VAM 085 | Interview with Scott Menville, Part 2
Welcome to episode 85 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
In this episode I’m excited to present to you the second part of my interview with the wonderfully talented Scott Menville.
Scott is probably best known for his portrayal of Robin in the animated series Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go!, but Scott has been working both as a voice actor and an on-camera actor since he was 11 years old! Scott brings a wealth of experience to our discussion as well as an amazingly positive mindset, and I’m thrilled to have him on the podcast.
In the previous episode, Scott and I both emphasized how important it is to have passion for the career you decide to pursue. While this is true in almost every field, it is especially true in the world of voice acting where there are so many people who are deeply committed to becoming professionally competitive as voice actors.
In this episode, we explore exactly what steps Scott took once he made the decision to pursue voice acting, not just as a hobby, but as his vocation. Here’s a hint: improvisational acting training played a vital role in Scott’s development as an artist. Improv still informs Scott’s performances today, as he is often called upon to use his improvisational skills during recording sessions! Hearing about his experiences, and the experience of other actors using improv to explore new possibilities in the booth, is both enlightening and inspiring! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #85 Here (MP3)
This episode pretty much matched my thinking. I know a great deal about comic books and about 89% about the various robins and their motivations but I looked at the robin from the original teen titans and I didn’t yell out that this robin wasn’t exactly like the comic version, I saw this robin as the robin the series needed. Not the always needing Batman robin or the robin constantly trying to step out of Batman’s shadow or even the robin from the campy Adam West Batman, but the perfect leader robin who needed to catch slade. So it isn’t so much of what you have brought to the table that some one has already made and decided on but what you bring that given the environment of the character and you are in and how your interpretation of the character would be shown physically and mentally in a believable manner.
Good. I’m glad you were able to understand how Scott was trying to approach the role of Robin for the different versions of Teen Titans.
Nice. It actually reminds me of when anime “fans” complain about the English dub. They just don’t understand how acting works.
Thanks to you and Scott for your time and wisdom.
You’re very welcome. It’s true, it’s always easier to be a critic than to actually try and create something yourself.
I loved this from start to finish and you two talked about things that I needed to hear. I thank you both for your time and wisdom.
~ Kalyn
You’re very welcome Kalyn!
This was really great to listen to – normally I save comments until the end of the whole interview but this was just too awesome to skip noting: I’ve often wondered how a pro picks up an iconic character like the Boy Wonder and what makes for a “convincing” performance when the audience is not only well acquainted, but it is assumed that the audience WILL BRING what they think they know to their experience for the latest show. There are echoes of this issue for actors who work in anime since a good portion of the audience it can be assumed will know the manga and possibly have also watched the Japanese version.
Not only the part on “playing the version in front of you” but the part about finding the emotion behind the words… These sections connected a lot of dots with regard to how to approach material that is already out in the world. (And yay the call out to the interview with Jack Angel, which I still think of from time to time. Maybe I’ll go listen to it yet again!) It never occurred to me to consider, Crispin, if you had much of Bram Stoker’s dread vampire in your mind when you went up for Alucard… But I think I have a clearer picture of the work that was in front of you.
Thank you, Crispin, thank you, Scott, this is tremendous! I look forward to part 3!
Yay!
Flor
Excellent. I’m glad Scott and I were able to help you connect the dots in your head.
I actually am quite versed in vampire lore as is probably obvious if you watch any of the behind the scenes interviews on the Hellsing Ultimate disc released. In fact, I talked at length about Alucard and his background at a Funimation panel back in 2013. Here’s a link to that panel:
While I do know quite a bit about Bram Stoker’s vampire, his is only one take on the lore of Nosferatu. I had to make sure my portrayal of Alucard conformed to the version that Hirano-san created for his story.
Hey Crispin!
That’s really cool. I haven’t gotten my hands on the DVDs of Ultimate yet, but I’ll have to get on that now! I’m retreading early episodes as their air on Toonami & definitely looking forward to parts I haven’t seen yet. (I winced at the spoilers in your vid but I’ll find a way to survive.) Thanks for sharing the video it was really insightful, not just for the terrific background to Alucard, but also your comments on playing other characters that call for similar vocal technique but who come from very different MOs and circumstances.
I found it interesting that even though you’re so well versed in the lore of Vlad Tepes, you decided not to read ahead through Kouta Hirano’s manga but to only get to know the story of HELLSING through the content presented by the various writers and directors of the anime. I often wonder how much American voice actors and directors take into account that fans of a series may already know it from manga or other preceding media. But I suppose the salient thought here is exactly what Scott originally said – play the version in front of you.
Thank you very much for your time, Crispin! And many, many thanks to Scott for sharing his thoughts and experiences!
Take care,
Flor
I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Sully asked some great questions and it was a wonderful opportunity to address the show and character in detail.
I explained in detail why I did not read the manga first. I want the anime to stand on it’s own. The anime audience may have read the manga, they may have not. I have to assume they haven’t in order to make sure the anime is understood and appreciated by the widest audience possible. To do otherwise is to make the show very clique-ish and insular. I find it the mark of bad storytelling if I have to read something else in order to understand the show in front of me.
Glad you enjoyed the interview with Scott.