J.S Gilbert is a pioneering talent and one of videogame’s original ‘go to’ voice actors. With hundreds of game credits to his name and over 25 years of experience under his belt, J.S is one of the industry’s true talents. TGL recently caught up with J.S to speak about his career, how tough it is for voice actors to get the credit and recognition they deserve and what it’s been like hooking up with David Jaffe once again to reprise the role of Sweet Tooth in this year’s highly anticipated Twisted Metal return.

Here we go………..

TGL: Hi J.S. You’re very welcome to TGL. Could you tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from and for how many years you’ve worked as a voice actor?

J.S: I was raised by my mother and was also handed off to various relatives throughout the east coast of the United States from about the age of 8 until I was almost 17. This included several stints in New York State, including New York City, as well as Pennsylvania, Florida, and Toronto, Canada. I also travelled quite a bit abroad when I was a child, accompanying an uncle on business trips. I think this was where I both acquired an ear for different accents, as well as a love for different cultures and the food and traditions of different cultures.

I moved to Northern California in 1978 and have made my home here since.

There were a few opportunities for me to get into voice over, but I was fearful of not being able to make a living. When I did start doing voice over, I pretty much fell into it and did my first paid voiceover in 1980 or 1981. I transitioned into doing voiceover slowly. My actual career didn’t start until several years later, when I made a voice demo.

TGL: Did you always aspire to take up a career in voice acting?

J.S: I was a bit of a class clown growing up. I was a relatively small child, who went through a growth spurt when I was 15/16. The humor and acting helped keep me from getting bullied and also broke the ice as I was often in a new school or new surroundings. I started doing improvisational acting when I was in my twenties and soon after I tried my hand at stand up. I also took some acting classes and appeared in a few plays. They represented ways for me to nurture my creative side. At the time, I was involved in sales and marketing. Later, I moved into the hospitality industry, working in restaurants, clubs and eventually producing concerts and events.

I loved to do impressions but never really considered doing voice over for a living. Voice over in those days was something very cryptic, even in Los Angeles. It seemed there were relatively few practitioners. There weren’t any books on the subject until the late 1980’s, and even then, one might only find them in a specialized drama book store. I studied business in school and came close to becoming a lawyer. All in All, I’d say that voice acting chose me and not the other way around.

TGL: What, in your opinion, makes a good voice actor?

J.S: It’s a very tough question to answer. Aside from thick skin and the ability to deal with the uncertainties of the profession, the skills and abilities that someone might need for doing game voices, as opposed to commercial work, audio books, and even voice mail will vary greatly. Even within the gaming world, it might appear that at times, the requirement to be able to do 12 or 15 different sounding voices might be an asset for iPhone games or certain casual games. Other times, one great voice that is capable of reaching down and pulling in a strong emotional read will work perfectly.

The one thing I can say is that most voice actors are far from rich. I’m not sure how rates may work over there, but if I had to guess, there’s probably less than 100 actors total that will make over $25,000 USD doing voices for games this year in the United States. I feel that there are a lot of people drawn to voice over because they think there’s a lot of money to be made. I think a good voice actor isn’t driven by lure of a high paycheck, but feels that this is something they simply have to do. And given that when I walk down the street, I am not flocked for autographs, you can probably forget about the “famous” part as well.

The word actor in “voice actor” is very important to me. I think this is something that one should come to organically. Take regular acting classes and improvisational acting classes.

TGL: You’ve done a considerable amount of commercial, documentary and radio voice over work. Did this foundation naturally lead to getting behind the mic for videogames?

JS: I think that my experiences in and out of acting or voice over, all come together to allow me to reach deep down and develop compelling characters and ultimately exciting experiences for the gamers. The fact that commercials, corporate work, e-learning and some other forms of voice over that I do, currently tends to pay a bit better overall than games, means that the work I do for games, comes from a love I have for this genre of acting.

Years ago, I did voice over for arcade games, slot machines and pinball machines. I loved hanging out in arcades and casinos seeing how people interacted with the games and the characters I did. I still do this today at stores like Game Stop and other places that sell video games.

I would say that the biggest contributing factor to my getting into games was that I live about 30 minutes from Silicon Valley. Companies like Activision, Atari, Commodore, Domark, Mindscape, Strategic Simulations, Sega, Lucas and hundreds of other gaming companies got their start in and around the San Francisco/ San Jose California area.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s, many of these companies began to play around with speech. I was involved with the local Atari SIG and met some of their sound developers. It turned out that my voice naturally compressed fairly well and I wound up spending some time assisting their team develop some early audio codecs.

I could also do concatenation, which is where you speak in parts of speech and the computer pieces the sentences together. Early games like Dark Wizard, where I play the characters of the Puppet Master and Dark Wizard, used a bit of concatenation during game play. They also featured some cinematics as well. I’ve seen some clips on YouTube lately and I had to laugh at how hokey my acting was at the time. Still, it represented a big step forward in gaming.

This led to a natural progression, which included me doing some writing, producing, directing and a heck of a lot of voice over. By 1993 or 1994, I would say that I was fairly well known throughout the gaming community and doing at least one voiceover per week for some sort of video game or interactive project.

TGL: How many videogames would you say you have contributed your voice talents to over the years?

J.S: It’s very hard to say. I did a lot of work well before any online tracking was done. I did a lot of this work before SAG or AFTRA even got involved. Also, lots of projects had code names. Other projects may never have gotten released. Some of the voice work I did got repurposed. I also understand that Sony and EA, (probably others) have internal libraries that feature lots of work I have done, such as battle cries and death screams.

If you visit the various online tracking sites like Giant Bomb or IMDB, it looks like I have about 80 or so total credits, but I know that I’ve done voices for well over 300 and I believe over 400 projects. For example, none of the iPhone game work I have done, such as Spiderman or Assassin’s Creed is listed. Also, most of the casual game work, such as Farmcraft or Emerald City Confidential is not listed. Lots of other credits are nowhere to be found, such as LOTRO, where I’ve been recording voices for Turbine for a couple of years now. I also don’t see my name listed in Dead Space 2. I play four or five characters in there, including Bartlett. I’m also featured on old pinball machines, such as some Star Trek one’s and other games where I have done sound alike work. In particular, one usually doesn’t get credited for sound alike work, because the gamers tend to get upset if the original actors aren’t featured. It might be bad for business if they think that the character was impersonated. Also, for whatever reason, almost none of the work for Sega has any credits for any of the actors. Also, many games that I did voice over for, that were ported from Japan or Russia to the U.S, do not list voice credits. XBlades is one of the newer ones from Russia that I’m not credited on. (Also Exodus From earth)

Also, back then (and even today in some instances) the developers might consider you as an “asset” and would not publish a voice credit so that other producers at either their company or competitors couldn’t find you and hire you. Some of my earliest NDA’s (non-disclosure agreements) have said that I am NEVER allowed to mention work that I have done for the company… and then go on to use the word “perpetuity”.

I’m not so sure that having all the proper credits would make much of a difference though.

TGL: What was the first game you ever worked on?

J.S: I know this is crazy, but I actually don’t really know. I’ve tried to figure this one out, but so much of it in the very early days was quite cryptic.

There were a bunch of early arcade games I did V.O for, as well as pinball machines. If those count, then it might have been something like “Pinball Master”.

Otherwise, my records tend to go back to 1992 and 1993 for games like Dark Wizard, Battle Arena Toshinden, and Tekken.

I was the voice of Darth Vader for Software Toolwork’s “Star Wars Chess”, back in 1993.

I also did 25 or so voices for a game called Mario’s Time Machine in 1993, including the voice of Mario. Apparently there were some issues with the licensing and other conflicts. As a result, the developer refused to release to Nintendo the names of the voice talent. Unfortunately for whatever reason, a year later when a casting for the voice of Mario came up I wasn’t invited. It’s hard to say what might have happened if I had access to that audition, or if Nintendo had been given my name.

In the early 90’s, I also did lots of smaller miscellaneous roles, such as doing a bunch of “First and Goal to Go” and other referee type stuff for EA football, hockey and other sports games.

At one point, I think in 1995 or 1996, a directory of local interactive publishers came out and there were a ton of names listed. I started calling around and some weeks I might find myself voicing, directing, recording or otherwise working on 2 or more titles.

I think gamers have to remember that voice was pretty limited on games back then and depending upon the platform, graphics, music, etc. the voice could conceivably be less than 30 minutes total for a game. However, because the tools were different and everything tended to represent “uncharted territory”, it could take quite a bit of time to get the dialog recorded and properly placed.

Some games today may have more than 20 times the amount of dialog that even a blockbuster movie may have. Although for numerous reasons, games vary widely in terms of the amount of dialog and quality of dialog they feature.

TGL: You’re considered by many to be the ‘Go to voice talent’ and you were in fact one of the very first professionally trained voices to actually contribute to videogames. How different is videogame voice over work now by comparison to say the early 1990’s? Has the way you record and prepare for a role changed in any way?

J.S: Well, again one of the reasons I was featured in so many early titles had a great deal to do with my proximity to so many of the early, pioneering companies. One big difference is that Northern California is no longer responsible for much of the voice over for games. There are occasional opportunities at Sony and EA, but for practical purposes, much of this work has moved to Los Angeles. Despite my being less than 500 miles away and having my own studio, it might seem that because I don’t live in L.A., I am discounted from doing much of the work.

You also find lots of work being produced in Canada and all over the United States and most of the rest of the world.  Getting noticed in this highly competitive, billion dollar industry isn’t as easy as it once was, even for someone with many credits.

What saddens me is that for many of the characters that I developed the original voices for, other talent is often brought in as sound-alikes, or to carry on the role in franchise sequels. I could understand them doing this if I was dead or unavailable, but this is far from the truth. In fact in some cases, it would probably be a little less expensive to hire me.

I’ve always thought myself a very obliging actor, who is eager to please, so it boggles my mind that so many of the producers today not only don’t know who I am, but apparently don’t care.

I’m always grateful when someone contacts me for work and mentions they are familiar with my work ethic or that I was referred, or may have been part of a team I worked with years ago. I suppose for a guy who spends most of his time in San Francisco, I shouldn’t complain. I’ve been going to Los Angeles a bit more frequently and last year I decided to sign with a Los Angeles agent again, Vox. They’re an incredible agency.

I would say that back then, to a certain extent there was a bit of naivety and always a willingness to explore. I remember doing a voice for a project and then after coming in for a pickup session discussing with the producer how I thought I might be able to do the character a little better; differently. I offered to re-record for free and everyone agreed it was worth it.

There certainly wasn’t the level of expectation financially that seems to exist today. It also seemed like the actors had a bit of a chance to become more involved and got to know the developers a bit better. I almost always had some sort of crowd come in to watch me perform. I remember working on a game and asked where everyone was; meaning the crowd that normally watched me. Later I was shown to the new CGI room and found my crowd, who was now watching as fake fur was being applied to a creature.

As for then and now, I was in an elite group who could understand the rigors of non-linear storytelling and could interpret this and act. There were probably less than 30 or so of us who tended to work on most of the games. Interestingly, though the field has become hugely competitive, I still see around 15 or so of that crowd occasionally, and they’re all still doing game work too.

The acting today is far more intense. Producers are also under pressure to move along record sessions, so we actors may not get as much backstory or chance to really develop the characters as much as we would like.

In 2010, I was asked to be on the GANG (Game Audio Network Guild) GVAC (Voice Actor Coalition) Committee. I’m in much esteemed company, with some of the biggest names in game audio. As a group, we are hoping to develop some best practices for the pre-planning and executing of recording dialog for games.

TGL: So if you were to go back and cast an eye over your considerable videogame C.V, which games and characters would you highlight as your favourite to play? You’ve contributed to everything from Zone of The Enders, to Dante’s Inferno, Shadow of Memories, Twisted Metal and the recently released Dead Space 2.

J.S: I’d have to say that aside from a few lousy experiences, for example where the director insisted on simply giving me line reads, so that my job is reduced to that of being a parrot, most of my favorite work in voice over has been doing games. Games like Battle Toshinden are fun, because I play the main hero and main bad guy and at the end I get to kill myself. It was also a very early game and required a lot out of everyone. Lord of the Rings online has been fun. It’s ongoing work and every 6 weeks to 2 months or so, I get to do voices of dwarves and trolls and most recently a really bad ass dragon.

I really liked the work I did for Dante’s Inferno. Much of the twisted screeches and cries of the damned being tortured was done by me. I ran into the guys responsible for putting all the dialog and sound design together at a GANG event and they thought that the work I did was among the best parts of the game. That was quite an honor given that the project has some real ‘A’ lister talent on it. And while I do have a credit on the game, it fails to list the 3 or 4 parts in total that I performed.

Antigrav was a great game. It worked off a camera, with no controllers. You moved your body to ride a surfboard or skateboard through different environments. Coming out in 2004, it was a bit before its time, as we now see other games with similar concepts.

But for me, the jewel in the crown was indeed playing the role of Sweet Tooth in Twisted Metal: Black. I also played the roles of Axel, No name and a few other characters on the game, but Sweet Tooth was the tour de force. This was actually 10 years ago and I still get one or two fan emails a month to this day.

TGL: Would we be right in saying that you have been re-cast as Sweet Tooth in the forthcoming Twisted Metal for Playstation 3?

J.S: Yep. The trailer for Twisted Metal for PS3 features me reprising my role as Sweet Tooth. I also did a few other lines for the E3 demo, which got some rave reviews. I can’t really say anything else, as I am bound by a Non-disclosure agreement.

You first voiced Sweet Tooth back ten years ago in Twisted Metal Black. What was it like hooking up with David Jaffe again to reprise your role in the new game?

They say there are no coincidences. I had been featured on a bunch of Sony titles, but the love was gone when Sony shifted to producing their dialog in Southern California.  There were new producers and audio people and they embraced being able to work with Los Angeles actors. I won’t fault Jaffe, but I never got a chance to read on anything for God of War. It was really a chance meet up that reconnected us, but he seemed really keen on the fact that I was excited about doing the Sweet Tooth voice again.

TGL: Tell us about your audition for Sweet Tooth. What did David Jaffe want his Sweet Tooth to sound like?

J.S: I wish I could tell you specifically what this was like. The process for most of the auditions for game work tends to work along similar lines though. The game developer submits auditions either through casting directors or talent agents. The casting people and agents then try to determine which actors in their roster might be best suited for the parts. The actors then would either record at their home studio or email the auditions to their agents or the actor would record their audition at the agents or casting director’s office.

Sometimes we get lots of backstory, perhaps drawings and of course dialog samples to record. Often we get only our characters lines. Sometimes we get to see the lines that come before and after. And very frequently, there will be some form of direction given, often along with the names of popular characters or top actors, as in “We’re looking for a Clint Eastwood approach with more of an Alec Baldwin sound”. That is some actual direction for a game character I read for recently.

My approach to developing characters is to do an organic process. Who is this person? Where did they grow up? What was their childhood like? Who are their friends? Etc.

I try to figure out why the character might cry or laugh or do anything they might do and I always paint the scenes in my head, such as where I am and what I’m wearing.

I have a bunch of these characters I carry around with me and will make slight modifications to them when I do an audition.

I tried to make this character as rich and full as possible. I also thought that this was a character that didn’t get too loud. He had a quiet way of being menacing. But the one thing about “evil characters” is that they don’t see themselves as evil. They may see themselves as misunderstood or even justified. To me, Sweet Tooth was more of a tortured artist than anything else. I tried to approach the other characters for TM:B in a similar manner, although it’s obvious that Sweet Tooth was the star.

TGL: Have you any new videogame projects in the pipeline after Twisted Metal?

J.S: I’m regularly auditioning for things and I’m always reinventing myself. In fact, I can do younger sounding characters better today than I could 20 years ago. I’m also always working on new impressions. I do have a few titles I am going to be doing some voice over for, but unfortunately I won’t be able to talk about them until they’re on the shelves.

TGL: And finally, we have to ask, do you actually play any of the games you’ve done voice over work for? Are you a gamer?

J.S: I did own an Atari 800, Commodore 64, Atari St, Amiga, PS1, PS2 and Nintendo. I’ve also played quite a few games on the PC. These days though, I’m not so much of a gamer. I do play some of the iPhone games and will often pick up some title I’m unfamiliar with if I’m going to be doing something with that producer or for that franchise. I occasionally play some casual games like Sam and Max or Bone.

I have a very active and full calendar, as a voice talent and producer/ director. I also make radio and TV commercials. I copy write and write articles and I am currently writing a book called “The Power of Unpositive Thinking”. I’ve also begun a collaboration on a book about Reese Butler, who is the founder/director of 1-800-SUICIDE. I also sit on some educational boards and non-profit groups. Being someone who tends to procrastinate, I’ve had to slow down on actual gaming for the moment, although I hope to be doing more voice work for games. I do currently own a PS3 and Wii, which do get used albeit occasionally.

——ENDS——

TGL would like to thank J.S for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions and speak with us. We look forward to hearing Sweet Tooth return later this year in Twisted Metal. Thank you J.S and the whole team here wish you all the best for the future.

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