was rehearsed more carefully than Blum's typical work, he
said. When the Bebop dub cast was reunited for the English-language
version of the movie, stakes clearly were high and producers kept a
close watch on the voice sessions. Blum, used to working alone in a
booth with a director and engineer, found himself on a soundstage under
the scrutiny of many sets of eyes. "People actually were pacing behind
me when I was recording - that made it interesting to keep as true to
the character as I could be. That was probably the most difficult
overall." Spike remains Blum's favorite acting role, partially because
it let him explore a bad-boy part of his personality. "Spike provided
the big jump in my career...he fulfilled some childhood fantasies of
being a bad ass with the cool smoking gun." Blum credits an acting name
familiar to visitors to this site, Bob Bergen (Porky Pig in the cable
TV Duck Dodgers series), for making possible the break that led to his
voice acting career. Blum wrote Bergen for advice, and Bergen responded
positively, making suggestions on how Blum could prepare a demo, and
guiding Blum toward the people who could help him launch his career,
said Blum.
Steve
Blum, the voice of Spike Spiegel in the Cowboy Bebop dub, who voices
ads for Geico insurance, Drano drain cleaners, Hefty bags and is one of
the busiest voice performers in southern California, has no formal
acting training. And most of the time when he gets an acting job, he
goes into the studio and is expected to read his lines "cold," with
little or no rehearsal. Beyond the God-given talent Blum takes to the
table, how can he do that all the time? Blum has no acting background,
but he has a solid background in music, studying voice and instruments
in college. "I have drums in my living room and every chance I get I
play that," said Blum in an interview session. "It's therapy for
me...the great thing for music for me is that it's for fun." Studying
music and playing instruments means getting a sense of rhythm and
timing, and both are important in acting. The rhythm is especially
vital in dubbing, where a performance must match existing lip flaps.
"It's become a natural process for me. I've been doing it for a decade,
and at first the technical part of it became daunting, but over
the years it became a very natural process for me." Blum is not a "face
actor" who appears on camera; that takes too long, he feels, with
moments of acting accompanied by hours of waiting. For voice acting, he
expects to go through a minimum of rehearsal...
...but
the Cowboy Bebop series, considered a major project, was different.
That series was rehearsed more carefully than Blum's typical work, he
said. When the Bebop dub cast was reunited for the English-language
version of the movie, stakes clearly were high and producers kept a
close watch on the voice sessions. Blum, used to working alone in a
booth with a director and engineer, found himself on a soundstage under
the scrutiny of many sets of eyes. "People actually were pacing behind
me when I was recording - that made it interesting to keep as true to
the character as I could be. That was probably the most difficult
overall." Spike remains Blum's favorite acting role, partially because
it let him explore a bad-boy part of his personality. "Spike provided
the big jump in my career...he fulfilled some childhood fantasies of
being a bad ass with the cool smoking gun." Blum credits an acting name
familiar to visitors to this site, Bob Bergen (Porky Pig in the cable
TV Duck Dodgers series), for making possible the break that led to his
voice acting career. Blum wrote Bergen for advice, and Bergen responded
positively, making suggestions on how Blum could prepare a demo, and
guiding Blum toward the people who could help him launch his career,
said Blum.
