ANIMERICA INTERVIEW

Volume 7, Number One (January 1999)

When asked how he got his start in the anime voice-over industry, Crispin Freeman is explicit about his reasons for getting involved. "A friend of mine landed a role in Peacock King and he knew I was a big anime fan, and suggested that I call up Central Park Media and see if I could get a job doing dubs, Freeman says. "My first thought was 'Why?' Because for myself, I don't like the dubbed versions and I usually watch subtitles. But then I remembered that the shows I used to watch when I was growing up were all dubbed, and it wasn't until later that I got into subtitles. I realized that it's usually through dubs that people are introduced to anime and I wanted to make that introduction as good as possible." Anime TV shows like Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets (a.k.a. Gatchman) made a great impression on Freeman as a child. "I liked the character played by Casey Kasem the best-he was called Mark in Battle of the Planets; Ken the Eagle in Gatchaman," he remembers, "I actually wanted to change my name to Mark back then. Later, he discovered Voltron, Star Blazers, and Robotech. "That show really blew my mind," he says. '.My little brother and I taped it religiously. In fact, we still have some episodes on Beta. Of course since then, especially once I realized that Streamline was going out of business, I've gone out and bought every episode of Robotech I could find." An actor who describes himself as "primarily a theatrical actor," Freeman holds a graduate degree from Columbia University, and at time of this interview, was performing A Christmas Carol in Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park, and had just finished a run on Broadway of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge. But even so, as an anime fan himself, voice-acting holds a special spot in his career. "I was more excited about getting Zelgadis than I was about getting on Broadway, if that tells you anything. But I must say that my physical training for the theater, especially my Suzuki training, greatly informs my voice work. I think if I stopped doing my stage work, my voice work would suffer."

WHAT ANIME SERIES ARE YOU FOLLOWING CURRENTLY?

I've just finished watching Irresponsible Captain Tylor. In fact, I'm going to be playing Tylor in the dub. And Revolutionary Girl Utena, of course-I've gotten onto the Utena mailing list and have been talking to people about the story arcs coming so I have a better understanding of the world we're working in. The online fans have been so great with their web synopses that I knew the first story arc before I went in to audition for the series. I have to thank the fans, because they helped me so much to understand the character before I went in. But I'm a fan of Utena for the same reason I like most anime-I love mythical heroes and archetypal imagery (more Jungian instead of Freudian), of which Utena is just chock full.

THEN YOU ALREADY KNEW THE UTENA STORY BEFORE YOU STARTED WORK ON IT?

Which surprised the director-I had a much better understanding of what was going on than he expected me to. Because I'm so familiar with anime, I know the stock anime character pantheon-I know that one's bishonen, or that one's the genki character. Gatchaman is the prime example of classic "types" of characters.

SO WHAT'S YOUR IMPRESSION OF TOUGA?

It's funny, because when I first started doing him, I wanted him to be more like Allen in Escaflowne-more knightly and experienced, and more noble, more of a good guy. But it became clear to me as it went on that he's as psychologically wounded as any other member of the Student Council. He has to be in control. I think he's honestly in love with Utena, but he can't say it. He has to control her, and show his superiority over her. He has to win, and that's kind of sad.

DID YOU GET YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF THE CHARACTER FROM WATCHING THE JAPANESE SERIES, OR FROM READING FAN PAGES ONLINE?

I did not have any video copies of Utena, so it was strictly from the fan pages. I feel lucky with Tylor that I've been able to watch the whole thing subtitled.

TELL ME ABOUT ZELGADIS. IS IT LIKE NIGHT AND DAY, DOING SUCH DIFFERENT CHARACTERS?

He is a very different type of character and I'm learning more about him every day. With Touga, I was able to research and find out everything about him, but with Zel I was thrown in halfway through the series. For the first 13 episodes, an actor named Daniel Cronin played the character, and I really disagreed with his characterization. He played Zelgadis in a much more monotone way, and I thought Zel had a bigger axe to grind. He gets turned to stone, and he blames it on Rezo the sorcerer. But it's not Rezo's fault-it's his own fault. He wanted to be powerful, and Rezo just gave him his wish. The problem with Zel is that he's not willing to acknowledge that he's responsible for his situation. It's a monkey's paw sort of situation. Be careful what you wish for 'cause you just might get it.

WILL YOU BE CONTINUING WITH ZELGADIS FOR SLAYERS NEXT?

Yes. And there's a raging debate about who's the better Zel. That's how I got involved in the online fan community I wanted opinions, and I got opinions. Boy, did I get opinions. Some people thought that I'd ruined the character; that Dan's version was more mysterious and mystical and sexy, and then there were some who thought I was right on, and much closer to Hikaru Midorikawa's voice, and that Zel is not so emotionless. In fact, just knowing that Hikaru Midorikawa, who did Hero in Gundam Wing, did the Japanese voice of Zel was important for me to know because of the similarity between the two. The fuming, internal boiling that's happening in Hero and probably Zel as well-he's just obsessing with being human again. Being in the online discussions has taught me a lot. There are some fans who are kvetching just to be kvetching, because they don't like change. And then there are some who have constructive criticism, and have taught me more about Zel that I didn't know and will help me.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AMERICAN ANIMATION AND JAPANESE ANIMATION?

I would say there are two differences: there's a difference in technique and a difference in content. As far as technique is concerned, I feel the Japanese are much more savvy in their use of animation as a medium than Americans are, especially Disney, because Disney informs so much of what we think of as animation. There's a couple of wonderful books: one by Scott McCloud called Understanding Comics, and another by Marshall McLuhan called Understanding Media. Both of these books really helped me formulate my thought on animation since McCloud breaks down how comics and animation work as art forms and McLuhan explains how technology and different mediums affect you psychologically. The fact is that the Japanese are much more obsessed with movement in their animation. There's a lot of sophisticated cinematography and character body movement that is sadly lacking in a lot of American animation. And the simplification of character design - by simplifying the main characters' faces so much you allow a large number of people to physically identify with that character. If at the same time you make the backgrounds incredibly detailed, almost photo-realistic like they so often do in anime, you get this almost virtual reality type of experience where you get to identify with the main character in the show and experience their world in the animation. That's very powerful, because you're doing something just with physics, engaging someone's eye and drawing them in using technical means. Now as far as Disney goes-you see, all cartoons work this way, I just think that the Japanese have really pushed the envelope more. But if you look at Disney, especially some of their older works like Sleeping Beauty, it's about the pictures coming to life. Even in the opening of Beauty and the Beast, there's this gorgeous stained-glass window sequence with very little character or camera movement. But then if you look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame, that's just a mess. The whole point of Hunchback is that you're supposed to find the Hunchback disgusting and abhorrent. The point of Victor Hugo's story is that you are initially repulsed by him and then later come to realize that there's a human being in that body the same as you, and if you don't find him disgusting, then there's no point to that lesson. But if you try to make him the star of this big production where he's the hero you've shot yourself in the foot. There's no way to simplify his face enough to make him something young boys can physically identify with in the way McCloud and McLuhan outline in their books. I think Disney got off the mark; they've lost it. Whatever they've had, it's gone now. My hope for American animation lies in Pixar (even though they are a Disney subsidiary) and hopefully some other animation companies giving Disney a run for their money. In terms of content, the Japanese, now that they've captured your eyes through purely technical means, will take you on a journey and in the shows that I admire most, like Utena, Escaflowne, Macross Plus-all of Shoji Kawamori's works-they will take you on a mythical journey, a classic Joseph Campbell mythical hero's journey like Luke Skywalker. You are aligned through the use of the medium with the main character in the story and you get to experience that character's hero journey yourself by identifying with them through the power of the animated art form. And in that journey you get a revelation about the nature of existence. Which to me is the purpose of art; the proper purpose in the sort of James Joyce definition of proper and improper art.

WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO ASPIRING VOICE-ACTORS?

Study the classics. I would say-well, you see it depends on what kind of voice-actor you want to be. There's two kinds-the more versatile kind, who can play all sorts of voices, and then there're those whose voices are really distinctive, like James Earl Jones. If that's what you've got, a really individual voice, then great, although I doubt even James was born like that-I'm sure he had to work at it. For myself, I'm in the favor of the more versatile kind of voice who can do all sorts of roles and transform. But to do that you have to have chops, and the best way to get them is through the classics, especially Shakespeare. It teaches you a lot about breathing, and idea and intention and rhythm. He's written the characters into the very poetry of the language, and if you try to get into and match his poetry it will take you out of your normal language patterns and that's the beginning of creating a character, not playing your mundane, everyday self. It's so verbally based, and in voice-acting, all you've got is your voice.