Interview With Greg Ayres
Location: Anime Boston 2022
Interview Date: 5/28/2022
Honey’s Anime: You’ve voiced quite a few LGBT characters…
Greg Ayres: Absolutely. As well as myself.
Honey’s Anime: Such as Izumi from Love Stage!! How have you seen the portrayal of the LGBT community change and evolve within anime?
Greg Ayres: That’s a great question because I deal with two sides of that. We took a little bit of flack when we were working on Love Stage!!, because the material is a little problematic. The hardest thing about being a dub crew, or even the director, David Wald, who was given this thing, we don’t have a lot of say-so on what product. We get what we get and then it’s our job to redistribute.
I think, though, that everything is moving forward. I think representation is also moving forward. When you saw LGBT characters in the past, it was very fetishized or very… yaoi’d up… (laughs)
Not a very true representation of LGBT relationships, and I think that’s changing. I guess it’s controversial to say, I don’t really have a problem with the fanfictiony side of it because… it is fiction. But I’m happy to see that just like slice-of-life anime has come into its own, I’m very happy to see real representation, and not just of men, but of women as well.
And now we have trans and non-binary characters appearing in shows. I think as we move forward as a people, I think our content does too. But sometimes it’s weird. With anime, sometimes we’re about four or five years behind the actual curve. One, animation takes a while to produce. Two, as much as we don’t like to say it, a lot of what is produced follows trends, and it’s usually about a day late that the trends snap to what’s actually going on. But I think as time goes on, I think we’re going to see better and more broad representation and I’m fine with that.
It’s like saying there’s too many stories on the internet. There’s room for all of the stories on the internet. I think that we will see more and more broad representation of the LGBT community. There are more people working in the industry that are LGBT now. I mean, when I started, in Japan I only knew of two out, outspoken LGBT people. Granted, that was 20-some years ago, but now it’s very common to see people with pronouns on their badges. So I just think that we’re moving forward. I think it’s nice that as we move forward as a… I would say society, but as a people, that our art reflects that too. Because this is an artistic reflection of real life.
Great first question. Thank you.
Anime Herald: This question might be a little dangerous, and if you don’t want to talk about it I understand: Unionization has hit the industry.
Greg Ayres: Whoa! I don’t want to talk about that at all! It’s probably the most polarizing topic, and for some of us it’s absolutely not important. For others, it’s absolutely the most important thing to talk about. But I think, if I’ve learned anything being in this industry, I don’t control anything. I show up and yell. I attack a 20-foot spider. That’s my job. Even if I had a brash opinion on it, I don’t call the shots on anything. So yeah, I’mma dance right away from that question. I’m the guy “I just work here.” That’s me.
Looper: This is similar to the previous question.
Greg Ayres: Uh oh.
Looper: What are your thoughts on the Crunchyroll-Funimation merger and what it means for the industry?
Greg Ayres: I don’t think that’s necessarily the same question. That is the way all media is moving now. I also work for Sentai Filmworks, and they were recently acquired by AMC. So I work for Sony and the Walking Dead people. But that is the way all big media is going right now.
You can always look at it one of two ways. You can always look at it as being owned by an overlord, or, “I now work for people that have much deeper pockets.” I’m trying to look at it from the much deeper pockets aspect, because along with Sony comes a much greater reach in Japan. You can say Crunchyroll-Funimation. Technically, that’s all owned by Sony. When it comes to licensing and wanting to be able to get better licensing, (Ayres emphasizes by banging his fist on the table as he states the bolded) I want a Japanese company that has dealings with and existing relations with Japanese companies because it’s better for licensing. If being in cahoots with two big companies means we get better licensing, so be it.
Again, the bad things that with mergers and “blah, blah, blah,” I just work here. I don’t control “Oh, the studio’s are this or that.”
But as a fan, as a guy who used to think “How many years will it be till I see this license show up in the States?”
The bigger the companies, the quicker that happens. As a fan, that means more anime. That means different options. When I first started working there was no streaming, and now you can watch anime 24 hours a day, provided you have a decent internet connection. Legally. And sometimes things that have just come out in Japan. I think bigger business is better. I think with that comes a lot of slings and arrows. That’s part of growing up or working in an industry. Again, I don’t have any control over it, so I might as well look at the positive sides of it. I’ve seen good things coming of licensing from both mergers. Both from AMC, and from the Crunchyroll-Funimation-Sony. I just recorded for the first time, we’re doing now in person recording, I just recorded for the first time at the Crunchyroll studios. It’s gorgeous! It’s a beautiful studio, really cool campus, very weeby and nerdy. I loved it. It didn’t feel like I was going to a bank to record. It felt like I was going to a nerdy clubhouse to record. I’m going to see a lot of positives so far. Good question.
Unknown Outlet: You have been around for quite some time.
Greg Ayres: Yeah. I play little kids, but I’m an old guy.
Unknown Outlet: You’ve been in some very popular franchises. That being said, what role that you’ve done did you not expect to blow up the way it did.
Greg Ayres: Oh, that’s a cool question. There are some shows that I know are going to be a big deal, and there’s other shows that I don’t think much of that [will] turn into a big deal.
You know, I didn’t expect Heaven’s Lost Property to have the teeth it had. At first glance at that show it looks very ecchi and “booby-panty.” The final movie was just released on DVD. I thought when we started working on it “Man, we started this 12-13 years ago now.”
I was talking to the director “If this was not a comedy, this would be the most offensive, gross, pervy…”
But somehow or another, anime has always had a way to use comedy to balance out some of that stuff.
I think the thing I was most pleased with that blew up was Nerima Daikon Brothers. Both my brother and I developed a really decent, really cool relationship with Nabeshin, Shinichi Watanabe. He said [that] the coolest thing about his shows being licensed in the States is [that] some of his shows that didn’t necessarily do well in Japan, if they do well in the States, there’s this renewed interest or curiosity in Japan “Oh, America liked that?”
Nerima Daikon Brothers was this weird… It was like if Excel Saga and The Blues Brothers had a baby, it’s that show. It’s this weird rock star/detective type of thing. He said people didn’t know what to make of it in Japan. It was such a fun little cult thing, it blew up here. And the cool thing about when it gets popular here is I get to see Nabeshin more often, and I love hanging out with Nabeshin.
It’s really neat to see some shows that I don’t think we’ll do well… and there’s other shows, when we worked on Ouran [High School Host Club] we knew. It was Ouran. Or when we started Haikyu!! There had been years of hype before we started working on it. Ghost Stories is another. I don’t think anyone predicted it would be the Rocky Horror that it turned into. It was just this silly dub we did. In fact, when we premiered it at Otakon in 2005 Monica Rial, Chris Patton, and I got booed off stage. We were laughing, booing back at the audience, just having fun with it. But you know, that year we beat [Fullmetal] Alchemist for dub of the year at… Anime Insider I, think. It was called “The little dub that could.”
I think it’s so funny that a whole group of people wanted to hate this thing so badly and it ended up being a fun little ride. I never know what’s going to take off and what’s not. The good thing is I’ve already gotten paid for it by the time it comes out. I’ve already done the work. It’s neat to see which catches and which doesn’t. There have been several shows that I’ve wanted to do better than they did. They never found the audience. Some old big robot shows and stuff like that.
Unknown Outlet: Jumping on the Ghost Stories comment, it is such an iconic anime. You see the Facebook argument “There’s no good dubbed anime.” and people always respond “Ghost Stories.”
Greg Ayres: That’s so funny.
Unknown Outlet: If Ghost Stories were to come out today, do you think it would have the same impact? It is so not PC.
Greg Ayres: One, I have to address that right off the bat. The comedy did not age well. There’s some really problematic humor in that show. The nice thing to know is, when we were writing, there were maybe only one or two people that were punching below the belt. A lot of it was just slapsticky humor. That said, there was a huge LGBT presence within the writing staff. My director is the gayest man on Earth. There have been calls “That’s homophobic.” and I’m like “No, that’s just my self-deprecating director making weird jokes.”
I think the humor would not be the same. As we grow, art grows as well. That said, it was one of those things that was lightning in a bottle. It’s like Dragon Ball Z. In this industry you’re always going to see people trying to recreate Dragon Ball Z. Or recreate Sailor Moon. I don’t think you can. I think those things just happen at a moment when they’re needed.
In some parallel universe, I don’t think anybody would have thought Gangnam Style was a good song, but, here we are, and everybody knows the dance. I think it’s one of those things. Ghost Stories happened at a time when there was a lot of serious anime out. People were taking it very seriously, and here was this thing that didn’t take anything seriously.
I would be honest, I would be careful working on a title like Ghost Stories now. Comedy is not the same, it’s not as easy to throw as broad a… if it was comedy, it was throwing paint at a wall and seeing what sticks. Every time I see that show I catch a new joke, “How have I never caught this joke before?”
That said, a lot of it is problematic. A lot of it is stuff that wouldn’t be said today. I think that’s kind of neither here nor there, because we didn’t think that show had a shelf life. It literally was “Here’s this trashy thing, do whatever you want, have fun.” I don’t think anybody saw it going past one DVD release. It’s so weird that 16 years later we’re still talking about it. I’ve said this before: I feel privileged to have been a part of one of those “lightning in a bottle” things.
Even though I’m in Dragon Ball now, I wasn’t in on the ground level. It’s neat to be in on one of those things, but with it comes all of the harsh criticism and all of that other stuff. It’s such a neat little piece of history. And the fact people still don’t believe it’s an actual dub. I still have people arguing with me “It’s a fandub.” We recorded it in a studio. A lot of the times the only way I can finish that argument is by doing Leo’s voice. They’re like “Oh, you are that guy.”
It’s fun to have been a part of that. It was a funny little show.
Honey’s Anime: You do a lot of DJ-ing.
Greg Ayres: Yes.
Honey’s Anime: What do you enjoy about that versus voice acting?
Greg Ayres: Oh man, I finally get to say this out loud. I’m a fan first. I went to conventions as a fan before I ever thought I’d be involved in the industry. So being put in a situation where I’m in a room and people are asking me questions or people are asking me to sign the same books I paid $40 to $50 for is awkward to me. I’m a pretty introverted person for the most part when I’m not performing, and so to be in that situation is very awkward for me.
DJing at a convention is the thing that I do that I feel like I’m putting back into the show. There’s so much work that goes on to get a rave up and off of its feet that people will never know. The technical nightmares, fighting with the hotel, getting permits in some cities. That’s a lot of work. But, to me, I’ve always thought of the raves as like “Nerd prom” because I didn’t want to dance with anybody I was in high school with, but a bunch of people with cat ears on? Let’s do it!
So to me, if I can do that, if I can provide a space where kids can have a social element… also, it does serve another purpose, as much as I hate saying it. If you don’t have something to do at night, people will get in trouble, and then the hotel won’t want you back. Putting all the rowdy people in one room and making them tired is a good thing.
But, to me, it’s also… I’m sure you can understand the situation that I find myself in this year… putting a smile on my face is a tall order some days. And being able to play music is almost like an exorcism some days. I can get up on stage and be crazy and then, no matter how hard of a day I’ve had, it’s been worth it because I saw this dude kiss this girl or I saw this person who was very shy doing the Caramelldansen! I get to see those things happen.
I know that my job as an actor brings people enjoyment, but that’s something I did two months ago, or a year ago. This is something I feel like I’m doing right now to make the event more fun and to earn a little bit of this. (claps) I think it’s weird to get (claps) for something I did a while ago. But to work really hard and see everyone having a good time, that to me feels like I’ve done a job.
And I also do other things. There’s one convention, because I’m crazy, where I’m a triple department head. I actually help run a few conventions. So I like being a part of the community. I like being a part of the whole microcosm that is an anime convention, so DJ-ing is just one part of that. I’d play music if nobody was listening. I’d just be in my room banging out tunes, but I like doing it somewhere where I can turn other people on to music. I thought I was being crafty, I got this Dutch house mix of the new Psy song, the song Psy did with SUGA, and I was like, “I’m going to drop this, it just came out two days ago.” There was a girl in the front row who knew all of the choreography already, and I’m like, “What is this?!” So that’s also fun for me, being surprised. When I first started DJing at conventions, it was just DDR music, and now to see kids that have this sophisticated musical palate as a lot of anime fans do now, it’s awesome. It’s so cool. I miss that we can’t do it here. Our party just got too big and too awesome. It scared the city.
I have a little one in Kentucky in a few weeks. I think it was so funny, the first time we did it was in Paducah, Kentucky and they said, “Did you realize you’re throwing the first rave in Paducah?” And I thought to myself, “Thirty years after the rave scene started.” But you know what? That’s their rave, and I’m stoked to be the guy that brings it, so it’s fun. I love it. Thanks for asking me about music. I love it.
Honey’s Anime: What convention in Kentucky?
Greg Ayres: It’s in Owensboro. It started in Paducah. I love this. It started in Paducah, Kentucky. It outgrew Paducah. Moved to Owensboro. It’s next to Bowling Green. There’s this beautiful brand new multi-million dollar state of the art convention center, and now we’re the largest thing in the convention center. And the joke we always make is, “When they were building the convention center, nobody ever thought, ‘You know, I bet we can fill this with a whole bunch of nerds!’”
We’re the biggest thing in town. And it’s a wonderful example. The kids that started that show, I love them so much – they were like, “You know, we love conventions, but we also love Kentucky. We don’t think we should have to drive to Otakon to have a convention.” And the first year they did their show, all of their guests canceled. Except me. So that first year, I was like…
(Editor’s note: At this point Ayres pantomimed a song and dance best described as “Michigan J. Frog with jazz hands.”)
But they’re commitment to making something cool in their own hometown worked. And they have some of the coolest programming and neat ideas I’ve ever seen. Their program guides look like… they’ve been different, but the first year it was like a PS1 game, and then it was a Wii game, but the program guide is inside of a thing like a booklet. They’ve got some great ideas, so if you’re in the area, it’s called OMG!con and it’s a lot of fun. In fact, in the Nerima Daikon Brothers extra, I’m wearing the very first OMG!con t-shirt. It just says “OMG!”
Great little show. Someone always inadvertently calls it Oh my God! con, which is even funnier.
Anime Herald: I want to follow up on that. Are there any other small cons that you’d like to share stories from?
Greg Ayres: Man, it’s so funny. When I first started going to conventions people treated con invites like vacations. I don’t see it that way. I’m busy the whole time I’m at the con. As a traveler, I like to ask the question “Why would anybody live here?” Not in a snobby way. It’s “What is this place all about?” It’s at the little cons the question is answered almost immediately. Those are my favorite. Like Paducah. It’s such a little place and it has a lot of heart and it’s right on the river and the kids just brought it hard when it was time to have fun.
There’s another con in Winnipeg, Manitoba…
Anime Herald: Ai-Kon
Greg Ayres: It’s one of my very favorite shows. Ai-Kon has a weird Anime Boston connection. The year that Moriyama was here (2005), that I came out dressed as Chrono, there was the young lady dressed as Rosette, that was Riki (LeCotey), who is now a well known cosplayer named Riddle, Riki is the founder of Ai-Kon. That’s Riki’s con, Ai-Kon in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I didn’t know that. She goes “I heard you’re having a lot of fun at my con.” I was like “Your con? What are you talking about?” And then I found out Riki was on the very first Ai-Kon staff.
That’s such a neat thing. If someone were to ask me “What’s your favorite city in Canada?” You’d think I’d say Toronto or Montreal or somewhere like that. “Winnipeg!” They’re like, “What?” I love that there’s that moment of “Winnipeg?”
Some of my best friends live in that town now. When I went to the big music festival in Belgium one of my buddies from Ai-Kon traveled with me. I love going to little towns and just figuring out what’s going on. It’s so much fun.
And then, I’m a big theater nerd. There’s this huge fringe festival in Winnipeg. It’s always awesome, it’s like opening a book when I go to a new town. “What’s in store for me here?”
I’m glad you asked that because I love talking about little places. Sioux Falls, SD was another. I went to a creepy butterfly house there. I guess I learned that when I traveled corporate. Most of the guys I traveled with were old. They’d sit at the hotel and call their wives at night “Let me say goodnight to the kids.”
I was single and young, “What’s going on in this town?” I think I got that bug early. If I’m going to give up my video games and my dog, I’d better see something cool.
Looper: You’re a very active panelist at conventions. This year at Anime Boston, your special panel, other than the typical Q&A ones, is “Evenings with Isabelle,” which I assume has something to do with Animal Crossing“
Greg Ayres: It does.
Looper: Has anyone attempted to license the Animal Crossing anime movie?
Greg Ayres: Oh man, I don’t know. It’s so weird. I’ve seen it. I saw there was a clip of it in one of the “Animal Crossing” groups I’m in. A very bizarre little anime
Looper: If you were to play the voice of any Animal Crossing character in an anime, either a dub of that movie or a new project, what would you want to play?
Greg Ayres: I mean… this is the hardest part. This is the hardest part. I can’t imagine the Animal Crossing characters saying anything except the (sounds from the game). That said, I have favorite characters. Obviously I have an attachment to K.K. Slider, because he’s some big music dude. I liked Tommy and Timmy Nook just ‘cause they’re funny and they work, they don’t realize Tom is a bad guy. Not really, I guess.
If you come to the panel, you’ll realize I, in my not-so-real life, I have a frog boyfriend named Henry, and if I could be anybody, I think it would be Henry, but I honestly can’t imagine those characters making any other sounds than that weird (sounds from the game) that I hear when I’m playing. It’s neat that there’s a whole anime about it. In fact, there’s a lot of GIFs from it. If you go to the GIF keyboard, there’s tons of GIFs from the Animal Crossing anime. But that panel happened kind of out of an accident. I really love it because, normally, it’s my Sunday panel, and it’s tough at cons because the weekend’s so special to us. Then, on Sunday, as the day starts to wrap up, you’re like, “Ugh, now I have to go back to real life.” Lately, I’ve always tried to find a really uplifting point for Sunday because it’s our last day in Brigadoon or whatever. That panel is normally done on Sunday, and it’s a surprisingly feel-good panel. The subject matter, it starts pretty heavy. At the beginning of the panel, I won’t lie. It’s about how I deal long-term with depression and anxiety. When I found this game was when my entire life was on fire. As we get further into the panel, you find out that a lot of people have had that experience with the game. During the panel we play the Animal Crossing music, it’s like, “Oh, this is very relaxing.” I love that panel. It’s my favorite panel that I do right now. Plus I get to listen to Animal Crossing music.
Unknown Outlet: If you had the opportunity to work on any video game franchise, that’s not Animal Crossing, what would it be?
Greg Ayres: I have no idea where I would fit into this universe, but I would cut off a finger to be in a Silent Hill game. I love, love, love psychological horror games. I yell like a child when I’m playing them.
That said, I know my voice, and there’s not a lot of kids in Silent Hill, so I probably would not be in that franchise. The weird thing is, the longer I’ve done this for a living, you know I love anime, but now that I do work on so much anime, I don’t watch as much now. I’d almost be afraid to become a video game voice because playing video games is such an escape for me. I don’t know that I’d ever want to give that up.
I’m not saying I don’t watch anime, but, the luster is not… when I was younger it was a very different experience than it is now.
I think Silent Hill would be the one. I’d kill to be a part of a Silent Hill game. Yeah, just Silent Hill. There’s Animal Crossing… the games that mean so much to me are games that don’t have any dialog in them. Animal Crossing. Spiritfarer is another one of my favorite games. Even going back as far as Ico. It’s just the “Hey” you use to call out. Some of my favorite video games don’t have any dialog at all. I’m not saying they’re not good. The new Resident Evil has cinematic acting and it’s fantastic. The kind of video games that I love… in Silent Hill there’s not a lot of talking. Just a little. If I had a “Pretty, pretty, pretty please,” it would be Silent Hill, for sure.
There’s lots of rumors right now that there’s multiple Silent Hill properties being worked on. I think every few years just to get us worked up. I’ll believe it when I can pre-order it.
Unknown Outlet: You’ve had a long and successful career with anime. When you first got into voice acting, did you ever dream it would have gotten as big as it is now?
Greg Ayres: No. When I got my first role, I tell this in my panel, I was happy if this was it. I was just in an anime. At the time when I started I wasn’t a fan of dubs. I was a subs guy. It was like being a Rolling Stones fan one day getting a call “Keith Richards is finally not going to be there, do you want to come play with the Stones?” Of course you’d want to. That’s kind of how it was to be invited into this world I had watched as an outsider. And then it kept getting cooler. I was getting to meet mangaka and production people.
I never dreamed that twenty years later I’d still be doing this. This is the longest I’ve been in any job. There are days that I think “Well, this is about it” and then a bunch of shows happen “I guess I’m swimming now.” I would never have predicted… growing up as an actor, my brother was a theater actor, acting was this thing that we did because we loved doing it. It wasn’t necessarily a job. I never thought this would be a thing. I just thought it was something fun to do. And as it became a thing I just loved it and didn’t want to not do it. But if it all ended tomorrow I wouldn’t be sad. I think I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in this industry. I wouldn’t walk away, but I definitely feel fulfilled. I’ve met cool people.
True story: When I first started going to conventions, I accepted invitations from conventions I didn’t necessarily want to go to, because Johnny Bosch was going to be there, and I wanted to meet Johnny Bosch. So to now know that I can pick up my phone and call Johnny Bosch, [and say] “Hey, how’s it going?”, that’s enough.
I made this joke that I got mad that when I first met Johnny I never brought my Trigun box to have him sign. But it would be so awkward to have him do it now. I have to be okay with the fact that that’s the autograph I’ll never get. But it’s okay because I can call him up “Hey, I was watching Trigun…”
I’d feel so nerdy bringing up work. But yeah… I’ve done… I’ve met all the people… I love this job. I would never have predicted it would be this. I try not to expect too much so I’m always excited when something cool happens.
Anime Herald: As a veteran of the industry, are there any titles that you worked on that you’d like to see rebooted for a new generation?
Greg Ayres: Oh man. It’s always neat to see what happens in a reboot. Sometimes a reboot goes well and sometimes…
I’m a horror movie fan. Some of those reboots didn’t go too good. That new Carrie. Woof.
Yeah, but they’re older titles. I’d wonder if I’d want to reboot them because the industry has changed so much. There are some shows that when we worked them the technology wasn’t there to do them the way we’d do them now.
I think the most overlooked thing that I loved the most, and it’s not overlooked in Japan, I did a movie called Colorful. Not to be confused with the panty show Colorful, because there’s also this panty show called Colorful.
It’s this super serious movie. It doesn’t give anything away, but the cover is my character lying in a bed of flowers because he’s committed suicide. That’s how the show starts, with this kid killing himself. It’s his soul’s journey to the next place and what he has to do to reconcile for taking his own life. What questions he has to answer. It is dark. The beginning of it is so dark. Watching it I was like “Oh my God, how am I going to…”
When that show takes a nosedive up, it ends on the most positive “Ah…” moment. To me it’s some of the most brilliant storytelling. The twists and turns that happen right at the very end, you never see coming. It’s like the show Another. The same with this story. It deals with some very realistic stuff like abuse and depression. It’s a really neat show. It won all of these awards in Japan. But one shot in the States, unless they have a lot of push behind them, those little one hour movies and OVAs get looked over.
Down to the artwork, the cover, it’s just beautiful. It’s so beautiful you don’t realize you’re looking at someone’s deathbed. I think it’s weird that shows that have 15 million episodes are easier to sell than this cool one-shot story. But I don’t necessarily know if I’d really reboot that. Maybe just re-release it.
The show I’d like to see rebooted the most, just because it came out at a time when the technology wasn’t there to do the show justice, was Boogiepop Phantom. It’s an old show and I love it.
Looper: There was a new anime a few years ago, Boogiepop and Others.
Greg Ayres: Yeah. The very original (Boogiepop Phantom) is one of my favorites. When I watch it now, the audio is not… There’s so much more we can do with effects now in post-production that would have made that show just unnerving. That show, as solid as it is, didn’t rely on a lot of effects or anything. It’s just straight mixing.
It was recorded in a smaller studio with a smaller budget. It’s definitely one of the standout titles from that era.
Looper: Right Stuf did a Blu-Ray refresh.
Greg Ayres: Yeah. I know it got re-treated for Blu-Ray. The New Boogiepop… I still haven’t gone back to watch that. When it comes to a reboot like that… when they announced the new FLCL, I still haven’t seen it. Same vein, slightly different. I’m always worried it won’t live up to my original experience. It freaks me out. I was open minded with the Cowboy Bebop live action, but… how are you going to be better? It’s so tough for me to look back at a classic and go “Well, let’s do this better.”
I’m reticent. I still haven’t seen the FLCL stuff, and that’s why I didn’t watch any of the Boogiepop. But I will. The coolest thing about being a fan is I always have tomorrow to catch up on titles. I don’t know how long Melody of Oblivion sat on my shelf before I finally took the plastic off of it. I was like “I have it now. I can watch it whenever I want.” There was no rush to see it immediately.
I think that’s one of the hardest things about streaming. I don’t think that something that’s streaming today is necessarily going to be around later. That’s why I still buy DVDs and Blu-Rays. I like having the leisure of being able to watch it on my own… I’m not always in the mood for a certain show, but if I own it I can always go back and watch it later.
Looper: You are one of six actors to have played the role of Kaworu Nagisa in English. (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
Greg Ayres: Is it six of us now? I was number three.
Looper: As many people have played that role as have been married to Henry VIII.
Greg Ayres: That’s so funny. I think so far, I’m the only common thread between all of them too, because the original was done by Kyle Sturdivant, and I knew him from the Houston theater community. The second one was Aaron Krohn, whose mother was my first dance teacher. Then I did it. And then Jerry Jewell was next. I worked with him at Funimation. And then Cliff Chapin Jr., who’s one of my directors and also a friend did it, and now Daman Mills, who shares a role with my brother. I’m like “Man, I’m still the one common thread of all the Evangelion Kaworus.”
I’m sorry, I interrupted. What is the question?
Looper: I wanted to know why that role, in particular, has been recast more than any of the others?
Greg Ayres: Who knows? I think a lot of those roles have been recast. It’s not a secret I was butthurt the first time I was recast out of it. But, when you look at it, Kaworu has always been played by a different person. Knowing that, I don’t feel it’s personal. I just feel like that’s one of those roles everybody wants a shot at. And that should be okay. A lot of the actors in the Netflix stuff took a lot of unnecessary abuse from people that are like, “I will only stan Spike Spencer,” and that wasn’t fair to Casey [Mongillo] as an actor.
How many Romeo and Juliets have we seen? God knows Gainax is not going to stop putting out Evangelion stuff, so, why not everybody have a crack at Rei or everybody have a crack at Kaworu? As long as the material is treated respectfully, that’s all I really care about. That was one of my favorite roles at that time, so I’m glad Cliff got to feel that same excitement. When I was standing in the booth and saw the NERV logo flash, I almost peed a little bit. As a nerdy anime fan, that’s a huge thing to be a part of Evangelion, so I’m glad that Cliff got to experience that and Casey got to experience that and Ryan Bartley and so many other people.
It’s so weird that people like to pit us against each other as actors, because we’re all just pretending to be some character that somebody else made up. I’m very proud of the work that all of them do. But I don’t know why there’s some characters that got recast as others. Anytime I feel butthurt about losing Kaworu, I have to realize that Monica Rial went from playing Maya Ibuki to Pen Pen. That is definitely a bigger downgrade than going from Kaworu to Kensuke. But you know, we both have a really good sense of humor about it. She was like “Well, I’m a penguin.”
I don’t know why certain roles get recast, but I’m just glad I’m working. This is a job where you’re not always working. I’m glad if I’m not working, it’s going to a friend. It’d be different if it was some actor I don’t get along with and they got the role, I’d be like [grrr], but it’s Cliff. I love Cliff. I love Jerry. It’s one of those things. I’m glad somebody I like is doing the part, not somebody that’s just going through the motions.
Honey’s Anime: What do you find to be the most rewarding part of your career?
Greg Ayres: This is such a good question.
So, when I tell this story, it’s very hard. It involves a good friend of mine. Being older, it’s very normal for me to have friends that I grew up with whose children are now huge anime fans, and so a girl I grew up with, she called me and I heard these girls just screaming in the background. She goes, “Oh my God, do you have a second? I’m like “yeah” So, my kids don’t believe I know you. You still do that voiceover stuff, right?” I’m like, “Oh god, yeah.” And she says, “And you play a twin in something?” I’m like, “Oh yeah… that explains the screaming.” So I had this really funny conversation where she put me on the phone and I talked to her daughter and talked to her daughter’s friend. And we hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and I was doing a convention locally, I was like “Hey, why don’t you all come out, I’ll get passes for everybody.”
I met her, I hadn’t met her kids. I hung out with them for a little bit. She used to actually come to the club I worked at when I first started DJing as a teenager. I’m like “Hey, come to the rave, I actually know how to do this now. It’s not like the old days.” She came and we were all hanging out. I looked backstage at one moment, and she was sitting backstage crying. I told somebody “Make sure everything’s cool.” “Hey, are you okay?” And she’s like, “Yeah, I’m more than okay.”
I was like “Okay, I was just worried about you.” And she goes “My daughter is out in that crowd dancing.” And I was like, “That’s cool!” And she goes “No, my daughter doesn’t make friends with people. She goes to a school where everybody treats her like an alien, and she’s not excited about things, and she leads a very isolated existence. And just being here today, I’ve watched my daughter blossom because she’s around people like herself.”
That story keeps going. There’s a long version of that story that I tell in this panel called Pay it Forward Player 1. I’m not even saying that I have anything to do with that, but being a part of this whole microcosm, this whole entertainment/convention/anime community industry. This is something that is a huge deal for the people involved in it. And for kids, especially, that go through a time in their life where they feel isolated or whatever. Just to even be a part of any of that is like being a superhero. To have somebody come up to me and say, “Hey, during lockdown I thought I was losing my mind, and then I discovered this weird show called Puni Puni Poemy, and I laughed until I thought I was going to cry.” Or someone saying, “I was taking care of an elderly parent, and one night a week I allowed myself to watch Saiyuki.” Just to be a part of anything that makes the day-to-day garbage just okay, there’s no price tag you can put on that.
And I don’t over-inflate my part in that, but just to be a part of it. It’s like being, even if you were just the kit guy for Manchester City, you’re still a kit guy for the guys that won. Just being a part of this thing that’s so important to people is the best job I’ve ever had. I can get super emotional about that. Just watching this world transform people and shelter people and ease people through a time of life that’s really hard. Man, that’s the coolest thing in the world, to be a part of that.
I used to make a lot of money and work for a bunch of lawyers that yelled at me all the time. Not so much fun! I’ll take being a broke actor as a part of this cool floating universe any day of the week over that. Money’s money. You’ll always spend too much and never have enough. I can say I’m really proud to be a part of this community and will do anything. Whether it’s helping throw a dance, or organizing a convention, or running food orders to people that are working in the vendor’s hall. It takes all of us to make this weird little floating convention happen in a different city every weekend. And the fact that we’re here! We made it through a historical world event. We got very emotional backstage watching that “Coming Home” video where they were putting together Anime Boston, because we haven’t seen each other in three years. To be a part of all this, that’s the most rewarding. I’d love to say something flashy, but that’s really not the big thing. The big thing is being part of this.
Editor’s note: Greg took a moment after the press conference to thank us and to thank Anime Boston for putting this together.
We’d like to thank Greg for taking the time to speak with us and thank Anime Boston for putting the show on again.
