Part 2 of Justin’s interview tour at Castle Point Anime Convention continues…this time with one of the rising voice actresses in the industry. As you’ll learn a bit in this interview, Lauren Landa was very much on the path to becoming an actor — all it took was a father who worked for Disney, and growing up watching cartoons. You will also hear about the career she might have chosen if she hadn’t been a voice actress, Attack on Titan’s impact, and why she’s going to the UK for the first time ever.
TheOASG: What do you think were a few things that influenced you while growing up that led you to becoming a voice actress?
Lauren Landa: Well, my dad used to work for Disney and I used to go into the booth with him because he would direct people on doing trailers, advertisements, etc, and that was a big part of my life. So I got to watch that, and I watched cartoons growing up. I was also an actor, so put those together and that’s kind of what motivated it. *laughs*
That’s pretty cool. Disney…did you have to be anything there or…?
No, no, because it wasn’t really involving that part of it, it was more of the…”Up next on the Disney Channel!”
Oh, ok! *laughs*
Yeah.
You had mentioned at a convention that if voice acting wasn’t in the cards that you’d consider becoming a…psychiatrist?
Therapist, maybe a family therapist or a counselor, something that has to do with listening and helping people.
Was there any moment while you growing up that made you think it’d be something you’d love to do?
I think it was something where I’d always invite friends, people that I care about, to talk to me about their problems and whatnot. That doesn’t necessarily make me good material to be a therapist or a marriage counselor, but it’s kind of the same thing — simply because somebody wants to be a 5 star chef, they can’t just be good at cooking burgers, you know what I mean? It’s something that I wanted to look into, it just never happened.
You’ve been voice acting anime characters for a while. What would you say has been challenging about doing voice acting for different companies — for example you’ve done work for Aniplex, now Viz — or there’s no difference in doing work for different companies?
Not really. I love both companies, I love the projects that I work on with them, and I happen to get to know everyone that’s a part of that company. It’s always a treat to see the people that do the really hard work. Like everyone thinks it’s just the voice actors that do all the hard work, and it’s not that what we do is super easy, but a lot of the gratitude I have is for the people that work behind the scenes.
Is there any big preparation tactic you go through before you go into a particular role?
Not necessarily. I just try and mentally be ready for whatever the session may bring — if there’s a lot of emotions, a lot of anger, I just try to be ready for anything that may be thrown at me.
You’ve probably had a lot of fandom experiences — what’s been the most interesting one you’ve had in the past year or so?
*thinks* You know, one of the best fandom experiences is the Attack on Titan fandom. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with them, and as far as I know they’re all very supportive of each other. They love the show and we love the show, so it’s always great to interact with them.
Particular moments…I’ve met a lot of kids that are either in the process of going through transitions or if they’re going through a rough time, not just with transitions in particular, but there are other kids who are going through hard stuff. They’re teenagers. Titan is helping them get through a lot of this stuff, and I think what helps is that they’re cosplaying as these characters that are supposed to be soldiers and have that strength. I think that helps them get through stuff and I think that’s awesome. The trans teens that come up to me, I’m not sure why, but there’s quite a few people that I’ve met in the fandom and they’re great. I’m so happy that they’re discovering themselves.
And Titan might be the catalyst you say?
I dunno. It’s one of them! Well, I don’t think it’s the catalyst per se, but I know that it’s an outlet for them. It’s an outlet for a lot of people, and that’s a great thing about anime — any show, depending on the genre, could be a great outlet for people just going through a rough time.
Netflix and Amazon seem like they’re going to be streaming current anime more now. What do you think of them increasing where anime can be seen online?
I think it’s awesome! I think it’s fantastic because the kids who nowadays are too lazy to go buy DVDs in the stores, this certainly helps. They’re already on their computers most likely, so they just have to a couple more clicks and they’re good to go.
There’s one show in particular that’s a Netflix original from Aniplex called The Seven Deadly Sins. It’s a very good show, it’s fantasy, magic, action, romance — it has everything, and it’s very good with the storytelling.
I know you’re a big Sailor Moon fan. What do you think of Crystal S3 so far?
Well I’ve only seen the first two episodes and I’m liking it so far! It’s brand new material for me because I’m only used to seeing the 90’s dub, so this is definitely a new chapter and I think it’s really cool that I get to see it all new.
How excited are you about playing Sailor Neptune in the original Sailor Moon?
I’m very excited. Sailor Neptune was my favorite for a long time and now that I’m playing her is pretty much a dream role for me.
What is a typical day when it comes to recording?
I would book either 2 to 4 hours, or sometimes 5 to 6 depending on what’s needed, and I’ll go in, say hi to the director and engineer. I’ll check in, and if it’s the first session we’ll talk about the character, like what are they about and such, we’ll jump into the booth, the engineer will make me up, we’ll find a voice for the character, and boom, we’re off to go! *laughs*
What’s going to be next for you after CPAC?
Well I’m hoping Sailor Moon S will be starting to come out soon, I have no idea when. For conventions I will be going to Cheyanne Comic Con (May 13-15), I will be going to the UK for the first time, Yorkshire Cosplay Con. That’s going to be a lot of fun — then I’ll be back in the U.S to go to ConnectiCon.
You can hear Lauren Landa, who has voiced Annie in Attack on Titan, Kyoko in Madoka Magica, and Litchi Faye Ling in the Blazblue video game and anime series, as the voice of Elizaveta Fomina in Lord Marksman and Vanadis and Nio Hashiri in Riddle Story of Devil, her two latest projects.