Whatever the role, no matter the production, actors push aside their
Oscars, Emmys and Tonys to step behind the microphone and “play” with
Romano.
Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is the seventh entry in the
ongoing series of DC Universe animated original PG-13 movies, and each
has featured all-star casts with Romano at the reigns. From Neil
Patrick Harris, Brooke Shields and Alfred Molina to Virginia Madsen,
Nathan Fillion and Kyra Sedgwick (to name but a few), Romano’s casts
are packed with the faces normally reserved for lead roles in feature
films and primetime television series.
In addition to Harmon (NCIS) as Superman and Woods (Mississippi
Burning) as Owlman, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths features the
voices of Chris Noth (Law & Order, Sex and the City) as Lex Luthor,
William Baldwin (Dirty Sexy Money) as Batman, Gina Torres
(Firefly/Serenity) as Superwoman and Bruce Davison (X-Men) as
President Wilson.
Romano has been one of the driving forces in animation voiceovers for
more than a quarter century, amassing a list of credits that range
from dramatic (Batman: The Animated Series) to silly (Animaniacs) to
hip (The Boondocks) and timeless (Smurfs). The six-time Emmy Award
winner (and 20-time nominee) has not only set the standard by which
industry veterans measure the art, but she has become a household name
to animation fans across the globe, regularly drawing standing
ovations and endless applause during her annual Con appearances.
Warner Home Video will distribute the full-length animated Justice
League: Crisis on Two Earths on February 23 as a Special Edition
2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD,
and On Demand and Download.
Romano found time in her busier-than-you’d-ever-believe schedule to
discuss the cast of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The
questions are simple, but the answers are pure Andrea Romano. Take a
read …
QUESTION:
James Woods has quite the resume, including plenty of animation
experience. How is it that you had not worked with him until now?
ANDREA ROMANO:
I’ve been a huge fan of James Woods and wanted to work with him for
years. We actually had a Justice League production about five years
ago that we had him booked for, and then the plug got pulled on the
project. I’ve been waiting for something else for him ever since – and
then Owlman came along, a perfect role for him.
We had to record him long distance, and his performance was very, very
subtle – so much so that I was worried that it wasn’t going to play
when it came back with animation. But it was perfect. It was subtle
and nuanced and scary without being broad in any way, and it was
wonderful to see such a subtle performance work in a big action piece.
I can’t wait to meet him in person.
QUESTION:
On the flipside, the star of one of primetime’s top rated series –
Mark Harmon of NCIS – had never previously done animation. How did he
do?
ANDREA ROMANO:
I fell in love with Mark Harmon. I have admired his work for many
years, but he had not done this kind of work before, and so you always
run the risk of several different situations occurring when you bring
in someone who is new to animation. But Mark Harmon completely put
himself in my hands, and totally let me show him how this work is
done. I certainly didn’t have to teach him acting, but he was
completely agreeable to trying options, had ideas of his own, and had
complete trust in my process. So it was a terrific experience for both
of us. I think he’s a wonderful Superman. Although he’s older in years
than how we typically portray Superman, his voice with the model was
right on.
QUESTION:
Gina Torres is another Joss Whedon alum making an appearance in the
Timmverse. What made her right for Superwoman?
ANDREA ROMANO:
I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Gina over the years, and
she is as beautiful to work with as she is visually. What makes this
particular performance so great is that she plays a truly evil
character and, if you didn’t know her personally, you’d think that was
what she was like in real-life. She wore this role like a glove.
We recorded Gina separately from James Woods, and their characters are
love interests. Without the benefit of being in the same room, let
alone the same coast, Gina brought an energy that matched his
perfectly. She’s such an instinctual actress. And especially for
Superwoman, Gina really put herself into the role. She is sexy. She
doesn’t have to play sexy – she IS sexy.
One of the interesting things about Gina’s performance is that when
she first recorded, she had a cold and it manifested itself as kind of
deeper and textured. But when she came in for ADR, she was perfectly
healthy, and much more pure and clear – so we had to make a little bit
of an adjustment to make sure she didn’t sound too sweet.
QUESTION:
Did William Baldwin have any trouble mastering Batman?
ANDREA ROMANO:
I thought he did great – I love the texture of his voice. The
performance is spot-on. The only issue was that William hasn’t done a
lot of voiceover work in this genre. We do a lot of impact sounds that
come with this kind of an action piece, and being the method actor he
is, he insisted on actually striking his own body physically when he
had to do “umphs” and “ohs” and impacts. By the time he was done, he
must’ve been bruised. We were a little worried for him. When we
brought him back in for ADR, we asked him to please not hit himself,
and we showed him how to do those grunts and ughs In this film,
Batman wasn’t a big role, but it’s an important role, and I think
William really filled it well. Someday I’m going to get all the
Baldwins in the same room.
QUESTION:
Chris Noth is another animation novice. Did he enjoy his time as a
“good” Lex Luthor?
ANDREA ROMANO:
Chris Noth thought he was going to be playing the evil Lex, and I
think he was disappointed he didn’t get to play a villain. Still, he
came through and gave a really good performance. What was funny was
that at the end of the entire recording process, Chris was our
absolute last session of ADR – on a late Friday afternoon. To
celebrate, they brought in a tray of Cosmos, and our own Susan Chieco
had a very “Sex in the City” moment of walking a Cosmo in to Chris
Noth. He cheered up considerably at that point.
QUESTION:
How did you end up promoting Bruce Davison to President?
ANDREA ROMANO:
I met Bruce at a wedding about 20 years ago and have admired his
acting for so long anyway. It was another one of those perfect matches
of voice and character. We had this nice role of the President that
needed some gravitas to it and, at the same time, this particular
President was a bit of a coward. Bruce was able to give us both of
those aspects in just the right doses.
COME CHECK OUT OUR OTHER SITE OVER AT WWW.SCIFIMEDIAZONE.COM. JUST CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW.