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"(Vash) was the first thing I had ever done as far as voice over. All I did was scream and be really over the top and goofy.."

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Interview:

Super Power Actor

with: Johnny Yong Bosch

Interview by: Lauren Synger and Matthew Anderson

From "Power Ranger" to anti Hero "Kaneda", to the lovable "Vash the Stampeed" Johnny Yong Bosch has been a part of the Voice Acting Scene for quite a while. Lauren Synger sat down with Johnny at Otakon 2003 and talked about being the voice of an icon.

DVJ-First off, thank you so much for meeting with us. We really appreciate you taking the time. I know you’re very busy here.

Johnny Yong Bosch -Sure!

DVJ-How did you get into anime (voice acting)?

JYB-As far as doing voice-overs? Yeah. Well, what happened is I did an independent film with some guys-Koichi Sakamara, I don't know if you know those guys but one of the producers was actually involved with Pioneer and doing animation. So, what happened was during the actual shoot of our independent film the sound guy messed everything up as far as sound and recorder so we had to redub the whole movie, so the producer that does anime as well heard me and he was like "Well, I think you have kind of a hero voice." Okay, whatever that is. And so he said "I'm gonna get you an audition for something I want you to come in." And it was for Trigun. At the time I believe they had somebody else that might have started already. So then I got that I guess as kind of fluke.

DVJ-So, that was the first one for you then?

JYB-That was the first one.

DVJ-You were also Kanada in the new recording for Akira.

JYB-Yeah. They heard me do Trigun. Most of its all been referral or they heard me do something you know. Yeah. Do you guys know the things I've done? You have them on there? (At this point he is trying to peer at my interview sheet)

DVJ-Yeah, we've got some stuff on here for ya!

JYB-Well, what else did I do then?

DVJ-He's gonna put me on the spot huh? Well, we've got Kenada, Vash, You were in Gatekeepers as the villain Reji. And Power Rangers of course as the Black Ranger. I'm doing pretty good!

JYB-You're doin all right. Heat Guy J? I played the villain in there. There's another series called Last Exile and I play the lead in that. His name is Klaus. I play Kutaro in Mirage of Blaze. There's a new Ghost in The Shell series and I play JD. In Witch Hunter Robin I play Sakaki. Am I leaving something out? I feel like I am. I just did Card Captor Sakura Movie 2. I play Ariel. I feel like I'm missing something else.

DVJ- Now were you Ariel only in that movie?

JYB-Only in that movie, yeah. Something like that. I think I might have done a couple other things.

DVJ-So out of all those roles, which was your favorite?

JYB-You know, That’s kind of tough. I really like Vash. Yeah, he was probably my most favorite cause he was so colorful. I do like playing villains. Of course, I like to be the hero cause it makes me feel better. But villains are a lot of fun.

DVJ-So when you develop a character do you like watching the series first to get an idea of the character?

JYB-You know it all really happens on the spot. For instance when I go to an audition most of the time I really don't know what its for and I go in and then either I see a picture or I don't. Most of the time they give you a little thing that describes the character, and from there you just kind of have to figure out is he gonna be older with a deeper voice? Is he gonna be kinda wild and crazy or younger, so its all kinda once I get in there. Of course if they do show a picture that helps a lot and if they do have the Japanese I try as best as I can to kind of emulate that same tone that the Japanese voice actor did. Mainly because I think that’s what the audience would want as well without copying him exactly. Still be creative in my own sense, but I know and understand the hardest part I think as an American or English speaking voice actor is that when we say something in English it doesn't sound nearly as cool as it does when your speaking Japanese. Like I can say (mustering his bad ass voice)"I'm gonna use this pencil right now" you know "and write something" and it sounds stupid ok? But in Japanese it’s all like (in angry psuedo Japanese male voice Johnny imitates the pencil line, which sounds convincingly like the real thing) you know and it's like "Holy crap that was cool! Hey!" So I think as far as dialect Japanese is gonna sound cooler. But I think as an actor you gotta help the fans out a little bit you know? At least cross over.

DVJ-When you were doing Vash how did you get into character for him? Did you have any influences either character or actor?

JYB-That was the first thing I had ever done as far as voice over. All I did was scream and be really over the top and goofy. Basically the extreme of any emotion really was in that character and it was a lot of fun doing that, but I didn't really meditate on how I need to do this. I just looked at the picture so I could watch and see what he was doing and I was able to hear the Japanese and since it was my first I didn't want to be too far off cause I still understood you want to sound-you want to be able to help the audience cross over you know? I didn't exactly imitate, but I tried to be as wild as goofy as the Japanese. And I feel like I did ok.

DVJ- Did you feel it was tough to meet the expectations of the fans? He is such a beloved anime icon.

JYB-Absolutely. It didn't really hit me as much until a little bit later when I realized that people are really picky on dubs and subs. It wasn't until after I had done a few to realize how important it was. Its really hard because everyone is gonna have their own opinions, but I really did try to do my best to make him likeable still. I've seen a lot of dubs where I think I don't like that at all.

DVJ-Do you watch a lot of anime?

JYB-I don't watch A LOT. I do watch plenty cause I do enjoy it. There are certain ones where I am like "Wow, that is a COOL anime!" and then there are somewhere I am like "I'm not sure if I really like that."

DVJ-What’s your favorite genre?

JYB-You know I don't know, Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust. SWEET. That’s probably my favorite one as far as a simple movie, but that was awesome! I am not big into the big eared, big-eyed little cutesy stuff. I'm more into someone cutting somebody up or something with some action in it or Samurai. Stuff like that. I'm more interested in that.

DVJ-Would you find any of your work influenced by voice actors past or present?

JYB- You know, there is nobody I can think of by name and think, "you know that’s a great voice actor" but I worked not necessarily along side, but in the same booth as I was working on the same project. I've never met them, but I know they're great. In this series I'm doing the Last Exile whoever it is that plays the girl in there-She's amazing! I have no idea who she is, but she's amazing she blows me away. Every time I hear her I'm like "Man, she's hitting that perfect", but I don't know who she is. Maybe you can find out.

DVJ-As a voice actor what challenges do you face? Was there a difficult transition from working in film and then straight to voice?

JYB-The hardest part I think is when you’re watching the animation it’s real obvious what the character is feeling. And when you are doing film I feel it’s a bit more subtle. So you have to be a little more over the top to bring that emotion to that character. So, actually Trigun was very hard. And it was very scary. And the whole time I am thinking, "Man, am I doing this right?" because I felt silly. The only thing I had ever done was ADR in power Rangers, but we had helmet heads on so I could say whatever I wanted it didn't matter. I wasn't trying to match anything.

DVJ-Was it difficult to get the lip flaps?

JYB-At first it was. After a couple episodes I started to get the swing of things. I started to understand Trigun. I didn't know anything of the series at all. I didn't know where it was going. There was things I believe in maybe the first episode or second episode where Vash has a gun to somebody and he says "Rem." like that and I was like "What’s that mean"? So I asked, "What is that?" And they said, "Well, that’s a person who is important to you and you just say their name." So I said ok. So I had no idea what that meant until later on. Then I'm like "OH!" Why couldn't you just tell me that or show me the episodes or something, but its hard. It’s still not very easy for me. I mean, sometimes I go in and feel like I really nailed that one. And sometimes like I did Ariel for Card Captor Sakura. That was probably the hardest one I had ever done. And it was probably the simplest character. I just couldn't get it.

DVJ-What made it so hard?

JYB-Maybe it was just cause it was too simple.

DVJ-You like the over the top?

JYB-Maybe! It just seemed like he was very like Yoda in the way he spoke and he meant everything, but he wasn't over the top and so somehow I had to be somewhat monotone and you still had to feel what I was saying. So, it was kinda difficult I guess. And the other thing that’s difficult is the writing. There's a lot of tongue twisters. That’s probably the hardest part is the tongue twisters you know and your in there for hours and when you start getting tired your just like "blblblblb I can't do it." And it gets frustrating. I get frustrated at myself like "Come on dude just say it. Its like 2 words!"

DVJ-What advice can you offer to other aspiring voice actors?

Johnny-Project. That’s a problem I still have is projecting and the other thing is Work on as many different accents or dialects as you can. Work on being an old man, a young kid, in between, play over the top. Just work at it. I'm still bad at doing all that you know. A lot of times I'll just go in and I'll wing it and I just get fortunate. I guess don't ever give up. You gotta keep trying.

DVJ- Anything else you want to say to the fans?

JYB-LOVE AND PEACE!

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