A Conversation With Lauren Landa

Interviewer: Samantha Ferreira

Anime Herald: What was your experience in building out the character for Michiru [Kaioh] in Sailor Moon? How did you get into her head, and did you feel any pressure in voicing a character that's widely beloved as an LGBTQIA+ icon?

Lauren Landa: So actually, I can answer all those questions because, when I first started watching Sailor Moon, which was when I was about 13 or 14, Uranus and Neptune immediately became my two favorite characters. And this is when the Canadian dub was coming out. And I immediately fell in love with both characters. Neptune, being so gracious, and gorgeous, and elegant. And then there was Uranus, who was just so cool and confident. And there was just so much between the two of them that I just fell in love with.

I already knew what Neptune, in my opinion, was supposed to sound like—very beautiful and graceful. When I got the audition to read for her, I knew what I wanted her to sound like, and I knew what she should sound like. And I remember recording an audition for her and I sent it in. And they said, "Well, we think we might want her to sound a little younger," And I just knew that it wouldn't work out, but I sent them it anyway. And then they ended up liking the original tape, because that's truly what I felt she was going to sound like. And it just was like a connection that I had, if that makes sense. I just knew she has to sound like this. This is how she sounds in the Japanese. And I can't imagine her sounding any different.

And yes, I did feel immense pressure playing a character that is very well known for being LGBTQ+, because I, myself, while I do consider myself an ally, I am not a part of the LGBTQ+ community. I am more than thrilled that the community has accepted that I do play her, and that they do like that I play her, and they liked my performance. That means the world to me.

And myself and Erica Mendez, we just wanted everybody to, you know, like what we did with the characters, but we truly wanted to help bring their relationship to life in the American dub of it. Because in the Japanese it was, but unfortunately in the Canadian dub, it was not. And so we definitely wanted to do that. And we both just really wanted people to be happy, because we want the fans to be happy. So I'm very happy that the fans like myself and Erica as Uranus and Neptune, because we love both characters like so much so that means the world to me.

Anime Herald: Given the current situation regarding the pandemic, what would you say is the biggest challenge that you face in your day to day work?

Lauren Landa: You know­, I think at first it was very challenging for the whole industry, but I think we are finally back into a groove. The remote sessions are working for everybody, for the most part. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. The only challenge is when we're having technical difficulties, and if we can't do anything about it from home. But for the most part, whenever I've had remote sessions, it's always been fixable. And if not, then we have to reschedule and all of that.

So I'm thankful to say that I haven't had too many challenges. But when the pandemic first started, it was a very scary time, because not everyone had the remote setup at home. So we all had to figure that out. And the studios had to figure it out, as well. So it was a very scary, I'm sure, time for everybody. So I'm glad that we're kind of past that though.

Anime Herald: What role would you say is the one you've had to dive the deepest to pull out your performance with, which was the most challenging to build a character for?

Lauren Landa: The most challenging character that I've had to play, or that I had to pull out of me. Um... (clears throat) I'm trying to think, because with the characters that I'm really known for, you know, Merlin from Seven Deadly Sins, Annie, Sailor Neptune, Kyoko Sakura, a lot of them were not very difficult to pull out of me, because it's kind of easy for me to get into character. I'm one of those actors that can just get into character. I would say, vocally, Kyoko was a little challenging, because at the time when I played Kyoko, I had not played a lot of higher pitched characters. So, it was definitely out of my comfort zone. But that's probably the one that I can think of right now. And Annie was interesting because she's very monotone and she's kind of emotionless or she appears to be emotionless, so I had to perform it in a way that didn't sound like I was reading the script, but still sounded like I'm Annie and I don't care about this essentially.

So yeah. (chuckles)

Anime Herald: In this age of Social Media, how do you manage celebrity and expectations of parasocial relationships?

Lauren Landa: You mean, when you say parasocial, you mean through social media?

Anime Herald: Exactly.

Lauren Landa: So, I have my own personal thoughts on social media. I think social media has become a very different place than what it used to be or what it should be. I wish we could live in an age where we didn't have to rely on social media because I, myself, I mean, it's not that I don't like social media, but I would prefer not to have to promote myself on social media. But that's unfortunately, the way this the the industry is now. I much prefer the in-person connections and all of that.

There are some benefits to social media, like absolutely, you can reach people further than you could in person. But social media can be very difficult at times, it can be very defeating, it can be very draining, and not just for me as a performer or as a public figure, for anybody. Just for any anybody that posts on social media, because I feel like there's a lot of anonymity on social media nowadays that people can comment or write whatever they want. It really can have an effect on someone's life and mental health. And I just kind of hope that it goes in a direction where it's not going to affect people's mental health the way that it does.

I know it's not what you asked, I'm sorry. (laughs) I'm, like, going on a tangent! But it's, you know, as a promoter, sorry, excuse me, as a public figure. Social media definitely helps in many different ways to promote my projects to promote me as an actor, and along with any other stuff that I might want to promote. So, it has its pros and cons. And I'm still trying to figure out what my where my stance is on it as far as like, how I feel about it.

Anime Herald: So how does it feel to be connected to all these iconic franchises from Attack on Titan, to Sailor Moon, to Fire Emblem?

Lauren Landa: it feels kind of surreal, honestly, because when I was a kid, as I said, Sailor Moon was the first anime that I ever watched. And, you know, Dragon Ball Z was shortly after that. To me, honestly, it's kind of still surreal, that I am a part of this world that I was a big fan of as a kid, especially things like Sailor Moon and Attack on Titan. I was also in Dragon Ball Z Kai, for a couple of different roles. And that was also incredibly special.

It's just surreal.

And there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for all of the opportunities and all of the roles that I've been cast as throughout my entire career. I've just I feel so fortunate and so lucky and it's never gonna go away.

Anime Herald: So, looking to the future, where would you like to see being anime, the voice acting industry evolve to in maybe five, ten, fifteen years? Where would you like to see things end up?

Lauren Landa: You know, I'm not sure. I just I think I would like for voice actors within the voice acting industry to be considered for roles that they wouldn't be considered for. Such as, you know, big franchise movies, for example. You know, I think there's a whole community of us that could do incredibly well, in said movies, and I think more of us should be given that chance.

Anime Herald: This something I like to ask pretty much everyone I talk to: what is the what is the strangest or most unexpected thing to ever happen to you in the booth? Mm hmm.

Lauren Landa: You know, I wish I wish I had hilarious stories, but I actually don't have too many crazy stories. My favorite is when I get the case of the giggles because many actors will get that, and it's where you can't stop laughing. And there's no particular reason why. It's just because you're tired. Or your brain is just telling you that something is really funny when it's actually not. And sometimes, it takes a bit for you to get through a line or a take because you can't stop giggling and that's,

I wish I had crazy stories, but I think that's one of the funnier things that's happened to me. No one has ever left a fart bomb for me. Ever, thank God. (laughs) Thank God because I would probably die. But yeah, no, that's always fun, when you get a case of the giggles and—I mean, it's not like fun like "haha, this is a good time." It gets frustrating after a while because you can't necessarily control it. You're trying to get the job done, and you don't want to make the director mad..

Anime Herald: What are your thoughts on the recent move to unionize within the industry?

Lauren Landa: Oh, gosh, that's a whole complicated thing that I don't really have any thoughts on right now. Yeah, because it's… there's a lot. There's a lot of information to it. (laughs)

Anime Herald: You worked in a wide variety of characters and media, and your list of roles just goes through pretty much the gamut on genres and format. With that in mind, what's your favorite genre, and what's your favorite type of character play?

Lauren Landa: Ooh. Well, I typically like dramas because I love I love dramas, and actions, and romances like those. That's my jam. That is my jam.

My favorite type of character to play? Well, I definitely like playing the sexy characters and the sexual characters. They're so much fun to play, but villains are so much fun. I also like playing the romantic leads. I like playing the, I'm a big romantic at heart, so I like it. Tonikawa was a perfect example. That's such a cute show, and myself and Zach Aguilar play the leads in it, and we are, there were just too adorable. (laughs) So it's a great show, but I love, I love drama shows. I also love horror, as well, but I haven't been in any horror anime, but there's I know there's a great amount out there. And I really want to see more, so...

Anime Herald: And what are your thoughts on the meteoric rise of anime in the past five to six years, especially?

Lauren Landa: I love it! When I was a kid, I liked anime, but it was the weird thing. When I was in middle school, anime was the very weird thing and any anybody who thought of anime, they immediately connected it to tentacles. That's immediately what they thought, and it's like, that's not even close to what it is, you know. And so, when I was in middle school, it was very much the weird thing. People got made fun of for it, people would hide it.

Now, it's the cool thing. Now people can all talk about "Oh, you like Jujutsu Kaisen," or "you like Attack on Titan? Oh, you like this?" That's awesome! And more often than not, when I meet people who are not as familiar with anime, they have heard of either Dragon Ball Z, or Attack on Titan, or My Hero Academia. And I think that's awesome. I think it's so great. That anime is just so big now. And it's huge, along with ah, [Dungeons & Dragons]. You know, D&D was for nerds back in the day, I think, you know? And now, because of Critical Role, and many other D&D shows, now it's huge. And now it's popular. I'm even on a D&D panel today! And I am a baby player when it comes to D&D, so I have no idea how it's gonna go.

Anime Herald: Can you tell us a bit about your your [D&D] character build?

Lauren Landa: I don't know! I'm very inexperienced in D&D, I don't know anything about the panel today. I won't know anything until I find until I go there. But the campaign that I did, my character was a rogue. She was a rogue. And she had a twin brother, and she had long black hair. She had, like, a little mark on her forehead. And she was kind of a gothic beauty, so to speak. And she was I'm pretty sure she was an elf. I'm pretty sure I made her an elf rogue. And that was so much fun. And I really hope I get to play her again.