Actor Joey Hood Interview

By: Chas C. Arkoff

For the last few years, Joey Hood has lent his considerable talents to ADV's Monster Island productions. Aside from his occasional roles as everyday heroes and angst-ridden teens, Joey spends much of his time acting in the extensive Austin, TX acting community. Starting with a role in Lost Universe, Joey has acted in an increasing number of productions, ranging from secondary characters in Soul Hunter, Samurai X - Reflection (Kenji), and Zone of the Enders (Wilson), to leads in some of ADV/Monster Island's hottest releases. He most recently was Akagi in Dai-Guard and is now playing the lead in Bandit King Jing. I caught up to Joey after a recording session and here's what he said:

Monster Island - How did you get your start as a Voice Actor?

Joey Hood - A Theatre friend of mine was doing some voice work at ADV Austin and gave me the number of Gary Lipkowitz, who was directing at the time. Gary had seen my work on stage and actually said that he preferred to use talent that was acquainted with theatre because they were used to projecting their voices. So he called me in.

M.I. - What was your first major voice acting job?

JH - First major role actually was Akagi in Dai-Guard.

M.I. - Has performing always been in your blood?

JH - No actually. I was really athletic when I was younger but I was painfully shy. So when I auditioned for my first play when I was 16 or so, my family was pretty shocked.

M.I. - What are your influences?

JH - In voice-acting I usually fall back on action movies because voice-acting is usually a bit bigger and exaggerated.

M.I. - When it comes to roles, what type of character do you like to play?

JH - I tend to play the hero roles, but I prefer the sidekick. He always gets the funny one-liners.

M.I. - What do you do to prep for a role?

JH - Well, with regard to voice roles, I just try to take care of my voice. Especially in the days before a recording session. There really isn't a lot of preparation you can do.

M.I. - What's the most challenging thing about to voicing an anime character?

JH - For me it's the shouting. Most of this stuff is high in action content, so all the battle cries and screams really start to tatter the voice.

M.I. - When working on a role, such as Bandit King Jing, do you feel its better to be fully aware of where the character is going, or be exposed to things as they happen?

JH - I don't really have a preference. But sometimes its good to sort of take it as it comes. Some of the best takes are the ones that come out of spontaneity.

M.I. - Being mostly a solo process, how do you work around not always having the other performers' recordings to play against?

JH - It can be difficult at times, but really you just have to try to match the performance with the tone of the scene, and then everyone else comes in and reacts to you. So in some ways it can be easier.

M.I. - Outside of acting, what else are you involved in?

JH - I try to stay active because otherwise I can stagnate, so I love sports. I always keep a basketball or football or something like that in the car, just in case I find a willing partner to throw with.

M.I. - What words of wisdom would you pass on to aspiring voice actors?

JH - Learn to use your voice properly or you can do permanent vocal damage. It took a long time to learn how to support my voice with my diaphragm. And its like any other muscle, it needs to be exercised in order for it to develop.

M.I. - Thanks Joey! Until next time!

Posted on Wednesday, April 07, 2004 (Archive on Friday, May 07, 2004)