Interview Piece: J. Micheal Tatum (Part 2)

Continuing from our first part, we now have our second and final part of our discussion with God! This time we are a bit more One Piece and anime focus as Tatum talks about his experiences as 'god', a demon and the french (and why he may not be allow into France anytime soon). There is a lot of One Piece love in this interview and for a minute we sounded like One Piece fanatics talking about One Piece on a sunny afternoon.

Things to know before reading this interview. Before this interview was conducted, Tatum was on a panel and shared some of his experiences as a stage actor. One of them included getting beaten with a vase and bleed. Also we had to move the location of our interview due to some Hetalia fangirls (saying that in a good way) that were loud.

Also at the end of this interview, I gave Tatum a HUGE Eneru keychain. Yes....That figure that you see Tatum holding in the picture above is actually a keychain.

Mikey-san: Okay, what type of characters or shows you like to play in?

J. Michael Tatum: You know, I love, I have very board tastes. I mean stuff like One Piece I love it because I love the adventure, epic kind of umm…Somewhere between silly and absurd and heartwrenching good and dramatic. I love that kind of stuff. I love the really dark stuff too. I love…I do like the sci-fi adventure stuff. I guess *deeper tone* guy anime *back to normal* you might say. I like the girly stuff too sometimes.

MS: I am guessing you are enjoying Black Butler right now since you are recording that currently.

JMT: Oh, you better believe it.

*Laughter*

MS: I seen a few episodes of that and that is pretty dark itself.

JMT: Yes. Oh yes. Yes it is and it visits one of my favorite mythological tropes. The idea of the Faustian bargain of selling your soul to the devil for success in some endeavor and I love it. I love getting to play *Laughter*, basically the devil.

MS: The devil himself.

JMT: Essentially, I mean you know. It is great to play it. Beautifully animated show. My god it is just sumptuous.  So yeah yeah. *Laughter*

MS: I am guess…What you get more fun out of playing? As Eneru or Sebastian?

JMT: Oh! That is a tough call. They very different characters. I like them both for different reasons. Eneru is fun because he is so big and over the top and he gets to be very ridiculous and absurd and the laugh and everything. It’s really fun. That’s fun. It is actually very therapeutic to play character like that occasionally because you get to do things that never dream of doing in real life. But Sebastian..he is much subtler. He’s much…more withdrawn. He is much more prim and proper. He very seldom if ever raises his voice. So very different and that does can be very fun too but I am fine with the characters that are more subtle and sneaky. It’s more of a challenge.

MS: Ah, and how about France (from Hetalia Axis Powers)? (*Laughter from Tatum*) I started watching that on DVD a few weeks ago from my friend. *Laughter* He is not very subtle…

JMT: Oh no! Not at all. Not at all. He is just a board stereotype. That-that role is a joke you know. We make fun of-of-

MS: French people?

JMT: Not- You see- you see it looks that way but in truth…In my mind at least we are making fun of people who think what French people are like! They are not really like that because they are not!

MS: French people are nothing like that!

JMT: No no no.

MS: They don’t streak around naked in the middle of a coliseum right? (*Laughter from Tatum*) Or I hope not!  *Laughter*

JMT: Oh yeah, I hope not. 

*Laughter*

JMT: Yeah. They are never going to let me into France.

*Laughter*

MS: Not any more.

JMT: *Laughter from both Mikey and Tatum* Do you want to move this elsewhere?

MS: Yeah. Let’s do that.

*Move to a different location*

MS: Would you like to do more work for One Piece?

JMT: Oh yeah. Oh god yes. I *Laughter* I would do anything in One Piece.

MS: I know Zach (One Piece Podcast) been saying, “Oh you should do Ivankov! The big purple hair guy!”

JMT: Oh I was thinking about that one.

MS: The transvestite.

JMT: YES! That would be so much fun. I don-I shouldn’t say that because I don’t want to jinx myself but I would do anything on One Piece to be honestly with you. I love that show. And I have! I’ve done umm…my god! I’ve done like Duck B or something on the movies. *Laughter from both* I just love it! If I happen to be up there they’re like, “Hey! Want to jump in?”, (Tatum:) “Is it One Piece?”, (Other person:) “You bet your as it is!”. *Laughter* So it’s really cool. It is just that kind of show that it is so much fun. So many wild and crazy characters come up often that you have the chance to be, “Awesome! I going to totally-…I love to get to take a shot at this!”

MS: Even if it is Duck B or Marine C?

JMT: Anything! Anything! If it is guy, I been- I been tons of extras in that show before too because I just love it. Sometimes you’ll be up there recording something else and Mike or Zach or whoever happens to be working on a contract of One Piece at the time. “Hey! We need someone to be like this duck or to be this pirate or be this guy who screams for two seconds. Can you pop in?” I be like, “Hell yeah!” I love that show. I love it enough. Yes I would do anything in One Piece. 

MS: Yeah. Heck, I love anything about One Piece so if you in it that’s good. If you not….

JMT: I always have Eneru and Dalton and Pearl and-and the Marine guy.

*Laughter*

MS: Alright. Let’s see…What do you look forward to in One Piece? I mean if you- You probably keep up somewhat but what are you looking forward to seeing in One Piece?

JMT: Umm! God you know? I kind of- cause I talk with the One Piece Podcast, The Unofficial One Piece Podcast, guy a lot. You know, I looking forward to things like Iv-Ivn- (MS: Ivankov) Ivankov coming. I really am looking forward to that. There is some- Somebody suggested that Eneru does make an appearance, or might, at some point or it been allured to. I would LOVE to see that!

MS: Okay okay okay okay. I know Zach mention this before. He does make a slight- Like there is a small little flashback  (JMT: Okay Okay.) to the arc and I am thinking in the little flashback he says something.

JMT: Okay.

MS: So maybe you get to voice that.

JMT: That would be fun to do.

MS: So maybe you get to voice that little five second.

JMT: It is just that I am always fascinated to see what Luffy and the StrawHats are going to do because I- They get into- It is the nature of the show.  They- Anything can happen!

MS: What would you want to see them do?

JMT: You know, it hard to say. I am fascinated by anything they would do. Of course I love them, I want them to win! I would want them to eventually…

MS: Find One Piece!

JMT: Find One Piece! But not anytime soon! It is too much fun watching them try. I would love of them to go back to Drum Island and to see how things have changed up. Because Wapol has been taken care of and I think Dalton is now actually like an elected official or a king or a president and I would love if they go back and revisit that. I love that island! I love that- the look of the place. I love that story. I would love to revisit.

MS: They themselves don’t go back. Every time something big happens that involves the whole crew they always, not flashback, they go- they look back and see, “Oh! Chopper has done this now. Oh, that’s nice.”  And you see Kureha and Dalton in the snow just admiring what they have done or something like that.

JMT: OH! Yeah. Anything they want to do I would watch.

*Laughter*

MS: Even if it involves them going to The Moon?

JMT: YAHA! Especially that! That’ll be awesome!

MS: Luffy and crew, they are successful failures I am guessing you could call them. They always go for treasure but they get nothing.

JMT: And that kind of what makes them so charming. They never give up even so. They keep on going in this adventure they are taking, you know, for their own selfish ends basically. They wind up helping so many people on the side almost accidentally but because ultimately they are just good nature people and that’s what awesome about it. It’s really not about their adventure; it is so much the adventures they find themselves having on the quest that they think they are having. I love that. They are all kind of Han Solo in a way. They are helping people and they are like, “Ah! Yeah. Okay, we are good people!”  *Laughter*

MS: You just reminded me. One of my favorite parts of Skypeia is the end. Right when- They get out of the snake. They have all that gold that was in there and then the Sky People come with that leg of the bell and want to give it to them all wrapped up and they are, “Oh shoot! They realize that we are stealing the treasure! Let’s run!”

JMT: *Laughter* Yeah.

MS: The only person that knows about it is Robin and she just keeps quiet while they just keep running away when they could have gotten the most gold they will ever, ever get.

JMT: OH! Yeah. I love that. That is a very anime (type) thing. The hero that never quite gets what they want but they end up doing something really good for other people in the process. I love that. I love that idea.  

MS: Okay. I am going to go into some random questions.

JMT: Okay. I like random.

MS: How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

JMT: I assume a lot. *Laughter* Boatloads. I would if I was a woodchuck if a woodchuck would.

MS: Alright. What is your favorite color?

JMT: Umm…It’s a tossup. I love black and I love purple and I love deep deep green.

MS: Deep deep green?

JMT: Yeah.

MS: Alright. What’s your least favorite color?

JMT: Yellow. Never been a big fan of yellow.

MS: Never been a fan of yellow?

JMT: Not on me anyways. Some may look good on but I am not that kind.

MS: Not that many people like yellow.

JMT: It’s a polarizing color. People either love it or hate it and I am like, “Neh. Not a fan.”

MS:  Who would you like to thank for being where you are today?

JMT: Oh my god. Umm…There are a lot of people I could thank and should but we’ll be here for hours. Umm…probably the most influential person in my life is my late grandmother who is a huge part of my life when I was young. Got me into reading and literature and the arts and things like that and just kind of develop my love for language. I am defiantly where I am today because of her influence on my life.  So that’s the first person- that’s the person on the top of that list. Defiantly.

MS: She be that person you thanking if you get that Grammy for Eneru.

*Laughter*

JMT: Yes yes. That’s true. Can you imagine?

*Laughter*

MS: And Grammy for Best Animated Voice Over….

JMT: That would be awesome if there was a Grammy for that.

MS: One can dream.

JMT: One can dream. One can dream.

MS: Who can you say inspire you to be where you are today?”

JMT: Defiantly my grandmother. A lot of actors that I have known in this business are a continual inspiration for me. Directors, writers, there are a host of people. I have been very VERY lucky to know some great people that have been very kind and very encouraging and very giving and to all of them I owe a debt that I will never be able to repay. I guess we be here all day if I have to name them all individually.

MS: Could you drop a few names? Like one or two names?

JMT: Well Chris Bevins of course. He is a huge influence on me because he got me into this business and I consider him one of the best directors I ever worked with. One of the best directors period. People like Chris and Greg Ayres of course have been huge influences on me. Very kind, very giving, very wonderful people. Umm…you know…my god. I mean those guys on and off. Eric Vale, John Burgmeiger. You know writers who gave me the chance to write and who really encourage me and help me hone with my craft. People like Joel McDonald who directed me in a lot of stuff. Tyler Walker who has directed me in a lot of stuff like Baccano!. Mike McFarland (Buggy) is amazing. I love working with him. I mean very just essentially good generous people that also happen to be ridiculously talented. So it’s a good balance. It’s my great good fortune to know them.

And that’s just small list of people. I could go on with people like Colleen Clickenbeard (Luffy), Briana Palencia (Chopper), you know Luci Christian (Nami) but now I’m just dropping names.

MS: Yeah. You are just dropping names! I just asked for two or three names.

*Laughter*

JMT: They are just like- I mean it just so hard to pick because they are been so good to me.

MS: And you kind of started recently. You started like four years ago. Four or five years ago?

JMT: About five years ago. I have been doing this since 05’. So yeah.  

MS: And I think Greg been doing this since…2000?

JMT: Yeah. I think Greg has been doing it…yeah…at least that long. He might have even started a little bit earlier than that.

MS: I know one show that he was in was Ghost Stories and that was 04’ I believe.

JMT: Greg is a veteran. He has been doing this for a long time. Amazing.

MS: Back in the days when ADV use to roam the world and control the business.

JMT: *Chuckles* Yeah…They still around which is good. It’s an encouraging thought.

MS: Yeah. I went by their place a couple of weeks ago and then they looked at me weirdly… (JMT: Awesome.) What has been the most awkward moment you have ever been a part of?

JMT: Oh…Man. I actually can’t think of the most awkward. Let see…I have…Aww man, I can’t think of one. It’s usually because of something stupid that I’ve done. *Laughter* I sure there are tons of them but nothing comes to mind.

MS: Anything in the studio?

JMT: I have funny moments. I’ve tripped and fallen in the middle of a take. I passed out very briefly in the middle of a take because I was so screaming for so loud that I lost conscious briefly.

MS: Like that one time on stage that you mention back in the panel?

JMT: Oh yeah! That was incredibility awkward.

*Laughter*

JMT: Getting beaten and slashed on stage and realizing it was for real. You know, that was crazy but yeah. There are tons of awkward moments. I couldn’t possibility pick the most awkward. *Laughter*

MS: Okay okay. Here’s a special one okay? If you one day woke up in one of the characters that you have played, which character would it be?

JMT: Ah man. Well that’s easy. I would have to go with Eneru in One Piece man. (MS: *Laughter*) He’s got a great body! Look at that. I be turning heads everywhere I went and not because I will be having a big ring of drums on my back too. That’s get attention. I have to be Eneru because I mean, come on, look at him! *Laughter*

MS: Yeah he is on the Moon with his little moon people.

JMT: Moon people. Yeah. He’ll come back. He’ll get bored with the Moon really quickly. It’s Eneru. He’ll come back.

MS: He’s is saying, “Oh, I am going to go back down. See what is going on.”

JMT: I love it. I too- I wanna to be able to take off my little head scarf and have this gigantic blonde Curly Q fro going on. I wanna the hair. I want the hair.

*Laughter*

MS: You want the hair. Everybody wants the hair.

JMT: I want the Eneru hair. Yeah. That’s me. That is what I want.

MS: I know it’s possible because I met this one cosplayer. He was cosplaying as Zoro and he had the bandana on and next day I see him. He is wearing the Zoro get up but he is not wearing the bandana. He is casual; Half in cosplay, half not. And he has this massive fro. I am going, “How the heck you hide that fro last night?” (JMT: *Laughter*) and I look at him and just stand there for a while. But I am guessing that we gotta…What time is it right now?

JMT: About one o’clock.

MS: About one.

JMT: Probably we should wrap it up soon.

MS: Yeah. We should wrap it up soon. One question I want to ask though before I get to the last final question I am going to ask. How do you handle the fangirls who love you for Kyoya and the fanboys that love you for your manly roles like Eneru.

JMT: *Laughter* I love them all! I-I-I- The fangirls are fun and sweet and very- They’re cute and they’re adorable. How can you not love a fangirl? And the fanguys, I love the fanguys because- I love the guys that come up to me and they are all, “Yeah. Hey, whats up?” I had this one guy come up to me. He was really tough looking customer. He was built errrrr, really not someone you want to be on the bad side of.

MS: If you piss him off, he was one of those ‘snap you in half’ kind of guy(s).

JMT: And it was funny because he didn’t really know who I was but he was looking at my name in his program guide and he was like, “You do this?...You do this?” and I was like, “Yeah…yeah.” And he was like, “What else have you done?” and it was more *Goes into a deeperish type voice* “What else have you done?” *Back to normal tone* He was playing it cool and stuff. When I told him Eneru in One Piece, he freaked out and became like a fangirl. He was, “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” He was like this big. 6 ft 5’ guy built, you know, just started jumping around and I was like that was extremely gratifying. He was like, “OH MY GOD! You play Scar too! Oh my god!” It was just funny. The guy had became a four year old girl in the space of a second. It was hilarious.

MS: That sounds pretty funny to watch. I am guessing that I would be like that too.

JMT: I love that kind of stuff. I never get sick of it. I love the fanboys and the fangirls do their thing and I just soak it in. *Laughter*

MS: Enjoy it. “Yes! Bring the attention on me! Focus on me!”

*Laughter*

JMT: Yeah! There is a little bit of that. *Laughter* It just fun. Its-

MS: It makes you feel appreciated right?

JMT: Yeah. It blows me away how like the fact that somebody will go out of their way like that to say, “I really like something you did.” Really means a lot to me. It means a lot to any of us to get to hear. You know, what we do is fairly anonymous. 

Voice acting is one of those weird professions that as fun and as rewarding as it is it tends to be very anonymous. No one knows you physically or knows what you look like unless you make con appearances but in this particular industry there is a dedicated fan following. People know who you are and they make it a point to telling you that they like what you did. It’s so wonderful to hear. It’s nice of them. They don’t certainly have to do that but I’m moved when people do because I am like, “Wow! That’s- Wow!”

MS: You get recognized.

JMT: Yeah. It’s just the fact that they nice enough to say something. Always. Always.

MS: I know more anime voice actors then I do American cartoon voice actors and that is probably because I am more into anime now then I was five or four years ago.

JMT: Yeah and that what cool about it. It’s a very tight knit family this industry, this group of fans too. We all kind of know each other and you get timid- You know a lot of fans are like family to me now because I get to see them at cons and it’s really cool. I love it. It’s a very different atmosphere then other kinds of entertainment industry careers. It’s much closer knit and much more fan orientated. I don’t know. I like it. I love it.

MS: Yeah. A lot of companies they tend to cater to the fans saying, “Oh you want a little bit longer DVD sets? Okay. We bump it up from four to thirteen.”

JMT: Yeah. Defiantly.

MS: Alright. Last question here. Anything you want to say to the fans?

JMT: Thank you. *Laughter* I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

So with a simple thank you, the chat with God ended. I have to say it was an awesome experience to talk to Tatum since I have heard so many good things about him. Everything you heard about him as in being an anime fan and liking One Piece is a hundred percent true and more. Tatum is a great guy to talk to and if you ever see him at a con or walking down the street then yell at him and tell him good freakin job. haha

You can catch Tatum's wonderful performances as Pearl in One Piece: Season 1,Second Voyage, as Dalton in One Piece: Season 3, Third Voyage, and as God Eneru throughout Season 3. Make sure to hear his voice and I hope you enjoyed this series of interviews.