Kevin and I have had the conversation about voice actors, yes. American actors? British actors? Eastern European actors? Any of the above doing Eastern European accents?
My own preference is for British actors, but that’s because I’m English. And besides, you know the American rule — any accent not American must automatically be English. HBO didn’t bat an eyelid at ensuring that everyone in ROME spoke with an English accent (aside from the slaves, heh). Note how HBO’s DEADWOOD cast an Englishman as the hero of the Wild West.
(Yes, Al Swearengen was the hero. Anyone who disagrees with me is no longer Human and must turn their membership in at the door. The Walking Wombshit Club is just down the road, watching reruns of THE OC and weeping and masturbating at the same time. They’ll take you.)
There’s also the Sean Connery Effect to take into account. The Sean Connery Effect states that an accent that isn’t American can automatically convey any ethnicity the script requires. Russian? Egyptian? Arabian? The Edinburgh accent can be any of these things, usually accompanied by a Thespian Hairpiece.
The thing about using actors from across Europe is that… and this is something that often seems poorly understood… there is no single Eastern European accent. You can have all kinds of fun watching the otherwise pretty good CHILDREN OF DUNE, which did use actors from many countries, and trying to work out how a culture that seems to be about thirty miles wide produced twelve different bloody accents. It’s like the United Nations formed a desert gang. (Run by scene-chewing English nearly-man Steven Berkoff.)
If it were up to me, I’d wrestle things down to the point where there were only two or three different accents in the film, just for internal logic.
But, of course, it’s not up to me.
There’s another question from comments answered. Aren’t you glad I’m spreading my wisdom here for you? Like spreading manure, yes.
– W
49 responses so far ↓
kevin // May 8, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Ian McShane as Trevor Belmont?
Arikado // May 8, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I take credit for you posting this blog Warren.
In “Why didn’t you approve my comment?”, I posted my request for voice actors about an hour or so before this blog post; please bring back the voice actors for “Curse of Darkness”.
Brinstar // May 8, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Some of the American anime voice (used for anime dubs) actors might be able to do decent British accents… Maybe?
Dresh // May 8, 2007 at 4:16 pm
If nothing else, if Hector works his way into the series, he simply MUST be voiced by Crispin Freeman.
kevin // May 8, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Yeah, sorry. I can pretty much guarantee no voice actors from the games.
Nightrider // May 8, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I don’t give a damn who the voice actors are, or what accent they have. All I care about is getting good actors who will take the part seriously, and not look at it as just a pay check. I think thats something we all can agree on.
Ralph // May 8, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with Nightrider.
Shadoninja // May 8, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Hey. What about the music? is it going to be orchestrated versions of the original or…?
Keniley // May 8, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Christian Bale. He would fit the part of any main lead in my opinion.
Kreeblah // May 8, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Personally, I’d love to see some Romanian accents, since the practice of using British accents for any non-American character really irks me and it’d be interesting to see what the voice actors could come up with for something else.
That said, I would hope the voice actors would have some talent. Quite a bit of the voice acting in video games and such today feels stiff and awkward. Having that in a movie (or three movies) would really ruin the experience.
LBD "Nytetrayn" // May 8, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I’m with Nightrider as well. Technically, they should probably be speaking Romanian or something, right? So if they’re speaking English, accuracy takes a vacation regardless.
So just make sure they can act, and don’t worry about accents (unless they’re sporting a Southern or Brooklyn-type accent, that probably wouldn’t be so good).
–LBD “Nytetrayn”
RJG // May 9, 2007 at 12:49 am
I’d go with the English accent personally. American would feel out of place and, as you said, there’s too many European to narrow it down fairly.
I’d also like to offer support for the casting of Jennifer Hale (http://imdb.com/name/nm0354937/ Bastila Shan from KOTOR comes immediately to mind, but she’s done plenty of other excellent work for games and animation).
Also, David Lucas (http://imdb.com/name/nm0089710/) who not only has history doing Castlevania games but Cowboy Bebop and Street Fighter anime as well.
Two of my favourite voice actors. They’re awesome at what they do. Just a few suggestions.
Roger // May 9, 2007 at 1:04 am
I was just shocked speechless by finding out a. this movie is being made; b. Warren Ellis is writing it; c. no, really, it’s not a joke. I don’t even know what to say. Bravo. Bravo.
As for voice actors… what is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!
Gatts // May 9, 2007 at 1:32 am
Get Patrick Stewart to do some, he has the voice of a god.
Victor // May 9, 2007 at 4:38 am
Cam Clark as something interesting… like… Death or heck even Dracula. Okay, just cast him as everything. Including a seafaring Ninja.
MAX_LE_FOU // May 9, 2007 at 4:52 am
A good voice can make all the difference. Personnally I love the voice work in film and in cartoons of:
Christopher Brand
Michael Donovan
Matt Hill
Mark Hildreth
I do aggree about not having too many accent in one film.
Douglas Cartland // May 9, 2007 at 5:02 am
I completely agree with Nightrider. What’s important is the actors do a good job, not who they are.
I am hoping they will use British actor that won’t sound from a specific place, apart from British.
Victor // May 9, 2007 at 5:07 am
Correction to my previous post, his last name is Clarke. And he can do Faux British.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cam_Clarke
Benny C. // May 9, 2007 at 5:37 am
I don’t care if this doesn’t make sense, but if dracula doesn’t have a moment that says “summon the wooooooorms” I would be severely dissapointed.
Ariana, rousing rabble // May 9, 2007 at 5:49 am
Why do there have to be voice actors at all? Just cut in the dialogue as the old silent films did — give it a nice Symphonie des Grauens feel.
The original NES game didn’t have any voices, after all. But I suppose in your continuing quest to “make a movie” instead of writing a walkthrough, you’re going to go ahead and get voice actors anyway…
Warren // May 9, 2007 at 7:11 am
Ariana: I will stab you.
Benny: let’s see if this works.
Warren // May 9, 2007 at 7:11 am
Damn, the embed didn’t take. I’ll have to use the link:
http://s163.photobucket.com/albums/t294/technarch/?action=view¤t=worms.flv
Michael // May 9, 2007 at 7:33 am
Haha, yeah, I was wondering why you didn’t post that clip.
Pedro // May 9, 2007 at 8:05 am
How about Simon Templeman? He voiced Kain in Legacy of Kain. Personally, I’d love to hear him as Dracula.
RJG // May 9, 2007 at 8:27 am
Pedro, Kain as Dracula would be outstanding. Raziel as well could certainly play the hero once more.
Also, the Prince from Sands of Time. He has a voice, and an accent in that game, that wouldn’t sound out of place in CV.
On top of that, I also nod at Cam Clarke. The man does some good work.
Alejandro Moreno // May 9, 2007 at 8:42 am
I’m glad to hear that this is a concern. (Did anybody else cringe at all the (otherwise very good) Chinese actors speaking English with a fake Japanese accent in Memoirs of a Geisha?)
I don’t have any suggestions, but I really agree with a chosen few accents. Even if the accents get butchered in subsequent subs (there WILL be subs, I’m sure), at least the original could be listenable
John Hyland // May 9, 2007 at 8:58 am
Can you get the same guys who voiced “Symphony of the Night”? You know, for that authentic Castlevania experience.
In all seriousness, I do have a few favorite voice actors, but how much of a difference will it make to post “You guys should totally cast Nika Futterman and John Di Maggio” here? I mean, if it’s not up to Warren, I can’t imagine it’s up to Random Blog Commenter #273.
I just hope they cast for voice acting ability rather than big names.
Kelly J. Compeau // May 9, 2007 at 9:24 am
Guys, if you’re looking for voice actors with a middle/eastern European accent, you might consider auditioning my friend Peter J. Lucas, who won a “Best Villain of the Year” award several years ago for his performance in the live-action video game Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within. He played a European aristocrat who was doomed to life as a werewolf.
His demo reel can be found here:
http://www.peterlucas.com/FANSITE/videos.html
And here’s his IMDB page:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0524257/
Benny C. // May 9, 2007 at 9:46 am
“Can you get the same guys who voiced “Symphony of the Night”? You know, for that authentic Castlevania experience.”
I just puked blood in horror.
Otaku-Man // May 9, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I have a feeling that the voice acting is going to be in good hands. Looks like you guys have a better idea on what they should sound like than we do.
Of course, one option is to do what Funimation did with Dragon Ball when they were redubbing it after the license agreement finally put the series entirely in their hands.
In case you don’t recall, what they did was take lines and voice samples from various different possible VA’s auditioning for the parts. Fans would then listen to the clips and vote on which person seemed to have the best voice for the CHARACTER.
What’s more, they didn’t give the names of the VAs who provided each sample clip. That allowed for an impartial judgement so fans could really decide who was the best character voice.
I bring this up because if you take a look at most big budget productions, like any Disney animated movie, and even something like Shrek!
What they did was take the character and make them match the VOICE! Take Donkey from Shrek as an example. Donkey is an original character whose entire attitude, actions, and facial movements are all meant to reflect Eddie Murphy.
What Funimation did was the reverse, making the voice fit the character!
And since this movie is intended to do things right, and especially appeal to the fans that are most passionate, then I say this method of aiding the producers with casting voice talent will help the selection process.
While the ultimate decision is up to you guys that are working on the project, this method I propose will allow better fan input, and give you something more to work on when deciding who to cast for which role.
What do you think?
~Otaku-Man
Arikado // May 9, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Roger:
“what is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!”
You steal men’s souls!
Well can’t the same be said of all religions?!
These are some of my all time favorite lines. Take the guy who voiced Trevor and Saint Germain in Curse of Darkness and the person who voiced Dracula and Alucard in Symphony of the Night…
And this movie can’t fail!!!!
Otaku-Man // May 9, 2007 at 1:55 pm
@Arikado
Seriously? Those were some REALLY bad mistranslations from the end of Rondo of Blood and the beginning of Symphony of the Night!
And I wouldn’t want that voice of Dracula EVER AGAIN! Seriously! Bad!
Although, for the longest time, I always thought Alucard was voice by the guy who did Batman in Batman: The Animated Series. (Kevin Conroy was it?).
I could see him making a good Alucard.
~Otaku-Man
Arikado // May 9, 2007 at 2:01 pm
I won’t start a huge debate or anything, but those particular lines show the dark witful humor that Castlevania doesn’t use enough of.
Hopefully a great script will let us see more of that in the movie.
leetdood // May 9, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Sadly, I’m left out of this whole discussion since I’m deaf, but Warren, and the rest of the production guys who read this blog, I’d really love it if the movie had subtitles and/or Line 21 closed captioning in it.
I’ve heard this guy (Scott McNeil) is a great VA though, he did the voice for Waspinator in Beast Wars. (Clearly not the best example, but the only one I can remember offhand)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573926/
LaParka // May 9, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Mark Hamill is an excellent voice actor and has some name value, i would recommend checking out him. He would surely do a great job
Just don’t make him do jedi jokes
Melanicus // May 9, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I’d love to have Tony Jay as Death. He did the voice for the Elder God in the Legacy of Kain series. If we’re bringing in Michael Bell and Simon Templeton we may as well bring him along too. The fact that he has a really ominous, evil-sounding voice doesn’t hurt either.
Jen Zee // May 9, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Alucard’s SotN Japanese voice actor was amazing. The perfect blend of smooth, seductive and badass. His English voice is like listening to John Wayne… battle cries and grunts included. I believe I’d once heard Dracula’s English voice described as “Gargling Gravel” which is about as accurate as I can think of…
I personally would go for Romanian accents myself, but I have a love of the historical. I’m sure anything would work fine, as long as it was executed professionally :). For the record, I think Children of Dune’s scattered collection of accents worked well, given it’s sci-fi-futuristic nature… Something that may not be quite so overlooked in a historically based movie. Maybe.
Aziraphale // May 10, 2007 at 2:00 am
@Melanicus:
Sadly, Tony Jay died last year.
I agree that he would have been a great choice for Death though.
Arikado // May 10, 2007 at 11:29 am
Jen Zee: “The perfect blend of smooth, seductive and badass.”
A lot like God of War: Kratos.
jay d smith // May 10, 2007 at 12:46 pm
english voices?
then you need David Warner.
AKA Sark from TRON!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001831/
j.
Warren // May 10, 2007 at 1:24 pm
It’s quite frightening that anyone believes that one might only know David Warner from fucking TRON.
jay d smith // May 10, 2007 at 1:42 pm
well, i was gonna go with time bandits!
buuttttt……
j.
Doom Saber // May 10, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Considering that the VAs for SOTN will be redone for the psp version, I do hope you don’t cast the original psx english voice of Alucard in the film. Even though his voice matches, he is a bad, bad american? voice actor that seems to do a lot of a Va for japanese games. Ever heard him as Optimus Prime? Yuck.
I think he made Alucard work since Alucard is a pale vampire that seems to be devoid of emotion; just like the guy’s acting skills.
I think the guy who did the voice acting for D in Bloodlust would be a better choice for Alucard. What was his name?
The british guy who played the main villain in the Blood Film is also good as well.
As for Scott McNeil, I think he is only good for monster and goofy characters as oppose to serioues ones; he seems to use the same ol’ Silverbolt voice for most of his roles.
I personally think that you guys should get a mixture of english and american voice actors
MrP // May 11, 2007 at 11:24 am
You could always just pull a The Passion Of Christ and have everyone speak Hungarian or something.
See, just like everyone thinks Japanese voice acting is better in Anime because they can’t understand what’s being said, you could hire a bunch of people from the streets of Budapest, and no one’d notice!
Jen Zee // May 11, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Arikado - Actually, though I love the voicework for Kratos, I would definitely not describe it as “smooth, seductive, and badass”… I’d probably describe it as just….”strong, pissed, and badass.” His voice has too much anger and passion in it for Alucard… If I were to choose from God of War, I’d say Perseus’ voice actor is far more fitting.
Akimia // May 12, 2007 at 3:17 am
What about amateur auditions? Since fans were able to send their art portfolios for consideration, would voice auditions be out of the question? I’m sure there are many current “Unknowns” out there that could fill the parts excellently.
Plus, fans might be willing to do the work for less pay, or even volunteer it for nothing at all. I, for one, think that being able to voice a favorite character from childhood would be reward enough. =)
Arikado // May 12, 2007 at 5:59 am
Jan Zee:
Yeah definitely Perseus.
The following is a joke in response to Jan Zee:
Kratos’s voice not seductive? Ever play any of those hidden minigames (God of War fans know what I’m talkin’ about)?
jp // May 12, 2007 at 6:51 pm
“The Sean Connery Effect states that an accent that isn’t American can automatically convey any ethnicity the script requires.” …
my only response: Last Temptation of Christ
bugger the idea that English accents are the only way to convey period/ethnicity
jp
Shinryoma // Jun 6, 2007 at 7:00 am
Whatever happens, please get real actors. Doesn’t matter if they’re unknown. The dubbing in Castlevania games always sounds like the accounting department did it. And there, that’s another thing. Please don’t let it sound like its dubbed. For example, Teen Titans. Sounds like a badly dubbed anime which I think is intentional to go with the whole anime theme. While Justice League, and the DCAU in general, had decent to superb acting.
There’s lots to be said about voices and acting. I think I’m in the minority where the acting in a game or animation can make me not watch or play something altogether. I’m also in the minority for wanting to watch or play stuff in their original language. And I don’t mean this should be in Japanese like elitists arguing over Vampire Hunter D. Just a general comment. Actually, I want it in English with English (UK) accents. >.>
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