What do Mrs. Doubtfire, The Simpsons and Anime Expo all have in common? They all were a catalyst for Landon McDonald to become an anime voice actor.
During a Kaiju No. 8 panel at SacAnime Summer this past weekend, he talked about his experience with breaking into the dubbing industry.
Inspirations
McDonald was originally inspired by Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, as Williams started out as a dub actor; his most famous role being Genie in Aladdin. McDonald later watched the 1994 American talk show Inside the Actor’s Studio, which his parents left on the TV. He was amazed by the talent of a small number of people creating this popular animated cartoon.
“[Inside the Actor’s Studio] was interviewing the cast of The Simpsons, and I figured there was going to be the whole town of voice actors. You know, Springfield’s a big place. No, it’s five or six people, but they can all do dozens of different voices,” McDonald said. “That blew my mind as a six-year-old. But even back then, I was like, oh, it would be fun.”
Getting into Dubbing
It wasn’t until McDonald was in college pursuing a master’s degree in Public Relations and Marketing that he really considered dubbing to be a viable career. One night when McDonald was free, he discovered that Richard Horvitz (Zim, Invader Zim; Billy, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy) was teaching a workshop on McDonald’s college campus. Being a fan of Horvitz’s work and curious about the other actors, McDonald dropped in.
“I went in and took this class and about 25 minutes in, I was like ‘oh wait wait wait;’ if there’s a way to do this full-time, I really want to try,” McDonald said. “I want to go for it, and Richard thankfully encouraged me.”
Other anime voice actors taking the class had encouraged McDonald to check out Bang Zoom Studios down the street, where a lot of anime dubbing takes place. McDonald took additional acting classes from voice acting legend Tony Oliver (Minato Namikaze, Naruto) and tried out for the Anime Expo open auditions six months later. He was the male winner in 2015, and his first credit is in the tearjerker anime Your Lie In April.
Now, McDonald has landed a number of roles, including the dream demon Enmu from Demon Slayer: Mugen Train, the highest-grossing anime movie of all time. He also plays Detective Ranpo Edogawa in Bungo Stray Dogs, Vice Captain of the Third Division Soshiro Hoshina in Kaiju No. 8 and many more.
McDonald attributes Horvitz’s class and encouragement as the reason why McDonald is where he is now.
“I have Richard to thank for that. And now, this weekend, I’m sitting right next to him [at the signing tables], so it’s very surreal.”
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