Jason Griffith - Voice of Sonic the Hedgehog and MORE!

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Welcome back to another episode of World Gone Geek.

We've got a special treat for you today.

An interview with none other than Jason Griffith, the iconic voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic X, the Sonic Video games and more.

We we caught up with Jason last September at the Cleveland Gaming Classic and now we're finally bringing that conversation to you.

It was amazing time talking with him about his career, the impact of Sonic and the world of voice acting.

But before we jump into that, a quick reminder.

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Now, before we dive into our interview with Jason, I do want to tell you about something you don't want to miss.

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Let's get to the good stuff.

Jason Griffith, the voice behind Sonic the Hedgehog and countless other characters, is here to share his journey and insights into the world of voice acting.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we dive into the world of gaming, Sonic and everything in between.

Please welcome the stage Jason Griffith.

There he is.

Thank you.

Go ahead, you got a seat if you want.

I don't want you to stand.

I definitely can't stand the whole time, so.

But first, before we get started, I do want to just remind folks that are here, Jason, it's from Cleveland.

Tell us a little bit about, like where you grew up here in Cleveland.

A little bit about that.

I grew up in Lake Lake Lion Village, which is a small town right between East Lake and Timberlake.

Scoot back.

I went to Eastlake North High School and Willowick Middle, where I did my first school play and really fell in love with acting.

Yeah.

So I grew up there.

Watched a lot of television growing up, specifically sitcoms, which really got me into the notion of being an actor because I always wanted to be on a sitcom.

Specifically Full House because I wanted to be Uncle Jesse and I was in love with Candace Cameron.

Okay.

And.

Well, that would have been.

That would have been awkward though, if.

Uncle Jesse as a storyline nobody needed to see.

No, I don't think so.

And I, you know, I always say so.

Growing up, I always wanted a video camera.

But back in the 80s and early 90s, they were like a billion dollars.

So instead of that, every Christmas or birthday, I would get a voice recorder, like a microphone, and, you know, little cassette tapes.

And so all the creativity I wanted to put into the video camera, I put into these microphones, these boomboxes and whatnot.

So I really think that was.

Had a huge impact on why I'm a voiceover actor today.

I do tell my mom, if you would have just gotten me that video camera, I'd be on a sitcom right now.

That's all it would have taken.

Well, so you grew up here in Cleveland, but that's not where you are now.

I think you said it was just, like, through high school, right?

And then.

Yeah, I was here through high school.

I think I moved to New York the week I graduated because my cousin was already living out there, so we lived together in Queens.

He was an actor.

He was auditioning for things, and he looks nothing like me.

He had this great conundrum where he was 18, but he looked 14.

So he could play all the high school parts.

And, you know, he could work long hours because, you know, when you're a kid, you can't work the long hours on set.

I had the opposite problem where I was 18 but looked 40.

So everyone's like, well, I don't think he doesn't look like the editor of the school paper.

You know, he.

I don't think so, really.

I think my.

My agent came up against a wall where he's like, I don't know how to submit you, and started putting me out for voiceover stuff.

And it just clicked.

I remember that my first.

It was in the first couple auditions I had where I booked the job.

I think my first voiceover job professionally was for a zit cream or something like that, and it went horribly.

In fact, I left that session thinking, I'll never, ever do voiceover again, because it was just so embarrassingly bad.

But then my agent submitted me on another job, and I went on that and booked that, and I said, all right, I'll try again.

So what was the.

So did video games come first or animated shows come first?

Which was the first one that you ended up doing?

So I did my first animated shows.

Anime called Gravitation, not a very popular thing.

And.

And I.

Oh, okay, great.

We got some fans.

I don't even remember who I played.

I think I played a couple characters and maybe a game show host and that the director of that named Bill Timoney.

I.

Oh.

Every time I see him, I thank him for my career because he Said to me during the session, he's like, you're really good at this.

Do you want to audition for Fox's Saturday morning cartoon lineup?

And I'm like, yeah.

Yes.

So that next week, I went in for a show called Shaman King at four Kids.

I auditioned for that, yet I didn't even get a call back.

So I was like, well, that's that.

You know, that didn't work out.

And about a week and a half later, they called me and auditioned for Sonic.

And I thought for the show Sonic X.

And I thought to myself, like, oh, what are the chances I'm going to get Sonic this huge character, when I didn't even get a callback for the show I've never heard of before.

But I went in, I auditioned, I got a call back, surprisingly, and went in for that thought that went even worse.

And, you know, didn't hear anything for about two weeks.

And I was working.

I worked a lot of odd jobs in New York before I was supporting myself as an actor.

And I was working at my agent's talent office at the time when they called to book me.

In fact, I was.

He.

My agent wasn't even in.

I was sitting there answering calls at his desk.

And I answered.

And they said, oh, yes, this is four Kids.

Jason Griffith came in and auditioned for us for the voice of Sonic.

And I was like, oh, great.

I get to hear the, like, the rejection firsthand.

And I said, yes, oh, yes, as I know Jason.

And they said, oh, well, great.

We'd like to book him next Wednesday.

And I just about fell out of my seat.

I'm like, okay, let me take that booking information and get it to him right away.

And so the funniest thing is, my agent was in Florida at the time at a talent convention.

He calls to check in that day, and I'm like, john, John, I booked Sonic.

And his reply was, jay, no, you didn't.

And I'm like, I took the call, and it took me getting one of the other agents with, like, a commercial agent in the office to get on the phone with him and tell him to convince him that I had actually booked the job.

So he had this ongoing thing because I would always book jobs when he was out of town.

So I'd be like, get out of here.

Like, go to South Carolina, man.

You don't need that guy, right?

You just needed his name on the door.

That was it.

I did eventually have to leave him, so maybe that's it.

So you mentioned.

So you got booked.

What I think is interesting this is where I would love to find.

So did you already have the voice of Sonic?

Did they book you because you nailed that voice, or did you have to make some adjustments when you went in?

Tell me about the process of coming into Sonic's voice.

Well, when I had the first audition, or maybe it was when I had the callback, I remember walking around the streets of Manhattan with this portable walkman with a cassette tape in it, just practicing all different types of voices.

I actually hung it from my shower curtain once, so it just hang down like a microphone and listening to that and going in with those ideas.

However, funny enough, when I went in for the callback, the producer, Michelle Dunn, she said, because I auditioned for all the male characters in the show, including a character named Chris Thorndike.

And she said, I love what you're doing for Sonic, but can you switch those voices, do the Sonic voice for Chris and do the Chris voice for Sonic?

And so I switched them.

So it was the voice that I was doing for Chris that actually became the voice of Sonic.

And that.

That evolved while we were.

While we were recording too.

Because in the beginning, you know, Sonic was like kind of nerdy and a little nasally and, you know, this sort of.

This sort of very gentle feel, you know.

But by the time we did Sonic Unleashed, the producers were like, we want him cooler.

He has to be like sharper, shorter, you know, more.

More power.

And so that.

That was the evolution of that.

Yeah, so there's always like, you know, anytime there's producers or directors, there's always input on, like, how it should sound or, you know, how you can tweak it.

That's like a never ending process.

And then.

And then how do you find that voice inside?

Like, I mean, I notice you.

What did you do?

I mean, obviously it was a different voice as it matured in different shows.

What is it that you do to kind of get those different voices out of yourself?

You know, it's.

It's like a feeling.

I don't know how to.

I would never know how to describe it for someone else to do it, except I know when I do Sonic, everything comes out through here.

When I do Shadow, everything comes throughout my voice.

Okay.

And then when I do Usopp, it just comes out of all my face.

I don't know how to describe it any better than.

I worked with the film director Philip Noyce on one of his films about 10 years ago, and his biggest direction to me was just feel it, Jason.

Just feel what you say.

And that's like the best way I can describe it, you know, and a lot of it has to do with your face.

And, you know, because as a voice actor or any sort of actor, you never want to just stand there with your hands in your pockets, not moving.

I always conducted myself.

I learned from other directors, other casting directors, that the more you move, the better the sound was going to be.

And I remember there was one particular session, I believe it was one of the Sonic Riders games.

So when you're in a booth, in the recording booth, you can't hear anything that they're saying in the control room until they hit the button.

And to the reverse of that, if they have the button, continue to press it.

You can hear everything they say.

So I did a line.

I think it was a, like.

It was like a jet line.

I was, you know, shut your peak or whatever.

And the director was like, but that was great.

And she kept her finger on the button, I think, by accident, because then she turned to everyone in the room and said, did you see that silly little dance he does?

And I was, like, mortified because it was, you know, that was the first time anyone, like, called me out on it.

And it took me about two seconds to realize, oh, who cares?

Because, like, that's how I get the best sound, you know, And.

And.

And now I've grown to be, like, proud of being, like, doing the things that I think a lot of people would.

Would find embarrassing or, you know, they wouldn't be comfortable with, especially in the beginning.

But it's like.

It's like a.

It's a point of pride, I think, to.

To feel uncomfortable and.

And to do the things that, you know, not everyone can do.

Sure.

You know, to make your work the best it can be.

Why do I picture you running around the booth as fast as you can since you're doing Sonic?

I don't know.

I have.

There's have been sessions where they're like, do like, five laps because then you're gonna be out of everyone, or run in place and then do the.

That's funny.

So how does voice acting, then, for the video games differ from when you're doing it for the show?

Right.

So with the.

With the show, everything was so.

So the show was already dubbed into Japanese.

So we would see this, see the picture, and you see the lip flap that can't change, and then you have to submit the words into that flap.

With the video games, everything was prelay.

So you get the.

You get the script, they would record it, you wouldn't see anything.

And Then they would come back months later after they had animated some of the stuff, and then you would do the same thing you'd done with the show, where you're kind of matching little app.

But everything for the video games is, you know, relay.

And with the video games, you're doing the dialogue, and then you're doing 20 pages of reactions.

So it's like, you know, give us.

You know, give us injury, like small, medium, large, you know, like that sort of thing.

Or sometimes they want like five.

Five in a row.

But that's like.

All video games are like that.

I did Call of Duty, and it was like, all right, in this queue, you're being killed by water, but in this one, you're being blown up by a grenade.

So give us that whole range from there to there and in between.

So how do you channel getting blown up by a grenade?

Imagination.

That's the biggest tool.

Well, I don't know if you've googled it, but on YouTube, you can find videos where people have pulled all of the sound cues from video games, and it just plays every sound cue, so literally sounds terrifying.

You can go to YouTube and look up Jason Griffith, and it's like one of the Sonic games that you've done.

And it's literally that and then some of the things that you say and that you say multiple times.

And so I just imagine that's what you're doing in the studio, though.

I guess you're just basically saying exactly.

Exactly what it is.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

It's kind of fun.

You should check it out.

It's kind of.

I will.

You lived it.

So, by the way, everyone, this is my family.

In the front row here is my brother and my mom and Julia, my brother's friend.

It's my first time being in Cleveland in, like, three years, so I got to see them for the first time in many years.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

All right.

And you brought them, so welcome.

Thanks for being here, guys.

Yeah, they love it here.

All right, all right.

So what.

So how would you say voice acting has evolved?

You've been doing this for a while now especially.

I know a lot of things changed during COVID and post Covid.

Now some of those things are permanently changed.

Can you tell us a little bit about the evolution of the voice acting from when you started to where we are now?

Sure.

Stuff changed.

So, you know, when I first started, you went to a casting office to audition for voiceovers.

There was a casting director there.

You were up against maybe 20, 30, 40 different actors for A job.

If it was a big campaign, it was like 500 people.

But you were in a booth at a studio with a casting director listening to you saying, try this again this way.

Which was a huge help because sometimes those casting directors would give you advice that you would never have thought of yourself, and that puts you the job.

And then recording.

You were always going to a studio.

They always had the client there.

You know, when we were recording the games, they flew the people in from SEGA San Francisco and Japan.

We had translators.

But then especially, I mean, this was sort of incrementally happening before COVID but Covid is when everyone started auditioning from home.

Like, I don't even think there is going to a casting office to audition anymore for voiceover, which is really sad because I really miss that interaction with the casting director who can really change your whole performance.

And of course, a lot of, you know, I have my own home studio.

A lot of things are recorded from home.

But anytime I get to go to a studio, I love that too, because, you know, interacting with real people.

But, yeah, that's the main thing that I think.

So much of the work is now done from home, especially the audition process.

But also, like, I do.

I'm the voice of Navy Federal Credit Union and all of those.

You know, every time you hear a Navy Federal Credit Union commercial, just think, oh, that's Jason in his living room.

Like, I.

There's.

I have another commercial right now called Zydra, and my mom will always text me, oh, your Zydra commercial's on.

I'm like, just imagine I'm in pajama bottoms saying all those things.

So.

But.

And that's.

That's fine in itself, but it's.

You know, there's something special about being in a studio.

Like going to Warner Brothers to record, you know, anything is just.

You feel cool.

You know, that's.

I think that's 80 to 90% of wanting to be an actor is just wanting to feel cool all the time.

Well, I mean, I feel like you're doing a good job.

Thank you.

We all think so.

I mean, I don't know if any of the bullies from high school are here, but they might expect to differ.

Yeah, well, that's.

In fact, I was thinking about asking that earlier when you mentioned that you come from Cleveland now that you.

You haven't been back for a little while.

Have you spoken to, like, any of your teachers, Anybody from back in those days who now know what you do?

Like, is that a no?

No teachers.

I mean, we're all friends on Facebook for the majority.

Majority of them I'm friends with on Facebook.

I haven't seen them since I've been here.

But I just had dinner with a couple friends from high school last night.

And was there anybody else?

I saw a next door neighbor.

Yeah, I saw my next door neighbor I haven't seen in years.

Yeah.

But I, you know, I.

I don't know.

I don't.

You know, I keep in touch with so very few people.

So I have one good friend that I've been friends with since elementary school, and we.

We keep in touch quite often, but he doesn't live here anymore.

Gotcha.

So what are some of the biggest challenges you faced as a voice actor?

Vocal exhaustion.

That.

That, that was a big thing, you know, especially a lot of you.

I think I talked to some of you about recording Sonic Unleashed.

That was.

And if you played the game, all I do is scream.

And especially as the werehog, that's the most, like, that's the worst scream.

Because not only do I scream, but I'm compressing my voice to make this, like, certain, you know, like that.

And when I was recording that, I was sick, but especially sick because my.

I thought I had strep throat.

It was so bad, every day my throat was getting more and more swollen and I just had to scream more and more the next, you know, for the next session.

And again, back then we couldn't say, oh, can I do this next week?

It's on Zoom.

Anyway.

No.

Everyone flew in from Japan.

You're gonna do it right now.

That.

That's the biggest.

That's the biggest hurdle, I think, is when you're.

You just feel like you can't.

Like your voice doesn't regenerate fast enough, you know, sometimes.

Yeah.

Other tips and tricks that you've learned over the years.

Water, constant water, no sugar, you know, or limit that.

You know, I don't drink soda anymore, or any of that sort of thing.

Also, I want to say when you have.

Well, first of all, when I audition for things, there's a lot of times I'll audition for something and I'll say to myself, oh, man, I hope I don't get this job, because I'll realize, oh, if I get this, I'm going to have to do this four times a week, you know, and, like, maybe I should have picked a different voice to audition with.

But I think choosing a voice or choosing some manner.

Choosing some manner of, like, getting to that voice and, and knowing where it comes from.

Like, like, I Know where Sonic comes from.

And I can do this all day.

And I.

There's just, like, a confidence about it.

Even shadow.

I mean, even though this is lower, it's more challenging because it comes out of my throat.

But I don't know.

There's a way I push it.

There's a way I can push it where I don't.

I'm not exhausting my throat as much, but, like.

And I also take these Chinese, like, candy lawsuits called ninjong that are really helpful that have saved my career.

I feel like on numerous occasions, I was working on the last Planet of the Apes movie, and it was just.

It was so much grunting and these noises that they wanted to sound genuine, and they were really very specific about it.

So it was, like, over and over, doing this take over and over.

And I had a huge job the next day narrating a documentary.

And I remember turning to my friend John Bentley in the session.

I'm like, I don't think I'm going to be able to do this job tomorrow.

I'm going to lose this job.

And he's like, I got this thing for you.

And he pulls out these nimjong candies, and I took two of them.

And I.

Every time I've seen him since, I'm like, thank you so much for introducing me to those, because my voice was fine the next day, and I don't feel like it would have been had I not had this, like, herbal lozenge.

Wow.

Yeah.

And just for legal purposes, this is not a paid endorsement for a nimjong.

Although it could be if you reach out.

Yeah, he's available, is what he's saying.

Yeah.

So what advice would you give someone who wants to do the same thing you did, move to New York and don't do it?

No.

You know, I say that because if someone can discourage you from doing it, then you shouldn't do it.

I always had a lot of support, but there were still a lot of hurdles to jump over, and there was still a lot of doubt when I moved to New York.

Is this going to work out?

Is this what I should be doing?

I knew it's what I wanted to be doing.

But when you're young enough and impressionable enough, people can.

Can kind of say to you, oh, maybe you shouldn't do that, or you should do this instead and, you know, or play it safe.

Because to be honest, acting and voiceover, it's not like a safe route.

Especially in the beginning when there's so much.

Because now there's so many people auditioning for things.

That's the other thing that's changed because people can audition for home.

There's a thousand people submitting auditions now.

But if you want to do it and, and you're really driven to do it, don't give up and make yourself better.

Don't be lazy about it and don't wait for someone to do the work for you.

You know, I.

I always tell people I never played any of the games that I voiced because by that point in my life, I had played so many video games for so many years throughout the 80s and early 90s, that I was done.

Like, I'm like, this is what I'm focused on now.

So it's like people are surprised to hear I never played the games.

But I'm like, I didn't have any time.

I was going to acting class or I was going to my job at the pizzeria or, you know, delivering things around Manhattan and auditioning and like, listening to things.

I would watch shows and I would, you know, make up.

I would practice what other people were doing and sort of see if I could do what they were doing and then change it to my.

My own version.

Okay.

And of course, like, growing up, what I did was always.

I was always taping myself, listening back.

When I finally did get a video camera, I'd be watching that footage, putting myself on tape, criticizing myself, critiquing myself, always working on it, because if you're not working on it, the next guy is, and that's the guy that's going to get the job.

And I found that over and over when I would under prepare something and I'd feel like I shouldn't be at this audition.

And then constantly on the flip side of that, when I would not over prepare, but when I felt, oh, I can't do any more preparation, I'm ready for this.

You go in and it's the best feeling in the world because you're like, you feel unstoppable.

That's when you really feel cool.

Like, that's the coolest part.

So I would say, you know your job as an actor, as a voice actor, 99% of your job is someone handing you a script and saying, do this now.

It's not go.

Come back in like a week when you figured it out.

And people are always rewriting.

Everything I do is rewritten, rewritten, rewritten.

So you gotta be quick on your toes to like, read that line and know exactly how to do it right then and there.

So always be working on That a typical casting director gave me, which my wife and I do all the time because we think it's great, is if you see a billboard or you see an ad in a magazine, usually there's like a little tagline.

Do.

This is great for commercial auditions, but for every kind of audition, try to do that tagline, say it out loud three times, and make it completely different.

So, for example, if the line is new maple brown sugar flavored instant Quaker oatmeal, it almost takes longer to say than it does to make.

Try to do it three times fast by adding a word at the beginning like, hey, new maple brown sugar flavored instant Quaker oatmeal.

Or like, did you know this?

New maple brown sugar flavored instant Quaker oatmeal.

Or like, look, new maple brown sugar flavored instant Quaker oatmeal.

Almost takes longer to say than it does to make, you know, get good.

Get really good at doing that quickly because then you go into a casting or.

Well, not you go into a casting or even a session, and you're going to be the director's dream, because they know you have that range.

I auditioned years ago for Heinz Ketchup, for the voice of Heinz ketchup.

Did the audition.

It was like three times in a row and laughing.

Never heard anything.

You know, that's what happens.

You never hear anything.

I went in for that casting director, like, a month later.

She's like, do you know you were second choice for that?

I'm like, no.

She's like, you know why you didn't get it?

I said, why?

She's like, you did three great reads in a row, but they all sounded the same.

The guy who got the job wasn't as good as you, but he did three different reads and made the producers go, oh, he's directable.

And we're not stuck with this one reading of this.

Of this thing.

It's all psychological, interesting, you know, so that's a great thing.

Just be quick on your feet.

Read out loud and record yourself.

Listen back.

Be critical of yourself, but don't hate on what you're doing.

Just think if you don't like something, you can do it better.

If you do like something, then see if you could change it to something even cooler.

I love that.

And just again, for legal, this is not a paid endorsement.

For a quicker oatmeal, I'm just covering myself on the podcast.

Oh, I thought that was a joke.

No, it was.

I'm just being all right.

So can you share a particularly memorable, rewarding experience like you told about how hard it can be, right?

Yeah.

Discouragement can come out there now.

Give us a reason to want to do it Anyway, what's been the most rewarding part for you?

It's doing these conventions because everything that.

All my Sonic related stuff ended 15 years ago.

Like, I haven't voiced officially Sonic in 15 years and the beginning was 20 years ago.

To meet fans that have been impacted positively by what I've done has been such a surprising, rewarding experience.

I've had people break down crying when they meet me and tell me that Sonic kept them from self harm or their home life was really bad and Sonic was the one thing that they could rely on to make them feel better or accepted or they met friends and like groups of friends who were all into Sonic and then they became lifelong friends.

Those are the most surprising things because I never considered that.

I just thought when I was done, that was it.

And every once in a while I get a MySpace message that says, you suck.

You know, especially in the beginning, people were very mad, very mad that I had replaced Ryan Drummond.

I'm like, I didn't.

I just went in for the audition.

Sorry.

So, yeah, that's been the most surprising thing, but the most rewarding in the sense that that's the coolest thing that could have come out of this, that people have had that experience.

And in the beginning, when the people would tell me in the beginning, I didn't really understand until I remembered, like, oh, yeah, like Full House was that for me, like, no matter what was going on in my life, if I put on and I taped all of the Full House episodes, my mom knows the tapes are still at home stacked in the attic somewhere.

If I put on one of those tapes and watched like three episodes, I was like, oh, I feel.

I feel so much better now.

I feel like.

And again, that's what made me go like, I want to be on that set, I want to be working there.

I want to be this person, you know, that makes someone else feel better.

And I got to do that.

That's fantastic.

Well, I mean.

And would you mind sharing, like, how do you deal with the negative criticism then when you do get the MySpace use?

And again, one of the things that world gone geek.

We're trying to decrease all the negativity, but if you get online, like, there's a lot of negativity about that and some of the people who maybe were fans of Ryan Drummond were very, very angry.

Yeah.

For some reason.

Tell us how you deal with that.

Two.

Two.

Oh, I Don't I really.

You know, I let it slide.

Let it slide is maybe not the right wording, but I don't respond to it, because the other thing I think is that everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I remember when I'd be watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Raphael's voice wasn't the same all of a sudden, and I was like, why?

You know, this ruins my half.

This ruins my third grade afternoon.

So I get it.

Ruined my childhood.

Now.

Would I have, like, written that person a letter and told them to go to hell?

Like, no, but we can do that now with the Internet.

And people have.

Oh, you should.

There's a great.

I actually.

I just got an Instagram message a couple months ago of someone reaching out to me to tell me that I corrupted the youth of the world by playing shadow and saying in quotes the D word and.

And how it's filed, and they're like.

And I can psych.

Example after example of how the world has gotten worse because you did this.

And, I mean, my way of dealing that was to just hit the block button.

I mean, that's what you got to do.

I don't need to hear any more from that.

And I also don't need to respond to it because I think a lot of times what they're looking for is a reaction.

And I've grown to almost feel like things like that are a badge of honor.

Like, it's like, oh, that's kind of cool, because if I wasn't doing this, I wouldn't be getting hate mail.

True, but the fan mail and the positivity far outweighs that.

I mean, especially now.

But back then, it was, you know.

Sure, yeah.

Then when someone replaced you, they were the ones that people were mad about.

Yeah, yeah.

And.

And sometimes still are.

But I always remind people that, you know, we all have our different takes.

Everybody sounds different, and everybody has their own era, so it's okay that we're able to share this character.

I think it's better than having one person say, this is mine, and that's nobody else's.

I think it's great.

And the other thing is that Sonic really started my career and opened so many doors that I'm able to support myself now and my family with voiceover work that maybe wouldn't have happened if not for Sonic.

So, like, how can I, you know, when people ask if I'm upset about it, how could I be upset for something that gave me so much in return?

You know, I don't care that someone else gets to voice them now.

I think it's great.

I haven't met Roger yet, but I hear he's, you know, I know he's a fantastic actor and a lot of people love him.

I have met Ryan and he's a wonderful person, you know, so it doesn't bother me.

It makes me feel like I'm.

I'm part of like a close knit community, you know, that we all.

We're all kind of in the Sonic Club together, you know.

Awesome.

Awesome.

Well, man, every time I look back, there's more people out here, which is fantastic.

Thank you all for coming.

We're going to take.

Does anybody have any questions from the audience?

Feel free to line up here at the microphone or raise your hand if you have.

And I have a couple more I can ask them, but we'd love to get you guys involved.

You'll be on our podcast.

Just so you know, we're being recorded right now.

Go ahead, step up the microphone.

So no endorsements for Quaker Oatmeal?

Yes, please.

Not until they pay me.

That's what I, you know, then we can do that.

Tell us your name.

First of all.

My name is Nick.

All right.

And what's your question for Jason?

Well, I was going to talk about Quake Oatmeal, but now that I can't, I'm trying to rack my brain to find something.

Thoughts on Crush 40?

Being in the new Sonic movie?

Making a return.

Oh, I didn't even know.

I think that's great.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Chris 40 was at Sonic Expo last year and we're doing Sonic Expo again in Dallas November 3rd through the 5th.

I believe it's the first weekend in November and I think they might be there again.

They're awesome.

They gave a concert.

They're.

I honestly wasn't even aware of Marsh 40 until last year.

They're awesome.

They are.

So I think it's great.

I think all awesome people should be in these movies.

Thank you.

You got it.

Awesome.

Anyone else?

Got someone coming up?

Just tell us your name and go ahead with your question.

Hi, my name is Porter Marin.

It's nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Thank you.

I got two questions.

Questions.

First off, what.

What was your favorite of all the games you did, what was your favorite Sonic game?

The War Soon.

Of.

Of all the games.

Yeah, the.

The second.

The second Sonic on Genesis because it had the casino stage.

That was.

That was always my favorite.

One more question.

Yeah.

Did you ever find that damn chaos umbrella?

Where is the damn fourth chaos?

I'm still searching for it.

Do you have it?

That's a guilty laugh.

Okay, thank you.

Awesome.

Anyone else?

Oh, I have a question.

Alex, this is my brother.

Someone asked me, what is your favorite Sonic game?

Shadow.

Shadow the Hedgehog.

It is a very hard game.

Yeah, that was the.

That was the very first video game I ever worked on.

So that was.

Thank you.

I told them at my table I'd ask you in the panel.

All right.

Hello.

Tell us your name.

My name is Riseru.

I'm a Sonic speedrunner, so.

Oh, cool.

Hi.

Speaking of Shadow the Hedgehog, I love Shadow the Hedgehog.

Thank you very much.

I love you as well.

Oh, thank you.

So you kind of talked a little bit about how you auditioned for Sonic and got into that.

But what about getting into Shadow?

So I.

I was in a.

I was in a session for, I want to say for Sonic X, but it could have been a different show.

And there was an engineer at four kids who came in named John Dixon, and he had.

He came in, he said, do you want to audition for this other character named Shadow?

And I was like, of course.

So he brought me in a picture of Shadow and.

And there was like a little, little monologue that I had to do.

So he's like, come over to my studio.

Because there were like eight studios at the.

At that one studio location.

So after my session, I went over, I auditioned, and I want to say I did a callback maybe a couple days later.

And then it was like the longest, not hearing anything.

And I just figured, oh, I didn't get that.

And then when in.

Finally, when.

When Shadow appeared in Sonic X, it was like, oh, no, you got it.

No, you're going to do this.

It was, it was.

It's so weird because sometimes you get.

There's a big celebration.

Oh, you got the job.

And sometimes it's just like, oh, you didn't know.

No, that's what you're coming in for.

You know, so that was one of those things where I was like, oh, this is cool.

And then I had sort of subconsciously based Shadow's voice on my roommate's voice at the time.

His name was Carl.

You guys know Carl, and great guy let me live with him for about two years.

But Carl, you know, was always writing a book, and it was always about, you know, outer space and evil entities.

And he's always smoking his cigarettes at 8 in the morning telling me about his book, you know.

So I just, I think subconsciously a little bit of Carl came out into Shadow, into his voice.

That's beautiful.

You know, I.

I've based so much, so many of the voices on people I've known.

Whether I even know that or not, it like it just happens, you know?

Yeah.

I've yet to do a character that sounds like this based on my Uncle Freddy.

But one day, possibly I believe in you.

I will dedicate my next Shadow run.

To Carl for you.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Did Carl ever publish?

Yeah, yeah, he actually.

I went to one of his book signings.

He did?

It sounds like you had been perfect for the audiobook is what I'm thinking.

Did that not happen?

I don't think so.

Oh, see.

Oh well, any other.

We can take one more question if we've got time.

Anybody?

I see someone.

Unless he's running away.

No, he's coming.

Oh, we could do.

We could do a couple.

Yeah.

Okay, good.

Are we out of time?

I don't know.

No, I mean we got a few.

Your handler is over here.

It's Al.

Alejandro, right?

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

So I heard rumors about the original cut of Shadow the Hedgehog music about Tierm.

I've heard the.

We're all familiar with first act Dam for Chaos biker.

Rumor is about you possibly doing like way more like mixed gisting, swearing, so.

Right.

So when we did the beam, I don't think I dropped any F bombs as Shadow.

I could be wrong because that was a long time ago.

But they didn't know what the rating was going to be.

I think rating system had just come out at this point and I know I said.

I think I said shit a couple times instead of damn.

Because they said.

And the disclaimer is they said we don't know if we're going to use this, but let's just get it anyway.

Because the opposite of that is if they don't get it and they're like oh, why didn't you get it?

Then they have to pay you to come back.

So it's like oh, let's get it all.

But I don't think there were any F bombs.

Yeah, just a couple.

Couple cranked up the notch a little bit.

But I think they realized like we've already got guns in this game, like we don't have to go crazy.

And there's a whole like this media group online trying to find a like archive of these old lines.

Do you have any info on it?

Nope.

I do know they videotaped my face for the whole recording session because they were animating the mouth to my mouth.

So out there at least there's a videotape of it.

I don't know where those videotapes are.

It's in a hard drive in a salt mine now.

I don't know.

It's on the dark web somewhere.

Probably some engineer has access to it and he's sitting back there just chuckling to himself right now.

Time to hunt down the four kids.

Fault.

Yeah, it could be.

That's great.

Thank you.

So I got a question about just Shadow.

Like, didn't like the game.

It's pretty out there for Sonic.

When it came out.

Yeah.

When you were like doing that, like, what were you thinking?

This is awesome.

I get to swear I was so excited.

I'll tell you though, when I was doing.

When I was doing the game, I.

First of all, it was the first video game I ever worked on.

And there was so much dialogue.

All I could think of the entire time when I wasn't thinking, like, am I gonna have chicken parmesan for lunch?

Was, oh my gosh, my voice is gonna be coming out of some kid's television.

Just like the voices that came out of my television when I was playing video games with my cousin.

And that was such a cool thing to tap into because it made me so excited to do the job.

It became so much more about, like, than just doing a job.

It was like, I'm doing something that's gonna be so epic for someone else.

Little did I know when I got the hate mail.

That wasn't the case back then, but thank God for you guys who were all five, six years old and your parents are like, yeah, go play that game with the gun and the swearing, because it makes a huge difference now.

But yeah, so that.

That whole.

I was floating on a cloud that whole session, because that was like a couple weeks of recording.

I just.

I couldn't believe that I was that a.

That I was in a game that was named after my character and that I just have to do it at all.

I was like 22, 23 years old, you know, it was such a, such a huge turnaround from like, what I've been doing with my life, like seeing people at a pizzeria.

It's honor to talk to you, brother.

Thank you, man.

Appreciate you.

All right, that's it for the questions.

One more great metal Sonic shirt.

Thanks.

You see the back?

So cool.

Reminded me of Sonic the Fighter.

So I bought it.

Love it.

Hi, my name is Lars.

And so also as an artist myself, is there ever time that did affect you?

And like, how did you deal with that?

In the beginning, when I first Read it, because I almost believed it.

I almost thought, oh, wow.

I guess I.

Someone called me abysmal, I think.

And that stuck with me for a little while at least, because I, you know, I'd never gotten hate mail before and never.

Nobody had ever, like, told me, oh, you're really bad.

Like, kind of like the whole time I've been acting, it was always like, oh, you're really good.

Oh, wow, that's good.

You know, and then you.

So it was a shock, and I think I carried that around for a little while, and then.

And then it just went away.

You know, I didn't really dwell on it too much, but every now and then I would kind of chuckle and be like, I'm abysmal.

That's awesome.

I mean, when I was a kid, I definitely was like, how dare you desecrate my childhood by making him swear?

But it's definitely my top five.

Oh, good.

I'm glad.

Thank you.

Was it you that said it at Instagram?

That's it.

How long ago did you get it?

It wasn't me.

About two months ago.

Yeah, no, Definitely no.

Okay, good.

Way longer.

Like, I love that game.

Oh, good.

Okay, great.

So cool to see.

Yeah, you too.

Thank you, Lars.

What's your name?

My name's Dan.

I should have a question Bells on a.

Brian.

But I was just wondering if it's your experience about playing, like, God, Jet.

Yeah, like playing Jet.

I was.

Not a lot.

It was.

I mean, Jet always tore my throat up.

It's like, shut your beak.

You have to like.

It's like Sonic, but you're, like, squeezing everything.

Yeah.

So it's really hard on your tonsils with those games.

I feel like a lot of times we recorded two games at once, so they'd have, like, two by two scripts in the studio.

And it's like, all right, do this one.

Do this one.

You never knew what you were recording, you know, but it was fun.

I mean, a lot of those games, they.

There wasn't a lot of dialogue.

It was a lot of reaction.

One, two lines.

So they were.

They were super quick to record and everybody was always happy.

So I.

I walked out happy, you know, I.

Except in the very beginning of my career, like, I never.

I haven't walked out of a studio where people were like, I felt like, oh, really messed up.

You know, Everyone was always happy with what I did.

Jet was someone I didn't have to audition for.

They knew I was going to play him, and they just said, give us three examples of what you want to do with Jet.

And we'll, we'll choose which one we want.

It was like the first one I did.

They're like, that one.

We're going to do that one.

Choose one that was less raspy on your throat.

Yeah, yeah, I know, right?

But you're so high on adrenaline when you're doing these things that it didn't, you know, it doesn't affect you till later when you're like, oh, why do I, why can't I swallow right now?

You know?

Oh, right.

Because of all the streaming I did.

Yeah.

Just to enter these actors here, it almost beat up for, like, how, like, animation wasn't up there because.

Right.

As long as.

Yeah.

And that's, I mean, that's a big part of why voice actors are even involved in these, because they need to, like, bring, you know, it just gives it more texture as far as, like, believability, the playability.

Yeah, I mean, it was, I, I, I can't think.

Except for Unleashed, there was never, like, like an unpleasant recording experience.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Yeah, man, thank you.

All right, one more.

I know we got to get you back to your table so that.

Hey, man.

Hi.

Hey, Dusty.

Hey, Dusty.

Good to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Do you have any advice for anyone who's trying to, like, get into voice acting?

Any advice or any tips?

Yeah, I sort of talked about it earlier, but, you know, where do you live?

Aurora.

So it's like 40 people you live.

I'd say, think about what, what kind of voiceover you want to do.

And I know the answer might seem like, oh, everything.

And that's, But I will tell you, even though that's true, and I, I do everything and have done everything.

That's a novice answer.

So the more specific you are when someone asks you that question, the more they think, oh, this person really put thought into it as opposed to, like, ah, just do everything.

Because eventually you will, if you're successful.

There are classes that directors that I've worked with or casting directors that have cast me in things, teach that are online.

I say, you know, practice as much as you can.

Read out loud as much as you can, because everything in your job as an actor is reading out loud immediately.

And then take those classes with those directors or casting directors when you feel ready, because I've seen over and over people get eight jobs from those classes because they're good.

Or one of my great friends, Dorian Elliott, she's a casting director and I've taken her class.

She taught me so many tips.

But she had someone who was babysitting her son who she was like, oh, you got a good voice.

And she's like, yeah, I might want to try acting, you know?

So she's like, do my class.

She did her class and then she liked her so much, she brought her in for, like, the Voice of Purina and she booked in and now she has a voiceover career from that.

So things can happen if you take the right classes with the right people and it's the right time for you, because you also don't want to go into those class classes unprepared and feel like you're sucking, you know?

But, yeah, so that's.

That's.

That's a good thing.

And never give up, you know, because there's going to be a thousand and one opportunities for you to give up.

I.

I remember once, this doesn't have to do with voice acting, but I remember there was a spell in my life.

It's like around the time I was 23.

I don't even think I was voicing Sonic yet, but I was just sitting in my apartment in my one room, the size of this stage, half of this stage, and, like, looking up at the ceiling, and I'm like, just give me a sign, like, if I should be here doing this right now or.

Or not.

I'm like, I don't get.

I, like, I need a sign.

And that night, I got an email from a director saying, hey, do you remember me from, like, three years ago?

We did a play together.

I'd love for you to be the lead in my play.

And I was like, oh, my God, that was like.

That was quick.

Thank you.

You know, but again, like, you could get really discouraged.

I've been discouraged.

I've talked to my mom on the phone years ago where I'm like, I don't know.

Like, I can't.

Like, this is hard, you know?

But you just keep going, you keep plugging out.

You plug away, and eventually you're gonna hit.

Cause all it takes is one job, like Sonic, for me to open all those doors for you.

But that took five years.

Five years of auditioning before I even got to audition for Sonic.

You know, I dressed up as the Best Buy box in Central park, handing out things to people that were, like, scared of me.

Like, jobs like that, you just have to, like, you have to do the work, though.

You have to do the work.

Don't ever expect anyone to just hand it to you, you know?

Cool.

Thank you.

You got it?

Oh, yeah, yeah, of course.

All right.

Well, we're going to take a quick selfie with the crowd so you guys could just smile for it real quick.

And we're going to say goodbye to Jason.

Here we go.

Everybody's in there.

There we go.

All right.

All right.

Let's give a big hand for Jason Griffin.

Thank you, guys.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it so much.

And that's a wrap for today's episode.

But before you go, don't forget to check out the Cleveland Gaming Classic happening in September.

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