Being superheroes can give actors big responsibilities
Published Mar 25, 2018 09:14 am
By Francine Ciasico
As the famous quote from Spiderman goes “With great power comes great responsibility,” being a superhero can also be hard for the actors portraying the character.
‘Power Rangers’ actor Walter Jones, ‘Teen Wolf’ actress Holland Roden, ‘Stranger Things’ actor Dacre Montgomery, and ‘Overwatch’ voice actors Feodor Chin, Anjali Bhimani, Carolina Ravassa, and Jen Cohn shared their experiences on how their characters affected their lives in a press conference at Comic Con Asia 2018.
(Left to Right) Holland Roden, Dacre Montgomery, Walter Jones, Pauline Laping (PSL Entertainment head), Anjali Bhimani, Jen Cohn, Carolina Ravassa, and Feodor Chin. (Francine Ciasico / MANILA BULLETIN)
Black Ranger Jones answered first, saying “A lot of us are very close to our characters so obviously, being a superhero, you have a responsibility as role model...The goodness that comes across our characters pushes us to continue to become good in life. I see a lot of positives in that,” he added.
Sombra’s voice actress from ‘Overwatch’, Carolina Ravassa, agreed with what Jones stated -- sharing that they were able to see how video games affect people. She realized that games have a higher reach more than she had ever imagined. “It makes us work harder to be our better selves.”
Jen Cohn, voice actress of Pharah from ‘Overwatch’, said she was really inspired with how righteous and tough Pharah is while being very generous and genuine. She added that she tries to embed it to her own life.
Furthermore, Anjali Bhimani, voice actress of Symmetra from ‘Overwatch’, stated that her character is a constant reminder for her not to let circumstances -- whether upbringing or past, things that are considered to be personal obstacles -- keep one from trying to be the best that they can be.
“And certainly every person I think has those parts in their lives where they think they can’t but I feel like she never did that and so the constant reminder for me is not to let anything get in the way.” Bhimani added.
Good and bad side
There are advantages and disadvantages in portraying a character in a video game or comic book.
Bhimani spoke on behalf of all the ‘Overwatch’ voice actors since all of their characters were considered on the ‘good’ side.
“The pro of it is when you’re playing an iconic character that people can see something special in themselves so if people are feeling a little bit less like a hero in their own lives they might identify with that hero being able to see something within themselves. There's something really inspirational in the characters that we get to play.” Bhimani said.
For the downside, Bhimani mentioned that they can’t always connect with the people that they are affecting – that they don’t always get to talk to their audience. But when they attend events, they are able to finally see if they’re making a difference on people.
Meanwhile, Jones shared that as actors, they were able to provide fans a fantasy to inspire people.
“I hear people saying ‘When I was a kid I wanna be (like) you’ and the fact that we were able to be that for them is so amazing.” Jones added.
Montgomery, who is starring as an antagonist in ‘Stranger Things’, expressed that he would like to see developments in his character Billy Hargrove for the next seasons to come.
“Humanizing the villain. Everyone has a reason from where he’s coming from,” he said.
Montgomery then explained the ‘trickle down effect’ where the issue about Billy’s father can be considered. “We are the products of our family, it's a trickle down effect. There's always more to it.”
He also disclosed that he would like to see Billy with a girl. He believes that a having a love interest can teach an antagonist to be true to himself.
On criticisms
When asked about how they handle people who hate them, Cohn revealed that “Because Pharrah is a very hard character to play, I get very polarizing responses. I get people who come up to me like ‘You are the pain of my existence’ and that’s very overwhelming. But I've never been personally bashed. Thankfully, my character, not me.”
“For the haters I mostly try to ignore them or I say ‘Thanks for the love! Heart heart heart’. You can’t really engage with them because we’re trying to pull up positivity and we don’t have time for that stuff,” answered Ravassa.
Bhimani then expressed her thoughts on the query. “But when it comes to something personal, I think it would be a nice opportunity to remind people that their words have meaning and they have power – both to hurt and to help.”
Meanwhile, the voice actor of Zenyatta from ‘Overwatch’, Feodor Chin, answered that he wasn’t able to receive hate because his character was beloved by many.
“Teenagers -- it's cathartic on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook. I usually don’t respond to things that aren’t true. But there comes a time when you do feel personally attacked. You set out a sort-of objective statement and it starts a conversation with themselves.” Roden remarked
Jones said that there are fans who would stand in the way to defend them but one cannot please everybody all the time. “Everybody has an opinion. Everybody is entitled to speak his mind. Words are powerful and some people are not aware of it.”
Montgomery then narrated how he was bullied when he was a kid because he was chubby. “Being bullied gives you an interesting insight into these people lashing out on you.”
He also felt like people are often misunderstood that’s why they get picked on, but he said he could understand and he has more patience with people lashing out.
Anecdotes on fans
As events like Comic Con Asia 2018 were “heavens” for fans, the actors shared funny and unforgettable anecdotes with fans.
“I think it’s really funny when you’re in a country where there’s dubbing involved...It’s always fun when you hear stories of the dubbed version of yourself. However, the translations and the dubbing voices might not be so precise,” shared Holland Roden, who stars as Lydia Martin from ‘Teen Wolf’.
Meanwhile, Bhimani conveyed that “so many people say that I made such difference in their lives even though my representation is in the spectrum of the big picture. It brings me to tears often when I hear people say how much it means to them.”
(Left to Right) Holland Roden, Dacre Montgomery, Walter Jones, Pauline Laping (PSL Entertainment head), Anjali Bhimani, Jen Cohn, Carolina Ravassa, and Feodor Chin. (Francine Ciasico / MANILA BULLETIN)
Black Ranger Jones answered first, saying “A lot of us are very close to our characters so obviously, being a superhero, you have a responsibility as role model...The goodness that comes across our characters pushes us to continue to become good in life. I see a lot of positives in that,” he added.
Sombra’s voice actress from ‘Overwatch’, Carolina Ravassa, agreed with what Jones stated -- sharing that they were able to see how video games affect people. She realized that games have a higher reach more than she had ever imagined. “It makes us work harder to be our better selves.”
Jen Cohn, voice actress of Pharah from ‘Overwatch’, said she was really inspired with how righteous and tough Pharah is while being very generous and genuine. She added that she tries to embed it to her own life.
Furthermore, Anjali Bhimani, voice actress of Symmetra from ‘Overwatch’, stated that her character is a constant reminder for her not to let circumstances -- whether upbringing or past, things that are considered to be personal obstacles -- keep one from trying to be the best that they can be.
“And certainly every person I think has those parts in their lives where they think they can’t but I feel like she never did that and so the constant reminder for me is not to let anything get in the way.” Bhimani added.
Good and bad side
There are advantages and disadvantages in portraying a character in a video game or comic book.
Bhimani spoke on behalf of all the ‘Overwatch’ voice actors since all of their characters were considered on the ‘good’ side.
“The pro of it is when you’re playing an iconic character that people can see something special in themselves so if people are feeling a little bit less like a hero in their own lives they might identify with that hero being able to see something within themselves. There's something really inspirational in the characters that we get to play.” Bhimani said.
For the downside, Bhimani mentioned that they can’t always connect with the people that they are affecting – that they don’t always get to talk to their audience. But when they attend events, they are able to finally see if they’re making a difference on people.
Meanwhile, Jones shared that as actors, they were able to provide fans a fantasy to inspire people.
“I hear people saying ‘When I was a kid I wanna be (like) you’ and the fact that we were able to be that for them is so amazing.” Jones added.
Montgomery, who is starring as an antagonist in ‘Stranger Things’, expressed that he would like to see developments in his character Billy Hargrove for the next seasons to come.
“Humanizing the villain. Everyone has a reason from where he’s coming from,” he said.
Montgomery then explained the ‘trickle down effect’ where the issue about Billy’s father can be considered. “We are the products of our family, it's a trickle down effect. There's always more to it.”
He also disclosed that he would like to see Billy with a girl. He believes that a having a love interest can teach an antagonist to be true to himself.
On criticisms
When asked about how they handle people who hate them, Cohn revealed that “Because Pharrah is a very hard character to play, I get very polarizing responses. I get people who come up to me like ‘You are the pain of my existence’ and that’s very overwhelming. But I've never been personally bashed. Thankfully, my character, not me.”
“For the haters I mostly try to ignore them or I say ‘Thanks for the love! Heart heart heart’. You can’t really engage with them because we’re trying to pull up positivity and we don’t have time for that stuff,” answered Ravassa.
Bhimani then expressed her thoughts on the query. “But when it comes to something personal, I think it would be a nice opportunity to remind people that their words have meaning and they have power – both to hurt and to help.”
Meanwhile, the voice actor of Zenyatta from ‘Overwatch’, Feodor Chin, answered that he wasn’t able to receive hate because his character was beloved by many.
“Teenagers -- it's cathartic on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook. I usually don’t respond to things that aren’t true. But there comes a time when you do feel personally attacked. You set out a sort-of objective statement and it starts a conversation with themselves.” Roden remarked
Jones said that there are fans who would stand in the way to defend them but one cannot please everybody all the time. “Everybody has an opinion. Everybody is entitled to speak his mind. Words are powerful and some people are not aware of it.”
Montgomery then narrated how he was bullied when he was a kid because he was chubby. “Being bullied gives you an interesting insight into these people lashing out on you.”
He also felt like people are often misunderstood that’s why they get picked on, but he said he could understand and he has more patience with people lashing out.
Anecdotes on fans
As events like Comic Con Asia 2018 were “heavens” for fans, the actors shared funny and unforgettable anecdotes with fans.
“I think it’s really funny when you’re in a country where there’s dubbing involved...It’s always fun when you hear stories of the dubbed version of yourself. However, the translations and the dubbing voices might not be so precise,” shared Holland Roden, who stars as Lydia Martin from ‘Teen Wolf’.
Meanwhile, Bhimani conveyed that “so many people say that I made such difference in their lives even though my representation is in the spectrum of the big picture. It brings me to tears often when I hear people say how much it means to them.”