Actor
Chris Patton, Sagusa in the two Full Metal Panic series, has some great
stories about his anime dubbing career. It began when Patton took a
suggestion from fellow actor Jessica Calvello and answered an ad in a
Houston weekly newspaper from ADV Films, when they needed to advertise
to fill their acting needs. As Patton recalled it, his big audition
came before ADV co-founder Matt Greenfield, who asked him to improvise
a 2-1/2 minute scene to fill a crowd in a British setting. Patton
turned on his British accent and made up dialogue about a man talking
to his friend about his fat mother in law and her huge pantyhose. "It
got really surreal," Patton recalled. "I finished and Matt said `That
was really disturbing.'" That led to Patton's first major ADV role, as
Daley Wong in Bubble Gum Crisis 2040. "Like everything else in acting,
it's a matter of luck and timing. All of the things have to be in the
right place - the stars have to be aligned." It also helps that Patton
lived in a place with an anime dubbing studio; had he lived anywhere,
the opportunity would not have been available.
Where
Patton nearly did get a prime role from outside Houston was when he
learned of an opening for the role of Mark in the Broadway production
of "Rent." Patton sent in a simple audition tape, and the producers
responded by sending him several times to New York to read for the
role. However, "I ended up not getting the role. I figured that was
going to be the case - Mark is always short" and Patton is way over six
feet tall. "I figured they were trying to fit me in somewhere." The
other New York show that got away, in a sense, was Gravitation, which
was dubbed in New York when it was not picked up by ADV. "I'm so pissed
that ADV didn't license Gravitation," Patton joked. Most recently,
Patton has been writing the dub scripts for the ultraviolent,
ultrastrange Gantz series. He's also played one of the roles, which
gave him a chance to write his own death scene. And to add to the
strangeness, the actor who "kills" Patton in that episode is an
ex-girlfriend.
Actor
Chris Patton, Sagusa in the two Full Metal Panic series, has some great
stories about his anime dubbing career. It began when Patton took a
suggestion from fellow actor Jessica Calvello and answered an ad in a
Houston weekly newspaper from ADV Films, when they needed to advertise
to fill their acting needs. As Patton recalled it, his big audition
came before ADV co-founder Matt Greenfield, who asked him to improvise
a 2-1/2 minute scene to fill a crowd in a British setting. Patton
turned on his British accent and made up dialogue about a man talking
to his friend about his fat mother in law and her huge pantyhose. "It
got really surreal," Patton recalled. "I finished and Matt said `That
was really disturbing.'" That led to Patton's first major ADV role, as
Daley Wong in Bubble Gum Crisis 2040. "Like everything else in acting,
it's a matter of luck and timing. All of the things have to be in the
right place - the stars have to be aligned." It also helps that Patton
lived in a place with an anime dubbing studio; had he lived anywhere,
the opportunity would not have been available.
Where
Patton nearly did get a prime role from outside Houston was when he
learned of an opening for the role of Mark in the Broadway production
of "Rent." Patton sent in a simple audition tape, and the producers
responded by sending him several times to New York to read for the
role. However, "I ended up not getting the role. I figured that was
going to be the case - Mark is always short" and Patton is way over six
feet tall. "I figured they were trying to fit me in somewhere." The
other New York show that got away, in a sense, was Gravitation, which
was dubbed in New York when it was not picked up by ADV. "I'm so pissed
that ADV didn't license Gravitation," Patton joked. Most recently,
Patton has been writing the dub scripts for the ultraviolent,
ultrastrange Gantz series. He's also played one of the roles, which
gave him a chance to write his own death scene. And to add to the
strangeness, the actor who "kills" Patton in that episode is an
ex-girlfriend.
