A Moment of Your Time, Madame President!

An interview with Tiffany Grant

by Jennifer M. Contino

Tiffany Grant has one of the most distinctive voices I've ever heard, which is great considering the occupation she's most famous for is that of a voice actor, specifically an anime voice actor. She's had lead and supporting roles in over 40 different anime series. She's most famous for her role as Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Tiffany has led an interesting life and I was eager to talk to her about the intricacies of voice acting.


Sequential Tart: Besides the thoughts of fortune and fame, what were some of the other reasons you wanted to be an actor? When you were little what roles did you envision yourself in?

Tiffany Grant: Hmmmm . . . a bit of a trick question. I don't know ANY actors who cite "fame and fortune" as an impetus for their career. Like most actors, it is simply something I have always been compelled to do. I never "decided" to be an actor, I simply accepted the fact that I am one, and just followed my inner voice.

As for the second part of the question, I know you will be surprised! When I watched cartoons or live action shows as a kid, I always seemed to relate more to the male characters than the female ones! I suppose that's because they had the better parts. For Halloween, when I was seven, I went as Batman. I would "play" Batman with my dad and ask him to be Robin. I also used to fantasize about driving the fabulous Mach 5. Speed Racer was another one of my heroes, but I thought Trixie was rather annoying.

On the other hand, I really idolized Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett, so I wanted to play the kind of parts I saw them doing. Add in my ultimate idol, Bob Hope, and you have my major childhood influences. I really wanted to go on those adventures with him and Bing!

ST: White Christmas is an AWESOME film!! What about it makes this classic your favorite of all time?

TG: Gosh - it's hard to say. It is SOOO schlockey and corny - probably major reasons for my devotion - but I can't help watching it over and over. Since I can't decide on a favorite Bob Hope movie, I picked something else. I have seen White Christmas dozens of times and I never tire of it. Wasn't Rosemary Clooney just DISHY in it?! Also, Bing and Rosemary have appeared many times with Bob Hope!

ST: Bob Hope? Heh, tell us a little about why he is such a favorite of yours.

TG: Okay - I have already touched on that somewhat. I remember that as a very young child, I always looked forward to watching his films on TV and would keep watching them no matter how many times I had seen them. When I became aware of all the great work he did for our troops during so many wars and conflicts, it only increased my admiration for him. He was one of Woody Allen's greatest inspirations and Allen, along with many others, have said that Hope had the greatest comic timing ever. I, for one, agree.

ST: Why do you think so may otaku hate it when people talk about Speed Racer and anime in the same breath?

TG: Ya know, I really can't say. That was the first exposure to anime for many of us, and my greatest convention highlight so far - it would be HARD to top! - was meeting Mr. Peter "Speed" Fernandez. I believe that this is probably a view held mainly by the younger fans.

A good analogy would be the Star Wars films. Me and those of my generation practically worship that trilogy and had practically held our collective breath waiting for Episode One. Well, every single 30 something person I know HATES the new film because the plot is worse than any Pauly Shore or Dolph Lundgren movie put together, and the younger folks don't like what they perceive as being "hokey" special effects in the original films. I am quite willing to overlook the definitely inferior FX in lieu of a compelling story line and interesting characters.

ST: When you went to your first voice acting audition in 1994, what, if anything, were you expecting it to be like?

TG: I had NO idea what to expect! So, I guess it's fair to say I didn't know what to envision. There were quite a lot of people there and it seemed like they didn't know what to expect either.

ST: In 1997 you worked on Gamera. What was the process of dubbing live action like?

TG: OMG! That was beyond a doubt the hardest thing we have EVER done! After having done voices for animated characters for over three years, I had NO idea what to expect. Everything we were used to doing had to be brought down several levels - much softer, more natural. We had to be sure every breath, lip smack, and groan seemed natural. When I watch it now - I've probably seen it seven times now - I am still very impressed with the quality of our work. For those who are interested, I wrote an essay about this on my site.

ST: How has working on live action changed the way you view dubbing?

TG: The two mediums are totally and utterly different, so it's like comparing apples and oranges. I DO enjoy working on live action projects, but I have had more success with voice over - largely due to my size, I'm only five feet tall ^_^ . Thanks to all my fans who supported me by going to see Arlington Road and have followed the progress of Laughing Boy.

ST: How important when you are preparing for a role is reading the manga or viewing the original anime before dubbing begins?

TG: I am a big advocate of doing research to prepare for a project. I don't really read manga, but I make it a policy to watch projects I am going to dub before I work on them. I have also been known to do research online and fans are usually eager to help me out as well.

ST: I know you've studied acting your whole life and had a variety of different roles. Which one(s) have been your favorite and which one(s) have you done just to gain some experience - even though you really didn't care for them?

TG: Ah - an easy question. My favorite stage role to date is Sydnee in an obscure play from the early eighties called Next Time, For Real. It was only a three person show, so I had a nice juicy part, the lead, to really immerse myself in. The part I did mainly for the experience would be the aforementioned role as a reporter in the poorly done indie I spoke of earlier.

ST: I'm always amazed, and what I think most people don't realize, is that when you're dubbing an anime you're usually the only actor there with just the director and engineer. Why? What problems are created when there is more than one actor present for a dub session?

TG: Well, judging from our "maiden voyage" into dubbing, I have to say it is terribly inefficient to have more than one person in an individual studio. On Guy we had as many as three or four actors in at once; one person would screw up; we ALL had to do a re-take. Some work has been done, mainly on the two Dirty Pair series, where two voice actors have worked at the same time in two booths, but that is rare.

Imagine trying to accomplish that with another show. Which two actors would you call at once? Say it's Eva. I would be going in to work on two episodes. In that time, Asuka might have scenes with Shinji, Misato, Hikari, Kaji and Rei. So, would you have all of them each come in for a short time to work with me? When do they each record the rest of their dialogue?

I don't think it would be feasible to have all the actors show up every day for the two weeks or so it would take to complete the recording. The scheduling would be impossible. Voice actors are paid based on the time the director thinks we will be in the studio, the size of the role, and that would not be relevant if we showed up every day. Most all of us have other jobs we must go to, so you can see this line of thought cannot have a logical conclusion.

ST: What difficulties are there in working alone?

TG: None that I have encountered or heard of from anyone in the business. It is a standard industry practice for anime and non-anime voice actors. One side effect, however, is that we often do not ever meet our "co-stars".

ST: Even though you haven't 'worked' with many of your co-stars in person, have you met some outside of studio time?

TG: Many of them are good friends of mine. Some I have known for years - like Kelly Manison and Laura Chapman - BEFORE I was a voice actor. Others are people whom I knew before they became VAs - such as Kim Sevier, Jessica Calvello and Tristan MacAvery. Other folks have become friends or acquaintances of mine because of ADV - folks like Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn Lee, Doug Smith and Brett Weaver among others. There are many other voice actors with whom I am friendly or familiar, but there are probably even more whom I have only met once or not at all.

ST: You played the lead in Golden Boy in episodes 1 and 6. What was it like being Madame President?

TG: No doubt, one of my all time favorite characters. I had NO idea of course at the time that the series would be so HUGE! I just love Golden Boy, and even enjoyed watching the two episodes in which I didn't appear at all. I also worked on 3 and 4 in other roles.

Madame President was my first chance to play a bombshell type role, and I remember being VERY excited about the prospect as soon as I first saw it. I could hardly wait to come back in the last installment. Another great pleasure of mine was meeting the original director, Mr. Kitakubo at Otakon last year.

ST: Golden Boy is hilarious. How is voicing comedy roles when you're working alone different from drama?

TG: Hmmm . . . this is hard. Well, we get pretty silly in the studio when working on a comedy - particularly something suggestive like Golden Boy. I guess it really is not all that different, per se, just a different feeling.

ST: Some of your most memorable roles have been of very outgoing women. What sort of challenges do roles like these present?

TG: Oooh! I REALLY like this question! One of the most wonderful things about working as a voice actor is being able to play all those fantasy roles I would NEVER get to play in real life. I get to use aspects of myself I don't normally use, so it is very fulfilling. I like the chance to portray strong female characters, so I am always concerned about doing the part justice. Even though these are animated roles, I am concerned with making them seem real, so I suppose that is the biggest challenge.

ST: One of your most famous roles is for your work on Neon Genesis Evangelion as Asuka. Why do you think that Asuka was able to survive when almost everything around her seemed 'out to get her' or, just, against her?

TG: She got pretty thick-skinned at a very early age and always kept that attitude toward life. Granted, it made her unlikeable to most people, but it also saved her hide many times. Asuka is not one to give up easily and is not afraid of anything. She is just a very strong person, and that seems to come naturally for some more than others.

ST: What qualities do you find most endearing about Asuka?

TG: I absolutely LOVE her dry, sarcastic sense of humor. I think that aspect is what is most like me. I also think her constant striving toward perfection is admirable.

ST: What do you think drives Asuka to invest so much in her relationship with her Eva?

TG: It is something she KNOWS she can do very well, and I don't think she's ever had that feeling about anything else. Of course, she does not know that an unseen force is also driving all of this - the soul of her dead mother inside the Eva.

ST: Asuka ends the Evangelion series in pretty rough shape, though it gave a complexity and a tragic air to the character. Did you like the way her character turned out? If you had a chance to rewrite some aspect of Asuka, what would you change?

TG: I don't think I'd really like to change anything about her. This whole series is a large self examination of its creator, Hideki Anno, so it would not be right for me to suggest changing anything that has such a deeply personal meaning for him.

I would, however, love to know more about her background and her childhood. These are things about which I can only speculate.

ST: I've noticed that you do some reviews of your works, which I greatly enjoy reading, how did you get the notion to do something like this?

TG: Well, originally, someone had asked me to "write something" for a website, and I got the idea to write In Defense of Asuka. Soon after, I also decided to write a review of Gamera, mainly because I was so proud of it. I have not written anything like that recently, although I most likely will. Titles I'd like to write about are Golden Boy, Nadesico and Blue Seed. We'll see . . .

ST: I also noticed you've done some script adaptations. How did you become involved in doing that with ADV Films?

TG: After I had been working as a voice actor for a couple years, Matt Greenfield, ADV co-founder, and also writer/producer/director/voice actor, offered me this opportunity. The company was expanding, and they needed someone else to do work on the subtitle scripts. Matt just figured I'd be a good candidate, and I ended up doing several script adaptations over about a two-year period. A few titles were Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland, Fire Emblem and Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis.

An adaptation simply refers to a polished translation. The process begins with a professional translator who writes a rough English script after viewing the show and possibly reading the original Japanese script. That rough translation is then given to someone who will view the video and adapt the dialogue into something that sounds a bit more conversational and understandable.

The final script is then checked by a translator who can verify the "adaptor" has not misunderstood anything. An example would be where I changed "his head went white" to "he became quite pale" or something close to that. The whole point is, a verbatim translation will never really make any sense.

Another interesting note for sub lovers - the scripts are written by the same folks writing the dub scripts. Gotcha!

ST: You're a fan of the theater, what are some plays you've enjoyed recently?

TG: I just went to see a racy show called Spike Heels a few weeks ago, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Tomorrow night, I am going to see a dinner theatre show.

ST: How did you become infected with your love of Trek?

TG: I can remember being a little bitty girl and watching early re-runs of the original series. I loved Uhura, of course, because she was the only woman on the bridge. And the costumes were SO groovy! I know I had older cousins who watched the show, so maybe I was trying to be like them.

ST: Do you have a favorite Trek series or character?

TG: It is very hard for me to choose a favorite series, as I like them all so much. It seems not many folks feel this way and even strongly dislike certain series. There are many characters I really like, but no real favorites. Top choices would be Data, McCoy, Uhura, Troi, Quark, The Doctor, Q and Seven of Nine. To be honest, there are no characters that I really DISlike. You see, I am just a HUGE fan!

ST: Spock versus Data, who's the better 'brain' for whatever Trek job there might be?

TG: Well, I suppose it would have to be Data as his brain is an actual computer but, as humanoid go, Spock would be a close runner-up.

ST: What do you think of Captain Picard as Professor Xavier in the new X-Men movie?

TG: Haven't seen it, don't think it's out yet, and I am not really familiar with the comic, so I don't have any idea. I will probably see it though, just because he is in it. Just like I watched Moby Dick, The Canterbury Ghost, and several others.

ST: What are you currently working on?

TG: Ryoko Subaru in Martian Successor Nadesico - which I love. I have also been touring with a local children's theatre group as Snow White for over three years.

ST: Is there any anime or other role that you would love to have?

TG: I would love to play the demented little boy in Spriggan (I auditioned for it, but haven't heard back yet) and also Ryunosuke in Cat-Girl Nuku Nuku or the title role for that matter! I hope to get to work on Rurouni Kenshin as well. There are also several plays I would love to do, such as Crimes of the Heart.

ST: Do you have any memorable anime convention stories?

TG: Wow! That really IS a new question! I have many great convention stories, so it is difficult to narrow it down to just one. I would say that one of my greatest memories is that of meeting one of my personal heroes and mentors, Peter Fernandez.

When I was a very small child in the early 1970's, I absolutely LOVED Speed Racer which led to a later love of cartoon, animation and ultimately anime. I think I can STILL sing the entire theme song. Little did I know I would have the opportunity to meet Speed himself! Last year, while attending Anime Weekend Atlanta as a guest, I had the terrific opportunity of meeting Mr. Peter Fernandez - a true pioneer of anime in America.

Mr. Fernandez was responsible for producing, directing, and writing all of the episodes of Speed Racer as well as providing the vocies for both Speed and his mysterious older brother, Racer X. He did this on a shoestring budget and almost NO idea of what the shows were about as he had no translation. He invented all the names, and recorded all the shows with only three other voice actors.

Having worked in "the business" since the age of seven and now well into his seveties, he is a vibrant successful actor who has never stopped working. He is truly inspirational to me, and meeting him is certainly one of my most treasured memories from a convention or any other time.

Links www.advfilms.com www.eva-r.com/tiff/tiff.htm





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