Fans of animation and video games have likely come across voice actor Robbie Daymond’s work numerous times. The Warrenton native has performed as nearly 1,000 unique characters from shows across the world including Marvel’s Spider-Man, Eighth Brother from “Star Wars Rebels,” Tuxedo Mask from “Sailor Moon” and Megumi Fushiguro from “Jujutsu Kaisen.”
Daymond began acting at a young age. He was cast in his first professional stage play at just 10 years old and continued his education in theater starting at Lindenwood University. He later graduated from University of Nevada-Las Vegas. Daymond would eventually move to Los Angeles, spending the next seven years working on commercials and cartoons. Then he decided to give Japanese anime a try by performing the English voiceover, or “dub,” for foreign audiences.
“I went to a show called Anime Expo, it's a big convention in Los Angeles, in 2013. It was 50,000 people at the time. For perspective, now it's about 130,000 who attend that show. I was really looking around going, ‘Wow, there's really a potential for a mainstream appeal here. I feel like this would be a good thing for me to pursue,’” Daymond told St. Louis on the Air. “[My] very first audition was Tuxedo Mask in ‘Sailor Moon.’ We were rebooting the show and then redubbing the original in all the films. The very next year, I was on the main stage at Anime Expo being introduced as Tuxedo Mask.”
Anime fans have long debated the quality of English dubs of anime online. The issue comes from translating Japanese idioms to English and keeping the original tone and humor for Western audiences. Over the years, English-speaking viewers have noted an improvement in writing and performance — and Daymond is committed to getting more anime viewers to give English dubs a chance.
“There's a handful of us [voice actors] whose mission is to squash the dub haters,” he said. “I want to see a discourse online where an OG ‘subs never dubs’ person comes in and is like, ‘Boo! You watch in English?’ And then watch them get mobbed by people who actually watch in English and go, ‘I like this performance better,' or 'I think it's equal but different.’”
Daymond attributes the improvement of English dubs to the ongoing rise of anime’s popularity — and fans becoming professional actors.
“I think there are a lot of [actors] out here now where maybe 25 years ago it was just a job. [We] are going in with a level of passion and love for the medium that translates into quote, unquote, more consistent performances.”
Along with his training and experience acting on stage and on screen, Daymond said that traveling and meeting with fans across the country at conferences helps him become a better voice actor, producer and writer. He’s utilized what he’s learned from his public appearances in creating his own video game called “Date Everything.”
“In this game there are 100 different characters all with different voice actors. It's 1.6 million words, 700,000 voice cues. It's a massive game. We ran into this thing where we're like, ‘How do we make 100 different characters in the writing process?’ And the answer was hiring 30 writers but also making sure that themes and tropes and archetypes didn't overlap,” he said. “And guess what? It wasn't that hard, because people are people. So if you get stuck in this place where you're just trying to play a type, I think you're always going to find that playing a person is going to serve you better for both the audience and you as an actor in your creative process.”
For more with Robbie Daymond including a fun game of “Do The Voice,” in which he shares how he came up with some of his many voices and his experience as a cast member of the web series "Critical Role," listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Meet and Greet with Robbie Daymond
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan 11
Where: The Wizard’s Wagon (6178 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63112)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
