The most recent Call of Duty title, Black Ops: Cold War Zombies, is fresh on the market since its release last week. Bringing the main series to over two dozen titles, Treyarch continues to deliver for fans of first-person shooters.
Our friend Julie Nathanson (Avengers Assemble, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay) reached out to us to exclusively share her experience voicing Samantha Maxis in the newest title with us here at Comic Book Movie and the Inner Child Podcast. She has been playing the character for ten years since Samantha was a little girl, and now Nathanson has been brought back as a more major adult role.
Julie has had a long and impressive career in voice acting all the way back with shows like Johnny Bravo and Powerpuff Girls. In recent years she has been heard in popular projects such as Guild Wars 2, Bugsnax, and Digital Sky's Ride Share, in addition to her comic book-related roles as Yelena Belova in Marvel's Avengers Assemble and Silver Banshee in DC's Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.
Click the podcast player to hear our full conversation with Julie. Voice acting fanatics can also get their fix with our Clifford Chapin, Justin Briner (My Hero Academia), and Robbie Daymond (Marvel's Spider-Man, Sailor Moon) chats embedded along with the written transcript below!
Darth Lexii:
What can you tell us about your role in Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War?
Julie Nathanson:
It's a trip. I started voicing Samantha Maxis as a little girl ten years ago, and I've only ever voiced her as a little girl. In Black Ops: Cold War Zombies, she's not only an adult, but she is also a significant character, and she has more perspective on what's going on. It's a wild experience, and it was such a hard secret to keep. This was a big deal. I've lived with Samantha Maxis as a little girl for so long, and the idea of getting to portray her as a grown-up was very emotional for me, and it's been an incredible experience.
We had finished Black Ops 4, and the story had been tied up, and that was it. Then, I was told by my agent that I had a booking session to go to the studio, and it was for Samantha Maxis. That's cool. I didn't know this was going to happen. Even though it's voiceover, I am the kind of person who tends to dress to reflect the character. I've only occasionally gone, full or semi-full cosplay for an audition.
I put on a dress like I always wore when I recorded for Samantha Maxis as a little girl. I wore a dress, and I happened to wear very tall combat boots, which came in handy. I came to the session, and they said, "We have something to tell you. You're not playing her as a little girl anymore. She's a grown woman."
I had to sit down because I was blown away. I was touched; I was honored that they would not only respect the continuity of the character and let me continue to play her but that they would trust me with her as an adult. This session, we weren't doing stuff that I think ended up directly in the game. It was more like playing around with the character and finding her. It was this incredible collaborative process, which has been my experience along the way with Treyarch.
In general, the whole experience working on this project in the franchise and specifically with this particular game, the feeling of being considered and knowing that my experience portraying her would matter to them. I was let in on just enough to create what needed to be created, but I haven't wanted to know much more.
So on the collaborative side of things, feeling like there was not only room for me to play, but that there was a request for all of us together to discover something was pretty amazing. I feel like art in itself, even if there is a singular artist creating something in their little silo. Once it's presented to others, it becomes collaborative because art is interpretive. When you create something that affects somebody else, by nature, you have collaborated.
The more you think about your audience or what your art recipients might experience, the more you tap into and empathize with and then find ways to connect with those people. I feel like the more collaborative experiences I have as a voice actor, the better the work will be for everyone. This was exceptional.
Lexii mentioned that she was afraid of the little girl version of Samantha, and she scared me as well. I'm not going to lie to you. There were times I freaked myself out, and that is true. It's a trip. In that process, I only see my stuff. I'm not reading the entire arc of the script. I would sort of see these moments and create Samantha's world and make it real for me. Sometimes, I would not truly understand how it would fit because it wasn't my job to figure it out if that makes sense. It was my job just to be her. She still freaked me out, though.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies is available now.