Dragon Ball’s Sean Schemmel - Goku
Anime fans arrived at Anime Las Vegas filled with excitement to watch anime icon Sean Schemmel report on their favorite character, Goku, the Super Saiyan who just keeps evolving. Sean’s appearance and discussion about Goku were an opportunity to bring the Saiyan fighter to life through the art of voice acting.
In the recent interview, fans had the unique opportunity to sit down and listen to Sean Schemmel, who voices Goku in the hit series Dragon Ball. He chatted about his role, the voice acting process, and what it’s like to bring such an iconic character to life. He also gave his perspective on his vision for Goku.
Panel: Sean Schemmel
Sean Schemmel is welcomed to the stage and looks excited to jump into the questions. He remarks that he cannot wait to get back in the booth and is excited about everything that will be discussed. Sean reminds the crowd and the few who raised their hands, saying they did not know who he was, who he is – voice actor of the main character in Dragon Ball for 27 years, Goku.
Sean also notes that he voices King Kai and Neil. He elaborates on his voice work, mentioning Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh GX!, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, Ninja Turtles and even Pokémon. Sean admits that he has played a lot of voices on Pokémon, including Dracovish, who was the last Pokémon Ash used before he retired.
Classical Actor
Sean explains that he was a former classical musician, saying that once you’re a classical musician, you’re always one. Well, yeah, I still play. Sean continues the conversation about remaking classical music. He was looking up the difference between a nyckelharpa and a violin, and what kind of violins, while in the bathroom earlier. I was like, ” Which kind of violin? I mean, I went to music school, but I forgot.”
He went on to share that he is really into period-accurate instruments while playing music that was written for the specific instrument and time period, versus using a modern instrument. Sean then pauses and notes that this will turn into a really boring conversation really fast if he continues down to the musical instrument history lecture.
First Day
Sean dives into his first day of recording for Dragon Ball. He remarks that he barely remembers it. He remembers going to work, walking down the hallway, and seeing a lot of art from Dragon Ball and anime from Dragon Ball – still frames of Goku – not realizing he was the main character on the show.
Sean explains being really focused on just doing it right and focusing on the process. It was his first job ever. He was focused on just being committed and awesome as he could be to the character. Sean explains he just embodied this character. He also noted seeking as many help and resources as he could get from the source material.
Sean explained that they did not have raw Japanese scripts; it was the Americanized version. Sean remarks that he did not like the Americanization of anime, so he asked for Japanese scripts in the booth so that he could continue to make Goku more like how he wanted him to be. Including editing Goku in the open universe speech to be closer to the Japanese, because Goku is not an egotistic, narcissistic character. Sean wanted to preserve and protect Goku’s character.
Sean explains that there were several incidents where he would catch the writers writing for Goku incorrectly, meaning that Goku does not want to win for ego riots or for boasting. Goku is all about being the strongest. Usually, Sean says, “He’ll kick a bad guy’s [**] and go, and let’s be friends and do it again.” Sean notes he tries to take ownership of the character from the perspective of being an artist who’s trying to play the character correctly. That has been his main focus for 27 years.
Advice: Musician to Actor
Sean Schemmel goes on to explain that his focus comes from being a former classical musician, saying that the more passionate you are about making music, the more passionate you are about performing. Schemmel is then asked to recommend an instrument for someone to pick up that might help train them to be as good as him someday. Schemmel says to pick one and blow hard. It was genuine advice with a pun.
Schemmel suggests even simply singing. He explains that when he was casting in New York, he found that musical theater people, instrumentalists, singers, and musicians auditioned better than regular theater actors. Regular theater actors tend to struggle with fitting into the flaps, stilling correctly, and maintaining timing and rhythm. He says musical theater people do very well, as musical theater is a very heightened form of acting, and anime is heightened emotions.
Schemmel suggests using your breathing apparatus. Schemmel breaks down his screams, explaining that throwing huge amounts of air is most important, emphasizing diaphragmatic muscles to fill the lungs. So, he is always taking in as much air as possible and then throwing it out as hard as he can, stressing he has only passed out once during Super Saiyan 4, which he did originally on GT and then one to three times on Dragon Ball Daima because the Super Saiyan 4 voice is lower. Breaking down the process of his vocal cords saying that as his are wider and he loses more air per second, and is not used to doing Super Saiyan 4 all the time.
Auditioning
Sean Schemmel was then asked if he had ever re-auditioned for his parts in Dragon Ball. He explains that no, he didn’t, he just asked to read for the part and was given it. This was for Goku, Nail and King Kai.
Sean is then crowned the American definitive Goku. Fans applaud and whistle at this coronation. However, Sean downplays it and says he doesn’t know about that. He explains his reverence for Masako Nozawa, the Japanese voice actress for Goku, and his high respect for her. Sean notes that he respects her as a feminist rather than a voice actor. Sean explains that as a Japanese woman in her 80s, she has broken past sexism and misogyny, which is a profound thing.
Nozawa had the nerve to call up and request her part as Goku, which is not something you do in Japan at all. He says while this is problematic for a woman in America, Nozawa just showed up and said, “I want to re-audition. I want to keep the part,” and the producers let her. She played kid Goku and won the part of adult Goku. Sean explains she is remarkable to him as a person, outside of her incredible performances, saying she might be the only woman in voice acting history to have ever done that.
He goes on to say he was telling one of the other actors that he met Nozawa on two occasions, and while not a spiritual guy per se, that when she channels the Goku voice, you just feel this bubble of energy. He continues to praise Nozawa as a remarkable human being. He says he loves her work and is highly impressed by her ability to do those kinds of screams, still expanding, saying he will not be able to scream like that in his 70s, probably. Sean finalizes that he can’t imagine anybody else playing that character.
DBZ Alternative:
When asked if he could choose to play a different character in Dragon Ball, who would he pick? Sean says he would love to play Vegeta because Chris gets all the good lines. Sean says Goku is kind of a Boy Scout, Vegeta is snarky, and Goku isn’t. That’s why he loves playing Goku Black because he gets all the juicy bits that are mean.
Sean says the trick about playing Goku is understanding Goku is a metaphorical embodiment of him, of the beginner’s mind and the child mind, always keeping that innocence. Sean theorizes it’s because Goku got punked on the head when he was a kid, so he is playing a character that doesn’t emotionally evolve or change, only ever evolves as a fighter. Whereas Vegeta, Piccolo and other characters on the show are evolving and growing and changing, which is why he’s been playing Captain Celebrity on a My Hero Academia Vigilantes.
It is a character that is really fun to contrast with Goku because he has a story arc where he’s like a narcissistic a-ball, and then he’s slowly becoming humble, growing and changing, and committing more to his wife and kids. Sean declares it is an interesting story arc concept that fits more with what we do as humans. Sean admits it’s a difficult thing to do for 27 years as an actor to keep a character like Goku fresh.
Monkey King
The panel host brings up that Sean Schemmel also plays the Monkey King. Schemmel answers yes, noting many similarities between the mythologies of Goku and the Monkey King. Schemmel goes on to explain that the director really wanted him on the show, despite his having auditioned twice. Schemmel has been with Goku for 20-some odd years at the time and was born in the year of the monkey. Schemmel shares that his nickname as a little kid was monkey boy. His grandmother used to joke about his tail being ripped off when he was a boy, telling him this to him in the 70s. Schemmel also shares that he is not a super spiritual guy, but there are some odd coincidences that, in his opinion, are a bit shocking. He describes his approach as a weird, metaphysical thing to be playing this archetype for so long, being considered a Monkey King in real life.
Stand-Out Stories
Sean does a lot of conventions, meeting around 10,000 people. The host asks if there is any story that has stood out to Sean. Sean answers that not a specific fan or any particular story, but rather the sentiment. Sean’s answer is that, as an actor, not ever taking too much credit for it, but the stories he likes are the ones where his work affects somebody enough to stop killing themselves or stop bullying.
Sean remembers a specific story of one kid who thought he was Vegito and survived being attacked by thousands of bees. Sean explains he is deadly allergic to bees. This story hit close to home for him, sharing that if he gets stung by one bee, he can die. So, this kid, who thought he was Vegito and survived because the show put so much passion into it, the kid felt the intense passion thinking he could do it – he could be Vegito. Those stories of when someone cries and hugs Sean and says, “I got through this,” remind him that he couldn’t have spent his life doing something better. That is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. That’s the best feeling on earth to get as an actor. It’s the reason he does what he does. So, thank you all – from Sean.
Making a Difference
Sean Schemmel says this is what lifts his spirits when he gets depressed. Sean shares that he is a big believer in mental health and will openly talk about it all the time. He spent 25 years in therapy, doing a lot of different modalities, even consulting people who were suicidal. Sean has talked to kids who are dying in the hospital.
Sometime last year, he was revisiting some sick kids in the hospital who were dying in the hospital. He thought about how they don’t have a beautiful world they can go back into if they beat their cancer, if they survive, if they live. Sean felt depressed for these kids, thinking about how society can make it better. How can society fix this world for these kids? How does society bring kindness into the world when it’s so ugly out there?
He finally realized that the main thing to do is to put your phone down. Sean emphasizes that what needs to happen is that we need to go outside and interact with people. Go outside, feel the sun and go talk to somebody who may be different from us. He reflects on a lot of life and says, “We’ve got to make it better.” Sean continues to share that one of his oldest and closest friends just died recently, making him realize that time is short, but it’s important to find a way to connect with someone else.
Different Characters
Sean Schemmel notes he has done over 100 different characters in the last 25 years or so, noting he has obscure roles. Someone came up to him with serious admiration for his work on Ninja Nonsense, where he played Onsokumaru. Sean appreciated the fan’s enthusiasm for this character, noting that he based that character on Anchorman because Onsokumaru is like a perverted ball who does dirty humor. Sean goes on to explain that he has done some really obscure work, like Gonard in Kappa Mikey. He says he enjoys all his characters. Sean even credited his work on Pokémon, including as Dracovish, as an honor, saying that Pokémon “really broke the doors open for anime to go mainstream in the U.S”.
Childhood Advice
Sean is then asked if he can go back to talk to a 10-year-old version of himself and give himself a piece of advice. What would that be? He suggests jokingly that it would be a list of women that he should not have dated or married first of all, admitting that they could say the same thing about him, and it’s a two-way street. But Sean answers honestly, saying, “George Lucas is going to ruin Star Wars for you. So, enjoy it while you can right now.” When he was 10 years old, Star Wars came out, and he saw it in the theater.
He thought it was the greatest thing he’d ever seen in his life; it became a spiritual thing. Sean’s dad’s a Lutheran minister, so when Obi-Wan Kenobi was talking about the force, Sean was able to connect to that experience of life more than what he had heard in church. This understanding and connection led to Sean becoming a Buddhist, relating the force in Star Wars to Eastern philosophy.
Shoots First
Schemmel also calls out Lucas, emphasizing the importance of Han shot first. Han shot first is critical, Schemmel explains, stating that he shoots first because he’s a scoundrel, and that makes his redemption more powerful when he shows up and helps Luke at the end. This is something I agree with Schemmel on, the arc of a character’s path to redemption. Schemmel further highlights that Han’s redemption story is powerful, saying that Han not shooting first waters down his story and character, and that’s a problem.
Schemmel goes on to share that as a little boy, he remembers watching Harrison Ford and Princess Leia going, “You’re a scoundrel. You’re a piece of junk.” And he’s thinking, “Seems like an awesome guy to me. What’s the problem?” Because Harrison Ford is so good-looking and so charming and so fun, Schemmel explains. He remembers being a kid, thinking, “I don’t understand why this guy’s a scoundrel. I love this guy. Which is why it’s important that he does awful [****] so that when he has his redemption at the end, it’s more powerful.”
Sean Schemmel further questions George Lucas, noting the replacement of old man Anakin with the young Anakin as a ghost. Schemmel shares he hasn’t watched any of the Star Wars and dislikes Luke’s ending. Schemmel has his own idea for Luke’s ending, for him to show up with three lightsabers, one he holds with his hand and the other two he controls with his mind. Luke is matched with the force, not teleporting there. He is a master of the force. He is a [******], Luke. But Yoda’s scene, Schemmel considers great, even something he wants King Kai to have. Explaining that when Yoda got to he got to fight, finally, everyone saw his true power.
Superman Vs. Goku?
The final question is the question of questions. If Goku and Superman were to fight, who would win? Sean shares that he actually spent decades analyzing this both metaphysically and psychologically. And that is if Goku and Superman were going to have a duel, there are two modalities. Sean highlights that Goku likes fighting the strongest, no matter what. He also notes that Superman is only vulnerable to magic and kryptonite according to lore. Sean then shares that he saw a physicist to explain that Goku’s energy blast might be plasma energy, which is actually possible.
Sean believes there are two scenarios where Goku would fight Superman, in his opinion. One is where Goku thinks he’s really strong. In that scenario, he’d go, “Hey, Superman, you want to go up and charge yourself up in the sun and fight?” “Yeah, you’re the strongest.” This would be just a friendly duel, and Goku would try to beat Superman. Goku would be Goku. He would power up and do all this stuff, and he would want to fight Superman at his strongest.
The other scenario is an evil version of Superman. Superman has been poisoned by kryptonite, or Superman is doing something to one of Goku’s friends. Goku actually beats him, and he’s like, “Look, if you mess with my friends, I’ll kill you.” Sean emphasizes that this is what Goku has done before. Sean suggests that Goku will instant-transmit Superman to another planet far away without a yellow sun and then come back and leave him there. That is how Goku wins. Sean says Goku is like, “Oh, we’re a billion light-years away. No yellow sun. Go f yourself.” And that’s it. That’s how he beats him.
Hand-to-Hand Superman Vs. Goku?
Now, in a hand-to-hand fight, Sean says that is the real question. Goku’s also a god when he’s in god mode. So, he asks whether the god punches have an effect on Superman? There’s some canon, you know, physics that would have to be figured out between the Superman universe and the Goku Dragon Ball universe. The crowd cheers.
Everyone you heard from Goku himself, Goku would win.
Closing
The conversations of Sean Schemmel reached into the core of the man behind Goku and into his own personal character. Touching on what makes Sean Schemmel, Sean. Going into the process and the purpose of how the voice actor channels the Saiyan and beyond. Sean provided a glimpse into his ability to bring energy, emotion, and depth to the character that is a staple in anime culture, an icon, showcasing his versatile talent and passion for the craft. Thank you to Sean Schemmel for taking part in the panel and for being a part of the celebration of Goku.
Anime fans and newcomers, be sure to check out the Dragon Ball series or rewatch the beloved series that continues to capture hearts on Crunchyroll.
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