#danielle mcrae

In case you needed another reason to play this game. Here is the full list of Voice Actor Credits  + Casting & VA Director for Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp 

Danielle McRae, the voice behind Karma (League of Legends), Hagara the Stormbinder (World of Warcraft), and S-sha (Megadimension Neptunia VII), and many more, talks about taking early successes in stride, bringing physicality and emotion to more dynamic roles, and her brand-new podcast. (Interview at AkiCon 2016) By Tyler Cummings

GrandLethal16: Hey, everybody! This is Tyler AKA Grandlethal16 coming at you with another voice actor interview. Would you like to introduce yourself?

Danielle: Sure! (turns to camera) Hi, I'm Danielle McRae. I'm a voice actor for anime and videogames like Magi: The Kingdom of Magic, Megadimension Neptunia VII, Skullgirls, League of Legends, World of Warcraft, and a whole bunch of others.

GrandLethal16: So tell me, how did you find yourself here at AkiCon this weekend?

Danielle: A friend of mine told me about the event and how it was the last year so I pretty much reached out to the Con and asked if they needed some more guests and they got back to me right away, gave me the paperwork and said, "We need you! C'mon out."

GrandLethal16: Awesome! From where are you are in your career right now, you've done some pretty big voice roles - Skullgirls, League of Legends, etc. Did you ever imagine this level of success when you were just starting out?

Danielle: So, when I first started out, I wasn't expecting nothing to really happen the way it did. So my first game was League of Legends, and then next month it was World of Warcraft, and the next month it was Skullgirls, and I thought something like, “This is super rare!” Most of the time most voiceover actors, it takes them years to get to work on big stuff.

GrandLethal16: Feast or famine?

Danielle: Yes, exactly. I got really scared because I didn't think it was normal. Something like that isn’t normal. It was very rare to book something like that over and over.

GrandLethal16: What impact have your fans had on your career and where it's going from where it is right now?

Danielle: Right now because when I first started out, I didn't expect any of the conventions or anything like that. Conventions started asking me to come out and speak, and it was a huge outpouring of love. I really, really appreciate the fans and all their love and support in everything I do and all the projects I’m a part of. It's like nothing but love, and I love it.

GrandLethal16: Has there ever been a particular easy voice role, one that you just organically slipped right into?

Danielle: So, there's a little game called Megadimension Neptunia VII. I mentioned that I voice S-sha. She's pretty much the parody to Squaresoft and since I'm a huge fan of Final Fantasy, when I booked that role, the director pretty much said, "Do you know about Final Fantasy". And I said, "I know Final Fantasy!” So, the director would be like, “Be more Lightning, be more Squall.” That was my most straightforward direction. It was probably the easiest.

GrandLethal16: I bet! Has there been any notably difficult voice role?

Danielle: Yeah, both World of Warcraft and Skullgirls. So World of Warcraft I voiced the character Hagara the Stormbinder. Her voice is very really kind of like this, kind of like Painwheel  from Skullgirls (makes her voice raspy and rough). Both of those games are very challenging because their voices weren't like mine. I pretty much had to go in their mindsets. For Painwheel harder because it took me about a good couple of weeks to match her mindset, because she was in a very dark place and so it was hard for me to get out of that character. But yeah, they both had their challenges. Mostly the voice; I lost my voice for awhile. It was probably a badge of honor. (laughs)

GrandLethal16: That being said, what are your go to throat vocal cord remedies? Do you use lozenges or anything you go for?

Danielle: The one I go for the most is this lozenges. It's a Chinese throat syrup called Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa, but in the industry we call it, “Hulk Juice” because it's supposed to coat your vocal chords so it's really good to use it before you have really yelling and screaming sessions because, it's still gonna be hard, but it coats your vocal chords so you don't get too dry and it's a nice remedy to use before and after a session.

GrandLethal16: So, it's preventative and you know restorative?

Danielle: And it tastes really good. It tastes very good.

GrandLethal16: How do you convey emotion when you're in the booth? Do you have any techniques for bringing energy to characters? Do you have anything you do or do you? Is it all in the shoulders?

Danielle: I think for me it's like all in my stance. I'll stand a certain way. Like for Esha, I have this more loose stance and I was thinking she's very cool and I thought well just kind of stand more like, I was doing like my hip out and putting my hand on my hip and that really helped me get into character and not really like punch things. There's some games where I really like punch the air and not do it under the mic. I do it like this. (pantomimes mini-punches)

GrandLethal16: You try to put a physicality into it?

Danielle: Physicality. That's the word. I try not to punch the mic because sometimes those mics are a little more expensive.

GrandLethal16: You definitely don't want to get a tab for that. Do you have a dream voice role?

Danielle: There's a show called Sailor Moon, and that show was the show that got me into anime. I auditioned for it when they had Neptune and Saturn. I auditioned for that and I know they have one more season left so I know there's some Star Guardian. I think it's a Star Guardian. I would love to be like, I think it was Star Fight or something like that. Star Fighter - I would love to be Sailor Star Fighter.

GrandLethal16: Sailor Star Fighter uses a sword, right?

Danielle: I think so. She has this black hair in like a really cool mullet or rat tail. Like she's cool. Like, I love her. But yeah, like anybody from Sailor Moon would be awesome! As long as I'm in Sailor Moon!

GrandLethal16: Are there any projects you have on the horizon? Anything you can talk about?

Danielle: Oh gosh. I have stuff, but I can't talk about it, but there is a podcast. I can mention that. Me, my friend, Erin Fitzgerald - another voice actor - she was in Skullgirls, Neptunia, League of Legends, and more. We decided to put together a podcast dedicated to Overwatch. It's called Waifus of Overwatch and so far we're on episode 3, I think. So three. We already had a couple of the voice actors, we had the voice of Reinhardt and the voice of Torbjörn on already. So we have more episodes coming and it's basically a podcast. So, I can talk about that.

GrandLethal16: And that's where the news will first come out whenever it does for any other projects? Awesome. Is it SoundCloud, iTunes?

Danielle: Well there's an actual website for it. It's just called Waifus of Overwatch (www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZDnAbRBWaJ0unxBXTUpwW3uls9sJ3FGx)

GrandLethal16: Nice! Then do you have any goals of where you want to see yourself in five years? Any other roles you want to knock out? Anything, do you have a plan? Anything you're eyeing?

Danielle: Well I just want to keep working. I think that's just my real plan is to just keep working and work on more projects. My end goal is to be on like Mass Effect - That's my baby. Or Final Fantasy. So, it's mostly to just keep working, hopefully!

GrandLethal16: Tell me about the first time you watched an anime or were around when someone was playing a video game you did a voice in.

Danielle: Oh gosh, there's a show I really loved called Magi and I voiced a character called Orba and I referred to him as the anime version of Rufio from Hook. So, I heard myself alongside my friend Cristina Vee and Darrel Guilbeau who voiced Hakuryuu, hearing everyone all together, it was very overwhelming because these are people you look up to and now my voice is right alongside them. There were a lot of people. Like Todd Haberkorn was in it too. It's like, “Okay. Wow!”

GrandLethal16: For any fans out there that want to follow you, what’s your Twitter handle?

Danielle: Yeah. So my Twitter handle is @DanielleMcVO.

GrandLethal16: Is there anything else you'd love to tell your fans who couldn't make it out here this weekend?

Danielle: (turns to camera) Well, I'm sorry you guys couldn't make it out, but I had fun for all of you that couldn't make it out. So a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun here. I hope to see you at another convention.

GrandLethal16: Speaking of other conventions, do you have anything scheduled that you can talk about in the next month or two, any other Cons you're appearing at yet?

Danielle: Yeah, I have one in late November. I think it's Thanksgiving weekend. It's Tamagotchi Fest. It's in Boise, Idaho and then my very last Con is in West Virginia called Anime Cosplay Fest.

GrandLethal16: You're going everywhere.

Danielle: Yeah.

GrandLethal16: I think that's all the questions I have for you, Danielle. Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me!

Danielle: You're welcome.

GrandLethal16: I know you're in a rush. You've got to go check out Seattle while you're here!

Danielle: Yeah!

Check out more on what Danielle McRae is up to these days from her Twitter page, @DanielleMcVO, or check out her filmography on Behind The Voices!

Danielle McRae, the voice behind S-sha/E-sha (Megadimension Neptunia VII), Hagara the Stormbringer (World of Warcraft), Karma (League of Legends), and many more, talks about experiencing early success and taking it "all in stride", bringing physicality to the more animated characters, and her dream voice roles!

Enjoy~!!

Follow Danielle on Twitter & keep up with all of her voice acting news and more! https://twitter.com/DanielleMcVO

My Interviews Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1II-FPof7L_i_eJmsxOK6i-6sohn1uCp

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrandLethal16/

My Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrandLethal16

My Gaming Blog: grandlethal16.tumblr.com

My Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/grandlethal16

Danielle McRae, the voice behind S-sha/E-sha (Megadimension Neptunia VII), Hagara the Stormbringer (World of Warcraft), Karma (League of Legends), and many more, talks about experiencing early success and taking it "all in stride", bringing physicality to the more animated characters, and her dream voice roles!

Enjoy~!!

Follow Danielle on Twitter & keep up with all of her voice acting news and more! https://twitter.com/DanielleMcVO

My Interviews Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1II-FPof7L_i_eJmsxOK6i-6sohn1uCp

My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrandLethal16/

My Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrandLethal16

My Gaming Blog: grandlethal16.tumblr.com

My Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/grandlethal16