Interview With Rachel Robinson & Chris Bevins
Location: Anime Boston 2018
Interview Date: 3/31/2018
Rachel Robinson and Chris Bevins were kind enough to give Anime Herald an exclusive one on… two interview. Five years ago, they met at Anime Boston and have since become a couple. Most interviews don’t have such a romantic subtext, so I was curious about the story.
“We met at a ‘meet cute’ (Rachel made a face at the term). We’d been introduced before by Taliesin Jaffe (who co-directed Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad with Chris Bevins). At the time, Rachel was in a play and didn’t have much time to talk.” -Chris Bevins
“The second time we met, I was touring Funimation. Chris was very busy working at the time.” -Rachel Robinson
“We did the long distance thing for a while. I visited California and eventually moved out there.” -Chris Bevins
As for their professional relationship:
“I cast her any time I can.” -Chris Bevins (Editor’s note: Smart move, both professionally, and otherwise.)
“I knew I wanted to work with him. I don’t have a typical anime voice. I have to be right for the role.” Rachel Robinson
Rachel proceeded to list off some potential roles she might work as “Monsters. Mean gals. Newscasters. Grandmas.”
I was curious about Rachel’s work on Kakegurui (Compulsive Gambler).
“It was bonkers. We got it at the last minute from Bang Zoom! Crazy deadlines. I wrote five episodes (Episodes 3, 5, 6, 9, 10).” -Rachel Robinson
I asked Chris about his experience moving to Los Angeles. He said it’s been a bit slower than he was hoping:
“It takes some time to make the relationships. I’m waiting for the jobs to line up. I was born [in Texas], and still have family there.” -Chris Bevins
Rachel and Chris then segued into a discussion of the differences between drivers in Texas and those in Los Angeles. As they tell it, drivers in Texas are angry and entitled. However, things are three times as expensive in Los Angeles, so there are tradeoffs.
At this point, the Anime Boston staff came in with coffee for Rachel & Chris. I used this little break to show them a video of my favorite voice acting story. They mused that perhaps Mel Blank was a male version of June Foray. She gave a great interview a few years ago, where she talked about voice acting during the ‘golden era’.
June passed away last year. Rachel and Chris went to the special memorial for her.
“We were in a room with all of our heroes. They played old clips of her work. Lily Tomlin was there (Awestruck faces).” -Rachel Robinson & Chris Bevins
I was curious about how Rachel found her way into the industry.
“My dad was a literary agent in Hollywood. I got to see the business from the writer’s side. There were always scripts around the house. I got to practice with the old variety shows, cartoons, and mimicry. My dad said I could do it for a living. I started studying it early.” -Rachel Robinson
She continued:
“My sister-in-law worked for The Simpsons. She asked for a tape of my work. Nothing came of it. I learned as a film student (Syracuse). There was a lot of manual labor. I took a general voice acting class. I got some recommendations for who I should talk to. Pat Fraley came in. I worked my way up. There was very little on camera stuff.” -Rachel Robinson
I asked Chris the same question:
“I went to school for this. Also, I like to eat. I studied audio engineering. I interned at Funimation, and they invited me back to work there. I learned fairly early on that I wanted to direct. I worked hard and was the “go to guy” for long enough that they gave me the opportunity. -Chris Bevins
He continued:
“I love directing. Voice acting is my other passion. I was very fortunate to have the good timing to be at Funimation when they had their first growth spurt. It’s funny. I came in from the tech side. They asked me to do one line to put a wrap on a show. Justin asked me to play the puppy.” -Chris Bevins (Editor’s note: George Clooney played a dog on South Park.)
“We both love working. We share a good Venn Diagram of skills.” -Rachel Robinson
“I hope to have an opportunity to direct one of her scripts.” -Chris Bevins
If he does, he’ll have to do it as part of a husband and wife team:
NOT AN APRIL FOOLS JOKE! I get to marry @larynx_lynx, the most amazing, beautiful woman in the world!!! #SHESAIDYES pic.twitter.com/QovemgF2bb
— Christopher Bevins (@VoiceofBevins) April 2, 2018
The love of my life, @VoiceofBevins, just proposed to me in the exact place where we realized how much we liked each other, five years ago. The answer was easy. Bonus: I already had a drink in my hand. ❤️💖💜#ISAIDYES https://t.co/81k0Wdoryi
— ℝ𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕝 ℝ𝕠𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕍𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖 (@larynx_lynx) April 2, 2018
Congratulations to both of them.
If you want more thoughts on voice acting from Rachel Robinson, I’d recommend checking out this video series. As for Chris, the first minute here on Danganronpa and the Sony Vita is fantastic.
Special thanks to Rachel Robinson & Chris Bevins for speaking with us. Thanks to Anime Boston for making this interview (and their engagement) possible.
