Synopsis - Neil Ross, has been responsible for bringing life to some of our most memorable characters in animation history, He has been in the legendary Transformers, voicing for the Auto-bots and Decepticons. He was Leoric from Visionaries and Ace McCloud the daring air expert from Centurions. Other roles span from Back to the Future 2 to Galaxy High, Biker Mice from Mars and Spiderman. He generously took his time to reply to our questions and we are very grateful to host such a legend here at insomniacmania.com.

Question – What inspired you the most to take on vocal roles? You mainly did radio, up until 1985. What influenced you to parlay into other fields?

Neil - I first heard the term voice-overs in 1969. Until then I had no idea that the industry even existed. As time went by I became increasingly disenchanted with radio. I felt my talents were neither appreciated nor rewarded. In the mean time voice-overs became more and more attractive to me. I felt that this was a field where I could come the closest to living up to my potential. I began my career transition in 1978 when I moved to Los Angeles. It took about five years to complete the process.

Question – You had a passion in deep sea diving, why did you not pursue a career in it? Did you ever want to change your career after choosing to pursue one in radio?

Neil - Diving was something that appealed to me briefly when I was in the ninth grade. A year or two later I got bitten by the radio bug and never looked back. I was quite happy in radio for a long time and never thought about doing anything else until I got interested in voice-overs.

Question - Did you start out by doing impressions? What accents are hard for you to mimic? Do you ever need to do research or practice before an audition?

Neil - My first successes in voice-overs were in the cartoon field. I don’t really do impressions. My specialty is trying to create new and (hopefully) unique voices. I have always had a pretty good ‘ear’ so most accents come easily to me. I have a collection of dialect tapes and I usually listen to them if I need to do an accent at an audition or job.

Question - You mention you have dialect tapes? How did you get hold of these and which dialects are we talking about?

Neil - I bought them at Samuel French a theatrical bookstore in Hollywood. They're done by a guy named David Allen stern. I have about twenty. Almost every dialect imaginable.

Question – what was the first character you played? Which characters' required the least and most effort on your part?

Neil - The more richly textured characters are, paradoxically, the easiest because you have a lot to work with. The worst time I have is when a director says something like “just be yourself”. I’m not comfortable with that, I seem to need a character to play. The first cartoon I can recall doing was an episode of ‘Ritchie rich’ for Hanna-Barbera. I played a pushy salesman who gets his tie caught in the door.

Question –Are there any roles you particularly desire? Which was the most enjoyable character to play?

Neil - I desire richly textured characters as I said above. My favourite characters over the years would probably include shipwreck in g.i. Joe, Norman Osborne/Green goblin in ‘Spiderman’ and a character whose name escapes me in the prince valiant series who went from being a very dark villain to a good guy in the span of about six episodes.

Question - Do mirrors help with lip sync and expression? What tips would you give for those wanting to become a voice over artist?

Neil - I’ve never worked with a mirror, nor do I know of any voice actor who has. (that seems to be a technique that the on-camera folks employ.) The number one tip I would give aspiring voice actors is listen. Listen to other voice actors, listen to on camera actors, listen to comedians, listen to the voices and accents in the streets. If you hear something that intrigues you, try to reproduce it with your voice. Use a tape recorder to listen to your work. (that’s your mirror.) Over time you’ll begin to learn what works for you and what doesn’t. You hang on to what works and discard what doesn’t and eventually you develop your technique.

Question – What are other voice over artists like in general? Have you ever met other famous artists such as Larry Kenney who played the voice of Lion-O from Thundercats!?

Question – “Galaxy High School” was one of my favorite cartoons, you took on the role of “Rotten Roland”. He's a giant talking egg with arms, legs, & a dozen miniature replicas of himself that he carries around at all times. How did you decide his personality and voice?

Neil - Don’t think I’ve ever met Mr. Kenney. Galaxy high was so long ago that my memory of how that voice came about is hazy at best. The director, Howard Morris, is a wild comedic improviser and he encouraged his casts in their creativity. He was open to just about anything, so I suppose he just let me fool around until something started to happen that we both liked. You can’t really generalize about actors. They come in all shapes and sizes. The only general comment I could make would be that voice actors seem to be a lot less inclined toward the petty jealousies that plague the on camera world. (I’ve been told this by on camera people.) Perhaps it’s because we’re not judged on our looks (thank god).

Question - Spider-Man was always one of my cult classic cartoons, you voiced “The Green Goblin/Norman Osborn”. What did you think of the Spiderman movie, Wiliam Dafoe really sounded a lot like you, or at least he tried. What other voices did you take on?

Neil - I never saw the Spiderman movie. My daughter rented it but all I saw was a protracted fight scene with no dialogue. If there is a similarity between William Dafoe’s voice and mine, I suspect it’s merely a coincidence. I did do a number of incidental characters in Spiderman, but I’m pretty sure that Norman Osborne/green goblin was (were) the only major one (ones).

Question - You must have worked with a variety of different people, which ones did you like and dislike? Neil - Most of the time I was having too much fun to be bothered by anyone. The voice-over community consists of some of the wildest, funniest, zaniest and most fascinating people you’d ever want to meet and there were times it was like attending the greatest party imaginable. Hard to believe one was getting paid for it. If somebody got on my nerves now and then, well, I probably go on theirs once in a while too- so we’ll call it even.

Question – What is the most rewarding element in your work? Who do you feel really appreciated your voice talent? What is it like to take on different roles and be someone else for a change?

Neil - The most rewarding element is the work itself. I just enjoy doing it. I guess everyone who ever hired me over the years appreciated my talents to one degree or another. Some of my biggest boosters over the years would include my first agent, the late Dona lee Davies, Bob Lloyd (the voicecaster), animation directors Wally Burr, Stu Rosen and Michael hack, ad guy Kent McCamen and many others. Tough to explain why it’s so much fun to take on the characteristics of another personality. I suppose it frees one up to do and say things one would never dream of doing or saying in ‘real’ life. I think I understand the exhilaration the guy in ‘catch me if you can’ must have felt as he fooled everyone and got to live all those different lives. Acting allows one to do that without having to go to jail afterwards.

Question - Have you ever been recognized by any of the public?   Neil - Only at fan conventions and that type of thing.

Question - Did you ever get to meet any of the girls in the playboy video playmate calendar 2002 ?

Neil - Nope. Don’t even get to see the tapes. They just fast forward to my next line.

Question - Did you ever turn down a role? Neil - I’ve turned down non-union work and x-rated stuff but basically – no.

Question – You played Han Solo in several Lucasarts games, how did it feel to imitate the voice of Harrison Ford, and have you ever met him?

Neil - I never really tried to imitate Harrison ford. They seemed to hear a similarity, so I just kept on doing what I’d been doing and everyone seemed happy. I’ve never met the chap.

Question – You usually take on the role of announcer in flicks such as Gremlins 2, Back to the Future 2 and Dick Tracy, would you ever consider becoming one of those Hollywood tour guide guys, with the added extra of revealing at the end that you’ve been in some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows ever made?

Neil - I don’t think I’m tour guide material. I just don’t look good in a hat.

Question – You have done voice over work for cartoons, anime, computer games and movies. What are the major differences between them?

Neil - Games are very different from everything else because they’re not linear. You don’t really play scenes most of the time. You speak lines that may pop up for the player at any time and since you usually don’t have a written scene to explain motivation, you have rely a great deal on imagination. I’ll never forget voicing a game once and having the producer say, “this next line you’re going to do will only be heard if the player falls asleep and his head hits the keyboard – but I guess we’d better do it anyway.” I’ve often wondered if anyone’s ever heard that line.

Question - Can you remember the game or the line you were asked to say ?

Neil - I think the game was 'Leisure suit Larry.' can't recall the line.

Question – What are you most memorable cartoons? I always loved Ulysses 31.

Neil - I’m not familiar with that one. I have to confess that I was never a great cartoon fan. I was a much bigger fan of radio drama. That’s what I would have like to have done but it was long over by the time I got to that level - which left cartoons. In my mind when I’m working on a cartoon, it’s a radio play. If somebody wants to add drawings later –that’s their business.

Question – You were in An American Tale as Honest John, what was it like working on Spielbergs first major animated feature, and on Don Bluths major breakthrough with a studio?

Neil - Very exciting. It’s been forgotten, but the tremendous success of ‘American tail’ was the beginning of the huge resurgence of feature animation which continues to this day. It grossed close to fifty million, which sounds like peanuts today, but at the time, that made it the highest grossing cartoon in motion picture history. This led to Spielberg moving ahead with ‘Roger Rabbit,’ Disney getting back into the game and all the rest that has happened since. ‘Tail’ started it all. And did it without any (or very many) celebrity voices. As I write this ‘Sinbad:legend of the seven seas’ is circling the drain despite the vocal talents of Brad Pitt, Michelle Pfeiffer and Catherine zeta-Jones. It ain’t about the names, guys – it’s about great story telling!

Question – You were part of the cult favorite cartoon ,Transformers. Among many of the characters you portrayed from the Autobots’ to the Decepticons’ which ones were your favorite and closest to your natural voice?

Neil - Springer was my hands down favourite. Lot’s of fun to do and not much of a strain on the cords. Mostly just an exaggeration of my normal speaking voice.

Question – How did you get a place on the Transformers cartoon? You were working on G.I.Joe first and came late into the series. It was originally Wally Burr who set you up?

Neil - Wally chose the people that he wanted to audition. He directed the auditions and then sent them to New York with his recommendations. The final casting decisions were made by the producers in New York.

Question - What would you have changed if anything?

Neil - A bigger studio. Shorter sessions.

Question – What was Director Wally Burr like to work with, sources indicate his was a dedicated person to his work and loyal to his actors?

Neil - He was both those things. He frequently arrived having had little or no sleep because he’d stayed up all night going over the next day’s script and storyboard. He was meticulous in his attention to detail. And if you were part of Wally’s ‘stock company’ you got a crack at everything. I liken it to the group of actors that john ford built up around him as he made those classic westerns. Of course we weren’t as talented as those guys and Wally didn’t drink as much as ford did, but you get the idea. Wally’s sessions lasted longer than those of any other director i ever worked with. There are those who feel they went on too long. But the shows he directed have held up over the years like few others, so maybe it was necessary.

Question - In the “Pryde of the X-men” you take on Wolverine (Logan), have you seen the new x-men movies, and do you think Hugh Jackman portrays Wolverine well? How would you describe the personality you gave Wolverine?

Neil - Haven’t seen those movies either. We only did the one x-men episode and then they took the voice work up to Canada and it’s so long ago that I remember virtually nothing about it. Sorry.

Question - Pryde of the X-Men “you portray Wolverine with an Australian accent? In the movie the Australian actor Hugh Jackman plays Wolverine with a Canadian accent…

Neil - We only did the one show and it was a long time ago, but I seem to recall that he had an Austrian or German accent. (What my parents used to call 'mittle' European.) One of the other characters had an Australian sound. Can't recall which one, but I'm pretty sure Pat Pinney played the part.

Question – The cartoon Centurions was one of my other favorite series, you took on the role of Ace McCloud , the daring air operations expert. How cool is that. Do you have any memorable moments on set?

Neil - It was kind of fun to meet and work with the late Vince Edwards. I had grown up watching him on tv as dr. Ben casey. He turned out to be a real nice guy – very self-effacing. The last time I saw him was on the set of the tv series ‘nurses’. I was doing a voice-over and he was a guest star. I sneaked up behind him when he arrived on the set and putting on an annoying squeaky Jerry Lewis voice i said “mr. Edwards! Mr. Edwards!! I have only one thing to say to you – (into the ace voice) power extreme!!!!’). He did a double take and then cracked up. Later he took the mic away from the warmup guy and spent several minutes telling the studio audience about me and leading them in a round of applause for me. Like i said a very nice man. A lot of very funny things happened during the making of ‘centurions’ but they fall into the ‘you had to be there’ category. Very tough to explain.

Question – You took the lead role in Visonaries, as Leoric! Why did it only last a few episodes, it was building up to a decent storyline? Were you able to get a glimpse at future scripts? Did Merklin have alternative motives?

Neil - As I recall we did a full season of ‘visionaries’ (13 episodes). I heard through the grapevine that the show was killed when a number of religious fundamentalists began writing in demanding that the show be taken off the air because they thought it was satanic. I was never able to confirm that though. Once a show is cancelled they never bother to tell you why – you just move on. I was sorry to see that one go though. Can’t answer your question about Merklin. It’s too long ago.

Question – I’ve read that one of your favorite characters you portrayed was “Whitley White” from Attack of the Killer tomatoes. What is it you liked about the character and your role in the series?

Neil - I’ve always found the broadcaster who is in love with the sound of his own voice highly amusing. The ‘tomatoes’ producers and director Stu Rosen allowed me to ad lib and fool around. It was great fun. During most of my lines, if you listen carefully, you can tell I’m barely able to get my lines out, I’m so close to cracking up. It was a great cast and a great show. I wish it had lasted.

Question - The site toonarific.com has some pictures up from the series Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! Which one is Whitely White?

Neil - This is Whitley white.

Question – The series “Biker Mice from Mars” was on the urge of becoming just as popular as the Teenage mutant Ninja turtles. What do you think was its downfall? Did your character Hacka Lougie have a vital role?

Neil - No, that character only appeared in a few episodes. I don’t know why the show didn’t last. As I said earlier, it’s really hard to find out that kind of stuff – especially if you’re not a full time cast member.

Question – Describe the relationship between the script writers and actors. Were you made to stand or sit whilst performing? What were the conditions like in the studio, did it get really hot? What was the atmosphere shared with the other actors?

Neil - It really varies from show to show. And studio to studio. If chairs are provided most actors will sit. I prefer to stand most of the time. Most studios have excellent air conditioning so there’s only a problem if it breaks down. Wally burr north (the studio where most of the g.i.Joe and transformers shows were recorded was a bit too small for some of the large casts that were assembled. It really got quite claustrophobic at times. If you didn’t have any lines for a while, you’d duck out into the waiting room and tell ‘war stories’ with the other actors until it was time to go back in.

Question – There is confusion to whether Springer’s first appearance was in Transformers the Movie or was voiced first in some TV episodes?

Neil - I first recorded the Springer character for several TV episodes. This was followed by my work on the movie. The question is: did the TV stuff air before or after the movie was released? I was so busy in those days that I seldom if ever watched the show – so I don’t have the answer. All I recall is recording several TV episodes before working on the movie. But it’s entirely possible that they aired after the film was released.

Question – Out of all the characters you have ever taken on, which ones would you love to do again and which would you prefer to avoid?

Neil - Can’t think of a single character I wouldn’t love to do again.

Question – Were you ever inspired by live action actors whilst voicing for certain characters? Some have questioned your take on of Harrison Ford for the Springer character? Which characters evolved instantly and which ones took a few years to master?

Neil - I’m sure I'm influenced by every actor I’ve ever seen or heard to a greater or lesser degree. I can honestly say that the idea of Harrison Ford never entered into my mind when it came to Springer. Maybe it did subconsciously – who knows. All the characters i did in animation happened more or less instantly. They had to. Most of the time you audition with little or no time to prepare. You have to make instant choices and go with your instincts. Sometimes these are modified by suggestions made by directors and producers, but the shows are cast based on these ‘instant’ auditions and it’s no good showing up six months later saying, “hey, i just figured out how to do this character!!” By then the show is in the can and somebody else got the job. Obviously, the characterizations become more nuanced and textured the longer you do them. Part of it is the actor; the other part is the scripts, which tend to become more interesting as the writers get deeper into the characters as well.

Question – How often have you accidentally stolen other actors roles whilst voicing? How hard is to maintain character and portray rough voices for lengthy periods of time?

Neil - During the first recording session Pat Fraley and I discovered to our horror that we were doing essentially the same voice for our characters in ‘centurions.’ we took a hasty meeting and figured out a way to separate them. Not too long ago i voiced a documentary on the making of an animated feature film starring two on camera actors. As I listened to the clips i realized that they had cast two leads who sounded virtually identical. Had these guys been experienced voice-over performers, they would have figured out the problem and corrected it in two seconds. But they weren’t and they didn’t. The picture tanked. Maybe that wasn’t the reason, but I’m sure it didn’t help. Yes, it can be quite a strain to perform gravelly voices, especially if you have a lot of lines and/or the director insists on a lot of takes. The late Chris Latta always amazed me. He could scream, shreik and howl for hours on end and it never seemed to affect him. I would have lost my voice in short order if I'd tried to do half of what he did. We used to joke about him having barbed wire for vocal cords.

Question – Scott, my main reviewer was watching a few episodes of Transformers earlier on this week. The stories hold great moral values in them, they always were very educational. However we were wondering why even in a cartoon the rare female transformer is fit? How come there was never a blimpa-tron? Do you feel there should have been more female voice artists hired for the series?

Neil - With the exception of shows aimed at females like ‘gem,’ there were almost never enough female roles in the shows. In the case of g.i. joe and transformers, the target audience was, as i recall, 12-14 year old males. I guess the feeling was that they wouldn’t be too interested in seeing many female characters. I’m guessing at this because we almost never met the writers and i can’t recall writers or producers ever sharing their overall philosophy on the shows. They just wanted us to get in there and bang ‘em out. The situation has improved over the years, but there are still fewer parts for women.

Question – You took on the role as Shipwreck in G.I Joe. What kind of character was he and do you feel the role was right for you? What went on at a typical GI Joe voice over session? yojoe.com has a voice extract of you talking about Shipwreck.

Neil - He was described to me as being like Jack Nicholson in a movie he did early in his career titled “the last detail’ in which he played a rather scruffy career navy enlisted man. I loved shipwreck because, unlike the other characters in g.i. Joe, who tended to be rather one dimensional (i00% good or evil), shipwreck had shades of gray. He was basically a good guy but he liked to do things his own way and cut a few corners which frequently got him into trouble and made him great fun to portray. A typical g.i. Joe session went roughly like this: we’d start around 9:30am. Wally would let anyone who had five lines or less record and leave. Then the main cast would sit around a big table in the studio and do a table rehearsal during which Wally would give specific direction based on the storyboard. Around 1pm we would break for lunch. We’d come back at 2pm and start recording. The session would usually wrap between 5 and 6pm.

Question - Were all of your lines for an episode recorded at one time or did you have to come back and do pick ups or looping?

Neil - Everything was recorded at one time. There were minimal pickups. (the only exception to this would be if an actor wasn’t available on show day. In that case he would be brought in on another day and do pickups.) I don’t recall any looping, if it happened at all it would have been because a continuity problem had arisen after the fact. Those kind of things add to the overall production costs so Wally and producers went to great lengths to get what they needed the first time around.

Question – You do a lot of computer game work now, Monkey Island has been played to death, I would have never thought Wally and the Perfume Spritzer guy were portrayed by the same person. What voice work did you have to do for Enter the Matrix?

Neil - I just did miscellaneous vocal background work for the matrix. No main characters.

Question - Confident with the sound of your own voice, would you be more inclined to take on a singing career? Have you ever been asked to sing for any of the characters you portray?

Neil - I've never had any real training as a singer. I get asked to do it on very few occasions and I'm never very confident. The only specific one i recall was singing in Don Bluth's 'little troll prince in central park.' there were three of us singing and Barry Manilow was in charge! I kept waiting for him to tell me I was horrible and throw me out. But he didn't. He actually seemed quite pleased. Go figure.

Question - Ever considered voicing for Anime? A lot of hyped up hero action characters in there, some of their lines have to be the most memorable.

Neil - If they asked me to I'd be happy to give it a shot.

Question – Do you use body language to help gain the appropriate tone in some scenes?

Neil - Definitely. It’s kind of hard to portray extreme tension if you’re slouched over with your hands in your pockets. Of course you have to stay on mic and beware of clothing noise (the mics are extremely sensitive) but I move around a lot. It’s like an on-camera performance without the camera.

Question - Out of all the accents you have used, which ones do you feel you have yet to master? Are there any on your demo tape you had never had to use?

Neil - I've used every accent on the demo. Everything on my animation demo is real and came off some show or other. The accent I'm least comfortable with is the New England or down easter sound. Although I've booked some jobs doing it I'm always hanging by a thread. Never been asked to do it, but I know South African would be a problem. Curious combination of standard British and Dutch which absolutely defeats me. Heard Mathew Broderick do it in a television version of Athol Fugrard's 'Master Harold and the Boys' and was very impressed. He had it down!

Question - Would you consider providing us with a few autographs for a competition on our website? I will be willing to acquire for you high quality pictures of some of the characters you portrayed and send them directly to you, with return details and packaging provided? I will be more than happy to pay for any costs incurred.

Neil - Sure, no problem.

Question – What are your upcoming projects? Any more games or movies coming up?

Neil - As I write this the doorbell has rung and a chap has delivered some pickup lines for an upcoming game I’ve been working on called ‘crimson skies’. I didn’t get to see it but the producers brought the prototype game to the studio where we record and showed it to the crew. They tell me it’s quite amazing. So look for that on the shelves soon.

Question - Is there anything you would like to add?

Neil - Thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Thanks for your interest. All the best.