PROBE
Tiffany
Grant
Tiffany Grant
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PROBE Tiffany
Grant |
Tiffany Grant |
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Tiffany Grant, known to most fans of anime as the voices of Asuka from Evangelion, and Chocolat of Sorcerer Hunters, is also a talented actress in her own right, recently appearing in the well recieved movie "Laughing Boy", an independent release. She agreed to do this interview via e-mail. CHUCK: Thanks for doing this interview: What was your first dubbing project, and how has American voice acting changed over the years? TIFFANY: Wow! I'll try to keep this to less than 500 words! Although there were a few wonderful projects from Speed Racer through Star Blazers and Robo Tech, I would say it has generally improved. People now actually aspire to a career as an anime voice actor. My first project was the very racy "Guy: Double Target" in early 1994 - almost seven years ago. At that time, current English anime was NOT viewed kindly. There were many projects put together hastily in hopes of making a few quick bucks, but they really compromised their projects in the process. Now I believe that American anime studios have a greater respect for their ever widening audience, and are making vast improvements. For several years, I would not mention to anyone that I was a voice actor - even at my first convention in May 1997. That was AKon [an anime convention] in Dallas, and I was pretty much incognito, afraid I would be attacked by rabid purists who felt I was ruining their genre. Now, I am proud to say (publicly even!) that I am an American animé voice actor. And I am thrilled at the overwhelming acceptance from the fan community. Thanks! CHUCK: You're best known for the roles of Asuka and Chocolat. Are there any lesser known characters that were particularly challenging or difficult? TIFFANY: One role that was particularly challenging was the French warrior in Samurai Showdown, Charlotte. For one thing, I had to maintain a believable, consistent accent for the whole thing - and it was recorded at 2 am! |
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Anime (pronounced an-i-may) is the Japanese term for animation. The anime industry is as big, in Japan, as film is in North America. |
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Speed Racer - which, in the 1960s, was one of the first anime series introduced to the U.S. - featured a doe-eyed, spunky kid with a red scarf and a mysterious "G" on his shirt who drove the incredible Mach-5, an awesome race car with a dizzying array of high-tech gadgets. Anime fans know the "G" refers to the original Japanese name of the series, Mach Go Go Go. |
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Star Blazers, or Uchuu Senchen Yamato, was produced in 1976. It first aired on American television in 1979. It's commonly referred to as a "space opera" because of its blend of emphasis on space battles and human relationships. |
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Oh yeah, and Guy has been known to turn into an eighteen- foot blue monster. |
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One hundred years after their deaths at the hands of a former colleague, six legendary holy warriors are reborn to seek justice against the teammate who betrayed them into the hands of an evil god. Based upon a popular video game, Samurai Showdown was the subject of the 2001 version of Mystery Anime Theater written for Otakon 2001 in Baltimore. |
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