David Kaye has played countless memorable roles: various incarnations of
Megatron from several
Transformers series,
Sesshoumaru from
Inuyasha,
Professor Xavier from
X-Men Evolution,
Soun Tendo from
Ranma ½,
General Hawk from
G.I. Joe, and various others. He recently spoke to Toon Zone about his work.
Toon Zone: What was it that first attracted you to the field of voice work?
David Kaye: Oh… fame and fortune. I guess since I was always goofing around in school, you know, the proverbial class clown, and I guess I wanted to see if I could get paid for that. I had a strong interest in high school. I was working at the local cable stations and working behind the scenes. Then I got involved in radio and then I found out about the cartoon world when I got up to Vancouver. I got my first cartoon part there on
G.I. Joe playing General Hawk, and that’s how it got started.
TZ: Out of the characters that you’ve played what has been your most memorable role?
DK: It’s got to be Megatron. I didn’t watch too much of the T1 series when I was a kid, I was a fan of Bugs Bunny, and goofy stuff. And when I got this role I hadn’t realized that Frank Welker made the character so huge. But I began to realize that this was a big thing and today he’s my favorite character I’ve done so far for sure.
TZ: Have you noticed an increase in the exposure that an actor receives for playing a voice role?
DK: Yeah for sure, especially since Robin Williams started the whole trend in
Aladdin playing the Genie, and celebrities are doing more voice work now. And it goes down to us regular voice actor folks. Actually, Anime has played a really big role in making voice actors high profile.
TZ: Are there any particular lines from a series or characters you have played which you consider your favorites?
DK: (chuckles) I always make one up for
G.I. Joe because it was always like ‘Quick, follow me toward the danger.’ It was always that type of character. A big one was always ‘Predacons: Terrorize’ that was kind of fun. There was always a line that Megatron had with Inferno with him calling Megatron ‘Queen,’ and Megatron’s like ‘Stop calling me that,’ and the rubber ducky scene... there’re a few there that are funny. There are so many that I just can’t remember but I’ll probably remember them after I hang up.
TZ: Out of the voices that you’ve done, which do you consider to be closest to your natural voice?
DK: Maybe Professor X. It’s my voice with a slight hint of my favorite actor Patrick Stewart. And I would say that probably Sesshoumaru is pretty close to my natural voice. It’s a really easy session doing
Inuyasha where I just go in, sit down, relax, and the joke is I go in the studio, they pull the mic down, I lean back and just speak.