Reddit AMA Recap: Laura Stahl

Recently, the English Dub actress Laura Stahl is best known for her characters such as Ray from “The Promised Neverland”, Iruma Suzuki from “Welcome to Demon-School, Iruma-Kun”, and Hayato Kawajiri from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable” and most recently, the Villainous Mami Nanami from “Rent-A-Girlfriend” did a comprehensive AMA with a lot to say about the industry including a secret nobody even knows…


On how she got into the industry of voice acting.

You start out with acting classes! Voice actors are Actors first and foremost! As you get more skill as an actor, take more training and cues from people in the field that you want to participate in. Classes aren’t just good for working on your skills, they’re great for networking and getting to know people you’ll eventually work with!

I went to school for Musical theater and was going after that and on-camera work, and so were many of my friends… One of my roommates at the time started getting more and more interested in VO and suggested that I’d like it. He introduced me to some other professionals and I started training and networking from there. So I guess you could say me being in anime is his fault… his name is Kyle McCarley 😛

And I can’t remember which show this was, but at one point I received a scheduling email from a studio asking to confirm a session the next day… for a show I had never heard of. I replied back “Um… am I in this?” 2 minutes later I got the email that said “Congrats! You’ve been cast in…” XD

On a big secret people don’t know about within the English Dub industry.

Something you may not know…. is that often times, the changes that get made between the sub to the dub on shows is asked for by the Japanese client themselves. We’re not out here trying to change the story and the names of things just because we wanna make fans mad! The clients will ask for one reason or another, be it because they want to “westernize” the names, or they made changes to a game that’s in the same universe and they prefer to align with that rather than the manga, or if the show gets ahead of or away from the manga…. there’s a bunch of factors!

Something I would change in the industry is that we definitely need more representation of BIPOC actors. There are many of us in anime, more than sometimes the community realizes – but we could be more inclusive. Part of why I do what I do is so that other people with my background know that this is a space they can be. Anime isn’t just for one type of person. Anyone can enjoy it. Any type of person could get into this if it’s what they want and they go after it in a disciplined and flexible way.

And I wouldn’t change the fact that so much of the community is built around inclusivity. I think a lot of people find anime when they don’t really know where they belong. The fact that we embrace fandom like this is really awesome to me.


On her favorite part in voice acting.

I love that I can play so many parts in so little time. In even one single session I can be a little boy, a princess, a monster, an old lady, a kitten… it’s fun to be flexible and just go with it- but you have to be willing to just fly by the seat of your pants. If you allow yourself to think “No way I can do that!” you end up hindering your own progress!


On her favorite recording booth.

A favorite booth??? Ummm… well, I definitely miss going into studios in general. I’ve been working from home since the pandemic lockdowns began. I have sound blankets on a track on my ceiling surrounding my desk at the moment and it does the job… but I miss any booth that can withstand leaf blowers. >.<;;


On how much it pays to be a voice actor/actress salary-wise.

It really depends on the person and where they are in their career. When I first started I wasn’t making enough to live and had to supplement my income with other work. Many of the heavy hitters still have other jobs. Technically so do I. I act, but I also adapt scripts as well. Anime is actually one of the lowest-paid voice-over gigs you can get. And the rate varies from region to region.

VO is not a career for someone looking to “get rich.” This has to be something you love to do, and know that there will be sacrifices and compromises along the way.

On what she loved about the dub Welcome to Demon-School, Iruma-kun.

My favorite things were all the crazy reaction noises I had to make. They were really over the top and comical. We’d often have to stop and laugh.

And some of the incidental characters, like the School Bell, and the owls, and the camera demons were just HILARIOUS. I love that we really took the time, especially with the smaller roles to make sure everything was on point. I love that show!

On the recording process of finishing the 2nd half of Iruma-Kun from home due to COVID19 and if “Bang-Zoom” Entertainment supplied them with equipment.

No, BZ didn’t provide any equipment, but the VO community really stepped up for each other in terms of helping decide on the quality, cost-effective equipment for everyone’s individual set up. We all had a place we could ask questions without judgment- there was a really steep learning curve. Many of us don’t know how to engineer or don’t know the first thing about audio equipment. Not to mention the investment it was to put something together for yourself in such a quick amount of time.

Switching in the middle of Iruma was kinda intimidating- especially since we recorded the song from home too. I was worried about what kind of quality we’d get. But we all worked together really well, and everyone on the project was dedicated to getting it right.

There have been some studios (One I worked with but can’t talk about yet) that sent out loaner equipment to each of their actors specifically to make sure they had uniformity of sound. So the day before a session someone would drop off a kit, I’d set it up in my space and work off of that, and then once we finished recording everything over the course of that week, their production assistant came back by and we had a safe socially distant hand-off of equipment.


On what it was like to voice Bianca from Gundam Thunderbolt

I had so much fun on that show! Stephanie Sheh was directing me and she’s really amazing. She’s got a very discerning ear, and won’t let you get away with anything less than your best. NYAV post is a great studio in general. But I was so excited to join the Gundam universe, especially as such a Bada$$ pilot!


On her most difficult voice acting performance.

I think I had difficulty with Cybelle from Carole and Tuesday. She did some really despicable things, and when I’m acting I try not to judge who I’m playing, so I can find what they want and why they do what they’re doing and then portray that honestly. If I don’t like a character, it’s hard for me to believe what I’m saying and the words can come out feeling unnatural. So I had to put aside my judgment of her actions and try to really connect with what her goal was.

On how she got into the role of Mami and delved into her duplicitous nature.

Well, the trick to playing someone who can be very manipulative may surprise you. But for me? It’s being sincere. In all those tender alone moments with Kazuya, where maybe she’s bringing up old times or wondering if there was something she could’ve done differently? I make sure to be really telling the truth in those moments.

Another important thing is knowing why she’s doing what she’s doing. There are very few characters out there that are evil and bad just to be evil and bad. In Mami’s mind, she’s the hero. There’s a reason for all of it, and to her, it’s justified. So I just have to figure out what those reasons are for myself.


On what it was like playing Hayato from Jojo.

Playing Hayato was STRESSFUL!!! His scenes were always so full of suspense- my muscles were always tense after a Jojo session. I loved it and I love him though. All he wanted was to get to the bottom of things, and make sure no one else got hurt!

And as far as a favorite role… I honestly don’t know. Each role has been special to me for different reasons.

On whether or not gender matters for certain characters within the Voice Acting industry.

I’m less worried about the gender of the characters I play and am more interested in who they are. I love complex characters that have a lot going on internally.

On her favorite “Boy” voice she’s done.

I love all my boys! It’s too hard to pick! And I don’t know about the future- but I’m always open for a new challenge!

And finally what’s the next big step in her career?

It’s funny you should ask…. I’ve started working on some things that I can’t tell you about… but it’s very “next step.” You’ll have to wait and see! 😉

Okay, guys! The hour is up! Thank you all so much for your questions! I had a great time! Everybody have a good weekend, and hopefully, I can come back and do this again soon! <3