We spoke with voice actor Mark Whitten about Demon Slayer and his career in voice acting. Mark is most well known for voicing Kyojuro Rengoku in Demon Slayer.
Actor Spotlight: Mark Whitten
Mark discussed how he eventually came to be a voice actor after trying his hand at many different fields in the entertainment business.
"I got into acting in high school, and I was singing as well. I liked a lot of artsy stuff. And despite liking a lot of math, the art won out and I started pursuing that as a career. I went to college for musical theater. I went to New York City for a while and I was pursuing musicals and things like that. I was working for Disney down in Orlando for a while, and then back to New York. And through all of this experience in the entertainment business, it was always in my mind that I wanted to do voice acting as well. I just didn’t know that I would be doing voice acting in such a big way."
Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer is a hit 2016 Shonen Jump series by Koyoharu Gotouge. The first season of the anime was released in 2019 by Ufotable and was an instant hit among viewers. After the success of the first season, the Mugen Train arc of the manga was developed into a movie entitled Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train. The Mugen Train movie went on to become the highest grossing film of 2020 and the highest grossing film of all time in Japan.
The Mugen Train arc focuses on the main characters–Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado, Inosuke Hashibara, and Zenitsu Agatsuma–on a mission to find the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku (voiced by Mark Whitten). Ultimately, Rengoku meets his tragic fate at the hands of the powerful demon, Akaza, in the emotional and heart wrenching climax of the story. However, Rengoku goes out in a blaze of glory, his final words providing invaluable inspiration to Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu.
“Go ahead and live with your head held high. If you are feeling disheartened, that you are somehow not enough, set your heart ablaze. Dry your eyes and look ahead. You may feel like digging your heels in, but the flow of time waits for no one. It won’t patiently stand by as you grieve.”
When asked about whether or not he anticipated Rengoku becoming such a beloved and inspirational character to fans, Mark shared that it was largely unexpected during the recording process.
"Once I got done with the film, even then I don’t think I realized how much of an impact it had. And then I got to see when the film released, how fans responded to it. And that’s really what all of this is about. It’s how we respond to these stories and these characters. [But] I still didn’t realize how cool it was until I started to go and meet people face to face. Because then I saw it in a way that I honestly could not have imagined at any point along the way doing it."
Mark Whitten is scheduled to be a special guest at this year’s Anime Las Vegas event. Anime Las Vegas is happening at The Expo at World Market Center on March 23-24, 2024. Tickets are on sale now!
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