So, recently the extremely talented Julie Nathanson was kind enough to talk to us over at Geek Vibes Nation about everything Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay and Far Cry 5 which she has recently been working on and starring in.
For those who have been living under a rock for the past decade and don’t know who Julie Nathanson is, she is an actress/voice actress who you can hear in the excellent Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay as Silver Banshee and Jewelee and as Jess Black in Ubisoft’s newest addition to the Far Cry series, Far Cry 5. This isn’t her first time in the video game industry, however, as Julie has been voicing characters for years across various amazing titles such as Fallout 4, Call of Duty, the Final Fantasy series, and has been the voice of Disney Princess Belle in many Disney video game projects. So, let’s go through the questions we asked and the responses Julie gave us.
Photographer: Jason Willheim
Stylist: Simona Sacchitella
Hair + Makeup: Muamera Pulic
How was it working with such a star-studded cast in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay?
“As is often the case in voiceover, we recorded our dialogue in individual studio sessions. Most of the main cast actually met for the first time at the premiere. So, I can’t tell you what it was like to work with this star-studded cast, but I CAN tell you we had blast hanging out together at Wonder Con!”. Just goes to show how much more challenging voice work is when you have to not only picture your surroundings but even your cast mates.
How knowledgeable were you about your character prior to taking the role?
“When I agreed to do the film, I knew very little about Silver Banshee, but I’m a bit of a research fanatic. By the time I walked into the initial recording session, I’d read about both comic iterations, as well as her appearance on Supergirl. I was excited by her new, harder look in this movie, and matched my performance to this visual reimagining”. I always love it when the actors themselves embrace the fandom when getting a role. It gives them more room to work with and ultimately gives the audience a better incarnation of the character.
How does voice-over work differ from live action besides the obvious?
“I left on-camera acting many years ago in order to focus on voiceover and writing, but I was lucky enough to work pretty consistently in that realm. And, of course, I was typecast frequently, based on my look. So, while I might have been cast as Jewelee in the live action space, I doubt I would have ever had the chance to even audition for Silver Banshee. Voiceover work not only allows but encourages actors to develop a wider variety of performances. The greatest difference for me is the freedom to play without being inhibited by outward appearance and inward self-consciousness. It’s like acting while invisible. Huh. I’ve never described it that way before, and I kind of like it. Truth be told, no one would look at me and say, “Hey, you’d make a great land-and-sea dwelling, Beluga-faced, manatee-like creature with flippers.” But Guild Wars 2 did, and they cast me as a Quaggan (among many other characters I’ve played in my nine years recording that game) because they were only listening to my voice, unencumbered by my physicality”. This is why I love gaming and animation so much. The idea that anyone can have a shot at playing some of the coolest and strangest characters ever, which they wouldn’t even be considered for in live-action is really great. Fun gaming fact: Did you know Mario and Paarthurnax (from Skyrim) are actually voiced by the same guy? Charles Martinet. Sometimes you have no idea who’s behind the voices of your favorite characters.
Who was someone in the cast you got to meet you never have before?
“Liam McIntyre, who is a complete and total sweetheart. Greg Grunberg, who had me in hysterics backstage at Wonder Con. Dania Ramirez, who is an absolute badass of a princess”.
Were you a comic book fan before this movie?
“My comic book collection is very small, but specific. Of note, I have a (new) book of Wonder Woman comics from the early 1940s and the first volume of DC Universe Rebirth’s Wonder Woman. On the Marvel side of things, I have a fantastic graphic novel called “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” which features both Natasha Romanov and Yelena Belova”. Got to love Julie’s taste, whats not to love about Wonder Woman and Black Widow?
If you could play a character in the DCEU right now who would it be?
“It’s no secret I love Wonder Woman. A friend and I invited 100 women (and a few men, too!) to join us for opening night of the live-action film last June. The energy in that theater was amazing! It was a powerful way to see a movie so many of us had been waiting for our entire lives. That said, so many incredible actors have voiced Wonder Woman, and I think they’re all fantastic. I’d love to play a character like her, but I don’t need to take away from anyone else’s performance”. With the highly anticipated upcoming Wonder Woman sequel, I can see a little cameo role for Julie in there somewhere and with DC Animation booming lately I can definitely see her playing the Princess of Themyscira in an animated property.
Is doing voice over for Video Games any different than for an animated film or show?
“Yes and no. The heart of every performance is the importance of making it real. First for myself, and then for the audience. That’s why acting is paramount, and the sound of the character’s voice is often tertiary. That said, the process of recording a game is generally non-linear. A character’s lines/scenes are usually presented out of order, sometimes without much context. The beginning, middle, and end of a story may not be readily apparent in the script pages we use for game work, especially if we’re hired for just a few recording sessions. Therefore, the voice director plays a hugely important role in guiding our performance. (And, really, that’s true across all media.) Additionally, we often don’t see a video game script at all before arriving for work. This means that we are essentially cold-reading the lines. Being able to quickly glance down a page and get a sense of what’s needed without much preparation is a very specific skill. There are, of course, exceptions. Working on a game over a longer period of time, such as in Far Cry 5, where I play Jess Black, I was privy to more backstory, character arc, and certainly scripts ahead of time. In film and TV animation, we are almost always given scripts ahead of time, know the real name of the project (video games often use code names while in production), and a bit more frequently work alongside other actors in the studio. I’m a research fanatic, and it was a real growing edge for me to become comfortable with not reading the entire story script for game work. But imagine how long that would take, even if it were made available to us!”. I suppose that’s what unique about games, some don’t even have stories at all and so voice lines are can be recorded with very little context or background knowledge yet some games can tell incredible stories and the actors are given them stories to help better their performance.
Do you often play the games you voice for?
“I love storytelling so much, and games’ artistry, technology, and immersion are incredible to me, but I truly don’t have time. I do watch tons of cutscenes and gameplay, but I know that if I fell down the real rabbit hole, I would be late for every “very important date” from then until forever”. We can all relate to falling down that rabbit hole once in a while, especially when some of these incredible games grip you and don’t let go.
Overall Julie’s answers gave us a real insight into both the world of animation and gaming when it comes to voice work. Huge thank you to her for taking the time to sit down and chat with us. Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is now available digitally and on DVD and Blu-ray and Far Cry 5 is now available on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Both have received glowing reviews and are definitely worth checking out if you haven’t done so already. Guys, thank you so much for taking the time to read this and if you did enjoy please do hit that like button and share the article around. As always make sure to follow GeekVibesNation and me over on Twitter to stay up to date with the latest news updates and blog posts and I’ll catch you next time.
