Interview with Patrick Seitz, Voice Actor
How did you get started in the voice acting business?
P: It was a combination of the skills, the means and dumb luck. My mom would take me to plays and musicals at the schools she taught at. I decided to try out—it wasn’t like I wanted to act, it was more of a “Oh, I’ve always seen them, I guess I should be in them too” I got the acting bug. I started taking classes and did some musicals and street theatre. Then in college I thought I could do this for a living. How practical, huh? So I rushed through college and finished as fast as I could—two and a half maybe three years.
I was I like I’m going to go to LA-because I lived near LA and I thought that you just show up and they hand you a script and were like “Oh thank God you’re here!” The lady I was taking acting lessons with told me to consider voice acting because she thought I had an interesting voice. Especially back then, since I was eighteen and 150lbs and I’d be like “Hey guys, what’s up?” and they’d say where is that coming from? This isn’t right!
So I took some voice acting classes (a lot of classes) actually and made a demo. Then one time in the trade magazine out there–the magazine is for people who don’t have that (an agent) so there is a general air of desperation–there was an audition for an animated project, which was rare because usually it’s for musicals or theatrical pieces. So I sent in a demo and went in and read but didn’t hear anything back and I thought, “Okay, that’s cool at least I got to audition.” A month later they called back and said that I was the first one they heard and then they heard all these other folks and we want you to be it. That was only the second or third project that company had done-they were new to the dubbing business. I just had the good fortune to get in with them on the ground floor and then as they kept getting shows I got jobs until I met other actors and they got me in with other companies and there was this lateral spread. But the first year I did one project, the second year two, the third year four…there was this exponential build of work but in the meantime I was working crappy jobs at night to keep my days open for projects and auditions I didnt know how to get because I’m a total noob. I went back to my high school to teach and was still doing voice over work and then I would go once or twice a year when I got the call. I would leave as soon as the bell rang, run out to the parking lot and drive to LA, record for a couple of hours, drive home and do it again. Eventually, I was like I’m going to go to grad school, got my MFA in screenwriting and after one of my buddies asked if I want to direct an episode of something just to try me out. He asked if I wanted to adapt and direct a 24 episode series. It was actually the show Girls Bravo. Funimation just brought it back actually.
I feel bad because people come to me all the time asking how they can get into voice acting and I feel bad because I fell into it by accident. I feel like if I had really wanted it and struggled with it, I wouldn’t have been as successful as I have been just by falling into it. Once I followed the current, everything fell into place. If you put all your energy into the wrong thing, then it’s going to be the wrong thing no matter what.
What was your first project that you worked on?
P: My first project was this show called Amazing Nurse Nonako. It was about this doctor who has this crazy nurse with huge breasts whose a klutz and he’s always making her do training for reasons we don’t know and we find out that she’s a clone and the Vatican is trying to clone Jesus from alien DNA and that he was an alien. It was a very odd show. It only had six episodes and episodes three and four had nothing to with the plot. My girlfriend put it on and I hadn’t seen it since it first came out and I was like wow…that was definitely my first time doing this! I’m glad that was not my last time doing this!
What was your favorite project to work on?
P: That is tough….really tough…
You can pick one in the voice acting section and the directing section…
P: Even that is tough! Jeez…uhm…Girls Bravo will always be the first thing I adapted and direction. Putting that aside, directing Monster was just so good—cause it was just such a good show. Uhm, and on the script adapting Romeo X Juliet because we got free license to put as many Shakespeare quotes and references in as we wanted and I kind went…insane. People kept asking me, “What? What? What is this? What have you done?” I went a little too far on that but whatever. On the acting side, that’s tough….its Koshero from Koi Kazane and Grimer from Monster. He was fun too.
You’ve worked on Hetalia, what was your favorite character from that show?
P: Again with the tough questions! I don’t have a favorite character so much as a favorite moment from the show (of the stuff I’ve seen so far). I haven’t seen everything we’ve done so far because every copy Funimation comes out with gets sold—which is awesome I have no problem with that. They just can’t keep a copy in their hands. There’s a moment when Italy’s brother shows up and he’s introducing him to Germany and I just went, “Oh my God.” There are so many great moments like that throughout the show. Everyone is funny in that show and people love it! I had no idea! I mean…I knew…but I didn’t know know until I started going to conventions and it’s wall to wall Hetalia…its’ insane!
Why do you think it’s so popular? Is it you guys? Is it the characters or the lack of storyline?
P: I mean I hope people like the dub, I know that Hetalia had a strong following even before the dub so I’m not going to say that it’s my performance as Germany that is really what did it. I mean…I just don’t know…I think it’s the fact they are short episodes, its not storyline specific so people don’t have to invest this huge amount of time. It’s not a full time job to watch the show. I still don’t understand where people get these Yaoi references. It’s not like I’m going “LALALLALAL I don’t want to here it” it’s that I’m watching the show and going “ Okay, Germany and Italy are in bed, but Germany hates Italy…” I just don’t see these moments that everyone is loosing their minds about.
Do you expect Hetalia to get bigger and then burst?
P: Oh yea, eventually. I mean, there is always going to be the newest thing and people are going to be OMG I’m all Hetalia-ed out, I’ve watched it all, seen it all, seen all the costumes at conventions, I’ve read all the fan-fiction I can handle. It’ll happen eventually but with the everything coming out and the movie…I don’t think it will happen anytime soon.
Is there anything you can tell us about the movie coming out?
P: uh….I hear it’s about aliens….I can’t wait to seee what the Hetalia gang does with aliens and I hear it’s feature length. It’ll be interesting since it’ll be practically a whole seasons worth of episodes in material.
How long do you guys spend recording the material?
P: A long time. In LA we’re not used to do long days of recording so when they book me for eight to ten hours of recording, I’m like “Alright!”. Also because they want to get it done as quickly as possible. In LA, they’ll do maybe four hours of recording then go off and do something else. You just have to man up and take it. It’s this weird all or nothing moment. It’s Hetallliiiaaa and then home.
What’s the most difficult part of voice acting?
P: If you have a good script, matching your voice isn’t as hard as it could be. It depends on the show, some shows, it’s the fact you are yelling all the time. With that show (Hetalia) it’s moving quickly. I’m always worried that between the accent and the speed, people won’t hear the joke or the punch line. But they seem too. Anything with accent it’s always about keeping it legit…or at least make it consistent with where you started. Doing accents is a whole new level. Like, Hugh Laurie on House, and he’s dead on with accent and I just can’t believe that. I have had a couple of German fans write in and give me a thumbs up. People have been really nice!
How has voice acting lessons helped with actual voice acting?
P: I came from a theatre background. It definitely helps. The voice acting classes are mostly about doing all of that and having a microphone in front of you. Like, how not to pop, or blow too much air, and how to get really loud and how to play off the mic. A lot of it is technique, and booth etiquette or watching the screen if you are doing ADR and timing. It’s just when you go into the booth it’s not an alien experience.
How do you feel about the speed of shows coming over? A lot of people have been complaining that Funimation is taking too long to get shows over and that they are dropping shows in the middle of seasons (in Japan) or not completing a season.
P: I’m not really privy to the business side of things but from what I can understand, the studios want to bring stuff over. If they are taking their sweet time on something or stopping completely it’s because of negotiations with Japan or just getting stuff from Japan. We’re always rearing to go and sometimes it’s tough to get the ball rolling.
By Ayden Gotzmer
Edited by E. Ortiz
