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Interview with Tiffany Grant

If you're an anime fan, you've probably heard Tiffany Grant's voice somewhere. Her resume is nothing short of incredible; she's done background voices, lead characters, boys, girls, furry critters, and things that can't be found in nature. She's also worked in a number of fields aside from anime voice acting, which many people aren't aware of. I had the chance to speak with Ms. Grant at FITcon 2004. I can't say enough great things about her, so I'll let the interview speak for itself.

I’m very interested, as I’m sure many of our readers will be, in the wide range of your talents. Not only voice acting so many anime characters, but also dubbing live-action, on-camera acting, and writing as well. Could you tell us how your career has progressed in such a way as to encompass so many different aspects?

As far as anime, I started out just strictly voice acting, and after I’d been with ADV for a couple of years, Matt Greenfield… pretty much the “everything” guy, he was writing everything, directing everything, producing everything, and he was writing all of the subtitles… He kind of got to this point like, “I can’t do everything! …You know, Tiffany seems like maybe she’d do a pretty good job writing some subtitle scripts.” So he gave me a project to write, and I did okay with that, and so for a couple of years there I wrote several subtitle scripts.

I started voice-acting in ’94, and I started doing the subtitle scripts around maybe ’96, and it was around ’96 that we got Gamera, which was the first live-action title that we dubbed. Matt Greenfield directed that, and he tried to get as many of his experienced performers as possible to do the live-action because he anticipated it was going to be very difficult. When you’re dubbing what’s essentially a cartoon character, you don’t expect a certain level of realism with that. When you’re dubbing real people, it’s so much more subtle… The Japanese language structure is different, so many things are different, and I’m sure he probably worked on that script for six months. That was a whole new challenge, dubbing the voices for real people.

The most recent thing I’ve started doing were the scripts for dub projects. It was just something I got an idea for one time, “Hey I think I could write these dub scripts, God knows I’ve read enough of them, and performed enough of them, I think maybe I’ll just give that a try.” Eventually I’ve just branched out in all sorts of different directions. Pretty much the whole time I’ve continued to pursue a non-anime career, so any kind of radio commercials, radio voice-overs, some TV voice-overs, I think I’ve done like, one on-camera commercial… I’ve done a little on-camera, not that much but I continue to pursue it. I mean, any jobs that would come my way, I would be happy to accept them! *laughs*

On the subject of voice-acting, can you tell us about the differences between lending your voice to animated characters and live-action roles? You already talked a little about subtlety, but…

A lot of it has to do with the foley-ing, the vocal sounds. I don’t know if there was more or less of it in live-action, but it was very subtle. We had to be so careful, and so specific with it in the live-action. Like sometimes you could hear someone breathing, you can see their chest heaving so you know that there should be some sound. If you can hear it in the Japanese version, then you have to replace that.

That’s something I think a lot of people don’t realize in general, that when you’re doing the dialogue replacement, you have to replace everything. Not just the words, we replace every single vocal sound, be it in either animation or live-action. It’s very subtle. Just a slight exhale, or a gasp, you have to be really careful and ask, “Does that sound right?”, “Does it sound like that person would’ve made that vocalization?” It’s more subtle to do live action over animation, though I’ve actually only done two; the first Gamera movie and the third Gamera movie. My character, unfortunately, did not appear in the second film.

As a writer, can you tell us about the challenges of adapting a Japanese script for an American audience? What is that creative process like?

Painful. Actually, I used to do subtitled scripts years ago, and those were really not too terribly difficult, because you’re not so constrained, you don’t have to worry about the mouth-movements or anything, just the matter of putting something into a colloquial form that sounds right when you’re reading it. I remember one specific line that was translated that said “his head went white”, I didn’t know what that meant, and I had to go to the translator to figure out that meant he became pale.

I know that one of Amanda Winn Lee’s favorite things, that she used to have on her office door when she worked back at ADV, was something like “You are saying illogical things on my face.” We have a little bit better translators now, so we don’t have quite as much of a problem with that, but for the subtitle scripts it was mainly just a matter of putting it into a form that made sense and could be read easily.

Now with the dubbing, it’s very difficult because sometimes I get a translation and the translated line might read something like “Why weren’t you here?” But what if the character’s mouth on screen moves, like, twenty times? “Why weren’t you here?” doesn’t fit. It’s very challenging because I don’t want to start just randomly making things up! But, I have to fill those mouth movements… and the complete opposite of that is when I get this incredibly long translation, and the character’s mouth moves two times. Some of the tricks for that are if the character has an off-screen moment before that, they can deliver the line off-screen. A lot of things are very difficult, like Japanese puns… the Japanese puns… they love those damn puns… Trying to get those to work is sometimes really mind-numbing. Something that makes sense, but yet you want to keep some flavor of what they were originally talking about. You have to perform the entire script.

One time when I had a bad cold, I couldn’t write because I kept coughing and sneezing, so I couldn’t perform the lines. You have to write the line, and then perform it with the video. It’s a lot of rewinding and watching the same line over and over again, and delivering the line as you imagine it might get delivered by the actor, to see if what you’ve written is going to fit. It really helps if you know who the actor is that’s portraying the role, because some actors like Jason Douglas have a very, very slow cadence, and with some actors like Jay Hickman, you have to put in twice as many words because they talk so fast! I try my best to keep all of the original content in there, and the original flavor, I don’t want to change anything about what the creator’s intent was for the show.

Were you an actress in the traditional sense that branched out into voice-acting, or visa versa?

I was acting in the theater ever since I was about seven. I’ve been acting for a long time, but it was pretty much just theater, that was all I really had access to. I started voice-acting when I was twenty-five, and since then I’ve continued doing whatever comes my way. The vast, vast majority of my work has been voice work, even outside of anime; it’s been things like radio commercials, and videogames. I haven’t gotten paid to be on camera a whole lot. But that’s okay with me, I’m happy to use my voice, and any theater or on-camera work that comes my way, I’d still be happy to do it. But yeah, the traditional acting came before the voice-acting.

Along those lines, could you tell us about some of those more traditional acting roles you have taken? Some of your on-camera projects that you have done?

I did an independent film, I’m pretty proud of the movie, it’s a goofy little comedy called Laughing Boy. That is available on Amazon.com, by the way! *laughs* The DVD has a great commentary track, which I’m on. It’s definitely the largest part I’ve ever had, actually on-film speaking.

The biggest movie I’ve ever been in, I didn’t have any lines though, was a movie that came out in ’99 called Arlington Road. Jeff Bridges was the lead actor in that. Tim Robins was in that, and Joan Cusack. It’s a really good film and I was able to play one of the students in Jeff Bridges’ class. It was supposed to be set at George Washington University, and he was teaching a class on terrorism actually, and remember all this is before 9/11 or any of that happened. He was teaching a class about terrorism and I was in his class, and there was only a group of about twenty of us, so we all got a lot of good camera time, and that was pretty cool. When that movie came out, people like the UPS person would come up and say “Hey, I saw you in this movie!” Everyone who just ‘sort of knew me’ would say “Hey, I saw you in that movie!” I didn’t have any lines but I got to be near Jeff Bridges, who has the best hair in show business. *laughs*

You’ve voiced such a wide variety of anime characters. How do you prepare for a new role?

Whenever I get the chance, I like to try to watch the show first, or look up information about it online. I don’t know that there’s a lot you really can do to really prepare for it that much. A lot of it’s very spontaneous in the studio. A lot of it’s just about looking at the character and watching the character, getting a sense of their movements and their facial expressions, and a voice will just come out, and that’s just… the right voice. When I’ve gotten hired to do a character, and it’s a major ongoing character, then I will try to get the show and watch it before I go in to do the role. I don’t try to watch all twenty-six episodes, but whatever three or four episodes we’re working on right now, just so I get an idea of what’s going on in the story. You can’t watch the whole show when you’re in the booth; you just watch the bits where your character appears.

I’m very intrigued by the characters you’ve done with foreign accents. Can you tell us about those roles, and any others that present a challenge to you as a voice actress?

The majority of the characters I’ve done haven’t had accents, but actually the second character that I ever did, was a character called Charlotte in Samurai Showdown, and she was French, so I had to do a French accent for her. Generally I’m pretty good with accents, most people can either do them or they can’t. The most famous character I’ve ever done was Asuka, who was German. She didn’t really have a German accent, but she spoke German, so it was really handy for me that I could speak it too. That worked out very well.

I did a character called Elysse in Plastic Little and she had a British accent, that’s a pretty easy one to do. Recently in a show that has not come out yet, in Megazone 23, part 2, I was sort of doing an imitation of Cindy Lauper. *laughs* Which was more like, kind of a Brooklyn accent. Most of my characters it’s been a matter of pitching my voice, or doing a different version of my voice, there haven’t been a lot of accents. One of the characters I do with an accent was Sandora from Excel Saga, who was a seven- or eight-year-old little boy from South America. We don’t know what country he’s from. So I had to do a little boy’s voice, but also with a… sort of like a Hispanic accent. That was really funny, I almost forgot about that.

They generally, most of the time, they tend to not call for accents, but those are not that difficult for me. I’d say that probably the hardest one I’ve done so far is a character called Gema, who’s like a little balloon. That’s in Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat. That’s a very difficult voice for me to do, because it’s very high-pitched and it’s difficult for me to do for a long period of time. I can only do it for an hour at a time, so I have to have a whole bunch of little recording sessions to get one volume finished. It just shreds my voice.

As such a prolific voice actress with over eighty titles to your credit, how does it feel to be so closely tied to a single character, namely Asuka Langley?

I feel a little like Leonard Nemoy. I keep saying that in a few years I’m going to write a book called “I Am Not Asuka”, and then ten years later write another book called “I Am Asuka.” It’s completely understandable, and it doesn’t bother me at all, because Evangelion is such an important show, it’s pretty cool to be associated with something that’s so big, and so huge. It’s really, well… ehh… I don’t want to say it’s annoying, but I can’t think of another really good word! Everything is “Asuka”, “Asuka”… but it’s very flattering that she’s such a beloved character of sorts… although some people don’t like her that much. She’s a pretty popular and well-known character, and it’s neat to have had the opportunity to be associated with something that’s so big. I’ve done all of these other characters before that, and since then, which the vast majority of fandom isn’t even aware of. Or they don’t realize that I played the part… A lot of people are like, “Wait, you played Sandora in Excel Saga?”, and I’m “Yeah, that was me.”

I’m sure that to voice Asuka, you had to get inside her head to a certain extent. Do you feel that she’s misunderstood at all by the viewing public?

I feel that, unfortunately, she’s very misunderstood. People say that she’s bitchy or mean… But these kids have all had a really hard time growing up, and they’re dealing with it in different ways. Asuka has essentially built this protective wall around herself, and she doesn’t really want to let anybody in. It wasn’t just getting into her head that was difficult; it was difficult for me to admit that I was like Asuka. I seriously denied that for a number of years, it took me a long time to realize, “Wow, I really am a lot like Asuka.” That was a big thing for me, to finally come to terms with it and admit that, it was like, “Yeah, there is a whole lot of Asuka in me”, and it really kind of freed me up, actually, admitting that to myself.

I think that if you consider the circumstances of her life- she’s not a real person, but let’s say that she were. She found her mother hanging when she was only five years old, and she didn’t really have a great relationship with her dad or any other family members. She was pretty much on her own, and how would any of us turn out if we didn’t have anyone to nurture us, and care for us, and raise us? I think she’s done okay, she’s gotten a college degree by the time she was fourteen, so that’s not too bad!

Your husband, Matt Greenfield, directed Evangelion as well as many other projects. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage to work with a director you go home with at the end of the day?

Well, it’s probably just as well that I didn’t have to go home with him when I was working on Eva! *laughs* We’ve only been married for a little over a year, but we have an interesting relationship, because we’ve known each other for so long. There are some positive things about working with a director that you can really communicate with. With some directors you don’t know very well, you might be a little bit timid about saying, “You know, I don’t really agree with the interpretation of that line,” or “I don’t like the way this line is written, I think it might be better if it was worded like that,” and um… We have arguments sometimes in the booth. *laughs* He’ll want me to read something a certain way and I’ll say “That’s stupid, I’m not doing it like that!” *laughs* The engineer is used to it now, he just sort of rolls his eyes at me.

Finally, I’ll give in… sometimes… and do the line the way he wants me to. I don’t know if it’s really an advantage or a disadvantage. Obviously I’m not married to any of the other directors that I work with, and I seem to get along with them fine. But, I will say that it’s a positive thing to have a good working relationship with the director, where you feel that your input is going to be taken into account. Although, in the end, the director gets the say. They get the yea or nay, not the actor.

In closing, could you tell us about any current or future projects?

I would love to do that! Right now I’ve started working on writing the scripts for a show called Sister Princess, which is not even cast yet. I have auditioned for it and I have a pretty good idea of which role I’m going to play, but I don’t want to say anything about that yet. I just started working on a show called Aquarian Age; I’m playing a character named Kiriko. It looks like a really interesting show; it’s got a lot of mystical elements to it.

A really neat little thing we did recently, a cool little project called Grrl Power, which is G-R-R-L, “Grrrrrrl Power.” Actually, I don’t play a girl in Grrl Power, I play a boy in that show. It’s based on a really popular manga in Japan. One of the interesting things about this show is that we’re releasing it in the United States before it gets released in Japan. It’s a very, very new show. We got the masters for it the second it was done being animated, so it’s already done.
Azumanga Daioh, which is just about to start coming out, I’m very, very excited about that. If you’re over eighteen, a really crazy show that might get you put in a mental institution for watching it is Puni Puni Poemi. There is, as I’ve mentioned, Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat, which is not yet out.

There is one of my all-time favorite shows, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, which I just can not say enough wonderful things about. All of us really put our hearts and souls into it, and there are some great interviews and commentary tracks as extras on the DVDs. It’s a five-volume series. It’s a really awesome show.

The last series that I did the scripts for, which is just about done coming out, a show called Angelic Layer, which is a really sweet show, and anybody who enjoyed Princess Nine will love Angelic Layer, it’s got a great storyline. I had a small continuing part in the show, but don’t buy it for that! I did an okay job and everything, but it’s a great show on its own. It’s a fantastic show, so I’m really excited about that.

Thank you very much for the interview! It was great getting to talk to you.

Thank you!

If you're interested in any of the projects she's mentioned, you can find out about these anime at ADV Films. You can also find Laughing Boy on Amazon.com. Also, you can find Ms. Grant's website here!
~Ashley Clark (Anna May Belle)