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"I Look At Every Audition As, I Just Want This Job" – Veronica Taylor On Being Ash, At C2E2

Peter G writes for Bleeding Cool from C2E2,

Veronica Taylor is a voice actress who has done numerous roles, such as April O'Neil in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Sailor Pluto in the Viz dub of Sailor Moon. But she is best known as the voice of Ash on Pokemon, a role she's done for over 8 years. She was kind enough to take a few questions for BC:

G: How did you get started in voice acting?

Taylor: I started acting when I was five, really. I went to college and grad school for acting, and then I moved to New York City. I was recommended by an acting coach for an audition, and that's basically how I got my first anime role, which led to other auditions.

G: When you first got the role of Ash, did you see it going as long as it has or being so popular?

Taylor: Not at all. I look at every audition as, "I just want this job." And I had no idea that it would be anything, not even go on TV. So I had no idea.

G: How much say do you have in the lines that are used? One of my favorite moments in the first season was where Ash, disguised as a Mr. Mime, says, "I'm not a Mr. Mime, I just play one on TV." Was that something the scriptwriters came up with, or did you come up with that?

Taylor: That was scripted. Things were very specific because of Standards And Practices on broadcast TV. It was all very specific, and it had to be passed through a number of different channels before it even came to us. So there is no improvising on that show whatsoever.

G: How did you get the role on Sailor Moon? Was it something you chased because you were familiar with the show?

Taylor: No, I was just called in to audition for it. I moved to Los Angeles, and that's where the opportunity to audition came.

G: What's your favorite role so far that you've performed?

Taylor: Every single one of them, but probably Ash. I've played that for eight years, so I had a lot of time to really grow into it and figure out who he was. I just love his energy, so definitely Ash.

G: Were you ever frustrated by how much Ash and Misty just danced around each other?

Taylor: No! Ash is ten! He's a boy! So, no, he's just living life. All of us have that — you have friends who come and go, they might want one thing, you might want something else, and it doesn't really matter. You see things through your point of view, so I never really thought about that at all.

G: What's the strangest thing you've every been asked to sign?

Taylor: Just this Friday, a guy had a tattoo that said "Gary Oak was here" on his lower back. So I signed, "Gary is a loser. — Ash" on his back. Plus, I made him let me sign. Otherwise, I don't like signing skin.

Do you like cartoons? Who doesn't? Peter G is still doing strange things in the name of art, and his new animations, like his cult series One True Pairing, can be viewed on YouTube at Sine Timore Animation Studios.

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