Anime Central 2001

ACen 2001: Duo and Trowa

Duo Maxwell and Trowa Barton. Need I say more?

Oh, perhaps I do. Scott McNeil (Voice of Duo Maxwell, the original Piccolo, Suezo, and Dinobot from Beastwars) and Kirby Morrow (Trowa Barton, Goku from the UK DBZ dub) held an interesting panel describing exactly what a professional voice actor deals with every day. That didn't stop them from having a lot of fun!

Fan-favorite lines such as Duo's "Just watch me. I'll be the God of Death once again, but for now... I need some sleep." and Trowa's "Those who have laid eyes on a Gundam shall not live to tell about it!" peppered the discussion. Kirby's "Kamehameha!" was rivaled by a famed Piccolo scream, so intense and so long that audience could see veins bulging on Scott's arms before it ended.

Both voice actors agreed that theatrical skills aided their performance, often lending experiences and motivations that help refine the voice. After 400 voices, though, sometimes bits of one voice bleed over into others. Nevertheless, Scott has no favorite voices. "All of them... They're all my children", he said.

Fans interested in starting voice acting should have a demo tape or CD, as well as examples of prior experience. Voice Acting doesn't start by going directly to an anime dubbing company; it starts with local radio and television stations and works up from there. It takes hard work and dedication to achieve your goal.