Travis
Willingham, the English-language voice of Roy Mustang in Fullmetal
Alchemist, has a deep, dark secret about his character. "I can't kick
my own ass," he admitted. Willingham's introduction to his Alchemist
character was through dubbing the role for the series' video game. He
learned that Mustang was the game's "boss," the opponent at the end of
the game that you need to beat to win. When the game was released,
Willingham buckled down to the task of winning at all costs. "I played
for 13 hours straight to get to this little blue guy who's hopping
about, saying `It's no use.'" Willingham tried attack after attack, but
couldn't beat Mustang - his own character - to win the same. "And I
thought, `I hate myself!' I was so frustrated - for four hours I'm in
my room cussing out a storm. I died so many times...you know how
frustrating it is to have yourself talk back to you. So I locked it in
my closet - I don't want to see it." The consolation for Willingham was
that he got one wish; he got one of the Roy Mustang "action figures"
that's been issued along with the release of the series in the U.S.
Mustang's
arrogance is a big part of the character, but Willingham said that
attitude is mostly for show. "He's got this wall up," Willingham said.
"On the inside he's got doubts about what he's done in the past just
like everyone else, you don't want to reveal too much." Willingham
thinks there's some insight into Mustang when he insults Edward Elric
one moment, then shouts "I love dogs" the next. And Willingham added
that a voice actor's job is to make sure that the meaning in those
lines gets across. Part of the challenge is to give a performance that
isn't "playing the end," which is stage talk for delivering lines with
a character's mood at the end of a series or a play, rather than at the
point in the show when the lines are delivered - a point when the
character usually is in the middle of a personality development.
Getting to the point where you can deliver that sort of performance
means years of acting, developing skills through theater and
improvisation. All of that experience can help prepare you to be ready
for voice acting roles, but there's no guarantee of success. Willingham
said he's had many auditions since he moved from Texas to Los Angeles,
and few have resulted in work. "People will say `Don't get your hopes
up.' Screw that. You have to be confident, but you have to be prepared
to fail."
Travis
Willingham, the English-language voice of Roy Mustang in Fullmetal
Alchemist, has a deep, dark secret about his character. "I can't kick
my own ass," he admitted. Willingham's introduction to his Alchemist
character was through dubbing the role for the series' video game. He
learned that Mustang was the game's "boss," the opponent at the end of
the game that you need to beat to win. When the game was released,
Willingham buckled down to the task of winning at all costs. "I played
for 13 hours straight to get to this little blue guy who's hopping
about, saying `It's no use.'" Willingham tried attack after attack, but
couldn't beat Mustang - his own character - to win the same. "And I
thought, `I hate myself!' I was so frustrated - for four hours I'm in
my room cussing out a storm. I died so many times...you know how
frustrating it is to have yourself talk back to you. So I locked it in
my closet - I don't want to see it." The consolation for Willingham was
that he got one wish; he got one of the Roy Mustang "action figures"
that's been issued along with the release of the series in the U.S.
Mustang's
arrogance is a big part of the character, but Willingham said that
attitude is mostly for show. "He's got this wall up," Willingham said.
"On the inside he's got doubts about what he's done in the past just
like everyone else, you don't want to reveal too much." Willingham
thinks there's some insight into Mustang when he insults Edward Elric
one moment, then shouts "I love dogs" the next. And Willingham added
that a voice actor's job is to make sure that the meaning in those
lines gets across. Part of the challenge is to give a performance that
isn't "playing the end," which is stage talk for delivering lines with
a character's mood at the end of a series or a play, rather than at the
point in the show when the lines are delivered - a point when the
character usually is in the middle of a personality development.
Getting to the point where you can deliver that sort of performance
means years of acting, developing skills through theater and
improvisation. All of that experience can help prepare you to be ready
for voice acting roles, but there's no guarantee of success. Willingham
said he's had many auditions since he moved from Texas to Los Angeles,
and few have resulted in work. "People will say `Don't get your hopes
up.' Screw that. You have to be confident, but you have to be prepared
to fail."
