Some things to know, I was late to meet with Leah. I sat in front of the room for a few minutes before getting a call by the Anime Matsuri staff telling me that she was already in the room. That was sheepish of me. haha Also I had problems looking up the names to all of the people and works that Leah mention during my spell check of them so they will have (CITATION) next to them to let you know that I couldn't find them.
So to the interview!
Mikey-san: Hi, I am with Miss Leah Clark here. Voice of Coby and Ms. Doublefinger.
Leah Clark: What's up.
MS: So you been with a lot of shows before and recently you done One Piece right now.
LC: Well I been working with One Piece for a while. So it's been a few months since I worked on it.
MS: Okay. Now I am going to ask this question since everybody ask this question. How much One Piece have you seen outside of your roles that you you play.
LC: I haven't seen a whole lot honestly. I pretty much seen what I have worked on because its not the only show that I work on. When I was recording One Piece, I was recording for four other roles at the same time. So I don't have a whole lot of time to really sit down and watch all nine hundred episodes of it.
*Laughter*
MS: What were the other four shows that you were working on at the time then?
LC: I think it was Sgt. Frog was one of them. School Rumble umm...Let see, what was the other one around that time? Oh it was Negima. Negima had come back at the time.
MS: What do you like about One Piece?
LC: I like the cartoony aspect of it. It like very big. I like the mystery of it. I like the drawings. It's give me the chance to be more...It's actually the biggest roles that I have character wise. I don't mean big as in length by any means. Just how huge the reaction is and how cartoony it is. The biggest one I have ever played both Doublefinger and Coby. Because the rest of them I usually get cast as very subtle characters with soft voices and more realistic sounding.
MS: I know you character Coby will be coming along, let see, I want to say another two hundred episode later?
LC: Mmm, Yeah. He comes back and he is a Marine. He's big.
MS: Buffish.
LC: Yeah. I am not going to explain that. Then it will go to an actual man.
MS: Aww. I think you can pull it off. I mean...
LC: Yeah. I pretty manly.
MS: Yeah. You are pretty manly.
*Laughter*
MS: So what was your thinking for Coby's voice? Were you going for that soft, meeker voice?
LC: Well I saw a picture of him. He's very, you know, very insecure and very awkward. He get hit over the head a lot. Trips and falls over. It just came out. It just fit. It was birthed that way.
MS: How about Miss DoubleFinger? What was the thinking behind that one?
LC: Generally we have, an older character who is very strong and for some reason it just registrar as your voice goes low and you get really intense and every thing. So I think that is kind of what happen with her as well. You know, I saw it and instinctively knew. Kind of like when you have a dog and you don't know what to name it. You kind of look at it and feel it's personality, "Ah! You are Rex!"
MS: Is that how you do it for all your characters roles you have done?
LC: Yeah! You kind of look at it and observe the mannerisms of the characters and also listen to the Japanese first to see the intention was. You don't get seiyu who is very high voice and go in and be a dick and be, "I am going to use a low voice! Screw it!"
MS: I think that FUNimation does that with all their actors. They listen to the Japanese seiyu first before.
LC: We always listen to them first and get the idea of what the intention of the role is. I mean, notice how my first role it is very soft and you don't want to go in there and blast it. The same with Miss DoubleFinger. Her seiyu is very low, soul train, hardcore. So that was kind of a challenge for me because I am not not that. *Laughter* Nobody ever play those type of characters.
MS: But Miss DoubleFinger had two different egos at a time. She had Spider Cafe Ego and the Baroque Works Ego.
LC: The crazy lady.
MS: The crazy lady. *Laughter* How as that going? From both?
LC: Umm...it's fun. I mean vocally its intense because you know, one hand you are very chill and working in a cafe and there the time you are screaming and yelling and throwing things. So you know, I am either very relax or screaming. *Laughter*
MS: I remember I was watching your fight with Miss Nami a few weeks ago and I notice that you got electrocuted by the whole Thunderbolt Tempo attack. How was that...I mean.
LC: How did the?
MS: What was your reaction to that? You are being electrocuted or your character being electrocuted.
LC: Oh, I thought it was funny. *Laughter* I mean funny animation. It was fun to do. So yeah. I enjoyed that. I enjoy any opportunity to be extreme in animation. Whatever it is the screaming or the dying or the tripping and falling or any. I enjoy that part of it.
MS: Okay, now I am going to step away from One Piece for a minute. What are your favorite type of characters to do?
LC: Favorite type of character? I actually like to playing the male characters because it is more like...It's so unusual. It not something that I ever be able to do obviously (when I am) on stage or out on camera. I am never going to play a boy. So to do that in a voice world, its fun and kind of a challenge and its great to be able to say that you can do that. You know, you can be a female and play a male. I think it is fun, it's very rewarding.
MS: ..The time. Umm...I am not use to being timed so...
LC: It's okay!
MS: Let see...Do you wish to do more voice work for One Piece in the future?
LC: Yeah, absolutely. I would love to. I mean it is not up to me but if it was then I will still be doing it.
MS: Do you get called? Or something, "Oh Leah! You would be perfect for this role. Can you come in this weekend?"
LC: Yeah. Usually that would happen. A director will get a role and break it down by how many lines there are. So if they think I am right for a role and if a character got a hundred lines, that is about two hours of work. So our talent coordinator call up and say, "Hey, we need you for two hours. Come in." Record up and call it a day.
MS: Okay.
*Laughter*
LC: No, thats fine.
MS: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood.
LC: As much wood as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood...?
*Laughter*
MS: Thats really good.
LC: Yeah.
MS: Whats your favorite color?
LC: Red. Crimson red to be specific.
MS: Is it blood red?
LC: It is like blood red. Yeah, very dark.
MS: What is your least favorite color?
LC: My least favorite color? Umm...either like hot pink or umm...Sometimes yellow annoys me.
MS: Is it like the brightness that gets to you?
LC: Umm...The pink, the hot pink, does gets to me. It's a little too much. It's like, "We get it. You're here. You don't have to make an announcement." The softer pink are cool. The mobs are good. Its the hot, mothergrabber pink. It like "Alright...Alright. We understand." And the yellow is so...The softer
yellows are good because they're sunny. They bright you up but the muter yellow, you are: "Come on...Come on. Step out. You know. Give us something." Don't be so shy." So it is one extreme or the other. It is too much or too little. I like a nice, solid, competent red.
MS: Oh okay, alright. Red is my favorite color too.
LC: Oh sweet. High five! Whoo~!
*High five!*
MS: Yay~! That is why I love Luffy. He wears red all the time. Or most of the time.
LC: Oh yeah?
MS: Not any more recently. He changes colors so many times I don't have the money to afford the shirts.
*Laughter*
MS: Okay, let say you are at the Grammys and you won an award for whatever voice role you get. Who would you like to thank for that?
LC: Who I like to thank for that? Umm...*Laughter*
MS: Or who you like to thank for being where you are today?
LC: Probably Christoper Bevins because he gave me a shot. My good friend JD Cave (SP/CITATION NEEDED) who let me follow him in an audition one day and Colleen Clinkenbeard and Chris Cason because they gave me my first lead role which is Nodoka in Negima that put me on the map. So yeah.
MS: Who do you say inspire you to do voice acting or where you are at today?
LC: Inspired by Childern's Theater mostly because I did a lot of voice changing while you are doing it and then. It was actually while I was doing a play that I got Nodoka and develop the voice for her because I was playing a show called God's Bell (CITATION) and you switch characters a lot and
the character I was playing at the time was sheep and so whenever I would do the sheep's voice on the stage all my cast mates would go "Oh my gosh!. That is so cute!" So when I went to audition for Negima, there is this shy, little, library girl and I could use this sheep voice for her.
MS: Oh wow. Could you give me, I haven't seen the Negima dub unfortunately, but could you do me that voice?
LC: (In Nodoka's voice) It's like this. It's very soft. (Mikey-san's Note: Please watch and/or buy the Negima DVDs to hear Leah's voice as Nodoka.)
*Laughter*
LC: (Still in Nodoka's voice) And shy. And sheepish.
*Laughter*
MS: What has been the most awkward moment you have been a part of?
LC: *Clears throat* (Back in normal voice) Most awkward? Like recording? Umm Okay...Well that was while recording School Rumble with my best friend Brina Palencia, who was the director at the time, and we were stuck on a line where it was a two word line. And she decided she didn't know how wanted to play that line. So she was like, "Well I am going to keep running beeps and you keep giving me line after line and I'll take something that I like." I think the line was, 'Oh thanks.' So I will be "Beep beep beep..."Oh thanks." Beep beep beep..."Oh thanks (In different tone)" Beep beep beep..." I mean, we keep doing this over and over again. It probably went on for a good four or five minutes and I look out there and like, "Brina, what is going on?" I look out and she's gone, she taken off. She took the engineer with her. She just left me in there recording by myself. For how ever long. So I walk outside, "Whats going on?" She was like, "Are you still in there recording?" So that was diffidently the most awkward.
MS: *Whispers to timer* One more question? *Back to Leah* What would you like to say to all the One Piece fans out there?
LC: You guys rock! Thank you so much for supporting One Piece and being so hardcore and giving me opportunity to say hi!
It sucks to hear that Leah will most likely not return to the role of Coby during the Post-Enies Lobby arc due to the changes that has happen to Coby. She sounded certain but I am kind of going to be hopeful that she will. Still if Leah doesn't then okay. At least we got fair warning. Though we won't know till a good couple of years but you heard it hear kind of first! (Not sure if this has been revealed yet.)
You can hear Leah Clark as Coby in in One Piece Season 1, First and Fourth Voyage and as Miss DoubleFinger in Season 2, Forth though Sixth Voyage. All of them are great watches especially Season 1, Fourth Voyage and Season 2, Voyage Sixth.
No comments:
Post a Comment