The Truth of Anime Voice Acting ft. @AleksLe | Trash Taste #199
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- Hello and welcome to another episode of Trash Taste. I'm your host for today, Garnt. Joining me once again are the boys and we have a special guest with us today. Do you wanna introduce yourself to our audience? - No. - Who are you? What are you doing here? What are you doing here? - I'm so nervous, guys. - I'm so scared, Garnt. - Sound like you're about to cry. - Hi everybody, my name is Alex Lee. I am an English voice actor.

- Yes. - Not just a English voice actor, you've voiced in like pretty much everything. - Yeah. - I think it's easier for us to name the stuff you haven't voiced in. - That's true. - The stuff you have voiced in. - Yeah. - Your IMDB is stacked. - What is happening? How did you get all these? Who are you? - Okay, okay, without watching some of these, without listening to some of these, what are some of the roles that's,

What's the first roles that pop up in your mind if you have to sell someone? You will know me, or you might know me as Zenitsu from the English dub of Demon Slayer. Damn. That's a pretty good one. Luke from Street Fighter VI. That's another one. Yeah, yeah. The protagonist from Persona 3 Reload. Hell yeah. That's another one. We got Mash from Mashle. Hell yeah. And most recently, Sung Jinwoo from Solo Leveling. And, gosh.

- God, Kaiman from "Dorohedoro." There's a lot more. - I know it's all like the main characters. - The main role. You forgot one of the biggest ones last year, in my opinion, "Vinland Saga." - Yes. - Thorfinn. - Thorfinn from "Vinland Saga."

- That's so good. - I love that show. - Yeah, you've voiced in a lot of high profile productions, but we've had dinner before and you've had like one of the most interesting origin stories I've probably like ever heard for like a voice actor. - That's true. - Or like in the industry. So like, okay, first off like,

- What was your childhood like? Let's go all the way back. - Let's go all the way back to the beginning, man. Let's go all the way back to the beginning. Let's just jump right into it, man. - Therapy session, I'm leaning into therapy session. You good, man? You good? - Yeah, yeah. So I was born in Asia.

And I lived in a lot of the Asian countries when I was younger, like three or four of them. And it wasn't until I turned like 10 that I got the once in a lifetime opportunity to move to America. That's like striking gold. Once in a lifetime opportunity? You go from poverty Asia and then you go like, pee.

To America and then you go there and you're like what the fuck they give out Shrek toys Food It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to America. Yeah, and once I was there I had to learn English and when I first came to America I remember it was a it was a very hard thing for me to do because I never spoke any English I remember my parents tried to get me into

English programs. They didn't realize that in order to get into English programs in Asia, you have to know some English. So they took me to this like prestigious place. They spent a lot of money. They're like, this is a lot of our savings. So pass this test, please. And I'm like, how? How?

I never had any time to study. So I went there and the first English test was like, name the anatomy parts in English. And I was like, I don't know anything. What's the powerhouse of the cell? I'm sorry, guys. It's over. And then, yeah, I failed. Absolutely. So when I came to America, I only knew three words. I knew...

- Toilet. - Okay. - That's a good one. - That's very important. - Okay, useful, useful. I knew chicken. - That's great. - Also great, yeah. - It's a good food. It's a great food. And then I knew tiger. - Okay, well, not so useful. - No, no, no, but it's cool. And that's why I knew it. - Tell me all about Asia without telling me all about Asia. - That's the only thing I knew when I was looking through the English dictionary. I'm like, this picture is cool. - I'm gonna remember this one. - I'll remember this one. - Even before like, hello, thank you, or like, chicken, tiger.

- Chicken tiger toilet? - Chicken tiger toilet, please. - So you started learning English later on. I think when I went to school, I learned, I actually de-learned or unlearned English. - Really? - My English is worse. I said de-learned. - Yeah, de-learned. - Perfect example of how my English is terrible. That's impressive. Wait, so you, wait, how old are you, sorry, when you started learning English then?

- I was 10 when I started learning English. - Do you guys remember learning English? 'Cause I think we all have a similar experience. Was English like the first language you learned or was it Japanese? - Technically for me, it was my second language, but I kind of learned it at the same time as Japanese. - Right. - Yeah. - 'Cause I learned Thai first and then, 'cause my mom was like, "You're gonna learn English in school."

And I don't have like any recollections of this because I was like so young at the time, but apparently I like the first day of school, I just did not know what was going on 'cause I couldn't understand anyone. So I just fucking cried all day until my mom picked me up on the first day of school. - That's one way to do it. - So presumably you speak another language too then as well? - Yeah, it's kind of lost to time though.

That's how it is. That's what America does to you. But I also had the same experience because they were actually going to put me in like two grades below because they were like, he doesn't know how to speak English. And then my mom...

at the time she was very gung ho about me, you know, being successful in school. So she was like, I'm ripping this shit up. He's like, nah, he's going to join the regular grade with all the regular kids and all the regular things. So I went in there with all these like American kids. And I'm like,

I don't know anything. Yeah. So my first year was, it was very hard. She, she basically like locked me in a room and she was like, here's a, a YouTube channel where there's this guy with curly hair. Right. And he's like, I'm going to teach you what a verb is.

- And it was like- - Remember the name of the channel? - I don't remember. I wish I remembered. But it was like six hours every single day of me just like, you're not gonna find it. He's lost his time. He's lost his time. - This was a long time ago. - It might come up. - We're searching. - Yeah, but it was like, it was just absolutely torture of six hours a day just learning English from some guy. - Wait, so you learned English from YouTube?

Well, that's the thing. I learned words from YouTube. Right. Okay. He doesn't really teach you how to string sentences together. Yeah. At the time, even before I came to America, there were a lot of shows that I had watched that were already in English. There was, I saw the Dragon Ball dub. That was a huge part of my childhood. You didn't watch, there wasn't like a local Asian dub? Oh, no. There were absolutely local Asian dubs. But when you live in like,

I don't know. Back then the situation was we didn't have a lot of money at all. So everything we got was illegal. Like the games that I was playing was on like one shared family computer and it was all ROM hacks. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was safe for me. Yeah, same for me. And the DVDs and Blu-rays people would bring home were just also like, just like counterfeit shit. So it was like a disc with like a banana on it.

- And then it would have the in Sharpie, like Dragon Ball episode 27. And when I was young, I thought how it worked was that if you just grab any disc and you write what you want on it. - It just magically becomes that. - So I was like, I like snuck into my mom's room. I took a disc. I'm like Dragon Ball episode 47. I put that shit in the DVD player. Nothing. - It's like why is there no Dragon Ball? - To be fair, CDs pretty much work like magic

- Yeah, yeah. - I don't understand how laser engraving works. - So I saw a lot of like, I saw Dragon Ball in like four different languages and I was just rolling with it. I was like, you know, it's the same to me. - You're a record keeper and you're a fucker like that. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. - I was watching like Super Sentai, Kamen Rider on the Mr. Bean for some reason. - Mr. Bean? - Mr. Bean needs no language. - That is a silent film, you know, basically. - He doesn't need anything. - And one of the first,

cartoons that they started airing in Asia was Ben 10. Oh hell yeah. That was like my introduction to like oh this is what English sounds like and Dragon Ball and then when I came to America I remembered I got into a lot of trouble because we didn't have cartoons on the go in Asia. Yeah. So in America I was like what is on demand and I started watching that shit like crazy and then like the next day I think like my stepdad's mom found out that I was using on demand and they were like

"You just cost us $50 watching, what is this? "SpongeBob SquarePants?" - I mean, money won't spend if you ask me. - Yeah, so I watched a bunch of cartoons, a bunch of like anime dubs, and that's kind of how I started to learn English and put together how people spoke. - That's wild that like you started learning English at a pretty young age.

a pretty like relatively later stage in your life for then you to then voice all of these roles. - Considering the career you have now. - That is kind of a crazy trick that I think about it. - Did you move to Canada for a while or? - I did when I was around like middle of high school, I moved there and that's kind of when I became independent. I started living alone at the age of 14 and- - Wait, what? - Yeah, yeah. - Damn, that's like some anime pro tag shit.

- That's what it was. It was, I could get into it, but it's really weird. It was like, Canada was like a different land. It felt like being in the Twilight Zone. - Wait, you gotta expand on that. - No, no, no, no, no, no. - Every Canadian watching was like, hmm. - It was like, I lived in Vancouver, so the population is mostly Asian people. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - When I came to Vancouver, I was like,

- You wanna be around Asians? - It's like the expectation for Asian kids is that they're really academically up there. They're super smart. I'm like, I'm gonna be the dumbest piece of shit there. - We were like, bro, I just learned English, man. - I was like, man, I just learned how to speak. Now I'm gonna get bodied and everything else. But when I moved there, for some reason, their curriculum was super easy to me. Yeah.

And I think the way it was is because they're very easy on the grading. Sure. Like 100 to 80 is an A, 70 is a B. And for some reason, their curriculum was like two years behind what I was doing in America. And I was doing like AP, advanced placement stuff. I think that means nothing to all of us. Yeah. So my Americans will know. But yeah.

Yeah, when I came to Canada, it was a surreal experience because my parents had basically left me alone because they had other...

obligations. So I was living alone right next to my school. That was about a two minute walk. And I would just walk to school, do my stuff, go home, make lunch, sometimes fall asleep and then never show up to class. Did you have a job back then or were you just... I did. I did some part-time jobs here and there just to make a little bit of money. But I also had like the...

I was lucky enough to have family who knew somebody who had a place and they were like, we can rent it to you for cheap. - Okay, okay. - They were renting to a 14 year old? - Yeah, it was like 400 Canadian dollars a month. - That sounds like it's breaking a lot of laws. - The fucking Asians in Canada, they don't care. - I guess so, yeah. - It's like, you're one of us. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You're made right. - I'm like, I just can't imagine an Asian man seeing a 14 year old kid in his house and he's like,

- 450. You look like you can get 450 together. Like that's crazy. - That's when I felt like at the, I probably, I don't know. It was like when I felt at the top of my, in control of my life, you know? - That's when you were 14? - No, no, no. It was like, it's a different thing because I grew up with, you know, based on what I'm telling you, like my parents were very much like,

I don't think they had a very good basis or idea of how to raise a child. They were like, we want great things from you. We're going to push you somewhere. Do that thing. So it was a lot of pressure growing up. And I don't want to get too much into it, but it was like, it got to a point where

I used to be very much non-verbal and like non-communicative. And at some point when you just push the envelope on somebody too much, they kind of have like a breaking point. And when they break, they have like an awakening. So I feel like my very first one was when I was kind of like 12 years old. That's when I remember for the first time having thoughts of my own where I can be like, I want to do this. Here's what I want to do. Damn, that on top of puberty, your brain wasn't overreacting.

- I know, 'cause before that it was just like, oh, mom wants me to do this, mom wants me to do that. Expectations for Asian families are just that you need to succeed, you need to be good at school, you need to be good at sports. And as a child, and again, I didn't talk until I was like eight years old or something like that. I was just like, yes ma'am, yes ma'am, yes ma'am. And then eventually,

they keep wanting more and more and more until you kind of snap in your head. Then you're like, what the hell am I doing? So 12 was when I started having my first thoughts. - That's crazy. - This is what people like sometimes realize when they're like in their mid twenties. - Yeah. - Wait, you guys weren't thinking when you were 12? - I was still shitting my pants. - Not so much shitting my pants. That's a Joey thing. But like in terms of,

especially in like Southeast Asian culture where sometimes a lot of people from Southeast Asia, their parents, they have one priority and that's like surviving for a lot of the times.

And they want their kid to do this and they want their kid to do that. And there's a vague push, but there's not so much of a- - There's no real directive behind it. You get an opportunity like America, which is a land filled with opportunities. And you go there and you say, "All right, go fucking succeed kid." How?

- You know, be a doctor, be an engineer. - And when I had my awakening, I started thinking for myself and over time I started to notice the patterns more. And then finally, when I lived in Canada, that was like the first time I ever felt like,

I'm on my own. I'm doing my own thing. And this feels good. This is what it feels like to be alive. - So what is it that you kind of like realized? What was it that you wanted to do at that time of like 12, 14?

- I mean, when I was in Canada, I lived there for a couple of years and I was doing really well academically and you know, I was still super awkward, but I think there's kind of like a weird charm to somebody who's really awkward. - Yeah. - You know? Like the transfer student who doesn't say anything or do anything ever. - It's more like your school. - Usually sits in the back of the classroom. - You're like, what's that dude's deal? - Yeah. - It's mysterious. - It's cool, you know, you're around the same people all the time. You know, when someone new gets introduced, you're like,

Interesting. I was just like, the reality was that I was just really awkward and I didn't know how to make any friends. So I was always, people would approach me and I would just be like,

And that's it. Yeah. And I think that made people want to approach me even more somehow. But I felt good because it was like for the first time in my life, people are paying attention to me and asking me to hang out. Because before that, I never had that. I was like, you know, always the awkward immigrant. Yeah. Because it's different when you're surrounded by people who, because I lived in Florida. Yeah.

Yeah. And the Floridians did not give a fuck about some Asian guy. Yeah. They saw an Asian kid and they were like, throw his bike against the wall, you know? So for the longest time I was like, if I can be invisible, I'm going to be invisible.

they won't pick on me. And then when I came to Canada- - You sound like some light Yagami-esque. - When I came to Canada, I was like, I'm invisible, but why are people trying to pay attention to me even more? - I'm jealous 'cause like I do that shit and I'm like, I'm just actually invisible. I remember my high school years, I was like, well, I don't speak to anyone. No one speaks to me. I mean, I was fine with that. - Well, that happened to me when I came back to America because my student visa ran out.

So I was like, I was kicked out of Canada and I was so upset about it because my life was so good there. I was finally starting to work out. I got into like powerlifting and I started competing. Yeah. Yeah. I was, I was like 200 pounds. I was huge. I was making food, going to the gym every morning. Yeah. Yeah. I showed you the picture. Yeah. You showed me the picture. It's pretty funny. When he was like, yeah, I powerlifted. I did competitive powerlifting. I was like, what kind of life have you had, man?

When you're a kid and you live alone, you don't have anything else to do. You're like, what can I get into? You know? Oh,

- You're like literally feeling it. You feel like you're in the same street right now. - Most kids I know, they play video games and- - What age did you start doing this? - Power lifting and stuff like that? When I was in Canada was the first year that I started lifting. - So how old? - 14. - Let me see. - 14? - 14? - Something like that. I got into really- - Oh shit, no you didn't do a power lift at 14. - I got into really, really good shape when I was like,

turning like 16, 17, stuff like that. - Okay, so that makes more sense 'cause you get more into sports. - Well, that's when I started, when I was really young. - I say bullshit 'cause I'm jealous. I wish I had known that. I used to just fuck around on quad bikes all weekend. - Hey, you know what? Cardio- - I didn't even go outside, bro. - Yeah, bro, you guys went outside? - When you say like, "I started thinking for myself," I'm like, "What the fuck do you mean?" What are you not doing? - For me, I've always been very- - Enough for these guys. I'm like, "Why aren't they thought?"

I've always been very absent. We just go and like fuck around on the farm and do our own thing for like two days. My thing was, ah, just play video games. I like that too. I like fucking shooting. This is when I started. I'll send you guys pictures you can put on. This is when I started trying to figure it out. Damn, big boy. I was like, oh, I want to get big like those fucking superhero guys. And then I was like, I'm going to learn how to like lift weights and do this and that. And it was fun. It gave me energy.

new perspective on life, basically. - Hell yeah. - This episode is sponsored by ExpressVPN. Going online without ExpressVPN is like not having a case on your phone. Most of the time you'll probably be fine, but all it takes is one drop and you'll wish you spent those extra few dollars on a case. Did you know that your data is valuable? Yes, even you, viewer, your data is valuable. And hackers can make as much as $1,000 selling your personal information on the dark web.

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And it's also rated number one by tech reviews like CNET and The Verge. I'm traveling around the world right now and especially VPN has genuinely been saving my ass. I like watching TV shows and it's very annoying that I have accounts in Japan and when I travel, it does not like it. So being able to just spoof that I'm in Japan or in any other country to watch any kind of content

is very helpful. So secure your online data today by visiting expressvpn.com slash trashtaste. That's E-X-P-R-E-S-S-V-P-N.com slash trashtaste. And you can get an extra three months for free. That's expressvpn.com slash trashtaste. Thank you to ExpressVPN for sponsoring this video. Back to the episode. Why did you stop powerlifting? Or was it just because you moved back to America? I think everything I do, I get hyper obsessed with it. So I got so obsessive to the point where I blew out my elbow and then also my shoulder. Oh.

So I had to stop. - Good time to stop. - The doctors were like, you shouldn't do this anymore. And I'm like, but I'm so jacked. I'm so fucking strong. I can't stop. And then I didn't stop and then it was just gone. And then I got a job. - Yeah, they normally does it. They normally, the commercial does it. - When you get a job, you just don't really have much. - What was your first job then? - My first job ever was,

was when I was younger, when I was around 14, I was delivering mail. So I was working for like the post office. I opted to do the later shifts when they're just loading the boxes. Cause I didn't like, you know, talking to people. I didn't know how to drive. I was like, I'm just going to put these boxes on top of each other. And so the bodybuilding arc started, you're like, damn, I'm going to lift it. This is great. And so after I was back in America, I was like,

My future is ruined. Everything is ruined. I had such a good life in Canada. I was strong. I was, you know, people liked to talk to me. Um,

I had a great future. I was like, I'm going to go to university with all my friends. I'm going to go to the nice university and live that college life. And then once I was basically deported, I was like, well, I'm back in. I was back in Florida. I was so low. I had to go back to Floridian school and see like the first thing I saw when I walked in was like some girl on a leash next to some guy. And I'm like,

- All right. - The least we've been in Florida. - We're back in America. This is very depressing for me. - Damn. - How old were you when you moved back to Florida? - I think I was around like 17 or 18. - Okay, so then how did the power lifting thing, how did it go from power lifting to voice acting? 'Cause it seems,

pretty much the other side of the spectrum. - That was the thing, was that when I was in Canada, I wanted to be a physical trainer. I wanted to be a personal trainer because I was like, oh, I really love this lifting thing. I feel like it sets me apart from everybody else.

or at least everybody else that I knew. Uh, and I was like, you know, I'm not really into academics or being a lawyer or a doctor. Maybe if I, if I do lifting, I could, you know, I could look good. I could feel great. I could help other people. That's the, that's the goal. And then once I went back to America, I was so depressed that I just kind of just vegetated and rotted away in bed for a long time. And, um,

I was like, well, what now? And I started watching anime again. Damn. That checks out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to watch anime again. And before all of that, my very first love, passion for anything was art.

When I was really, really young, like, like I said, I didn't talk until I was like eight ish. Right. How I used to communicate. I didn't communicate. What I used to do was I was just drew. I like drawing my first ever, ever drawing that I can remember was that I drew, uh,

Kakashi from Naruto. Yeah. That was the first doodle I ever did. I started drawing, you know, the fucking Dragon Ball characters. The Super Saiyan 6 Dragon Ball characters. I was doodling those and then I drew Pokemon. I'm like, I love drawing. And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to be a mangaka. So my first awakening was 12 years old and I was like,

That's my future path. I love anime. I love manga. I love drawing. This is what I'm going to do. And then I started imagining a future for myself. I'm like, I'm going to be 43. It's going to be Christmas Eve. My assistant's going to come in and be like, hey, you sure you don't want to celebrate Christmas with us? I'm going to be like, no, I'm good. And then she's going to leave and then I'm going to pass out and die alone on Christmas. That's going to be my life. Why isn't that your vision for the future is like the bad end?

of a scene it's the most realistic version for me you know when i saw that i was like that's i will pursue my passion with all my heart and then i will die with honor as a as a great mug artist holy shit but then when i you know when i grew older and i started lifting i was like man drawing's fucking hard i can't do this anymore yeah and then when i started watching anime again i was like

I still love anime and I still love manga and I still love this way of storytelling in this world. What else can I do? - Yeah, you don't want to draw. - Yeah, I don't want to draw. And then I turned on Toonami and then I heard English dubs and I was like, "Why don't speak Japanese?"

I can probably do this. I'm pretty good at English for now. Maybe I do this. But how it happened was that it was like a hot summer day and I was sitting there in my fucking tank top eating udon. All of a sudden I just thought, what if I became an anime voice actor?

- I think I'm gonna dedicate the rest of my life to that. - Holy shit. - And then that's how it all started for me. - If there's one thing I already know at this point of hearing your story is that once Alex has dedicated to something, he fucking goes for it. There is no stopping this man. - It's a hyper obsessive component. - Yeah, that's crazy. - It's like someone reaching enlightenment in like the Floridian sun in a tank tank. Just like, I think I'm in a voice act now. - Yeah, yeah. - And so you know, the Florida heat gets to you.

- Your third eye will be a voice actor. - So how do you go from Florida to voice acting? - How do you go from Florida man to voice actor? - Yeah, 'cause you're obviously a lot of the voice acting as well is not in Florida. - And how old were you when you had this awakening? - It was right back after I got back from Canada. - Okay, so around- - 16, 17, something like that. - Yeah, 17. - 17, 18. - Yeah, yeah. - So right after that, you know, the timeline's confusing for me as well because it's just been a while. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - To put it all into perspective.

But yeah, once I had that idea, I was like, what can I do to get this off the ground? And I started looking online. People ask me all the time, how do you become a voice actor? And I tell them,

I just Googled that shit, man. I don't know how to help. Yeah, that's literally what I did. I just Googled how to be a voice actor. And, you know, I did a bunch of research. I dedicated myself to just figuring out other people's stories, how they got into the industry. I basically started doing fan dubs.

And I was like, yeah, I'm like this generation to start somewhere. You got to first overcome your fear. And I had a huge fear of public speaking because I, you know, I always wanted to be invisible. So to suddenly become somebody who's very present in the limelight, it was a super difficult switch. And I had to like overcome that fear of like,

oh I should just yell my brains out and if my neighbor comes down and yells at me that's fine you know so it was like I had to condition myself to do that I had to condition myself to get over stage fright you know and that's something I still didn't get over for a very long time but it was a good start yeah um

I started doing, you know, what my main method of learning acting is. Because I didn't have the money for acting classes. Yeah, they're expensive. No, no, acting classes are like, if you want a good one, it's like $600 for a couple hours. So it's like, you know, voice acting classes are also really expensive like that. And I was just like, I can't afford that. So what I did was that I would watch...

Anime or cartoons or even movies and anytime they said a line I would repeat it so like something I love doing was I would put on like Trailers and I would hear a line from the trailer and I would say it back exactly like that like that. Yeah Or like if somebody's screaming fucking Leonardo DiCaprio is screaming. I'm like I was I would start screaming like him. It's cringe. I

But it helps you learn because that's how I learned how to draw too was that I started tracing. So I traced a lot until I got a feel for it. That's the same thing I did for acting is that I just kept imitating until I got a feel and then I developed an ear for what sounded good. And I think like I did it

16 to 18 hours a day every single day. And this was, this is like hobbyist level stuff, but I never got paid for any of it. It was just a hobby. And I was just like, but if I want to get good at this, I need to dedicate that time. Is there some Minecraft fan dubs? Oh my God. Actually, yes. Don't look it up.

Don't look it up. What is it? Because back then, you know, online, which I think is pretty, we must be around a similar timeframe. I think so. It was all just fan dubs, a lot of Minecraft, a lot of Minecraft stuff. Minecraft fan dubs, a lot of- A bridge series as well. Yeah, a huge one. I mean, I never had the, back then I never had the comedic chops to get into those or what was considered like internet funny, you know? But I tried my best to,

get some experience by doing those and after a while I was like I think like two to four months of doing that I was like okay what's the next step is to make yourself a demo reel so I just you know I got in my recording closet it wasn't a recording closet it was just a regular closet I mean that works as long as you have enough clothing in there that's like yeah I made my own demo and then I put like sound effects and shit on it and I'm like that sounds good enough to me yeah yeah

And the next step for that was getting representation. Um, and I was still living in Florida. Yeah. And from my friends, I made friends who lived in California who were also trying to get into voice acting from what they were telling me is that, um, you need an agent. Uh,

And I'm like, okay, actors need agents. How do you get one? Apparently you have to submit yourself and then just pray to God that they give you a chance. Right, right. And so I was like, okay, that's a little bit harder. Especially because I'm in Florida. That's not going to help me. Yeah. So...

I did a ton of research. I reached out to a ton of agencies and this is very frowned upon, but I did it because I was a young kid. I was very nice. The number one thing you're not supposed to do is contact them. You're not supposed to contact them without a referral and

Right. But I was so like, I just did not give a fuck. I was like, I called them and I was like, hi, do you guys take demo reels? And they're like, no. And I'm like, well, are you sure? And they're like, no. And I'm like, all right. Well, here it is anyway. I'm going to send it anyway. So I, yeah, I had a list of agencies I wanted. So I was like,

"Fuck, this is the dream agency for me and I really want to get into this. How do I introduce myself?" I was lucky that they happened to be accepting demos at the time because at the start of every year they kind of clean out their talent, you know, who they don't want to work with anymore and who they want to keep working with.

And I took that as an opportunity to send them an email. - Nice. - And I basically lied about everything on the email. I was like, that's what you- - You're always so annoyed when I tell people, dude, do you have to do this kind of shit? If you know you can deliver lying about the dumb details, you have to. - What I did was that, I think I was like 17 or 18 at the time, I contacted the main person in charge of animation. And I was like, hey,

My name is Alex Lee. I would love to be a voice actor. What can I do? And then she was like, well, sweetie, you need a demo reel. You need a resume. You need this and that. I'm like, fuck a resume. I don't got any jobs. And she was like, well, try again later. And I'm like,

okay. And then like two weeks later, I messaged her again and I'm like, I got my demo reel. I made it in my closet, but I didn't tell her that. I was like, yeah, I got, I got a professional industry. I was like, listen, my name is Alex Lee. I,

I'm a young voice actor of Asian descent. I can speak multiple languages. A total lie. I can speak two. I was like, well, that isn't a lie. That's all. You need me. I'm an asset. You need me now. I'm so young, full of energy. I got the clean, great, high-pitched voice that you need in anime and video games. Here's my demo reel. By the way,

- Yeah, I worked. I worked a lot. And then she basically, you know, she was a lot smarter than I was at that age. So she looked at the email and she kind of rolled her eyes and she was like, "Yeah, you know what? Fine, I'll give you a shot.

we're going to interview you. And if you can pass the interview, then we'll give you some auditions to do. I'm like, fuck, yes. Yes, I'm in there, baby. And like nothing was guaranteed. Nothing. If you're confident in your abilities at that point. And this was just her being nice to some guy. Wait, so what did you put on your resume? I basically just put like, I was like, sometimes I would put in projects that never existed. There's a few of those. And I'm like, education from...

This guy. I have a mentor. Yeah, and a mentor. And the issue is that this is just somebody being nice.

Yeah. When a young, very young person tries to get into the industry, obviously, you know, the thing you want to do, you don't want to shoot their dreams down. You don't want to like fucking be rude to them. Sure. Yeah. I mean, if you're a good person, you don't want to. I was going to say, I'd love to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm showing this to me of like age six. That would be a dream job. Ask Alice. They need to reject you. But she was very sweet and she wanted to like,

Kind of give me some hope. Obviously, the answer was always going to be like, look, you're not cut out for it yet, but try again later. I love your enthusiasm. That was always going to be the answer. But I took that like half maybe. And I was like, I'm in, baby. I'm already in. She didn't say no. So what I did next was that.

I went to my parents and I said, I got a job in California. I'm a big boy now. So at the time, I was doing community college. And I was so into this voice acting thing. I didn't have any time for classes. So I was taking the money that I earned from my part-time job. And I also got a scholarship. Right.

And what I was doing was that I would buy one or two books and then take out the rest of the money for the semester. So I was using that money. I basically cashed out my scholarship funds and I bought myself a car with it. And then I dropped out the very next day out of college.

And at the time I was using my money from, 'cause again, I didn't have time to do school. And the only reason I could keep the scholarship is if I kept getting good grades. So I had this girl who I was paying $500 a semester for, and she was doing all of my classes.

And so that's how I kept the scholarship going. And I kept pulling more and more money out of it. - So the trick to being a voice actor is fraud. - No, no, no, no, no. No, that is not it. It's called a grind set.

- It's called a grind set. - It's called a grind set. - It's called a grind set. - It's called a grind set. - It's strategy, right? It's strategy. - Bro was playing the game, man. - The funniest thing is that even if you cheat in college, you can't pass the final exam. - Yeah. - Well. - I was very lucky that I somehow in this class, I remember one class was US history. I ended up in this class with like,

two friends that I met in middle school and they were like these two blonde girls who were valedictorian and salutatorian they were like very smart and I was like oh hey guys and they're like oh I remember you and so we all sat together and I was like you know if I can do you guys a favor would you help me cheat on the final exam and they were like

Sure. And so one of them asked me to drive them to, it was like the Pokemon launch day because she didn't have a car. Right, right. And I was using my mom's car at the time. So I would drive her to GameStop to pick up Pokemon. And she's like, okay.

You got it. And then I forgot what the other one was, but I think she was just nice to me. So she was like, sure, you can cheat. And so like final day of the exam, I had them, I called in sick and they did the multiple choice section because there's multiple choice. There's like three essays that you have to do. So I had their answers on the phone and then I like-

I wrote it down on a very tiny piece of notebook paper that was this small and I wore a watch and I slipped it underneath my watch. That is literally some Kira shit. I went into the exam. I was the only late student and I was like, I'm so sorry. I was feeling really sick. And he's like, all right, go ahead. I went in there, pulled out the thing, filled out the multiple choice and came the essay questions. And this was us history. So it was like questions that I had no idea what the fuck to say. Yeah. And I was like,

how did the invention of this machine help with, you know, the labor force or like, how did this impact the economy? And I was like, fuck. And so I just pulled bullshit after bullshit from my brain. I'm like summoning my bullshit powers. And I'm like, what can I say to appeal to this guy's emotions? And I was like, maybe, maybe if I write and then I, it came to me and I was like, I'm an immigrant. I've always been an immigrant. So on the answers, I was like,

As an immigrant, my personal experience with the collapsing economy of the United States at that time is that, you know, as immigrants do, they struggle a lot when they come to America with jobs and all that stuff. You're lucky you didn't have a racist dude. Yeah, I was very lucky. So I was saying shit like, oh, the invention of this machine probably took jobs from a lot of people. But not only that, the immigrant population was also affected because we rely on physical labor and labor that requires us to not speak and communicate and this and that. And then I was like,

I hope this is good. And so I turned in my test and the next day we all came to class and the professor was like, there was only one person who got a hundred percent. - Ain't no way. - No fucking way. - He gave me back my paper and I could not believe it. - No fucking way. - And the two girls sitting next to me, they were just like, you fucking piece of shit. I hate you. And I'm like, I'm sorry.

Don't hate the player. If you were in my class, I would have absolutely hated you. I think so too. I think so too. But without them, without all of those white women who helped me in college and high school, I would not be here today. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. I just can't believe you were doing like some Laya game shit. You have to. It's crazy. From my experience is that I was basically growing up a

I don't really have a supporting like father figure, mother figure that I really considered somebody who always had my back. And when you're in situations like that, and you're also a loner who don't have a lot of friends, you just kind of have to use your resources. - With certain industries like that, if you're not really, if you're not like born in the area where that industry is, or you just happen to live there,

- You're kind of automatically like really handicapped in terms of what you can achieve. - You have to do whatever it takes to succeed and win. - For sure. - And that's kind of like a side tangent to what happened next was that I- - That was a side tangent. - Yeah, yeah, that was a long time side tangent. Anyways, took all the money out of my tuition and my, not tuition, my scholarship fund. I used the rest of that money with the money that I had earned from my part-time job and I bought myself a car.

So now I don't have to drive my mom's car anymore. And now that I have my car, and now that I have this maybe yes for my agent, I went to my parents and I said, tomorrow I am leaving.

And so- - Well, I mean, they weren't really there for like five years. I feel like it's pretty fair. - They were like, "You are fucking stupid. You are insane. You will fail. You are destined to fail." And I'm like, "And that's why I'm leaving." And so within one week I had packed up all of my stuff. I had gone to California. I flew there. I bought myself a ticket. I flew there and I was looking at apartments and I found one that was like, "Oh, this is nice."

The last favor I ever asked for my parents was that I know you guys don't believe in me. I know you don't trust me. I know you think I'm going to fail, but please help me co-sign this apartment. Because this is the one thing I can't bullshit. Oh shit. And they were like, fine. And the thing that they took pleasure from was like being right. So they're like, we're going to sign you this apartment. You're going to come like crawling back and crying. We'll do this. We'll entertain you. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, please, this is the only thing I ask. And,

That was their final gift to me is that they co-signed my apartment. And so I packed up all my belongings and then I just drove to Los Angeles. She's from Florida, from Florida. It was a, it was a whole week long trip. And then once I got there, I was like, let me check my bank account. Shit. I only got enough rent for one and a half months.

- One and a half months to make this work or else? - One and a half months to make this work with this maybe yes from the agency. So first thing I did when I got back to Los Angeles was that I contacted the agency. I'm like, guys,

I'm here. I'm in Los Angeles. I'm a resident now. Because before they were like, you're far away. We can't really make it work. And I'm like, well, you gave me a maybe yes, and I'm here now. And I'm ready to work. And they're like, okay, we'll set you up with an interview tomorrow. And then tomorrow came and nothing. And then the next day came and nothing. So I responded back and I'm like, hey guys, interview? And they're like, sorry, we're in the process of hiring some new interviewers.

interns and this and that. Maybe next week. And I'm like, okay, I'll see you guys next week. Next week comes no response. And I'm watching my- We're nearly a month in now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd be shitting myself. I was like, I was shitting myself too. And I was like, there's nothing. I haven't seen anything. I was checking my email. I bought this little like-

that lets you know when somebody reads your email, 'cause that was not excessive. And then still nothing. - I have the thing that blocks that. - Oh yeah? So you're the anti-me. - I just told people knowing I've opened an email. - It's true, it's not a good thing. I don't do that anymore. It's kind of creepy. - I didn't even know that was a thing that you could do. 'Cause you could put like a pixel in an email that is like a white pixel. And it basically is like a tracker that says when someone's opened it.

- So you should install something. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I was so obsessed that I was like, this has to work, please. - The immovable object versus the unstoppable force. - Nothing for the next two weeks. And I was like, I can't wait any longer. So I called her.

And she didn't pick up. And then I emailed her and she didn't respond. This is how you normally get a no. Yeah, exactly. And so I emailed her like one more time and I'm like, Hey, I just really need a response. I'm sorry to reach you out of the blue again, but it's been a couple of weeks and I just, I just need something like a date in the future would be nice. Yeah. And she came back to me and she was like,

hi there. I'm so sorry about that. It's been a very busy, you know, start of the year for us. We have a lot of things that we need to do, which is a very professional response of basically being no. And she was like, there's not much else. We don't really have a spot for a new talent right now. And we don't really have space for someone like you. And I'm like,

This is like, this is where I would die. This is where I would like break down and cry. But as I was about to, I was like one more, one more email. I'm not out of this yet. I'm not out of this yet. I still got one more email. I don't hear no bell yet. I don't hear no bell. I sent her one more and I was like, okay, I'm going to be completely honest. I have no money left. I have money left for one more month of rent. Yeah. Yeah.

I have abandoned everything. I know you think I'm young. I'm very reckless. It's true. But let me level with you. I have nothing left. After this, if there is nothing for me, I'm going to die on the streets because I'm not going to do anything else. I'm not falling back. It's either this or I die. And I'm sorry to put that pressure on you, but this is all I have left. So I basically gave her the ultimatum. I'm like, give this kid a chance.

Or be responsible for this kid dying on the streets. Which is, don't do that. And any reasonable person would look at that and be like, fuck you. Who do you think you are? But I think she just felt nice enough that day where she was like, fine, you know what? We're going to send you one audition just to test you out. We're not even sure if we're going to send it. We're just going to send it to you. Do your best. We're going to listen to it and then give you our thoughts and opinions on it. So I sent her...

you know, she sends me the audition. I spend like 16 hours on it trying to get it exactly right. And then I sent it back to her and you know, I say all this nice bullshit. I'm like, thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. I sent it to her and I wait for like five days and there's nothing. And I was starting to think maybe it's over. Yeah. Maybe this is it. Maybe it's the end. And then the next day, um, I get an email back that says you booked the role. Yeah.

- Holy fuck. - And so my first ever audition in Los Angeles. - You can make a fucking movie about your life. - My first ever audition, I booked it and I was, I couldn't believe it. - Did you cry? - I was, I didn't cry, I screamed. I was like, "Yes, fuck yes." - Yeah, hell yeah. - And I just couldn't believe it. It was...

It was for an anime feature with all of my childhood heroes. It was Yuri Lowenthal, Josh Keaton, Roger Craig Smith. What was your first role? I'm not going to get into it. Okay, okay, okay. But if you look up these names, you might find it. Tom Kenny, Bo Billingsley, all these people, Cary Walgren, all in one movie. And I was like, this is a dream come true. How did I do this? And it was for a villain role. And so...

I came in for it and you know, I had never done anime before. So I came in and the director, she was like, "Have you ever done anime before?" And I was like, "Yeah, I have." - If anyone ever asked you, "Have you ever done this before?" You say, "Yeah." It's always what you do in the entertainment industry. - And so I did it, I sucked ass.

but I was so fortunate that they called me back to finish the rest of the role. And then I did it. It was terrible, but I did it. And that is how my career began. - Was that how you learned ADR as well? - Yes, that is. - The entire process? - That was my entire learning experience. - So what was that like? Where you're in the booth and you're like, okay, you've done anime before, you know how the deal goes. What was that first line like? - Yeah, I mean, sorry, go on.

It was like my heart was racing so fast. The beeps went by so quickly. I didn't catch them the first time. I was like, I'm sorry, one more time? And then I did it and it was like sounding like Ash. And he's like, you're a little stiff, loosen up. And I'm like, okay, I'm sorry. And then we kept going and we barely got through the chunk of lines that we get to. And then we got to a scene where I needed to laugh. And I was so nervous. I was like... And it was so bad that she was like...

After the session, she pulled me out. She was like, you're going to go home and you're going to study this for a little bit. And I'm like, yes, absolutely. I'll get it next time. And so for the next week, I just like...

Every waking moment, I was forcing myself to laugh every single day. And then I came back and I was able to do like a half decent job. And then thank God they were like, all right, you're good enough to, so that we can keep you on the project. And so I, I finished that project and that was my first ever, uh,

in Los Angeles. - My first time doing ADR was the exact same. I told them I knew how to do it. I didn't know how to do it. One thing is that we live in a time where information is online. So there's tons of- - Behind the scenes videos. - Behind the scenes videos of people explaining exactly what ADR is. So you know what's gonna happen.

So all you have to do is match the beep, which is tough. - It's like, it's different when you watch it versus when you actually do it. When you actually do it, it's so much harder to- - You're like, wait, do I wait like a half second after the beep? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - On the beep? You should make sure. And so when I, same thing as me, when the beep started, I was like,

- I wasn't supposed to wait like another beep. I would just make shit up. Cause I was like, I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. But it wasn't for anime, it was for some other stuff. So it was a lot easier. The anime stuff, what I did was a lot harder. But that was also cause the footage was like 10 P. - That happened back then. Yeah, that was pretty common. - It was like 10 P and there was a big X on it.

- Oh, that's probably a copyright mark or something like that. - Yeah, I was like, great. So I was like, I told them, I straight up just can't see the lips. So I don't know, this is not helpful. I told them, I'll just say it and then you tell me if it works. - Yeah, 'cause I'm very thankful I had you to help me out through my first ADR session. - I did too. Yeah, yeah, that's right. That was a really fun day. - That was a fun day, hopefully. - Did he lie his way in?

- I was straight up. I was like, guys, I have never done this before. - He was too honest. - I was honest. - If the cameras weren't on, I would've been like, get out of here. No, I'm kidding. - No, no, no. - Stop lying. - You should have said like, ever heard of Ava Bridge? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - 'Cause I remember the day, right? Where we got the email where they were like, oh, do you wanna voice some characters? - In Mashal, yeah. - In Mashal. And I was like, cool. So I...

- I am not lying when I was like, I was told nothing about what I was gonna be doing. I think I found out I was voicing Mashal on the day when I got to the studio. - That's usually common with the anime dubbing process is that you don't get the script until the day of. So if you're like nowadays, there's a lot of things where they do simul-dub, 'cause back then you could be like, oh, this anime, and then you look it up and then you watch the episode. But now it's like, you really don't know

until you get in there. - Exactly. - Unless you read the source material. - Exactly. So I turned up on the day and I was like, oh, this will be like a fun little YouTube video. I'll be voicing some like background characters. Turn up and they were like, number one, you're voicing Mashal. And I'm like,

"All right, that's a Shonen Jump property. "That's pretty big, but it's okay. "I'm just gonna do some like, "while I like background voices." - And they were like, "You're Rhodes Emus, "the prestigious magma sorcerer." - And they were like, "Wait, you got a named role "and you're gonna die." And I'm like, "What? "I'm sorry, okay." And then they bring me into like the studio and they're like,

"All right, ready to get started?" And I'm like, "Wait, what? "I haven't seen the script. "Don't even know what the character looks like." - You haven't told five lies yet. - Yeah, exactly. - At this point, you should be knee deep in lies. - You should have been telling them about the 401k. - You should have walked in and said, "Maschall,

- Never heard of it. - Never heard of it. What is that? - Yeah. - Sounds a little naipe great to me. - So I remember the beep thing because I was like, all right, I seen behind the scenes. I know what the beep things is. And then the first time I heard the beeps, I think I completely missed it. - Oh yeah, you always do. - Yeah, yeah. - You always do. Always happens in all of us. Like the first time we do it. - So I was like,

- Was that what I was meant to go? Oh, okay. - I think the key factor to that day was that we had to, or I wanted to make sure that you were comfortable because something that I wish I had was like a supporting or encouraging voice when I first started working. - I mean, you were supposed to be the pro, so. - Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's like in a professional environment, it's like they just look at you through the glass and they don't say anything. Most of the time they keep themselves mute. So you're just there like,

- Yeah. - It's like a side eye. - Yeah, yeah. - They're like full second waiting and you're like. - You're looking at them and they're not saying anything and you see them do this.

- No, that was great. - Yeah, so it's- - 'Cause I think it was that recording session that I got the inkling that, okay, a lot of your skills, which is like super, super fucking impressive, a lot of it was self-taught, which is like, I think you told me your origin story afterwards, which made a lot of sense. 'Cause I remember, I think that was like one line

where you were like giving me advice about, very, very great advice. I could not have done that. I could not have done it without Alex and the other directors. But I remember there was this one, I can't remember the exact line, but you were like, "Okay." I think it was when I was voicing the owls and it was just like, "Make a bunch of these noises." And you were like, "Just make the noises. Don't worry too much about syncing it up. You know, they're gonna do that." And then the director was like,

- Um, actually, please don't worry about that. - Please don't worry about that. - I know, I was like, usually for me, I walk in and I'm like, I'm just gonna say a bunch of shit. I'll leave it to you guys. But this time I was like, Garnt, listen to me, buddy. You don't gotta worry about any of that stuff. And then they go on the fucking mic, they're like, no, he does. - Ignore everything he says. - I'm like, he's lying again. - I was like, fuck.

- I mean, yeah, I guess, I mean, 'cause obviously if you're a second late to say it, but you know, they can shift it, but obviously you don't wanna make that job harder. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. - So the more you have to rely on them doing that, the more they're gonna be like, "Fuck this fucking guy, bro. "He keeps fucking making us fucking clip things "and shit tips it out." - Yeah. - Yeah, I mean, it's,

It's really, really insane. I also think that we should preface, please don't annoy a casting person. - No, no, no, no. - That is actually, I think the worst single advice. - Everything that Alex has said. - Somehow that worked, but I feel like 99% of the time that would never work. - It would never work. It would never work if I did it

a second off, a minute off. It was just a once in like a lifetime opportunity. Because, you know, the thing that people talk about acting or any skill or any like, even being, you know, content creators and stuff like that. It's always like,

Like, oh, what do you need to succeed? You need drive. You need determination. You need passion, all this shit. Technical skills. You got to have a good mind and an intellectual mind on these sort of matters. But one thing that you also need is luck. That is a factor that is out of your control all the time. Your entire story is just like five different stars aligning into like the perfect place. It's a thing where it's like, not only do you need luck, you need the ability to act on that luck.

- Yeah. - When you see an opening, you have to go for it. - I mean, it's like, how can somebody be a poker pro? - Yeah. - It's all about understanding luck. - Taking advantage of the opportunity. - Using that luck. - Yeah. - Using every kind of thing you can to give yourself an edge. - Yeah. - And going and drive it across the country to make it work. - Exactly. - It was like things were, you know, it could have played out very differently. - Oh yeah. - But I knew that,

- You got the chance, you could make it work. - What I was aiming for is I knew I could do this. - You have to do that though. - I know deep down that I can do this. I just need the opportunity and I would do whatever it takes to get that opportunity because I can justify it once I can prove myself. And if I was, I'd like to think that I was arrogant

and I was too full of myself, but it was just enough to get me across the line. Because if I was too arrogant and I couldn't prove myself, I would have lost everything within an instance. And if I wasn't arrogant enough, I would have never been brave enough to push my luck that far. So it was just like the right amount of- - Yeah, you gotta have a little, I mean like same when I started doing voiceover professionally in the UK, they asked me if I lived in London. I didn't, I just said, yeah, I did. I didn't know what that would lead to, but that ended up getting me more work.

And I was like, oh shit, okay. If I had, if I'd have said no, I would have never have gotten these. - Exactly. - And it was like, okay, I'll just, I mean, the UK is obviously a lot smaller than America. So, you know, I could easily cross the whole country in a day. And so I did, I was just like, all right, I'll fucking do it. I was like, I was making no money because the cost of traveling and staying there. - Sometimes you have to justify that as well. - I was like, yeah, I think it makes sense. And then I ended up doing black butler stuff online. So then I was like, I was like, I'm gonna be professional.

add content creation. But hey, you never know where it takes you. It's the same as a content creator too. All the opportunities that you get and all the opportunities you take, sometimes it appears in front of you as a glimmer. And then even having any kind of a professional experience I think is invaluable. Especially when you're trying to do anything in entertainment. I think having like to be responsible and answer to people and know the kind of,

the do's and don'ts that goes a long way with just how you do everything I think a big thing is also the ability to you know be okay with failing you know to make a complete ass of yourself because like

That part, how I got my start was a big kick for me. But that doesn't mean it was all smooth sailing from there. I got my fucking ass whooped for the next like five years. You know, I just, you know, there were so many moments where I humiliated myself, where I embarrassed myself. And that's how I learned to reel it back in. That's how I learned...

where I am on the skill level, what I need to improve on. Because if I don't admit to my own faults, I don't admit that I suck, I can't improve. Literally my first job, they told me that, you know, in a nice way that I was ass. You know, I can't just- I mean, it's impressive that you got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't just go back in and be like, I'm not ass. Check this out. You just don't get it. And then just be ass, okay? I mean, the sad reality is that everyone always wants to know how to make it.

- Yeah. - What they don't tell you is how to keep doing it. - How to keep doing it is the most important part. - Because like so many actors and voice actors, they get one gig and then that's it. - I'm in. - And then they never do anything again or they can never live up to that hype or that. - Same with YouTube too, right? Everyone wants to know how to blow up. No one wants to know how to stick around. - Maintain that for a long enough time. - It's hard. I mean, it requires, I think, loving what you do and like really caring. And obviously, I mean, it shows. I mean, how did we end up meeting? - You met me.

around the time that Rent-A-Girlfriend came out. - Yes, because I think you- - Oh yeah, you voiced Kazia in Rent-A-Girlfriend. - I do. - You'd just done, you'd been- - I know, I see the look. - You'd done- - Banger role, by the way. - You know, that obviously had resulted in a lot of conversation about you as an actor and whatnot. - Yeah, yeah, Zenitsu was kind of how I got my start. - Yeah, right, yeah, yeah. - It was a huge big role. - I basically owe everything to AnaPlex. Thank you, AnaPlex gods. - I saw you doing a bunch of memes

like shit posts with it, which I don't know if you were supposed to be doing. - I was not supposed to be doing it. - When I was talking about failures, that's one of my failures. I got reprimanded so many times. - I was gonna say, 'cause I was like, man, these people don't look pretty fucking smart.

- I'm pretty fucking strict about this stuff and this guy's shit posting is at it's end. And posting like in the booth, like footage. - Oh yeah, I saw that. - I was like, is he supposed to be doing this? - Technically I wasn't. I got copyright strikes for it and then I fought back to get it out. And then I, like next day I showed up to the session. - You didn't bite the hand that feeds you, you fucking chomped on the hide. - And they were like giving me the side eye. They're like, hey Alex, so we saw your video. And I'm like, what?

- What video, man? - I don't know what you're talking about. - Yeah, Zenitsu was- - How many years ago was that? - Zenitsu was four and a half years ago. - Damn. - I did this video where I, 'cause we were just following each other, and I did this video where I was like, I was going through my viewer dating application. - That's right. - And then at the end, I think I had a gag where you were like, you applied or something, and I was like, sorry. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And you were just in your car. I think you were like, I just finished recording, I'm gonna go to bed, can I just get on? And you were like,

"Oh, hi, yeah, Connor, I want to reply." I was like, "Yeah, dude, this is perfect." And I put it in, it was pretty funny. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And then we met each other at AX. - That's right, that's right. I remember the first time I met you guys at AX. - Yeah, that was crazy, that AX. - It was like a flash. It went by really quick. - Yeah, yeah.

- 'Cause I remember it was like, so many people. - We didn't properly meet either. It was only me and him. - We were talking about it, yeah. 'Cause I remember we had just finished doing the- - You guys did your- - Crashed Edge panel. - Yeah, your podcast. - Which was like a crazy- - It was nuts, guys. When I tell you these guys were the biggest shits in town as in like- - They were top billing. Like people showed up.

- They showed up. It was like, it was packed house. And I was there 'cause you were like, "Hey, come meet us backstage." - Yeah, I was like, "Come meet." And then they were trying to like, all the AX people were freaking out 'cause they were like worried about like all the people that were- - That is a crazy experience for me. 'Cause I'm like, I'm there 'cause I'm like- - I felt so bad. - I was like, this was like, how many years ago? It was like two-ish years ago? - Yeah, AX 2022. - So I was already pretty well off in my career. I had a lot of AX. - Yeah, you were successful. - Yeah, yeah.

that means nothing to conventions usually, you know? They're like, "You're an English first actor? Cool." And so I was there- - I mean, A.S. is special. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I was there just like as some guy, basically. And so you were like, "Come meet me backstage." I'm like, "Sure, I would love to do that." - 'Cause we were getting shuffled around doing a bunch of different things. - Yeah, that was like that pretty- - So I was like, "I wanna hang out. I wanna say hi." - Yeah, yeah. - I didn't know how to- - I came backstage and they were like,

Moving you guys out of there. Yeah, so come okay. I need you guys to understand this these guys were moving like a fucking cell, dude You have you ever seen those diagrams of like cells with the walls around them that they had I came in here and I because I wanted to watch your panel I wanted to watch your panel and all of a sudden like I

in the corner of my eye, 20 to 30 like people in suits, black suits and tie just came in. Like they were walking in a straight line just out of the blue. And I'm like, what are these dancers? And then you guys got off your panel and then they started forming like a wall around you. And I was like, what is this? And so like, I was like, Connor, hey man. - And I was like, come in, come in, come in. - Hey Connor, hey. And I was in a video with you. - So you guys started moving in your cell, moving away from me. And you were like,

"Hey dude, sorry, I gotta go, they're taking me." And you're like, "You know what? Come in, come in." And so I'm like, "Okay." And then so I came into the like your fucking cell wall and they blasted through the attendees at AX. They were so aggressive. It was like people moving, they're like,

- Out of the way! - They were being so overprotective. I mean, I appreciate it. - There was a reason. I remember, 'cause that was like number one, the first time Trash Taste had gone to a like, the first year Trash Taste had gone to a convention. And that was like two months after we had

no security and someone just went on stage. - On stage, I remember that. - On one of our panels. And that was like big around the convention circuit. So AX saw that clip and they were like, "We are going to make sure that never ever happens ever." - But it was so funny because it was the amount of security that we got was kind of gradual. 'Cause like, I think in the first day there was maybe like one each for each of us. So it was like three of them. - We paid for our own security. - Yeah, we paid for our own security. - Not to say they weren't very useful, but they weren't very useful.

They were very expensive. - They immediately saw like, okay, that's not gonna be enough. And then I swear every time I came out of the green room, it was like a security spawn point. - I'm telling you, they were fucking shows. They kept like dividing. - They kept multiplying. - I'd be like, hey, can I go to the toilet? And they'd be like, we got five guys. We have five guys here right now. - I was in your formation and there was like some guy with like a cutout of your face and like, I love you, CW. And then the security was like, get the fuck out of my way.

- It was really funny for me 'cause there's like one guy was like, "Yo, is that Alex?" I'm like, "Hey, man." - We spoke, I remember we had a nice conversation out back and then I haven't seen you since. So this is nice. - That's right. - You didn't go last year? - I did for some panels and stuff like that, but we didn't get to meet up. - Yeah, we didn't have security. No, we didn't. Did we have security last time?

I don't know if we did. - We had like one off security. - Yeah, we realized it was a lot easier if you just had less security. - Draw less attention to you. - Yeah, when we have like 12 dudes screaming, "Get out of the way," everyone looks and then obviously it's gonna draw attention. - Yeah. - How about we just have one dude who's like really like chill and whispers to the, "Hey, can we need to get through?" - Yeah.

- Yeah, so that worked out better. - I felt like I was starstruck. I was like, I'm hanging with the big leagues now, guys. - We are not the big leagues. - No, we are not the big leagues. - We're the big fraud. We convinced the convention that we were big shit. - This is the fucking fraud table, guys. We convinced everyone watching right now that we are- - We convinced everyone this is an anime podcast, you know what I mean? - This is the Hokage fraud. - Yeah.

- A lot of frauds. - Yeah, 'cause I remember- - A lot of fraud had been going on here. - 'Cause I remember it was like that AX where I had like, I think a single conversation with you. And I'm not gonna say this, I'm gonna say this now. I was like zoned out for most of that conversation. - Oh, I remember, yeah. - Just because I had met so- - We were worked to the bone. - Yeah, we worked to the bone. - I knew you guys were tired, so I was just like, I'm gonna say hi and then I'm gonna go over to the free food and then I'll leave. - Yeah. 'Cause like, I don't remember when I gave you my contact details, 'cause like,

'Cause like Alex contact to me being like, "Yo, you wanna get dinner?" And like, remember my first thought was like,

I was like, "Who dis?" - That's right. - "Wait, who?" And then I was like- - He's like, "This is make a break for me, y'all." - I was in the room, like, there's no lights, just one lamp. Looking at my phone, I'm like, "Text back." - Was that when I was in Japan? - In Japan, yeah, yeah. 'Cause I was like, "Oh, I don't remember giving..." My first thought was,

I'm trying to give you my contact details. And my second thought was, actually, you know, I also just had like per chance, that was like my one week where I just had some spare time because normally where, you know, when I get a message, sometimes I have like a trash taste recording or we're away. So like you were like the one person where I was like, oh, I'm actually in the country and I was available. So we had dinner with,

with you and your manager. And that was when you floated the idea of like, or your manager floated the idea. It was like, "Hey, ever wanted to do some like background voices, like an owl or some shit like that?" And I was like, "Hell yeah, that sounds like fun." And I didn't realize it was gonna be like anything more than just some background character. - Absolutely.

it's kind of like you don't really know your impact because you guys have a huge impact on the anime community that you don't realize and and people see this you know not just the fans but the professionals as well so it was like this is a good lineup of opportunities why not why not take it yeah yeah i gotta ask uh so you voice kazuya in rent a girlfriend that's true how's it voicing uh

- There was some interesting scenes in that. - Number one's cock. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Okay, number one, what's your method of getting into character? - I have two, I'm only gonna say two things about this role. - Okay. - Two things. Thing number one,

At the time, Jujutsu Kaisen was coming out and it was done by the same recording studio. And I didn't have a lot of opportunities. I wasn't in with the studio yet. And so I really wanted to shoot my shot for some of the big stuff they were doing. And so Rent-A-Girlfriend came around and I was like, oh, I don't

oh, I don't want to do this. Because I had read the manga before. And I was like, you know, it was a guilty pleasure. You know, I'm like, I read it because it's a train wreck. Hey, man. I'm there with you. I'm addicted, man. It's a guilty pleasure. It is. And so I was like...

I don't want to do this, but if I turn this opportunity down, then I'm going to miss out on Jujutsu Kaisen, which I'm not in. And I'm like, if I'm going to miss out on that, I'm going to miss out on auditioning for other stuff. But I don't want to do this because I don't really like doing, it's not that, I don't really like doing projects with too much like sex stuff in it. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable. So I was like,

I really don't want to do this. Why don't I just do a really bad audition and just fucking bomb it? And so, you know, I'll still be on their list for, you know, auditions to set in the future, but they'll be like, they'll hear it and they'll be like, that's so bad. We don't want it. And so I was like, I'm going to do it one take. I'm going to do it really bad. And I sent it in. And the next morning, they were like, this sounds like a cop. I read my email and I was like, what the fuck? You get the leading role. I was like, what?

What? How? This guy sounds like a cop. I'm going to get this one in. The second thing I would say about that is that I had to record the fucking Kazuya masturbation scene in front of like five people on the other side of the glass. And like, they just would not change the script. So he was saying the same word over and over as he was jerking it. And I was like, man.

This is the karma that's coming back to me. So that's the only two things I will say is that I'm never doing masturbation scene in front of people again. And that's it. Well, if it comes up again, then you'll be like, I've got some experience. Yeah, yeah. I know how to do this shit. Are you up to date with the manga for Rent-A-Girlfriend? I am not, but everybody tells me what happens in it. There are some very interesting scenes.

- I know, I'm aware. - If it gets like further seasons. - We'll see, we'll see what happens with that. But those are the only things I will say about it. The third thing, final thing I would say about it is that it's really fun for me because we don't have a script. I go in there and I'm just like, I'm just gonna mix things up. - You don't have a script? - Well, we have a script, but I usually it's like, it's- - But it's not word for word.

I just don't vibe with it personally. And on a project like this, they didn't really care about that. And so I was like, as long as I keep the intent of the original, I'm just going here, I'm gonna mix it up. And they're like, okay, good. - Yeah, I remember you tweeting with 4thN that you insisted that they keep the, I have no enemies. - Yes. - Because it was originally different? - What was the original line? - So the original line was that,

I think it was something along the lines of because the way the flaps are broken up for Thorfinn in Vinland Saga, you know, they do a lot of pauses in Japanese. So it's like, I have no enemies at all. They keep talking, you know? And so I think the line was like, I have, or like, I have no enemies at all.

- Guys or something like that. - Guys? - Do you remember what the Japanese was? - I don't remember what the Japanese was. - It was something like that. - Yeah, so there's more and more words in the second half. And so I was like, I know fans love this line. I know they read the manga. - They would write if it was not the same. - Yeah, so I'm like, it has to be that.

word for word. - Yeah, right. - Like it has to be a thing that they can clip and they can take it out of context. So when you change lines, for Rent-A-Girlfriend it's easy 'cause the dub team is more lax on that. For Vinland Saga, it was the dub for Netflix. So Netflix, you know,

they're pretty strict in their scripts. - Yeah, of course. - And most animes are really strict in their scripts. So they insist that you don't change anything. - I mean, that makes sense, right? It's not your job to change. - Yeah. - Generally. - So actors usually they don't change anything different. But for me, I was like, I know this is important. And the director, she was also like, I'm pretty adamant about staying close to what the adapters wrote. And I respect the adapters and I respect their choices, but it just didn't feel right for me.

- You know, you can't, sometimes the way it's animated, you can't turn it off. But I didn't want it to be, I have no enemies at all. It has to be, I have no enemies. - It just don't hit the same. - So then I had it be broken up into two where it's now,

Because I have no way So then I'm like it's not the entire two flaps to two segments now It's because I have no enemies small. I have no enemies can be baby. Yeah. Yeah, yeah And and you know, it's not blended together or anything like that and I was like this is the way to do it and Technically they were like that might not work with the timing and I'm like I will make it work

Just work with me. We'll make it work. And I was very fortunate that this team saw that I cared so much about this property because I really acted my fucking ass off on the show. I love the source material and they saw how much I was doing for it. And so they were like, okay,

we'll give you the shot to make it right. And so without, without, without their approval and without their help, I would not have been able to do it. I mean, I think that the line wouldn't have hit the same. Um,

without that iconic line. - I don't know any of these at all, guys. It just wouldn't be the same. - Yeah, I mean, it's a thing is that there are a lot of cool lines in Japanese, you know? And that's always gonna be the case. A dub isn't rewriting the work of something that's in sub. - Yeah, for sure. - It's just an addition for the Western audience. And you can take that where you don't have to.

but it's there if you want it, you know? And to have that option be there is pretty important, at least in my opinion. - Yeah, I think so too. - 'Cause like you're very in touch with the community and the, you know, especially the fandom as well. You know what people are gonna gravitate towards. - Absolutely, yeah. - You know what lines are really, really important. - I think the first time I started doing stuff like that was my very first big break, which was Demon Slayer. And I was so fortunate with Demon Slayer as well, 'cause there was another,

another case where like it was all that or nothing so prior to that you know i had my first big anime break i got a call back for sword art online the new uh season like right i think alice yeah yeah so i got a call back for that and i was like second time baby let's do it one more time roll the dice so they they got me in for the call back and i was like

I'm still not good. I still don't have the skills. So I started going into the callback and I like, I sucked, but I was confident in myself and I was like, this is it. I'm going to get this. It was for the blonde character. And I was like, this is going to be me.

- Yu-Gi-Oh. - Yeah, yeah. And then I went home and I was like, great. Now if I get this, my rent is gonna be paid. I'm gonna have a job for the next season. Because I had no other work at the time. Like I got my big break, but that was over in like two weeks. And now this was like the next big shot. - I don't need another big break. - Yeah. And I had been working small jobs in between since then, but I was like, this is gonna kickstart my anime career. This is gonna be it.

And then I was talking to a friend of mine and she's like, oh, we're going to a celebration dinner. And I'm like, oh, for what? And she's like, oh, my friend booked this role for this character in Sword Art Online. And like, I remember I was at Target fucking shopping for blankets and I dropped the blanket and I was like,

And then I grabbed the blanket with me and then I drove home and I think I broke down for like the next week. I was just, that was my first, I had been on such a high with how I was rolling that when that happened, I was so crushed and I was like bitter with the world. And I, you know, I was young. I was very naive. I mean, yeah. So I was, I was, I was very much like, fuck everything, you know, I'm going to shit post. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like,

I have, I blew it. This is, I lost my chance. And then the next thing that came was JoJo part five, golden wind. And I was like,

i can pick myself up i can go one more i can go one more this is it this is it and then i put all my chips in that bag too and i was like jojo is how i'm gonna do it i'm gonna i practice my mudas i'm like i'm gonna voice giorno i'm gonna i'm gonna include mudas at the end of my audition to show them how good i am at the battle cries and i did it because they didn't ask for it i'm like i'm gonna show them how passionate i am and how good i am

- Do you think including the extra was a mistake there? Do you think it's- - I don't regret it. I think it might've been a dumb thing to do, but I don't regret it because I always want them to know what I am. - You care. - And so I was like,

- No income coming in, nothing. I was flopping, I was floundering. - Do you think some directors sometimes want actors that don't care about the source material? - I think it depends. I think the casting director will always make the best decision for the process. And this is why back then I was bitter, but now I'm not because I know I wasn't the right person for the role. The people they got fucking killed it. And I could have never done a good of a job as them because I just didn't have the experience at the time where I don't have the sound.

So it's not up to me who is right for the character. I can be as full of myself as I want, but I will never have that eye or the ear that they do for this type of stuff. And when you're young and you're arrogant, you can be like, they don't know what they're talking about. They're missing out. They're fucking stupid for doing that. But that's not true. They know more than you do. And that's how it is sometimes. But I was definitely...

you know very depressed i cried like every night yeah jojo i mean it's uh it was it was rough so when the demon slayer auditions came around um

I was in a very low position. I was super depressed and I didn't hear about them because sometimes what happens in anime auditions is that they have what's called a closed casting call. Right. Where they only select a few people get those auditions. And I hadn't proven myself enough at that point to be one of those few. So,

So, you know, some people got it, some people didn't. I was one of the people who didn't. And I didn't find out about it until, because the auditions were sent out on Friday and they were due on Monday. And I found out on Monday because somebody let it slip and they were like, did you read for Demon Slayer? I was like, no, no, I didn't. I didn't read for Demon Slayer. Tell me more. And they were like, oh, I'm sorry, man. The deadline's today. It's gone. And I came home and I was like,

I didn't get Sword Art. I didn't get JoJo. And now Demon Slayer. And now I don't even have the opportunity to read for Demon Slayer. Yeah. I was like, fuck, I'm really, really like torn down. And I can't keep doing this. And it's a forbidden rule to ask for something. Oh, yeah, absolutely not. But I was like, I just got to do it.

So I knew that the deadline was already passed. But I emailed the casting director and I emailed her and I was like, hey, I know there's a show called Demon Slayer that's come out and I would really love to read for it if you still have room to hear more people. And she didn't respond to me. So an hour later, I was like...

I'll send it again. We'll send the exact same email again. - I was like, I've been through this before. - I've been through this before. I can send emails. - It's like a very serious, very risky gamble. - You see, it was, it sounds like crazy when it's all- - It's desperation, isn't it? - Altogether. But this was like spread out throughout like a couple of months. So this was like my first time doing it with this specific person. So I sent it to her and then she got back to me and she's like, "Hi, unfortunately the auditions are closed, but,

if you would really like to read for it, we only have about like 18 hours left for you to do this. It was something like that. A really short amount of time. And she was like, if you can do something, go ahead. And I was like, okay. All right. I'm in. I'm in. I got it. Main character, Tanjiro. Okay. Cool. And so I spent eight hours doing Tanjiro.

I was like, who do they want? I was going through actors on their list and like, they probably want this guy. So do something that sounds like this guy. Or should I try to sound like the Japanese voice actor? And so I was doing a lot of research. I spent eight hours doing the same fucking line over and over and over again until I was like, that's the perfect pitch, the perfect cadence. This is it. Who's next? This guy looks cool. Inosuke, he's like a ripped boar guy. Okay. Four hours screaming at the top of my lungs. I blew my voice out.

Looked at the clock shit. I don't have any time left. I literally have one minute left. Who's who's the loser next? Zenitsu Scared wimp my voice is blown out But I only got one minute left and then I just with all my heart shouted as hard as I could for the one minute that I had left and Then I sent it in and then the next day they got back to me. It was like two days later Actually, they got back to me and they were like congratulations. You're in Demon Slayer and I'm like, yes, who is it?

But I did at the time I was like, that's weird, but yes, I did it. And so I've, I celebrated and I was like, I finally did it. And that moment I was like, I could have, you know, without Demon Slayer, I would not be here today. That's what got eyes on me. That's what got people to talk about me and to see me. And if I had just hesitated for a moment, I

I would have lost everything. - That lost minute. It was that lost minute, man. - And it was like to think that I wasn't even in consideration or in the running in the first place. And they took a huge chance on me because their cast was like, they had fucking Bryce Papenbrook, Johnny Youngbosh. They had Zack Abbey, all these big names who have done anime for years.

and I was somebody who had only done anime like once or twice as like a background character or something like that and so they took this huge huge risk on me and

literally without that I would not again I would not be where I am now so I owe so much to Demon Slayer and over the years seeing how it's grown it's just like really surprised me as well although you've voiced my least favorite yeah here's what I will say okay we are all Zenitsu's here

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

- Okay. - What are we doing? What are we doing boys? - I'm being fucking inosuke, I'm running out bro. - Inosuke, inosuke. - I'm the Chad that runs. - Let me tell you, let me tell you. - I would rather die with honor, Alex. - Let me tell you. - Bro, I'm a background character. I'm Tanjiro's family, man. I'm already fucking dead, man. - You say that, you say that, but the moment a demon gets in front of you, you are gonna shit yourself.

- I know Joey will. - Joey doesn't even need our demon to do that. - Let's be real, we're all running, man. We are all running. Don't even try to act brave, man.

Why is he going to whine? That's true. That's true. I think there's a layer of him that's like comedic, you know, his whininess. But he's redeemed by his ability that he doesn't even know he has. But what I truly find relatable about Zenitsu is that he has such a sense of humanity to him that we don't really see in him.

In the other characters, he's so imperfect. And it captures what it means to be human. Tanjiro is the, you know, he's the prodigal son. He's fucking awesome. He's kind. He's brave. He has everything that you would ever want. He knows gay. He's like, you know, lacking in the brain department. But he's strong. He's awesome. But Zenitsu, there's something about him that's like so...

and real that I just relate to a lot. You know, he, you know, he cares about being recognized. He cares about having friends. He cares about how his friends feel about him, you know? And at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, he will, despite, you know, him not wanting to do it, he will go there and do his best. That was probably the best argument for Zayn until I've ever heard about it.

- Who else could argue the good thing about Zenitsu than Zenitsu himself? He's lived the characters for years, man. - I've been peeing in the booth for far too long. - I heard so many different people like defending Zenitsu, but that one was easily the best argument ever. I was like, shit, he's kind of right.

Right. I mean, there's, there's like a sense of humanity that I relate to a lot of characters where I'm like, sure. I think that's what I like about this character, you know, beyond their superpowers or anything. Any, anytime I watch an anime, something that I, that I connect with the most is always like how imperfect somebody is. All right. Now defend Kazuya. I'm joking. I can't do it. I can't do it.

- I mean, he's pretty imperfect if you think about it. - Okay, one thing I gotta ask you about is, so from what I understand, this is already going to be revealed by the time this episode comes out.

- But so we filmed a video together and normally when I'm sitting next to the boys, everyone's like, oh, Garnt looks pretty decent for his age. Garnt looks all right. So on your Google or IMDB or everything, it says you're 35. Now, a lot of people watching the video, they saw me looking at like standing next to you and they're like, I saw some comments going, what the fuck is wrong with Garnt, man? Yo, Alex is older than him. What?

- You got the wrong Asian genes now? - Remedy's catching on for God, bro. - So for some reason online it says I'm 35 years old. - On your IMDB it says you were born in 1988. - 1988. - That doesn't make sense because I wasn't even a thot in 1988. I wasn't even anything back then. - So how did that get wrong? - I have no idea. I have no idea. You know what else it says online? It says I have two dogs.

I have two cats, man. I don't know. I feel like somebody is just on there just spreading stuff about me. But it's the most crazy thing because I will always clarify it. And people will always be like, no, Google says you're 35. I've been at conventions where I'm signing autographs for fans and they come up and they're like, how do you look so good for 35? Yeah.

- I think 'cause there have been cases of some people in the past who are old and they, for some reason, just cannot accept the fact that they are old. And they're like, "No, no, I'm like 29, guys." And I think maybe that's why people, when they see it online, like, "No, no, come on, just accept that you're old." - Just accept it, I'm like, "Ah, you got me." - I think it's more plausible to a lot of people that you would not be able to accept the fact

that you're aging and the internet with all its vast knowledge. - By the time this comes out, it will already be revealed, but I was born in 1999. So not- - About 10 years. - Still a baby. - Crazy plot twist here, he reveals it and it's actually like 1970 or something. - The reason I've always- - Because you're the youngest here. - I am. - Oh, fuck off. - I'm the youngest in the room in a lot of recording booths. And that is the reason

- That's the reason why I've concealed it for so long is that- - You didn't want to be like a kid. - Well, something about the entertainment industry is that it's their ageism is very much a thing. - Yeah, of course. - In any professional like entertainment. - Especially in Japan. - Yeah, yeah. So like if they know that you're younger than them, they're not gonna take you as serious. So when I first started my career and I was doing all this bullshitting, if they knew that it was a fucking like 18- - So did you say this age? - I didn't do this. - Okay, okay. - But I'm thinking

- I just never like alluded to it. - Yeah, yeah. - Because if they knew that this guy who was like, I can do this, actually I have a suggestion or maybe we should do it like this. If they knew that guy, if that guy was like 18 or 19 years old, they would have been like, shut the fuck up. What are you talking about? Like even when I was working on Demon Slayer, there was a lot of things where I wanted to be like,

I actually can make the scene a lot better if you let me do this and this and this and I always had to be like, hey, let me play the take back. Okay, there's something we can do here. If they saw that and they were like,

- You're 19, dude. Shut up. - So now you finally feel you're like, I've got enough stuff under my belt. I can correct this now. - I think so. - My opinion is, you know, I've proven myself. - You are established. - So I was waiting until I was legally allowed to rent a car.

That's when I'm like, that's when you're a real adult. 'Cause then all the brakes are off. - In America, you have to be 25. - You have to be 25. Yeah. - Really? - So I was like, you know, 21, they took a handcuff off of me and now I can rent a car. There's no more restrictions on me. I am a full adult. - I think it's 25 to rent sports cars. - I see. - No, it's 25 to rent a car. - It's the insurance that just goes like skyrocketing. - Oh yeah. - Until you hit 25.

- No, so I feel like now that I'm, yeah. - 17. - Yeah, I see. Now that I'm a proper adult, I'm like, I guess I can reveal it. I'm hitting my quarter life crisis, maybe midlife crisis. - Fair enough, midlife? - Sorry? - Midlife? - You never know. - Or remember his vision that he was gonna die in his 40s as a mom promised. - Midlife, maybe, who knows? You never know. - Well, maybe if you have a British body, that might be true. I've already passed my midlife crisis. - Here's the other thing is that

the stories I tell are very like luck oriented and very luck based. - I mean anyone who can't admit that their success is luck is. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Just lying to themselves. - Just lying in some ways. - But the thing is that,

So because I told you guys I grew up without any parental guidance or anything like that. I never had like a father figure that I truly felt was like somebody there for me or a mother figure that I truly felt was there for me. Nobody ever taught me anything. I had to learn how to use chopsticks myself. I had to learn how to eat.

all that weird shit. You know, I had, I never knew about religion. They never taught me religion. So a good thing. Yeah. So I was, even when I came to America and I had like a white stepfather, he never taught me about Christianity. He never taught me how to drive a car or anything like that. Right. Um,

I had to learn myself and, and, you know, from what I gathered as like an edgy atheist teenager at the time, I believe there's no God, this and that. And then more and more of my life started proving to me that maybe, maybe there's something. G-man has my back. Yeah. So how I operate now is that I believe there is something there and it,

it takes a lot of pleasure in seeing what I get up to. - That's fine. - Does that make sense? - Yeah, that makes sense. I think that's what like Goku is to Brazil, I think. - I think so, yeah. - The force that guides us all. - The way I know it is that there's a lot of things that happened in my life where I'm like, you're fucking with me. Like when the day that I started moving to Los Angeles, I stopped by a Chinese restaurant and I like cracked open a fortune cookie and I was like,

today you're embarking on a new journey. And I'm like, okay, you cheeky little bastard. Yes, I am. I think there's an interesting study that said that it's,

- More unlikely than, it's almost impossible for you not to have something that is a one in a million chance for you to happen to you every day. - Yeah. - But like one in a million chance normally is boring. - Yeah. - It's like, oh, maybe, you know. - Maybe you stepped on a- - Maybe you stepped on something and the, you know what I mean? Like the one out of a million chance is like really, and sometimes you can roll the dice and it works out. - Yeah, exactly.

- I totally believe in that, but one in a million chance could mean fucking anything. How many one in a million chances actually matter in your life? - Exactly. - Yeah, I think so. - Well, it's- - Hopefully you get the good one. - It was like, you know, the fortune cookies, it sounds silly, but every time I opened one up, it told me what was gonna happen next. - You just crack it up, it's like, you are gonna get the demon slave wrong. - It was like before the sword art thing hit me, I opened a fortune cookie and I was like,

it was something like hardships ahead prepare for something. And I'm like, no, I'm going to crack open another one. And it was like nonsense in the other one. I'm like, whatever. Yeah. If I don't acknowledge it and I throw it away, it's not going to come true. And then that happened. And then, you know, when I opened up another one, like before some of my big gigs, it was like patience. Something is around the corner. It's that the small stuff like that. But what, what really solidified my belief is what I now call a balance system. Hmm.

which is anytime I successfully pull something off, something terrible happens to me. - Okay. - Something without fail, without fail, something terrible happens to me. - I think that's called karma. - Yeah. - Isn't karma more the you caused the bad? - Yeah, yeah. Well, this is like, it's gotten to a level where at first, the first time that happened to me, I was like, okay, coincidence maybe, but now I actively communicate

with myself, with the air, anytime something happens. Like, so back last year, we had a Demon Slayer premiere in, I think it was, it was in Los Angeles and I had convention in Vegas. So it was, and I was trying to make my own suit for the premiere because I was like, I want to be fancy. So I was like,

"Oh, this is a lot to take on. I have to finish making this suit. I gotta like go back and forth." And I'm like, "Okay, so here's what I'll do. I'll fly from Vegas to Los Angeles, finish the suit, next day wake up, do the premiere, fly back to Vegas, finish the convention weekend." That's a lot, right? And I was like, "I'll put on my lucky underwear, talk to the universe, and I'll say,

"Give me this weekend and you can have whatever's next." - Hold on, you have lucky underwear? - I do, I do. I have lucky underwear. I kinda am. So I'm like, "Give me this and then you can have what's next." I somehow pull it off. And this is like a really hard task. And I pull it off, it went flawlessly. I had an amazing time. And I came back and I was like, "All right, I'm ready." And then my car died in the middle of the road.

And I was like, ah, okay. And then I lose out on a job I was really hoping for. I'm like, all right. And then I- - And then I shoot myself. - Yeah, yeah. - Is it proportional? - It is proportional always. And then I got sick.

And then it was like, okay, I get it. I understand. There was another time where I had an event that was really important to me and I managed to pull that off. And then when I came back, I immediately had like a blood infection and I was like, God damn, I don't think this one's worth it. But that's like, that's like my relationship with it. You know, it's a lot easier to, when bad stuff happened, it's a lot more comforting to think that like, hey, I'm getting something good out of this.

- It's true, it's true. - I think it's just a way of thinking, right? - I think so, but it's like what comes first. It's like anytime I do something successful, I'm like- - What if you were like, I'm gonna burn something in my house and then I'll be like, I get a freebie. Can you preload it? - Unfortunately, I can't preload it. Yeah, yeah. - Damn it, Con. - There was one time where it was like, oh, I would really love

to have, you know, I have a recording session coming up and I would really love to pull this off. It's in another state. And then I flew there and I did the session. I came back. I'm like, fuck, that went better than I thought. And then the next day, my tire blew up on the road.

- You don't have a good luck with cars. - No, not really. - Are you servicing them properly? This is not a luck issue, I think it's a servicing issue. - It might be that too. - I've seen the cars in LA. They are not up to MOT standards. - Last year was my first time in Japan. I came here with my friend from Anaplex. We went to a shrine.

Okay, and as we were going to this shrine, she's like, oh my god, let's go poor luck That's gonna be so fun like pull her fortune It was in a saksa and I I told her I was like I have the worst luck it's gonna be like it's gonna tell me that I'm gonna die or something and she's like no you're gonna be fine and So she goes up she pulls her luck and she's like, oh my god good fortune. Yay. What is your saying? I'm like, I don't know I don't you Japanese. Can you read it for me? Yeah, she reads it. She's like

your fate is the worst fate of all. Your diseases will not cure. Your fires will not stop burning. And I was like, what? I was like, I know it's bad, but that bad? And then like immediately after I came back from my Japan trip, which was a business trip, which was very, very successful for me. Like an intense personal life tragedy happened to me. And I was like, no.

- You shouldn't have pulled that damn thing. - It was like, it almost confirmed it for me that anytime something goes well for me, something will always balance it out. - I wish I could feel the same. - You're literally suffering from success. - I feel like when it's good, I'm like, all right, let's get another one. Come on, let's go. - Come on, let's get a street going here. - It's like people are always like, oh, you have so much success, you must be like celebrating all the time. No, it's like-

I do something good and then I go home. - This feels almost like torturous. - Yeah, you know, a little bit. - I feel like this is like a, like paganism where they like whip themselves. - Well, it's like- - Oh, my sins, my sins. - It's like to get, not to get too deep, but one thing is that it's, I don't think I felt like too much joy in the last couple of years, you know? - Right. - No! - It's a personal accomplishment for sure. It's so fucking insane to see all the things I get up to all the time. - Totally, yeah. - And I'm proud of the work, but I haven't had any time to properly sit down and soak it in. - You got a hair? Spend it with people you love. - What'd you, what'd you,

- If we're going to, what do you want? What do you want? - What's next? - What do you want Alex? - What do I want? - Yeah, yeah. - I just want to feel some relaxation and levity and you know, honestly. - Because you told me your schedule 'cause it's like you've been traveling around a lot. - Going to that many conventions, yeah, I probably would feel the same way as well. - It's like conventions or events on weekends and then full day of recordings. So like nine to five or six.

It's true. And the thing about it is that I'm so grateful and fortunate for the jobs because I know the opportunities I get, not everybody gets. And if I told this to any other voice actor, they would fucking kill me because they would, a lot of people would kill for the opportunities that I get. But I feel like I have to be grateful for it and I have to be always thankful. But at the same time,

Sometimes you just get worn down. Yeah, sometimes you got to chillax, man, and wind down because the last thing you want to do is burn yourself out while you're on a momentum. And that's the thing is I feel like I've been burnt out for like three years now.

Ever since things started taking off for me. Yeah, I don't think I've ever had, like, I worked so hard last year. And then I was like, I'm going to take one week off for vacation. This is going to be my week where I rest. And then I got the most sick I ever got in that week. And I'm like, I get it. This is funny to you. But please.

Please, just one. - Yeah, so it's- - I think that's something that a lot of YouTubers struggle with, balancing the work-life balance. 'Cause you can work as much as you want. - A lot of people, like I saw, they hit optimal burnout this year and they had to step back. - Tons of people started retiring. - That's true. - You just gotta hang out with your friends, gotta make sure you have a social life, gotta make sure you do that stuff to make sure that balance.

our work is better for it than we get to hang out. - And you know, I used to be able to say that, but I'm on such a strict schedule now that like with the way productions are being handled, everything needs to move really fast. And if I dip out, I'm gonna bring everybody else down. So I gotta keep proving to them that I can be there. I can put in the work no matter how down or out that I am, I can still show up and give them everything that I've got. So it's a balance that I haven't found yet.

- I'm not gonna find it. - How much travel would you do? Because like you tell me that, you told me like your convention schedule last time we hung out and I was like, that is like triple the amount that I'm doing and I am burnt out of conventions. - Well, it's for me, I think it's last year I checked and I did over 60 flights.

like individual flights, 60 flights. God damn. So that really kind of, you know, it takes a lot out of you. And when you're at a convention, it's amazing to meet fans and interact with them. But it's also, you're talking to them for eight hours a day. Yeah.

Yeah. And I personally, on my own, I'm a very quiet person. I don't like to talk a lot, but in social situations like this or when I'm at a show or when I'm in the recording booth, I have to turn it on. Yeah. When you turn it on, you're actively wasting away at your own social energy. Yeah. And it's like a balance that sometimes you can't maintain. Right. Because if you're always performing, you're

You're never gonna have time to recoup that energy and kind of get it back I think you know obviously the the one thing that I think I would say is that If you if you you say that, you know, the production is really tight and that's obviously a good reason But I think that there's always a worry that you might fall out of passion with it, right? That's a scary thing because I feel like you don't know you've fallen out of it until you try Well, I I've felt that brush me

It's scary. It's a scary thought. But I think the one thing that has kept me going is always, luckily in this line of work, sometimes, like maybe once a year or once every two years, something happens that flips your perspective and kind of refreshes you. And I was very lucky to have something like that

like happened two times recently where I'm like, I still love this and I still like to do this. That sounds intense. I'm like, I go out for a nice meal and I'm like, I'm ready. I'm back in. For me, I'm like, I'm so tired. And then something has to happen where I'm like, you know what? This is fun. And again, it's so easy to get jaded. But at the end of the day, I can say all this. I can say I'm tired. I can say I'm burnt out. At the end of the day, I wouldn't give it up for anything.

Because I recognize what I've been given. And I recognize the abilities and the accessibility and the opportunities that I've been given. And it's, again, not something just anybody gets to come by. I literally grew up in poverty and to be where I am now where I don't have to worry about rent and I can just live comfortably and just pursue my passions and turn projects down or do this and that. It's like...

- Never would have thought. - Yeah, I mean, being able to pick and choose is like the biggest honor of all. - Once you get there that you're kind of on a different level. - At the same time, you are still human though. - That's true. - And you have, we have all been given like a wonderful opportunity. - It's like a support group. Like, "Allen, come on man, take a break. Come on, take care of yourself." - We have all been given a wonderful opportunity. - And I think in a sense, it's,

in our position to feel guilt for being like, I am not the most humble I could be or I'm not like... Yeah, the issue is that what we all do, all of us do, is so grand and it's so like...

It's fucking insane is what it is. It's not an opportunity you get ever. It's a dream job. It's a dream job. And so we can all feel guilty for being like, I'm so tired, I'm burnt out. Because we know that other people struggle more and we recognize that. But like you said, at the same time, we're also human and we're also allowed to feel sometimes when we're kind of burned down. But obviously it's hard not to be like,

I'm not, you know, I can do more. Everybody else is doing so much more. - Everyone can always do more. - Everyone can always do more. - I can go lift more, I can exercise more, but I don't. - And instead I play games. - I think being human is accepting that part of yourself. I mean like, yeah, sometimes you do gotta order some food and just play video games and not do the thing you should have. There's always the things you should have done. - So have you even had a chance to like play or watch the projects that you're in considering?

- No. - How long did Persona take? - That was recorded a while back. - But like how many hours of Yappie? - Oh, but the main character doesn't, you play the main character and the good thing about the Persona games is the main character doesn't talk as much as the main character. - That's true. - Yeah. - But there is a spoiler to this.

Close your ears and eyes. I'm playing it right now. Okay. I mean, I finished it. So I don't play just the main character. Yeah, you are sold. Tell me when it's over. I play like four or five characters. Okay, damn. So it's different voices for them. It's all thematically connected. So it's more than any other protagonist, really. Wow. You're done? Yeah, you're good. But the process of recording the game, the funniest thing is that I have all this stuff coming out now. Yeah. And everybody's like,

"How the fuck are you in everything right now?" It's just like, 'cause it's like Alex again, again, again, again. So everybody's like, "What are you doing? "How are you in so many projects?" But like some of this stuff I recorded four years ago, three, four years ago. - Do you ever worry that you might, if it all just comes out like in one big stretch, that people might get oversaturated on hearing the voice? - That is my big worry right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 'cause I have seen

I've very much seen so much support from fans who are like yes another one another one But I've also seen like the craziest thing I've seen and my friend showed this to me as somebody had a conspiracy theory about why I'm in so many things and they were like I I think I this doesn't add up. He's just in too many things He might be like some sort of like figurehead or like industry plant and I'm like

Well, the thing is that I wish I was because that sounds like it's so much easier. I would have to try significantly. I would have to try significantly less. Yeah. Like a lot of the projects just came out recently. Street Fighter 6, Persona 3. Yakuza 8. Yeah, Yakuza. All these projects, Final Fantasy. All this stuff.

stuff coming out i actually did them like years ago yeah right my journey with street fighter was that i literally auditioned for it like four years ago around the time i was doing zenitsu yeah and um when i had done street fighter at the time i didn't know if i was gonna make it because they were like we're doing a new character and then i did it and they were like okay bye i'm like

"You guys gonna continue the project?" And they didn't work on it for like, or they were working on it. They didn't make any significant process for the English recording for three years. So the whole time I was like, "Am I still in Street Fighter guys? "Are we still doing this?" - Do I have to start sending emails again? - So it finally, I was, I was like, "Hey guys, can you check the Capcom team "to see if this is still happening? "Is this project still happening?" And then I recorded Persona like,

one or two years ago. And then they're all finally just coming out now. - Yeah, yeah. - So it just seems like, yeah, yeah. And people were like, how are you getting one job after the other? And I'm like, I've been working at this for five years. - People are very bad at like imagining a production. They're very, very bad. - I'm like, I've been- - Imagine when a video could be filmed or- - I mean, it's very much, it's very easy to look at my resume and be like, oh, he just gets one after the other. But the reality is that I've been like,

getting my shit kicked in for five years. - But people don't see that. - People see like all these like games, for example, coming out back to back. And for some reason think like you guys filmed all this in close to the vicinity. - Yeah, like two days ago. No, and I understand it because like, you know, as a consumer, sometimes you just see something and you're like, oh, him again. But it was like,

three, four years ago for Street Fighter, two to three years ago for Persona. And then all these animes, like different months, different times, all these games, it just all comes out at once. And I do worry sometimes. I'm like, maybe people are getting sick of me. But the one thing I have going is that I try my best to make everything sound different from each other. Yeah. No, I mean, I was watching, I mean, I guess I was watching your work when I was like going to the gym. I was watching like,

- Solo leveling? - Oh yeah. - I'm just hearing you fucking shout. I'm like, okay. I'm ready to continue baby, let's go. - I think solo leveling is the prime example of what I mean when I say that one thing I got going for me is that I can sound different, like really different. And the reason I know that is because I got so many comments, people being like pre Sung Jin Woo and post Sung Jin Woo and they're like, did they change the actor?

I'm like, no, that's still me. That's me being, yeah, that's still me. That's cool. So I try to, you know, I try to do different techniques vocally and also like speech wise, how I say certain words or how I, you know, make certain sounds and to make everything a unique experience from each other. Yeah. And that's another thing that an, like an actor struggles with, especially anime actors is that they get boxed in. Yeah. Yeah. To a role.

There are so many actors who can do so many things or they can have the ability to play different characters, but they're always gonna keep getting cast as the same type of character. - I think it definitely helps as well. When you were telling us about how you got started and practiced voice acting, that you did it through impersonation. I think that really helps because not only do you develop the ear to like,

you know, reflect back what you hear. But at the same time, you're kind of, you're challenging your voice to like do different voices naturally. - Absolutely. And that's the thing about doing, working on dubs is that my goal, like as a dub voice actor, is that when it comes to anime,

I'm not here to show anybody up. I'm not here to assert myself. I'm like, I'm this character. I'm here to interpret a work that's been done and set in stone. And I'm here to interpret it and bring it to a new audience. My goal is always to make sure that I channel their passion, their efforts, and their dedication so that

audiences who can't understand or can't uh don't have the ability to enjoy that medium to the fullest potential that they have the same opportunity to take that information in a different way to honor that character and also honor the seiyuu's performance because i'm a huge seiyuu fan as well um

So the top priority for me is always matching their vocal tones. Yeah. Listening to their pitches, where it is. Everything I want to do, I try to do it to a T. Like, it's like vocally, if you listen to it, you're like, that's the same guy in two different languages. And again, I don't want to assert myself over anything. On all these performances, I don't want to change. I don't want to lose anything in the language barrier.

- Yeah, yeah. Well, I think that reflects in your work considering how passionate you are and everything. And also, you know, the range definitely reflects in your roles as well. - Oh yeah. - It's a lot of leading roles, a lot of leading roles, but I mean, it's a lot of different types of leading roles from like fucking Zenitsu's who, you were Anos as well, right? - Yes, I was. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, I mean when I started I was a teenager so I had a very high-pitched voice Yeah, and I remember seeing a trailer for for a show. I was super into it was a manga that I loved door head Oh, yeah. Oh hell. I saw that I saw they were making an anime and I was like, that's so fucking sick, man I would love to be Kaiman, but I sound like a squeaky little kid Maybe one day and the auditions came around for him like fuck it. I'll try I was like, oh

I gotta try. I know this isn't for me, but I gotta try. So I did this growly monster voice. And for some reason they listened to it and they were like, that's fucking sick, dude. So that's one way of doing it. Yeah. So they got me on to do the project and throughout the process of working on Dora Hedoro and then,

I think that's, I like to joke about this a lot, but I think that's what unlocked my second puberty. Because before that- - It's like a forced puberty. - Before that I was only able to do like high pitch voices. I was only known for like Zenitsu, you know, screaming like high pitch. And then when people heard me do Kaiman from Dora the Hedgehog, they were like, "That's the same guy?" - I'm gonna be real bro. I'm finding out now that you did Kaiman.

Kaiman in Dora He Doro. That's, I genuinely didn't know, man. after I worked on that project, like, it was only like the confidence or maybe something biological in that change. It unlocked like a lower register. Yeah. Then I, then I booked Final Fantasy, which was like a deep voice character. And I was like, it was, in the Japanese seiyuu is Hosoyan. Yeah.

And I was like, I was a big fan of him. And so I was learning his voice and imitating his voice and then started, it naturally started becoming a part of my like vocal cords. And the more I talk, just like when you learn English, the more you talk in something, the more you become that. Yeah. And so now I get cast for a bunch of like very deep voice character. And again, like I said, the prime example you can hear that is in solo leveling. Hmm.

where it's kind of like it reflects the evolution of my career as well. As the episodes go, his voice just keeps getting lower and lower and lower. And the one thing I want to make sure is that it sounds natural. It doesn't sound like somebody just doing this. You know, I want it to sound like clear and resonant and like that's a fucking guy that's doing that. He also had a second awakening as well. He did. That's true. Maybe you were born to play the role, man. Yeah.

- Well, thank you so much for coming on. - Thank you so much. Is there anything you want to shout out or talk about? Because we actually had asked Alex to bring us three by three, but I don't think we have enough time to go through it. - We can just flash it on screen right now. - We can just flash it on screen right now. We were so engrossed in your stories that we didn't even get a chance to have a look at this.

- Thank you for telling us your journey and enlightening us all about how it was to be a voice actor. And this is a good list. - This is a great list. - This is a Dora the Dural. I love the grittiness of that world. I love everything about it.

- Jojo, I love Jojo, but something about part five, Golden Wind, seeing the boys having a good time on adventures. It's like something I've always wanted. - It's good that you can still put that on even after everything you went through. - Yeah, I think- - Even after the disappointments. - I think it's like, it's part of growing is that you gotta learn to let the bitterness go. - Yeah. - At the end of the day,

It was part of my journey and i'm still very happy with how you know how the dub sounds Yeah, all my friends in it and i'm like they sound fucking great. Yeah, kintama elegant I read the the manga for this and I like I did so much, you know Um, I watched so much of the anime when I was younger. It was hilarious. I think it's what kept me like re-interested in it Mob psycho, uh

- Love that show. - Amazing. - It was amazing. - Modern classic. - Yeah, it's made me very emotional many times. Demon Slayer, obviously I owe a lot to Demon Slayer. And it's a great story that's, you know, as told by the world is enjoyed by many, many people. And I think it's, families love it, man. Families love Demon Slayer. - It's massive. - I've had like little girls come up to me. They're like six or seven. They're like,

- And I look at the parents, I'm like, did you let them watch the moment where like Tanjiro's family get brutalized? - I hope not. - It's a character. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Dragon Ball, obviously, you know. The original, the first manga and anime that I ever basically consumed. Parasite. - I'm surprised about the bottom three. - The bottom three? - Yeah. - Let's talk about them. - Parasite, the locking in meme. - Yeah. - Has had a resurgence. - It has a resurgence. - Yeah. - And they're making a live action or something like that. - They already made it.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And a free live action? - Korea's making one. - Parasite. - It's Korean. - I enjoy the manga, but the anime, I felt, took it to a whole new level. - I love the anime. - I love the redesigns. Yeah, I love the fucking dubstep. It was a cool show and I watched it on Toonami and I was like, "This is sick." Tiger and Bunny.

I'm a big fan of like- - That's a surprise. - People love the show. - I love like superhero suits. So I love like Sentai's and Kamen Riders. And this was like my into that in an anime form. And I love the dynamic. I really love the show. Now this show, the one in the middle. - After hearing your story, this show does not surprise me. - Yeah, go for it. - Ping pong the animation.

And I've said this on a panel before, like I've done a panel where I'm like, my favorite anime is Ping Pong the Animation and everybody laughed and I'm like, it's not a joke. It's real. It's an amazing show. It was like, it was a short show, 12 episodes. But it was such an experience for me to watch it because I watched this around the time I was getting into anime voice acting as well. Literally at the start of my journey into this.

And it had a lot of answers for me. As in like, it's a show about growing up, about accepting your failures, accepting your destiny, maybe, you know, and just the reality and what it means to grow up, you know. And it really inspired me to go after my dreams and not like laze around and watch life pass by me. So it's emotionally, it's a very deep show for me. And I remember watching the last episode and I just started fucking embarrased.

- Oh, fuck yeah. - I just started crying, man. This show means everything to me and no matter how many times I rewatch it, it still hits me in the gut. It's like even the art style, there's so much charm and life in it. - Oh yeah, Walsh just goes crazy.

And you know, I can totally see it. Basically everything the characters learn is like in a way reflective of this fucking journey you've had since you were sitting in that Florida sun having that udon, man. - That's true. They're wearing tank tops in the show too. - It makes sense. It makes sense. - Thank you for sharing that journey with us. - Is there anything else you want to talk about? - I would love to talk about

- The Mashley Man. - The Mashley Man. - Why? - So I voice a character in this show. We were just talking about Mashel. - Yeah, he does. - I love that show. And the funny thing about that show is that I've met a lot of fans in real life and they never get the name right.

They always come up. Is it Mashley? That's what they say. Mashley? I mean, there was a lot of jokes when I was announced as Mash. And they were like, oh my God, he looks just like you. Because at the time I was rocking like that. The bowl cut. I'm very afraid of smiling in pictures. Because I don't know. I just feel like I look goofy in them. So I like every single picture you see me post myself. I'm always doing this.

- Oh, so like the guy. - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. So like my head shots are all like. So when they put it side by side, people were like, "God, you look like him." And I'm like, "I guess I kind of do." And I feel like I do act like him when the cameras are off. - Right, right. - Yeah.

kind of down there. So I really connected a lot with that character. So it's funny that people were saying like, Mash Lee. You're the real Mash Lee. Mash Lee. So I would be signing autographs at conventions and families would come up and they're like,

God, I just love Mashley. And it takes so much power in me not to be like... You'll have to correct me all day. Actually, it's Mashley. Magic and muscle. So even my agent, when they call me, they're like, so we got a booking for Mashley tomorrow. If you would like to do that. I'm like, no, that's not right. I'll go for it. Yeah, something that's really fun about the show for me is that, I don't know, I feel like

People are always telling me like, it must be really easy to do a character that's so like monotone and baseline. - Yeah, not really. - Yeah, exactly. - How do you express emotion through monotone? - Exactly. - That's a hard thing to ask someone. - I think Mastro actually was one of the biggest challenges for me as an actor. It was because, you know,

It's, I recorded the show last year. And I told you that I've gone really far in my voice acting journey. And I am cocky. I am arrogant sometimes. In the booth, in the booth. I will admit that I am. You gotta have some confidence. Yeah, I am a little bit of a prick to work with sometimes.

Sometimes, on the rare occasions. It's because I'm very adamant about things that I want to communicate with fans. Like for example, the Vinland Saga thing where I was like, I need this to be this way. There's been many other shows where I'm like, I work on solo leveling and shout out to Caitlin, she's my director. She works with me to make sure, 'cause in solo leveling, I know it's a big show of the season. So I'm like, this has to be right. We have to do it again. We literally shipped a fucking episode

Before it aired and we went to the solo loving premiere and I watched it and I heard title bonds performance and I was like I remember what I did and I can do better The premiere we hugged and she was like, how are you feeling? Wasn't that great? And I'm like actually I know we shipped the episode but any chance we can go back and do it again Oh my god, so I she's you know, I

I'm very driven to do the things that I want. So working on a show like Mashal where the character is, like you said, it's very hard to play monotone. I was working with a director, Alex Von David, and he directed some of the great dubs like Konosuba and Sword Art. And working with him,

He is somebody who is also very passionate. And it's very rare when you work in anime to get somebody as into the source material or as passionate as some of the fans are. Yeah. And he's one of those people. And working on this project, it was really hard for me because when I do monotone comedy, I have a way I do it. You know? Yeah, of course. When you sell a joke being monotone. Kind of dry style. Sometimes you're dry. Sometimes you say it in like a sarcastic way. Yeah. Like,

you know, you slide it off or you're a little condescending. But he was very adamant about MASH is dry not because he's condescending, but it's because that's just the way he is. And usually when I work on a comedy show, I'm like,

fuck you old man i'm young i know what's funny what's funny but this was like kind of a check for my ego because for the first time i i have a great relationship with anaplex yeah yeah i worked with them on demon slayer i worked with them on misfit of the demon king academy and for them to have given me you know to once again trust me with such an awesome show and i've been a fan of masterful you know i asked them about it when i saw the trailer i'm like

you guys gonna show the trailer and then i was like hey when it comes out can i please audition for this so to finally get the opportunity to get cast as the lead in a show that i was like telling them like trust me trust me trust me and then to have that opportunity and to blow it i was going to be like i can't right yeah so working on it i was like he has a lot of ideas that he wanted and i had a lot of ideas that i wanted but i i just had to be like well

Even though I've done this for so long, he's done this for longer than me. But not just that. Our ideas of humor are different. But I just, I feel like for some reason, something's telling me that I need to trust him on this. And it was a completely new experience for me to work with a guy who's so into it that he's like, he's opening up perspectives for me that I hadn't thought about before. That's an important part of it. You know, I always draw my inspiration from the seiyus. Yeah. But

I don't speak fluent Japanese. And sometimes it's really hard for me to pick up the nuances of subtle performances like Chiaki Kobayashi's performance for MASH. So he's doing all the shit in Japanese and it's hilarious. Right? It's really funny. But...

I don't fully understand why it's funny yeah yeah without the subtitles exactly and sometimes it's animated funny sometimes it's this or that so with technically a slate like that it's really hard to transfer what he did into English so working with Alex he it's funny Alex Alex he was like he was giving me a lot of pointers that initially I'm like I don't know about that but the more I did it and the more I worked with him the more I was like wait a second

"This is good." I'm not used to like fully trusting somebody and then being like, "That sounds good." Because I'm always very self-critical. Everything I do. - As you should be. - Yeah, everything I look at, I'm like, "That's not good enough. That can be better." But for once to just sit back and listen to somebody else and be like, "Wait a second.

It's working. Yeah. That's, I think that's what's an awesome feeling, man. Yeah. It's like when we recorded the thing, you completely trusted in Alex as well. And me, the two, I had the double Alex team to get through that. Yeah. Yeah. And it, it just came out great. And I just, you know, it,

That's like back to what I said earlier is that sometimes you work on a project that opens your mind again and reignites your passion. And sometimes that's, you know, a project like this where it's, you know, giving me another reason to learn the roots. I think learning things is like one of the big draws of just being interested in anything, you know, um,

- The reason I love my job and I'm sure you still are the same way is that YouTube is like a constantly changing platform. - You have to keep learning. - And part of the challenge is constantly learning new things because if I think I figured everything out, that's probably when I lose interest in it and I would feel the same way. - It's not a challenge. - Yeah. - Well, thank you so much.

- Insightful episode. - That was a hell of a journey. That was one of the most interesting journeys we've heard. - That was a Blab Fest for me. - Oh no. - Sometimes we have. - This is the therapy session episode. - I'm coming in here. - We're gonna look forward to Mashley that's coming out soon. - Oh yeah, yeah, Mashley coming out. - What's airing right now that you're in? We got "Solar Leveling", "Mashall" season two.

MASH LAY season 2, which is coming out. I'm not sure if the dub for season 2 has been released yet. Sona 3 Reload, Yakuza, Final Fantasy. Demon Slayer is back in theaters. Yeah, Demon Slayer, Jesus Christ. But you can see more of us. Hey, look at all these patrons. Look at all the patrons. Where are they? All over the screen. What's your favorite? Oh, grab this one right here. What is it?

- But hey, if you'd like to support the show then head on over to our Patreon, patreon.com/trashtaste. Also follow us on Twitter, send us a memes on the subreddit. And if you hate our face, listen to us on Spotify and thank you to Alex for coming on to the show. - Aside from the big roles, where can they find you online? - You can find me at

Alex Lee VO on Twitter. That's A-L-E-K-S-L-E. You guys have that on screen. You can find me at Alex Lee VO on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. I have a YouTube channel where I post sometimes.

- Sometimes. - Sometimes. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Hell yeah. - Guys, thank you so much for having me on today. - No, absolutely man. - Thank you very much for coming on, man. - This is a crazy, crazy world you guys have going on. I respect it a lot. It's, you know. - I'm just hoping that nothing bad happens to you on this trip. - Oh no, it absolutely. - Because you came on this trip. - It absolutely is. - Look, I'm not gonna get a message. - This was the bad thing. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now you're preloading it. - Yeah, yeah, right, right. - We'll balance it out. - Yeah, we'll see you guys next week. - Bye.

Bye.