Geek Vibes Interview With ‘Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Voice Actor Alex Weiner

On this edition of Geek Vibes Interview, we sit down with Alex Weiner. Alex is a triple crown winner – Actor, Producer, Writer – and has had roles in Blue Mountain State and Running With Violet. He is also known for his voice acting roles such as Rocket Raccoon in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Far Cry 5, Outlast 2, and Assassins Creed: Syndicate.

We are thrilled to have Alex join us so lets jump right into the interview.

GVN: How did you get into voice acting, and what was the audition process like?

ALEX: Voice acting has many ways in, and many niches thereafter. Luckily for me, the fantastic voice director (as well as actor) Mark Camacho took an interest in me when I was just starting out in Montreal. He let me sit-in on professional voiceover sessions he was running, where I was able to watch some true Montreal VO legends such as Rick Jones, Pauline Little, and Richard Dumont in action. I was at Dawson College at the time studying cinema and already working as an actor on-screen, but I would skip as many classes as I could to study these pros in their element. It turned out to be extremely valuable, and got my foot in the door in terms of dubbing, animation, and commercial voice work, which led to video game gigs afterwards through classic audition processes and relationships. It helped that Montreal was one of the capitals of video game production as well, and I was coming up at a time when performance capture (think Gollum in LOTR) was fairly new, so they were looking for a lot of actors with both voice and on-screen film experience, which I had.

At the point where I received the audition for GotG, I had already gone through a few games, though the audition process was more akin to film and TV. Similar to what I said above, they wanted actors with credible, on-screen filmic chops in order to portray the Guardians through performance capture. I received a self-tape request (an at-home audition that you tape and send to casting), did my best with it, and that was that. A few months later I got the call, and the rest was flarkin’ history.

What’s more difficult? Voicing a raccoon in space or being the hype man on the Toronto Raptors’ PA?

You know, I remember recording that spot for the Raptors’ last game in the finals. They were either going to win or lose; it was all going to be decided at that game. We decided to record two versions of the final spot, one in case we lost and one in case we won. It was sort of difficult to record the one where we lose, simply because every single person in that room refused to believe that the Raptors WOULD lose. We sort of had this secret understanding that the “lose version” would never be used, since we all believed in our core that we’d be victorious. Of course, the Raptors won the championship the next night, so we were right.

On another note, it’s a good thing Rocket wasn’t doing the VO for them, because they would have been hard-pressed to get a clean take with no flarks!

What are the advantages over voicing video games than another medium?

Voicing video games is unique because you’re part of a massive process involving hundreds of individuals who each have some form of creative input on a facet of your character. From the writers to the concept artists… to the dynamite animators who bring your facial capture to life afterwards… you really feel like you are in a truly collaborative process. It’s a great equalizer. Add to that the fact that when playing a role like Rocket you are in the midst of that process for many years; it’s a rare opportunity to get to know a character in a deeper way than most. I’ve been at this for 12 years, and I’ve never had a relationship with a character like the one I have with Rocket. Doing big things in a different way takes a lot of guts, and Eidos was amazing at taking worthwhile risks all along the way. Those risks certainly paid off, and I’m honored to have been able to witness some of the big, creative choices we made when bringing this story to life.

Another big thing: the fans. The video game fans, as well as the Marvel ones in general, really care, and are passionate about what we do. It’s the outpour of support that the fans have shown toward this game that floors me to this day. A big shout out to the tremendous virtual photography community as well, who never cease to amaze me with their artwork.

What’s the oddest job you’ve been asked to VO on Cameo?

I wish I had a funny anecdote for this, but I don’t. Everyone’s great on Cameo. I’ll fill you in when I get a really weird one. It’s bound to happen at one point.

Do you ever ghost in your official Subreddit (u/officiallyaweiner)? If so, what do you say to get conversations rolling?

Of course I do.

I’ll usually just whisper “weiner” and then run off.

In all seriousness, I probably spend way too much time contributing to the r/notinteresting Subreddit. That place has gotten me through some murky times.

Do you find people compare your VO work of Rocket to what Bradley Cooper performed on film? What are the differences?

It definitely happens, and it’s to be expected, but I’ll say thanks to the brilliance of Mary Demarle’s original script and distinctive universe, people understand right away that they are meant to be unique from each other. We set out to do something totally different, and I think the fans see that. Both worlds can coexist, and they should! Not to mention the countless other iterations of the Guardians through comics and cartoons. Like so many others, I was introduced to the Guardians for the first time thanks to the MCU, and I’ll never forget that.

As an actor, I chose very early on to not really pay attention to any comparison. I crafted this version of Rocket from within, was guided by our superb director Darryl Purdy and a killer narrative team, and had all the freedom in the world to give my take. Bradley Cooper’s version of Rocket is different from mine of course, and that’s because he gave a truthful performance that was his take on a character, just like I did with my portrayal. When two actors operate from a place of truth, what they deliver will stand on its own. End of the day, people might have their preferences between tuna and ham sandwiches, but that’s just preference. If they’re both well-made, it’s hard to say one is better or worse.

‘Blue Mountain State’ is a cult classic for Gen-Z. How did you get the part of Ricky? Did you get to meet the athletes like Chuck Liddell, The Boz, Boomer, or Stacy Keibler?

I love that you brought up BMS – one of the best experiences of my life by far.

I got Ricky through a standard auditioning process. Mike Magliara was casting and he was always a big supporter of my work from early on. I actually almost turned down the call-back audition. I was about to leave on a three-week canoe trip with my pals, some days away, and my agent at the time let me know that I had a call-back for Ricky the day before leaving. The shoot would be smack in the middle of my canoe trip. I decided I’d rather go on my trip, and turned it down. Mike Magliara called me personally and knocked some sense into me, convincing me to come in for the callback. I did and I got the role. My friends luckily found a fourth member, so it was all cool. Obviously, looking back, I’m thrilled that Mike was so thoughtful to nudge me in the right direction.

Working on BMS was a blast. I met all those people and they were just the most welcoming, fun-loving folk. They really made me feel at home. Funnily enough, that’s where I met Omari Newton (who played Larry Summers). Him and I played scrabble in between setups. A year later he would introduce me to Ramiro Belanger who directed me in ClydeCynic, which was one of the more important roles and films of my career at that point. It really is “who you know”.

I was a big fan of Jay Chandreskar (of Super Troopers fame) and he was directing my episode, so that was a really huge deal for me. He was a great director, and I’ll always remember him offering my dad a headset and the director’s chair to watch my takes when he came to visit me on set. That really meant a lot.

Some actors prefer the silver screen than the stage and vice versa. Which style of acting do you feel is more fulfilling to you?

I’m much less concerned with medium as I am with character. Of course, each medium has it’s contrasting aspects; I love theater for the ability to live the life of a character uninterrupted for an extended period of time and feel the energy of a live audience, just as much as I like attempting to realistically portray intimate human emotions through a close-up shot on a film set. What has always been my umbilical cord to the craft has been the connection I feel with the characters I am playing, always supported by a solid script. It doesn’t matter what genre you do, from horror to comedy or voice over to theater: if the script is good, then the characters make sense, and then I can do my job as an actor and seek to do the story justice.

GotG was a gift because not only were the script and characters shimmering with originality and depth, but we were able to do performance capture (face, body, voice simultaneously) for all the cinematics. Imagine you’re on a green screen, all you have are your fellow actors and empty space. Suddenly you have to imagine meteors, laser beams, creatures… all using your imagination. It’s like playing Cops and Robbers in your driveway when you’re a kid. In order to do performance capture, you have to surrender fully to your imagination and trust you’ll “see” what you need to move forward in the scene. Compared to film sets, where there are props and furniture to rely on for visual stimulus, you have nothing on a performance capture stage, so you need to take the dive and trust in your instincts. This sounds harder, but I find it more freeing, since once you tap into that imaginative state, you really feel like you are working with “magic”.

When you got into the movie business, were you aiming for VO work? If so, why? If not, how did you find this niche of entertainment?

Not at all. I had no idea what I was getting into, in the best of ways. I grew up watching the golden age of American cinema. My dad would rent me three movies a week at Blockbuster (on VHS…). Stuff like Raging Bull, Deer Hunter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Das Boot… so when I got into acting, I thought I would pretty much just be doing movies and TV if I was lucky. However, once the curtain rose and I started getting into it, I started noticing all these other paths, such as voice work and video game performance. It all requires the same basics of acting though, so they’re all just extensions of that. It’s probably similar to any other field: once you get the basics down you start seeing niches where you can specialize or attune yourself to.

A lot of this has to do with surrounding yourself with a good team, especially an agent or agency who is interested in developing your career in tangent to those interests, but is also willing to push you in new and different directions.

Now that you are a celebrated VO actor, who are some of the people you study to get better at voice over work?

Oh you are too kind! Celebrated… we’ll see. Look, we can draw inspiration as performers from anywhere, whether it be people or your pet cat. What’s important is what you do with that inspiration. I draw inspiration less from other performers than I do from real, actual people. After all, we are trying to present what people do, not what other performers do. If you want to get better at accents, I do find it useful to study others. For example: Michael Cain is my go-to reference for Cockney accents, Jeremy Irons is my Standard RP British guy, while Milos Formann is my prized reference for Czech accents.

You want to be careful though that you are not imitating. Try to find your own voice through all this, and by that I don’t really mean actual, vocal voice. I mean more… try to find your own energy. What do you bring to the table? A lot of that just comes with practice. Seriously, if you put in one hour of reading the back of shampoo bottles per day with the goal of practicing your clarity of speech, you’ll see results. There’s a lot of sense in finding a teacher or coach, someone who can help you isolate technical assets such as enunciation and breath control, and get better that way. It’s not all “creativity” and ladida. There are very technical elements to voice work that require time and understanding. I find that’s something that turns off a few people from the get-go. I, for one, have a one-hour vocal routine and warm-up before each and every voice gig I do, as well as refraining from any sort of alcohol or irritants the night prior.  This stuff takes discipline, and the only way to know what YOU need to do to be awesome is practice. Trial and error. It sounds lame and cliched, but it’s flarking true: it’s all about craft. At least in my opinion.

What’s next for you?

A bowl of spaghetti. Other than that, a lovely feature film called “The Legacy of Cloudy Falls” this summer and a few other fun, secret things in the works. Stay tuned to my instagram for some upcoming live appearances at conventions and such. Anyone who wants to see me die a bunch of times while playing Last of Us 2 can check out my Twitch. We have death counters, baby.

Huge thanks again to Alex for allowing us some time to speak with him. A class act all the way! We look forward to seeing what Alex has planned next and of course be sure to check out his official Twitch channel – https://www.twitch.tv/officiallyaweiner

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Cainan

DC Fanboy! Superman is the greatest comic book character of all time. Favorite movies are Man of Steel, Goonies, Back To the Future