Warner Bros. has been kind enough to again provide a Green Lantern: First Flight Q&A session, this time with Casting Director, Andrea Romano, who has brought together veteran and novice voice actors for the main characters of the film. In the interview she talks about her choices for characters and whether or not she had any concerns about casting novice voice actors in main roles.
Here’s an excerpt from the interview, and you can check out the full interview here!
QUESTION:
Michael Madsen is another voiceover novice, but that voice is made for character animation. What prompted you to cast him as Kilowog?
ANDREA ROMANO
Kilowog is an alien Green Lantern, and we really wanted a voice with texture and character and some edges to it; a voice that sounded gruff and big and strong, but also smart. I did not want someone who sounded like a big dopey guy. For years and years, I wanted to hire Michael Madsen and this was just the perfect marriage of role, actor and availability.
It’s a lot about availability, and Michael is a great example. He hadn’t done any animated roles before Green Lantern, and yet when I finally got him in the room, we found out how much he had wanted to do it and, now, how much he loves doing voiceover work. He loves this whole world of animation, and characters like Batman and Superman.
You need an actor who has an enthusiasm for the project, for the role, and for the process – and Michael was there, in the moment, he understood, and wanted to do more takes than we needed. That is very generous and brought some really beautiful texture. I love those raspy, deep, dark voices – that sound that tells you that there’s been some life experience there, whether it’s been smoking cigarettes or drinking booze or just living. I don’t think I’m the only person that responds to that kind of voice with character. That’s a voice that’s lived.
In case you have missed any of the other previous Green Lantern: First Flight Q&A’s, here are the links to them: