At Anime Boston 2015, Midnight Savage and I had the privilege to interview two different voice actors, and the one I was most familiar with was Cherami Leigh. Due to this I had the pleasure of attending her Press interview and asking a few questions, and ultimately hearing her answer many questions of other members of the press. What I found was a bit surprising as I didn’t have to wait long to see her, once I headed to the Press room early I saw someone sitting down and didn’t realize at first it was her. What resulted was actually an overall friendly experience: Cherami was more than happy to talk to me and everyone who was there early, just because.
What I was originally going to do was instead report on everything she said very factually, but ultimately I decided the most important thing to do was to set Cherami apart from a regular interview. Namely, I think that it’s important to talk about the vital things Cherami promotes for aspiring actors, fans, and the impression she gives off for the industry. It takes a special kind of person to eagerly greet fans, happily talk about the style of dress you wear, and take cameo pictures just for the sake of the interviewers. I was dressed as Akane Tsunemori and Cherami even allowed me to take the premiere photo with her in the dominator. To be fair, she plays Mika, but her input on that is impressive.
The most interesting topic that came up repeatedly in the interview was “How does it feel to play characters who are not well loved.” It was asked by myself and several other people in a manner of different ways, who is your favorite to play, what kind of experience do you get from different type of character’s- ultimately the most interesting thing was her response.
“I like more controversial characters. It allows me to get into their heads and understand what they think- why do they do what they do. And I can see why it makes sense to them when I play them.”
She was more than happy to bring up examples like Sunako and Mika, from Shiki and Psycho Pass respectively, to explain that while the characters are hated she likes them. She even mentions being used to some people going “I hate you! I mean, I don’t hate YOU, I hate the character you play.” and how weird it was, even if she knew exactly what they meant. It was actually really nice to hear that an actor prefers roles that engaged her.
“The characters and roles would always come at a time when it was really relevant to my life.”
Most humorously Cherami recounted to myself and other interviewers how she found out she was going to be cast in Sailor Moon at the rehearsal dinner for her wedding, talk about stress on top of stress. She even added how when she finally recorded it was incredibly stressful,
“I heard the three beeps and then I stopped. The director said ‘this is when you talk’ and I said ‘I know, I’ve done this before, but I just realized if I screw this up the next time I go to an anime convention I’m going to be murdered.’ and she said ‘If it makes you feel better the Creator approved you’ and I was like ‘Oh great, that’s not any pressure!'”
The quote from above really isn’t as funny until you consider the nervous laughter that followed from Cherami. But she ended up doing a great job at Sailor Venus, as the most critical Sailor Moon fan in the universe I attest to this, and even picked the dress she wore to match Sailor Venus’ colors.
When we asked her about being in simulcast dubs, she explained that it was definitely more intensive. Some actors prefer to knock out as much as possible in one recording, but you can’t do that with a simulcast dub. It’s still going and being scripted as you go, leaving you on a much more rigorous schedule. It’s especially difficult now that she has moved locations, she admitted, but that ultimately it was a unique and fun experience to do it.
One of the most fun things, admittedly, was learning about the infamous ‘Tatumisms’, that is, words that are completely made up by J Michael Tatum and have the most vulgar/hilarious kind of sounds with the most original kind of meanings.
Throughout the interview Cherami left words of wisdom from an industry pro: never be picky about live action or voice acting. It’s hard to find work and both will challenge and engage you. Never stop acting or getting practice because you can always improve. She even left the resounding advice that if you can be happy doing anything else, do it. But if you can’t wake up in the morning without knowing you’re acting, you should do it. If it’s part of you, go for it. It’s a long and hard road. You have to be diligent at your job so they’ll work with you, always be prepared, never expect work to just fall into your lap. She expressed her earnest love for both voice acting and live action acting, saying she is incredibly lucky to have both.
As a generation of voice actors step up to the plate it’s clear many of them, or rather us, do not think about it. It is hard to consider a lot about the roles. What if all we want is to be voice actors? Is that viable? Cherami Leigh is one of the most notable names in voice acting I can think of and even she has variation between live action and voice acting. To be a VA, I took from this, the diligence required is phenomenal. If you can be anything else and be happy, be it.
To me, voice actors are a unique variety all their own. Anime is an industry in the west that is odd to say you want to be in it. If you don’t stay respectful of it then you risk sounding like someone who is taking advantage of the culture. Yet if you are too engulfed in it you risk accusations of rejecting your own culture. To love anime enough to work in the industry is to attract a good degree of negativity. ‘Oh, so many people want to be voice actors.’ ‘So many people want to work for this company.’ Even people like myself who do not directly aspire to be voice actors will hear this all the time. But successful voice actors have the most peculiar place. Not everyone will know who they are when they walk down the street, and not everyone will desire to have their autograph. But they change the lives of their target demographics, they ultimately make it clear that it is alright to love acting and even the niche voice acting section. Cherami Leigh is an actor that provides validation to an entire section of people: You can be happy by working in the industry. The happiness of actors like her is not easy, it is hard fought and requires immense dedication. But the most important part of meeting Cherami Leigh for me was that confirmation:
You can be happy doing what you want to do. Fight for it. It’s not about luck entirely, it’s about your efforts and your diligence. English voice actors are an inspiration for anime fans, never be ashamed of your interests. Be respectful, be courteous, be a hard worker, be friendly, and do what you love more than anything. More than a voice actor, Cherami Leigh is a good reminder that life is about what you fight for.
Oki