Andrea Romano, arguably the best known casting/dialogue director on
the animation scene today, brings the voices of yet another DC
Universe animated original film to life with “Wonder Woman.” Warner
Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation are set to release the
all-new film on March 3, 2009, as distributed by Warner Home Video.
The action-packed movie will also be available OnDemand and
Pay-Per-View as well as available for download day and date, March 3,
2009.
“Wonder Woman” is the fourth DC Universe film in the ongoing series,
and Romano has returned – after the first three successful ventures –
to cast and direct the likes of Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Alfred
Molina, Virginia Madsen, Oliver Platt and Rosario Dawson. In an
industry that once treated voiceovers with the anonymity of the
witness protection plan, Romano has become a household name to legions
of animation fans. Just name a show – “Animaniacs” or “Smurfs,”
“Batman: The Animated Series” and any of Warner Bros. Animation’s
super hero series – and fans shout “Andrea Romano” in their beloved
credits roll call in harmony with names like “Bruce Timm” and “Alan
Burnett.”
Romano began her career as an actress in New York before switching
coasts and paths, accepting a position as a Hollywood voiceover
agent’s assistant. Over five-plus years, she moved from a large talent
agency to a smaller boutique agency, learning the business before
shifting into casting for Hanna-Barbera in 1984. Since then, Romano
has been one of the most in-demand voiceover casting and dialogue
directors, steering the vocal end of productions at virtually all of
the major studios.
She has been nominated for Emmy Awards a total of 18 times, and there
are six Emmys standing tall in her home – well, proud as they can
stand when attired in Barbie clothes. Romano enjoys dressing her
statuettes.
Romano has made her mark in every genre of animation, and her weekly
workload today is a perfect example. When she isn’t orchestrating the
casting and voicing of the latest DC Universe animated original movie
or Warner Bros. Animation TV series, she’s directing “SpongeBob
SquarePants” or skipping across the globe directing the international
casts of “Kung Fu Panda.”
Renowned for considering 250-300 actors for lead roles, Romano is as
comfortable directing the voiceover world’s legion of “stars” as she
is guiding feature film and primetime television celebrities through
their lines, often times during the celeb’s maiden voyages in
animation. She is revered throughout the industry for her instant
vocabulary with her actors, and treated with rock star status at
fanboy conventions from North America to Australia.
Romano found time between recording sessions to discuss the stellar
“Wonder Woman” cast, the intricacies of matching voices to roles, a
little advice to the masses of hopeful voiceover artists, and a short
list of actors she one-day hopes to direct.
For your entertainment and education, a Q&A with “Wonder Woman”
casting/dialogue director Andrea Romano …
Question:
You seem to glide easily between a diverse array of projects, running
the gamut from silly shows for Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. to the
wacky world of “SpongeBob SquarePants,” and then into the more
serious, action-oriented “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and DC Comics
super heroes. Do you have a preference between the different genres?
Andrea Romano answers:
I love the fact that my job gives me the chance to do every different
kind of animated project, and these days the projects couldn’t be more
varied or diverse. I can’t say that I specifically have a favorite.
Moreover, it’s the variety that keeps me stimulated, keeps me
interested. There was a period of time when I was doing a lot of
action shows, and I do love them and I’m not complaining one bit, but
I missed the silly. So I really do enjoy the variety.
Question:
You’ve stated previously that you have trouble narrowing a list of
favorite actors with whom you’ve worked. But do you have a list of
actors you’ve yet to engage whom you’d still like to get behind the
microphone?
Andrea Romano answers:
There are several actors that I have not yet had the chance to work
with that I’m determined to work with at some point. Actors like James
Woods, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti, to name a few. I’d kill to
direct Jeremy Irons. I think George Clooney is a wonderful, versatile
actor, and I think he could do really incredible, silly things in
animation – things that he doesn’t really get the chance to do in
live-action. Most of those actors are so busy that they wouldn’t be
able to say ‘yes’ to an animated project, but that doesn’t mean I’m
not going to go after them. I’m not afraid to go after any actor.
What’s the worse that can happen? They might turn me down, but maybe
they’ll say yes. I’m going to work for another 25 years and so, as
long as they can continue to speak and sing and be silly, I will hire
them. I’m not done yet.
Question:
Voiceover work is still a relatively anonymous role, and yet Andrea
Romano walks into a Con panel before a 1,500-seat capacity crowd and
she’s greeted like a rock star. What’s that like for you?
Andrea Romano answers:
I’m always astounded that people know who I am and what I do. I’ll go
to San Diego and people will actually follow me through the building
and very politely tug on my shirt and say, ‘Excuse me, are you Andrea
Romano?’ I’m blown away every time it happens. I still have a lot of
anonymity and that’s good. I don’t get bothered in restaurants and
stuff like that. But when I’m at events that are really geared toward
animation fans, they know who I am. And I’m so very pleased and so
flattered by it. People are extremely complimentary to me, and that
only encourages me to continue to do more really good work. I get paid
by the studios, but I know I work for the fans.
Question:
Seemingly everyone believes they could do voiceovers for animation.
What’s your ultimate advice for those seeking to make that career
move?
Andrea Romano answers:
I know what advice I won’t give anymore. At the last Comic-Con, I gave
my stock answer to that question, which was ‘Send large expensive
presents directly to my office.’ A few months later, I get this
enormous gift basket. It was stunning — a bottle of wine, three
different kinds of cheeses, pesto sauce, pasta … and a demo tape. I
had to call the guy and say ‘I can’t accept this, I’m uncomfortable
with this,’ but he said ‘No, no, no – I work in the industry. It’s
okay, it’s legal. I admire your work, and this is really just a thank
you for everything you’ve done. If you have chance to listen to my
demo tape, that’s just great, if you don’t that’s fine, too.’ But it
was still a very weird moment for me.
For people who seriously want to get into voiceover acting, clearly
the most important thing is that you must be a good actor. That comes
first. That’s why celebrities get so much work in voiceovers – we’ve
seen their work, we know they’re good actors. So take acting classes.
Then take voice acting classes – and there is a difference. There are
techniques specific to voice acting that you must learn. Not popping
your Ps and how to stay on-microphone, especially during the physical
scenes, and how to create the impact sounds. Getting punched and
throwing a punch are two different sounds. Sneezing, burping,
whistling and kissing all require silly little tricks. These are very
specific techniques, and all are taught in voiceover classes.
Once you feel very secure in your acting and voiceover techniques, put
together a voiceover demo – and only showcase your best work. Include
things that are novel and new. If you do impressions, great, but let
it be an impression that’s unusual and different. We don’t need to
hear John Wayne. Include examples of accents, dialects, singing,
singing in character, character voices. And you don’t have to be
massively versatile if you have an interesting voice and you’re a good
actor. Sterling Holloway and Ben Stein are good examples of people
with interesting voices. But you do need to be able to act through
your interesting voice. Finally, once you’ve put together your demo,
you need to get it to all the agents and casting people and animation
companies in town. Follow-up and keep following up, and hopefully
somebody bites.
Question:
The DC Universe films are very celebrity-laden voice casts. Do you
ever purposely cast against types for those roles, and when is it okay
to have an actor reprise a role or be cast in consecutive films?
Andrea Romano answers:
Sometimes it’s really fun to cast against type just to let the actor
stretch a little bit more, to do something they don’t normally get the
chance to do on camera. It’s very liberating for an actor when they
don’t have to worry if they’re blonde enough or young enough or tall
enough. If the voice is right and they can act, they can do a role for
me.
Casting is sometimes like going to a party. You get there and
everybody at the party is wonderful. They’re funny, they’re
interesting, and the next time you go to a party, you kind of want
those same people there. I do find myself going back to a lot of the
same actors I’ve worked with because it was fun, it was good and I
know they can do the job. When we have tight deadlines to cast a
project, that’s how some decisions are made. We’ve all seen animated
projects and thought, ‘That person was the perfect voice for that
role,’ but what few people know is what it took to get that
performance. Was it 50 takes per line or did they nail it on the first
try? When the schedule is tight, you go with the people you know will
get the job done quickly and well.
Question:
How often are you surprised by an actors’ performance?
Andrea Romano answers:
Quite often, and I mean that in a good way. A lot of times we cast
actors who haven’t done voiceovers before, and because voiceover work
is different from on-camera, you’re not sure what’s going to happen in
the booth. Wonder Woman is Keri Russell’s first animated role, and she
was amazing. Then there are moments when everything just clicks and
the impossible happens. There was a project I did years ago in which
Rob Paulsen, the wonderful voice of Pinky in “Pinky and the Brain” and
Yakko Warner in “Animaniacs,” had to sing all the countries of the
world, from start to finish. The man did it in a single take! Then he
asked if he could have a second take? (she laughs) Of course, he could
have a second take. But the truth is he nailed it the first time,
which is stunning. So you never know what you’re going to get.
Question:
Which leads us to that stellar “Wonder Woman” cast. What exactly does
Keri Russell bring to the title character?
Andrea Romano answers:
Keri Russell has such a wonderful, youthful sound to her voice and
yet, there’s a really nice underlying tone of strength. That’s exactly
what you need for Wonder Woman. This is the story of her first finding
out what civilization is like, so there has to be a youthful innocence
and, at the same time, she’s got to have the strength to kick butt and
not take garbage from anybody. Keri absolutely has that. She’s a
terrific actress, and that combination of vulnerability, youth and
strength in the voice is perfect for this role.
Question:
What made Nathan Fillion right for Steve Trevor?
Andrea Romano answers:
I’m just so in love with Nathan Fillion. He is this great, silly,
playful, fun-loving actor who also knows when and how to get down to
business. Nathan brought all of that to the voice work in this
project, and that made him exactly right for Steve Trevor. The
character has to be smart, he’s got to be trustworthy, but also silly
and vulnerable and, in his own way, kind of a buffoon. He’s going to
make a fool of himself overseeing these ridiculously beautiful
amazons. Nathan just fell into that role perfectly.
Qustion:
How did you settle on Alfred Molina as Ares?
Andrea Romano answers:
Who doesn’t like Alfred Molina? I have admired him for so many years
and he had done some work for me before. He’s extremely busy,
constantly working – we lucked out that he was available. Ares is
strong and full of himself – there’s a huge ego there. Fred doesn’t
have that kind of ego, but he can act it beautifully. He also has the
physical strength in his voice that mirrors the character, and an
aspect to his voice where you could believe that he could convince
someone to do what he wanted in a way that they don’t even know
they’re being convinced. Finally, because Ares is the God of War, his
presence creates violence around him – and as gentle a soul as Fred
is, there’s something about what he brought into the booth that makes
that emotion completely believable.
Question:
Rosario Dawson was a natural fit as the warrior Artemis?
Andrea Romano answers:
Rosario Dawson is such a beautiful woman and a beautiful person, and a
comic book fan. I had always been looking for something that I thought
was appropriate for her and, with this strong female character,
Rosario’s name popped to mind instantly. She’s got a presence in her
voice that is so right that you immediately believe this is an Amazon
warrior. Artemis is tough and strong and smart, and I believe Rosario
is all of that as both a person and an actress. So we had a perfect
match.
Question:
Were you looking to balance all of that female bravado with Virginia
Madsen in the stately role as Hippolyta?
Andrea Romano answers:
I needed a strong, somewhat mature female voice for Hippolyta and, as
the Amazon women are all stunning, I needed voices that also brought
that beauty into it. That made Virginia Madsen kind of a no-brainer.
She’s got that beautiful, husky quality to her voice that resonates
with strength and a little bit of maturity, and she’s got real
femininity to her voice that embodies the beauty. It was a great
marriage of actress and character.
Question:
Oliver Platt is another virtual rookie to voiceovers. What did he
bring to the role of Hades?
Andrea Romano answers:
For “Wonder Woman,” I hired more on-camera actors that I admire than
almost any other project that I’ve ever worked on. I have been an
enormous fan of Oliver Platt. I just think he is funny, touching,
talented, strong and sympathetic. When you listen to his voice,
there’s a real distinctive quality to it. He’s a great example of a
voice with character. And wait ’til you hear him as Hades – his voice
and the character match so brilliantly and the acting is spot on. He
was the absolute right guy for the voice.
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