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Interview with Monica Rial

At MetroCon I had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Monica Rial, in the peaceful environment of a greenroom rather than trying to ask questions while her many fans were also trying to talk to her. Even if you're not one of those people who keeps up on voice actors, then you've at least heard some of her characters... Kirika in Noir, Saki in Steel Angel Kurumi, Nyamo in Azumanga Daioh, Lumiere in Kiddy Grade, Hyatt in Excel Saga, and more.

You’ve got a pretty wide range of talents. Before you became a voice actor, you worked in the theater, you sang and you danced. How did your work progress from its beginnings to where you are now?

Well it was one of those things where I started to dance when I was four…I was very, very, very young and…um…I kinda got too loud for dance. It got to be one of those things where I was too obnoxious and loud. You know, in ballet, everything is very disciplined and the teacher is telling, you know, “Don’t talk” and “be very poised and dignified” and, of course, I was the one making fart noises when everybody was doing their pliés.

So I started looking into other things I could do that would still give me that “stage feeling”, being on-stage and performing, so I started doing theater. From there musical theater was just… it made sense, since I already knew how to dance and I could sing and then from there, actually doing theater and going to the University of Houston is where I met Jason Douglas, who then got me into ADV. So, it’s just one of those little train of events like you make one decision, then it’s like a domino effect, kinda plans out the rest of your life for you without even knowing it. But, I couldn’t be happier to be a voice actor and I couldn’t be happier with the medium that I ended up acting in because I just love it to death. I love anime. I live anime, but I love it.

Can you tell us a little about some of the theater rolls that you had.

Sure! The most recent one that I did was probably about two or three years ago, I played Sally Bowles in Cabaret and, actually, Greg Ayers, another voice actor, played the Emcee. And now, the big one for me, because I’d always wanted to do that show and, it’s such a powerful show…and it had the dancing, the singing and the acting, I loved it! There was also a show that, if you get online you can look-up, it’s called “Runaways”. It was another musical that, actually, Chris Patton and Greg and I did together. And it was just an awesome show about runaways out on the street and kind of telling their stories through song. I’ve done Shakespeare, I mean actually I met Jason during Symbolen at the University of Houston, so I’ve done Shakespeare, I’ve done Shakespeare In the Park.

I used to do community service plays, which sounds really bizarre, but it was, like, this touring company…we did shows like “Not Me” about “Don’t do drugs” and “Tell me it’s going to be wonderful” about anti-teen sex, I mean it was weird, but at the same time, it was cool because here I was this teenager and I was performing these shows for people my own age, but “Hey, I’m skipping school to perform for you guys…alright!”. But I’ve do so many different things, it always amazes me, the opportunities I get. I get to do, speaking of anime, I get to play some awesome characters. I’m like, I’m really blessed in that sense. I’m like, I don’t know where I keep getting these opportunities, but thank God they’re there.

Do you aspire to do any on-camera work?

I would like to one day, it’s one of those things that I haven’t done yet. I just did my first radio commercial not too long ago, so it’s one of those things that kinda scares me. But, I would like to try it one day because it’s one thing I’ve never done. So, we’re going to get started now and I’ll probably be fifty by the time I actually make it on-screen, but who knows!

So, this radio commercial, is it one any of us might recognize?

It’s actually not a national commercial It’s a little spot, it’s for a car company in Houston, like a big car dealership and it was one of those things where actually Dick Manaña was actually producing the commercial and he was, like, “Hey, I need some people to do this, do you guys mind coming out?” and I was like, “No, I guess not” and it was cool because I finally got to do a radio commercial, but it was kind of a weird situation to do it in.

If you had the opportunity to meet the original Japanese voice actor for a character you’ve dubbed, who would it be?

Well, I got to meet Nabeshin recently, Shinichi Watanabe, and that was awesome. He had the afro and he was wearing the outfit. But I obviously don’t play Nabeshin, but it was still really cool.

I think that if I was to meet anyone, I would want to meet Aya Hisakawa and only because we play so many different roles and there’s been three or four times where she and I end up voicing the same character and it’s really bizarre because... She and Mami Kingetsu as well; the two of them, it seems like they can play a five year old and then they can play a boy, and then they can play a grown woman and I end up on the same path they did and it’s really bizarre because different companies end up with different titles in Japan and here. So for the same actor who works for two different companies in two different countries to get that same role... initially, times when I go to start recording a show, I’m like “Well, hello Aya, how are you doing Miss Hasikawa? It’s nice to hear you again”. So, I’d love to meet her just because I’m curious in real life what she’s like and I’ve always wanted to be able to sit down with a Japanese VA (voice actor) and say, “What is your experience like?”. I know what my experience is, but I don’t know what it’s like to be her. You know, I’m always the one that comes in later and it’s like, “Okay, I can hear you”, but I’ve always wanted to just sit down and talk with them and kind of commiserate over what work’s like in two different countries.

Do you like to watch the original un-dubbed anime to find out the original actress’ take on the character’s personality?

Well, at ADV, they always play the bits for us before we actually start recording. They’ll play us a little bit of it so that you can get the feel of the actor’s voice and, like I tell people all the time, I use it kind of like a springboard…I don’t want to mimic the original actor because then you don’t get that character’s lifestyle. I want to do something that is completely your own, but at the same time, Aya talks up here (voice goes high pitched) and (Monica lowers voice pitch) now I make her sound like this. So, I use it as a springboard and a lot of times, though, you can’t always tell by the animation what a character is feeling because it is two-dimensional. So, I do depend on the Japanese seiyuu (voice actor) if I’m confused to kind of show me along the way.

For the most part, it’s kind of a hand-in-hand relationship…it’s always there, we always have the Japanese in our headsets and we’re always listening to it. So, it definitely does kind of lead you along the right way. But, like I’ve said before, if you’re really into that character, like Hyatt in Excel Saga, I was so into that character, I really didn’t pay much attention to what the Japanese actress did, but because we were both so into that character, people still come up to me and they’re like “God, you really sound so much like the Japanese chick” and I’m like, “I didn’t mean to!”, it’s just that, I guess, it went along the same road because we were both so into that character. But, it ends up being pretty cool.

How do you prepare for a role? Are you given the entire script ahead of time or are you just given your lines?

We actually are not given the script ahead of time. I mean, this always scares want-to-be voice actors because they’re like, “You read it right then?” and I’m like, yeah, because with “lip flaps” and stuff, you never know if you’re going to have to add a word or take out a word or move things around or a translator’s going to come in a change the entire meaning to “Oh, I goofed on that line…it really means this…”. So, to memorize or have it scripted ahead of time wouldn’t really be beneficial. There have been shows that I’ve done whereby I always do research. Like when I go to an audition, they’ll say, “Well, you’re auditioning for Cyber Team in Akihabara”, or whatever, and I will get online and go, “Okay, let’s take a look at these characters and take a look and see which one appeals to me…kind of get to know the ages and personalities.

There have been shows I have watched before I’ve gone into the booth. I’m at an advantage because my brother introduced me to anime way before I even started working in it, so already know where to get my fix. But there are a lot of shows like Noir, I didn’t want to know, because the character didn’t know, Kirika didn’t know what was going on. So I’d have people come up to me at the cons and go, “Do you know what happens at the end?” and I’m like “NO-NO-NO-NO-NO…don’t tell me...I’m not listening...LA-LA-LA-LA” (laughter). It was difficult, but it depends on the character.

Sometimes you want to know everything that’s going on, like Lumière in Kiddy Grade, she knows everything that’s going on in that show. So, if I didn’t know it, I’d be at a disadvantage as an actor if I wasn’t able to give the other actor what they needed. So, it just depends on a show-to-show basis.

It only takes a few minutes at a con to remember that the word “fan” is derived from “fanatic”. What’s the most unique experience you’ve had with fans at cons?

Okay, this is going to sound crazy…my most fanatic experience was not with an American fan, it was with a Japanese fan. I was at Sakura-Con in Seattle with Mr. Akitaroh Daichi, and with him was a young lady that’s a voice actress in Japan that’s currently working on Jubei-chan II, and I can’t remember her name right now to save my life, which is horrible, but she was really very cute and really sweet. And I was standing in the back of the room with David Williams and she comes up to me and she’s like, “You’re Monica Rial?” and I’m like, “Yeah” and she starts jumping up and down (makes shrieking sound) “Ohhhh”…and of course David gets out his camera and is taking pictures, like, “What’s going on?”. And she was just so cute…she was wanting to take pictures, she wanted to look at my clothes, she was like, “Ah, American voice actress” and I’m thinking, “You know, how far have we come?”. because I remember when I first started, it was still like “Dubs suck” and “the Americans suck” and here I have a Japanese voice actress going “Oh, Monica Rial!”, I’m like, “Wow, this is crazy!”.

But actually, you know, I don’t have a lot of really crazy fanatic experiences. Everybody is really cool. There’s been a couple of times when I’m like, “Okay, don’t stand so close” (laughs), “Hey guy, you’re old enough to be my dad, don’t sneak up on me like that”. But no, seriously, I have a really great time at the conventions and I really love the fans and that’s the only reason I keep going to the conventions. I mean, the travel is great, but in all honesty, we don’t get to see any of the places we go. We see hotels…I’ve been in lots of great hotels, but hotels are nothing…you, know, I go specifically for the fans. I really enjoy talking to them.

Speaking of the hotel, thanks to the people here at the Crown…(laughter)

Crown Plaza Hotel~

Voice acting requires a lot of “foley-ing”…breathing, gasping, crying, etcetera. What is the strangest foleying you’ve ever had to do in the booth?

Wow…there is a couple. In Noir I had to lick ice cream, which you wouldn’t think sounds difficult, but there’s a texture to ice cream that took me forever to make the right licking sound. In Azumanga Daioh I had to shoot a hoop, you know a basketball hoop, and that doesn’t sound like it would be something difficult, but I don’t play a lot of basketball. I’m going like, “what do I do?” . I think probably the best right now is I just started working on Chrno Crusade and I play Fioré. And for those of you who don’t know the show, she’s got this “master” dude that she takes care of and at one point he gets injured and she’s actually licking his hand. And I actually had to do the whole (MR makes licking effect) sound and I said, “Oh, God, please tell me you’re going to tone that down, I’m not going to sound that bad…”

But that’s one thing, we get to do some crazy, crazy, crazy stuff, but I really enjoy it…I really do. And with the foley work you end up, I mean like now I’ll sit down and I’ll find myself going (heaves a sigh) and somebody’ll say, “Hey, Monica!” and I’ll be like, “Huh?” All of these sounds come out of you, and you think, “I’m foleying my life now”, but it’s a lot of fun, it really is.

And here I thought you were going to mention Hyatt’s projectile vomiting.

That was awesome, though! That was probably my favorite foley ever. It wasn’t necessarily tricky because I’m the queen of gross noises, if I really want to. But I think I surprised Matt when I first auditioned for it because she was (goes into high-pitched voice) “Oh, hi…I’m so cute and pretty and sweet” (makes barfing noise), I put water in my mouth and it was extra juicy and gurgly and I think I really disgusted him and he was like, “Oh, okay, you’re hired, you’re so Hyatt”. But those were my favorites because it was like, “let’s see how incredibly gross we can make it”, you know like each time I would try and top the grossest one I had done before. I’m like, “I have to be grosser…More water!”… “I’m spitting everywhere…Yeah!”. It was awesome, though, I love Hyatt.

Please do not spit on the mike, Monica.

(laughs) I’m trying not to, I’m like, “Oh, the temptation…”

In closing, can you tell us anything about your current projects or future projects…anything for us to keep our eyes peeled for?

Oh, yeah…there’s a show actually that we just did a preview for yesterday called “Aquarian Age” that’s coming out in September. Talk about a chance to stretch your acting chops, I really was all over the board on that one and I’m so proud of it. The RahXephon movie is about to be released. As far as what I’m working on right now, I’m working on, I’m playing Sakuya in Sister Princess, which is a lot of fun. I just wrapped-up an episode character in Mezzo with Lucy…Lucy and I are forever cast as best friends. It’s just like, “this is going to happen ‘til we die”. Uhm…what else am I working on?…I’ve lots of Nurse Witch Kumugi-chan, there’s lots of stuff at ADV…at Funimation, I’m still working on “Case Closed”, I’ll probably be voicing Amy until I’m forty because there’s three hundred-fifty episodes, and then of course finishing up Kiddy Grade. So, I’m working on a lot of stuff right now. It’s one of those things where it’s like, “Wow, I go to the studio all the time now” and I’m driving to Dallas and driving back to Houston and going to Austin and all kinds of stuff. But “Hello Kitty” is coming up in Houston and I’m really vying for an audition for that show. (laughs) It’s like, “I really want to be in Hello Kitty”.

But, that’s it, I’m really a busy chick, I’ve got more conventions…I’ve got a convention in England that I’m going to in August that I’m excited, but really scared about. Am I’m like, there’s so much going on and it’s such a great time to be in anime and I mean, I’m so, I’m so happy that I’m getting to be a part of it. But, yeah, there’ll be even more coming up soon. Oh, in Chrno Crusader, I just talked about that…it’s because, as I think about it, more stuff just pops up. But, yeah, there’s going to be a lot of stuff coming up, so keep your eyes out for me. I’m out there, I promise.(laughs)

Well, we are definitely going to be rooting for you as Hello Kitty.

Thank you. I think Tiffany Grant is pretty much set on getting Hello Kitty. I was like, “I’ll even play Mimi…I’ll even play Dear Daniel…I don’t care…I’ll even play like this smiley, happy flower in the background ”. I just want to say I was in Hello Kitty (laughs).

Good luck!

Thank you, I’ll do my best.

Well, thank you very much, this is a great interview.

Thank you so much, you’re a sweetheart.

Make sure you check out the anime she mentioned, many of which are already on sale here in the US!

~Ashley Clark (Anna May Belle)