We spoke with voice actor Brian Beacock about his voice acting career as well as the hit anime, Bungo Stray Dogs. Brian voices characters such as Akutagawa (Bungo Stray Dogs), Takato (Digimon), and Yumichika (Bleach).
Brian Beacock
Brian Beacock became a voice actor after moving to LA to pursue his dream of being a television and movie star. During his time in a production of Beetlejuice, he met Mary Elizabeth McGlynn and Daran Norris. Years later, they saw Brian in a one-man show where he played 38 different people! Brian said:
"Mary came and saw me in that show and said, 'Hey, you obviously can do voices. There's a show I want you to audition for, and I think you're right for it.' [...] So, I auditioned for it. And that show was season 3 of Digimon. Digimon Tamers. So, I had no idea. I didn't know anything about anime. I didn't know anything about dubbing."
Brian went on to say, “Digimon started, and from that, it was a complete snowballing affect of my career. Everything was because of Digimon.”
Bungo Stray Dogs
Now, we know Brian Beacock as the voice of many beloved characters in anime. One of those is Akutagawa in Bungo Stray Dogs. Bungo Stray Dogs is a supernatural anime and manga by Kafka Asigiri that follows groups of people with special abilities who are fighting to keep Yokohama safe. Each character in the series is named after famous authors.
Akutagawa’s character is named after the Japanese author, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, who wrote Rashomon.
Season 1 of Bungo Stray Dogs began in 2016. Audiences meet Akutagawa in episode two titled, “A Certain Bomb.” We asked Brian how he felt when he auditioned and was cast in the series. He said:
"I remember the first session, and I remember the first scene with Akutagawa. And I thought, 'Wow!' I mean, the last guy that I had played who was tough, obviously, was Yumichika from Bleach. Right? Akutagawa was a different bird. He was just completely different. Cold and cool and calm and in control and still sarcastic and dry."
Brian Beacock as Akutagawa
When we first meet Akutagawa in the series, the audience is led to believe that he is a villain. And rightfully so, as his goal is to capture the main character, Atsushi Nakajima. However, as the series progresses, we see Akutagawa as more than just the bad guy who’s out to get the good guy. Bungo Stray Dogs, as a whole, is a complex series, where the characters and events that occur are so much more than black or white, right or wrong, good or bad.
We asked Brian what he thought of Akutagawa’s character growth throughout the series. He said:
"I think it's definitely maturing. And I think there's a level of acceptance. It's like the stages of grief. You know? Denial, acceptance, whatever. I think he begrudgingly is working with Atsushi - excuse me, Weretiger - But I think it's kind of like that, 'Oh, I don't want to be friends with my ex,' or, 'This person spoke ill of me. I'll never talk to them again...okay, maybe I will.' It's a little bit of that kind of, like, acquiescing and learning to deal with things."
There is also a spin-off series called Bungo Stray Dogs: WAN! where the characters are drawn as chibis. In this series, audiences see more of a “day in the life of” of their favorite characters. We asked Brian if he enjoyed recording Akutagawa in a more light-hearted way.
Brian said:
"It was a blast! But it was so hard because they didn't really want us to pitch the voices up that much or make them kid-like. There was a couple times, I think, when they showed them in school or flashbacks or whatever. But for the most part, they wanted the regular voices...but I loved it."
Be sure to check out Brian Beacock’s impressive list of shows, including Bleach, Bungo Stray Dogs, Blue Exorcist, Digimon, Danganronpa, and so much more.
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