Creator Spotlight: Nicolas Roye

Big roles, bigger mindset! We kick off 2026 with actor and voice actor Nicolas Roye to trace his winding path from small bit parts to major roles in franchises like Halo Infinite, Apex Legends, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Bungo Stray Dogs. Nicholas shares the pivot points that changed everything, so if you’re chasing a goal this year, you’ll leave this episode with a practical playbook and a passionate perspective from our featured guest this month!

• Mindset shift that unlocked bigger roles and stability
• Guarding energy and avoiding doomsday conversations
• How to self-direct auditions with research and restraint
• Bringing a grounded humanity across games, anime, and animation
• Halo Infinite, Apex Legends, and Spidey longevity
• Horror fandom, conventions, and pinball obsessions
• What we’re watching on Apple TV and beyond
• Goals for 2026 and embracing the unknown

Keep up with Nicolas on Instagram and X:
https://www.instagram.com/nicolasroye/
https://x.com/TheNicolasRoye

See all three of us at Brick City Anime Festival on January 10th and 11th in Ocala FL! https://www.brickcityanimefestival.com/

🔻You can find all important links for the podcast over at https://linktr.ee/waitforitpodcast🔺

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Chapters

• 2:12 Nicholas’ Path From Stage To Screen
• 7:00 Moving To LA And Early TV Wins
• 12:35 Discovering Voiceover During A Career Lull
• 16:40 Mindset Over Money And The Law Of Attraction
• 22:40 Guarding Your Energy In A Doomsday Era
• 29:40 Self-Directing Auditions And Doing The Homework
• 36:20 Human, Grounded Performances Across Mediums
• 43:10 Halo, Apex, And Long-Running Roles
• 50:10 Horror Obsessions, Conventions, And Pinball
• 57:30 What We’re Watching: Apple TV And More
• 1:05:30 Looking Ahead To 2026 And Brick City

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:12

This is the Wait For It Podcast.

SPEAKER_01: 0:16

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Wait For It Podcast. I'm your co-host, Phil Barrera, aka Phil the Filipino.

SPEAKER_02: 0:21

And I'm your co-host, Mr. Eric Almighty. And for this edition of Creator Spotlight, the first episode of 2026, we had to start it off with a bang. Maybe our biggest guest so far, and I gotta say, Phil, we're not just saying it because he's here, probably one of our favorite guests that we've had at a lot of the conventions that we've gone to, which is why we mustered up the courage to ask, hey, you want to come onto the podcast? And we're really glad he said yes. You guys are gonna see us at Brick City Anime Festival in Ocala right after this episode airs. We're gonna see him in a few days. But Phil, I'm glad we're having this conversation beforehand and having that conversation tonight.

SPEAKER_01: 0:58

Yeah, very excited. We ran into our guest at uh a show here in Jacksonville and he asked us, Hey, how's the show going? And Eric thought he was talking about the convention. He's like, Oh yeah, convention's fine. And then he pauses and Nicholas goes, No, the podcast. So it was very nice to be able to speak to him and catch up with him over the years and work with him as well at these various conventions. It's one of the the biggest perks that we get to do is working with so many incredible people. And and that is, of course, starting here with the very first episode of 2026. So we'll welcome in our guest here this evening, Nicholas Roy. Nicholas, so good to see you. Hope you had a good holiday, uh a happy new year plan. And how are you doing here tonight? Thank you so much for taking the time.

SPEAKER_03: 1:38

Yes, doing great. Refreshed, rejuvenated, reinvigorated. It's uh it's good to be here, man. This is kind of my first man, I mean, I I guess this will be the first podcast of 2026 for you guys, but this is the first one I've done in a very long time, man. So it's it's cool to be back.

SPEAKER_01: 1:53

Yeah, we appreciate you taking the time. We know you told us that you don't do a ton of these, and it's because, you know, of course you're just so busy, and uh, you know, with the convention schedule added on top of that, it's it's hard to fit these kinds of things in. So before we dive into our questions and have a little fun here tonight, would you please let our audience know about yourself, introduce uh uh yourself and what you do, and also, you know, where they can find you.

SPEAKER_03: 2:14

Sure, right on. My name's Nicholas Roy. I'm uh actor, voice actor, and uh you might know me from a uh a bunch of projects, uh video games, anime, animation, Toji in JJK, Chuya and Bungo Stray Dogs, Octane and Apex Legends, The Pilot in Halo Infinite, Tokyo Revengers, Kisiki, dozens of anime. Can't keep going down that dang list, but uh but yeah, a lot of a lot of good stuff, man. It's uh it's a blessing to have a career in this business and and to have a body of work like this, man, because this is kind of what which we'll talk about kind of all on accident, really. But uh yeah, man, it's good to be here. And uh where can I be found? Basically, just Instagram and uh and X. I I don't even really mess with X that much these days, but I'm still on there.

SPEAKER_01: 2:58

Yeah, and of course, everything will be in the show notes of this episode so you can find and keep up with Nicholas, and of course, like Eric mentioned, see him this upcoming weekend at Brick City Anime Festival if you're listening uh the weekend before. That show is always a ton of fun. Can't wait to get back to Ocala and uh see a bunch of our friends and uh catch up with everybody. First show of the year, uh, which is uh it was always a lot of fun. So, Nicholas, uh, as we do get started here uh in this episode, you know, you kind of alluded to it, you know, you kind of uh and we've talked about this with you in in some of the panels we've had before, but you know, you this is something, and and we hear this a lot with some of the other voice actors we have spoken to. Jessica Kavanaugh, Eric, is an example of this, right? Where they found that voice acting was an avenue that you could uh you could go into because you have a lot of uh live action roles uh before you got into voice acting and found this line of work. So tell us a little bit about how that came together. Were you always focused on stage acting? Were you a theater kid, as a lot of other voice actors typically are? You know, what's a little bit of your background and and how you found voice acting or how voice acting found you?

SPEAKER_03: 3:59

Right on. I got a I got a taste of acting my senior year of high school, actually. We didn't really have a I don't believe we had a drama program or anything like that, but we did have the option of taking the um of doing the senior play. So uh I remember, you know, being super fearful of that, and uh, but I had some buddies that were gonna be involved as well, so I was like, all right, I'll do this thing, you know. But you know, the the the school that I went to, man, I didn't come up. Although with my family, I was very outgoing and I was a performer with my family and stuff, but you had to be like cool in high school, and I was afraid that you know I'd look like an idiot in high school. You know, it was a very repressed kind of, you know, everybody was a certain way, and you know, you fell out of those boundaries, you weren't cool anymore, or whatever. So I was always kind of like tiptoeing around that kind of line. But when I was at home, I was a performer since I was like very young, man. I would I was performing scenes for my parents of like the movie Heartbreak Ridge when I was like 12, and of for my grandparents and uncles and aunts and anybody that I could get to stand there and like watch, you know. And um, so anyways, I uh I ended up, for s for whatever reason, after that senior play, I ended up kind of wasn't committed, but I was kind of like, oh man, that's an interesting energy, man. I really like that energy, you know, of of performing like that. And um, I was in a rock band too. So, which was which was, but you know, you're joined up there with with uh, you know, I'm not I'm not actually like, you know, I'm playing an instrument. That was it, you know, I was just playing an instrument. So it wasn't like I was opening my mouth and performing and acting and and all that stuff, but I ended up getting into um university. I got a scholarship to the University of New Orleans, and I went in there, I didn't know what I was gonna do exactly, so I just went in as a graphic design major. And long story short, um, my senior year, my uh second year of college, a friend of mine from Pakistan ended up talking me into taking an acting class with him because he just thought it'd be fun for us to be in there together. And I was like, oh man, you know, that that would kind of be cool. All right, yeah, we'll we'll be in there, we'll look like idiots together, whatever. Sounds good, you know. And so uh so I took it. And man, the rest is history. I just um I kind of found something, a feeling, you know, that I hadn't hadn't quite had with any other possible career choices, you know. It was just a feeling that just grabbed a hold of me and and uh and I was in a great backdrop for being a performer, which was, you know, this the city of New Orleans, which is full of full of art, you know, and um a lot of performers there, which was outside of my little suburb uh where I grew up, about you know, 20 minutes outside of New Orleans. New Orleans was way more outgoing and and and full of art and full of performers and stuff. So I ended up getting and acting there and uh did a bunch of shows. I got welcomed into the theater department and uh did mainstage shows there. And somebody hooked me up with a talent agent. At that time, New Orleans was kind of putting itself on the map for Hollywood movies to come out and shoot uh because of the tax breaks they were getting. So I ended up getting some bit parts and movies while I was in school and um ended up getting some commercials, which put some money in the bank for me. And when I was when I was graduating, or when the time was approaching, I was, you know, I told my dad I was gonna move to move to Los Angeles. And he was kind of like, yeah, right, yeah. I was like, no, I'm serious, man. Right after I graduate and I walk, I'm I'm I'm gonna load up the car, man. I'm gonna head out. Yeah, right. Yeah, all right, sure. We'll see, yeah, we'll see. Man, the next thing you know, my dad was like, you know, watching me load up the car one morning, maybe a week or two after that. He's like, You really gonna go, huh? I said, Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go out there, man. Alright, alright, man. Let me know when you wanna, you know, when you want to come back or whatever. And I was like, all right, I'll let you know, you know, and uh, and man, I just uh I shot out to Los Angeles and ended up getting, like you said, you know, some some bit parts. Uh it took some time, you know. It took probably, I wanna say probably uh three, man, maybe three years for me to get my first bit part in a show, you know, like a co-star role on a show. Then I got a few more, and yeah, man, I got on Without a Trace with Antie Lapaglia, I got on CSI Crime Scene Investigation, I got on uh Malcolm in the Middle a few episodes, which is fun. I got on some TV movies or one one or two TV movies, I can't remember, some independent films. And then I I hit a lull, man. I hit a huge lull. And uh just to kind of button this up and let you guys talk, that's when I remember in this lull, which was probably around 2006, I believe, is when I got that random call from one of my talent agents. Hey, you interested in doing some voiceover auditioning? We were, you know, we've got an affiliate agency looking for bilingual talent. And uh, you know, you speak Spanish, and we we'd love for you to uh to to to, you know, if you can or if you want to, we'd love for you to uh meet with this agency. And I said, Yeah, so I need to make some money, sounds good. It's barely squeaking by, you know. That's how it started.

SPEAKER_01: 8:50

Yeah, you you hear so many stories about people going out to to LA, and you know, you you expect like I think a lot of people when they when they think of this this journey and this vision, you go out there, you get on a show, you know, you're on CSI, you're on Malcolm Middle, you're like, oh, I'm now I'm on a roll. But it you know, it's it's such a competitive field and a competitive industry that and there's so many other people, if you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time, they've moved on to somebody else. So, you know, it's great that uh, you know, like some other people that we've spoken to, right, Eric, that you know, the opportunity it presented itself, and and here, you know, I'm now is the voice behind so many, you know, I iconic characters, which is just so cool. And and of course, Eric, you know, one of our one you know, one of our favorite things about getting to do this is meeting the people behind those amazing performances, like Nicholas has done.

SPEAKER_02: 9:40

Yeah. Thanks, Phil. Yeah, and there's so many like commonalities between a lot of the people that we talk about, like again, that some of the theater background and some of the things like that, but then there's always the stories that are so individualized by the person, like hearing your journey from kind of having that gap of that love for it, and then falling back into it, which is like the perfect thing to happen based off of the trajectory you didn't even know you were on, packing up your bags, doing all of that, and then getting a call into a different avenue. I know some of that happened a little bit in the gaming space with you as well, you know, doing mocap work, doing all of these things from live action to voiceover to the mocap. Like it's so interesting. If you could go back to that younger version of you that's packing up your bags and wondering what's coming next, what would be the biggest thing that you'd tell him you were so surprised happened to you or the journey? Where was the surprise in this journey the most for you if you could go back in time and tell your younger self that?

SPEAKER_03: 10:40

Damn, man. That you know, the answer is gonna sound so cliche, man. It really is, but but but the truth is you gotta, you've really gotta go with you can't worry about money. I guess that's the thing. You can't worry about that. Was the thing, you know, okay, pick a career when you go in college, pick a career that's gonna make some money. And you you kind of gotta pick something that you just love, as crazy as that sounds, but as errors cliche as it is as well at the same time. You gotta pick something you love and die for it, you know what I mean? And just go out on your shield in that direction. And uh there's no turning back. I had buddies, man. I had buddies, three other people that moved out with me at the same time. One other guy was from uh the University of New Orleans as well, in in the theater program, and two other guys were just actors in New Orleans. And uh man, my buddy from the University of New Orleans hung in there for a very long time and did well on TV and stuff, and the other guys, I remember it was like, man, we're gonna give it a few years and see how it goes. That's something I tell my younger self right there, man. That's that's a no-no. Giving a time frame for accomplishing something is an absolute that's a death sentence. That's you just give it up right there. Just stop. Yeah, man. Uh I would also hand myself this book by Jack Canfield, the writer of Chicken Soup for the Soul. He wrote this book called The Key to Living the Law of Attraction. And um, I read that book in 2016. I had a I had a you know a a pretty a hell of a voiceover career at that time. But reading that book changed went it took my career from here to here, like reading that book. There there were still errors I was making just as a human being and and and trying to make make everything that I wanted to become a reality a reality. And uh that book right there was the key to opening the door to everything. Where I can actually say, now I have everything, you know, um, I'm doing everything that I wanted to do. When I hit that and I knew it, I felt it inside, you know, in 20, it was toward the uh end of 2016. I felt it inside that like I'd uh I'd hit like a plateau, you know. I'd hit like a point, and I was like, this isn't where I wanted to, this isn't what I this isn't where I saw my peak, you know. I there's still a whole nother couple of levels to jump up, and um I feel like I'm just flatlining right here in my career, you know. And um anyway, that book, man, taught me so much. I uh and just shifted the way I the way I am on a day-to-day basis, like who I am, uh what I do, my habits, uh, everything else. And that's something I would hand my younger self and say, like, jump on this right now and live by it.

SPEAKER_02: 13:25

So I love that, and you know, I mean, complacency is a real thing, like especially in any job, but like with voice acting too. I mean, I know you're grateful for every role that comes along, right? And you at one point you were just needing the money. Like, that's that's a basic uh like like life lesson. Yeah, is like that's something you need to strive towards at some point, but it's just really inspiring, Phil, to hear some of these stories about that point where they think it's a peak and then it just continues to go upwards and what that that moment is where we start to see that upward trajectory, even when you think you've kind of hit the mountaintop. And I just think that's uh that's great, Phil.

SPEAKER_01: 14:05

Yeah, and that reminds me, I I haven't read that book specifically, Nicholas, but I I watch a lot of older Jim Carrey interviews where he talks about the law of attraction. He's a big believer in the law of attraction, and and I think it is it's so important to find that piece of motivation when in whatever field it may be that you're pursuing in order to to lean back on. You know, like for some people, again, it's like it's a book, it's a law of attraction. For some people, it's religion. For some people, it is a you know, a group of people, you know, whatever that thing is, is like identify that and find comfort in it to real to lean back on when you know there are there are walls. So I I think that's really, really important. It's great advice. Uh speaking here selfishly as somebody who is very early on in their voice acting journey. I would love to know what your advice would be to younger voice actors who, um, in terms of protecting themselves, protecting themselves from whether it be, you know, the the wrong opportunities or keeping themselves in, you know, the the right mindset or just overall, like, how can they protect themselves in an industry that is again very demanding, but also we're approaching an age where it gets where it's getting a little dicey, we have AI on the rise as well. How can somebody who's very early on in their journey protect themselves when it comes to voice acting specifically?

SPEAKER_03: 15:23

First off, you know, for me, I mean, for me, man, I can only, you know, I'm answering this because you're you're asking me, but I don't I don't typically go out handing people advice on what they should do and you know how they should do it. But I'll say this. When the conversation comes up, that's like all this uh this talk of like, oh, everything's going to shit, it's all gonna, I you will see me back out of those conversations. People that engage in that way, I I uh I'm repelled from them, to be honest with you. I feel like if you are dead ass focused and love what you do, and feel confident in yourself and in your in the images that cross your mind of what you want. You know, you that's the whole thing is you know, kind of painting this picture indelibly on your mind and never letting it go, and just going after that thing. And so when people step in and doomsday me about this and about AI and about that, I'm like that's that's a uh a vibration I can't really hang around, man. I can't. You are literally gonna bring that doomsday to you by having those thoughts on a day-to-day basis. If you've learned anything about some of the things, you know, maybe Jim Carrey said it, some basic things about attracting things are thoughts become things. You know, if you could see it in your head, you can you can hold it in your hand. If you could see it in your head and you could feel it, you're gonna you're gonna it's gonna manifest somehow, somehow. So if somebody's going around all the time thinking about dreading about what's coming, they're gonna see it in their world. You know, they're gonna it's gonna it's gonna arrive. You summoned it, you know what I mean? That doesn't mean that that does that happens to everybody. It doesn't mean that that has to happen to everybody because it happens to one individual, you know what I mean? You will open a path somehow, some way to do the things you want to do. They will arrive to you if that's what you're focused on. If you're focused on the good, you know, if you're focused on on things happening for you, if you're focused on the goal and you have blinders on and you're going for it. But if you wake up every day and you're like, man, it's I just don't know anymore, man. I just don't know. That's that's that's an energy. That's a certain type of energy. And only you know if you're doing it to yourself every day. Only you actually know. Because you can walk around and pretend with people, but like what are what are your most inner thoughts and feelings on an average day? Are they good? Do they weigh good or do they weigh kind of negative? And then you kind of try to have to, you know, fake it and you know. You gotta get yourself in a place of believing that it's always gonna go good for you because you're just gonna keep going that direction. You're just gonna keep going that direction. And it's surprising how many amazing twists and turns that are good will happen that you just can't see. You know, it's gotta be you gotta be feeling good about the unknown at all times. You really have to feel good about the unknown. Because it's it's just as easy to feel good about the unknown as it is to dread it. It's the same thought choices. It's the same choices, man. And that's where, you know, it's a I mean, reading this book or reading any book on this concept is great because it will show you that it really is a choice. And you just gotta do a little self-work to understand that you can make those mental choices on being one direction or the other. Because our tendencies as human beings, especially with depending on how we grew up and what your dad was like, what your mom was like, what kind of things they told you, what kind of things your friends tell you on a daily basis, it's easy to lean negative on things. It's easy to get caught up in that shit, man. So I I get right out of it. If I hear that, and man, a lot of these actors, and I I love everybody in my business, man. I love everybody, but a lot of these actors will get into doomsday. It's almost like a way to just talk. A way to just kind of, you know, get a conversation going is to slip into the doomsday stuff, man, and you'll see me inch right out. If it's at conventions in the green room or whatever, wherever it's at, I'll inch right out of those conversations. And if somebody wants to act like they're a realist, well, I'm a realist about, alright, well, you be a realist and you do your thing. However you want to do. I'm not gonna, I'm not preaching anybody on how you should be. I just know what I can be around. And I I make all my choices, I make all my own decisions on on who I want to be around and the thoughts I want to have and the energy I want to have around me, and everybody else is allowed to do the same thing. You know what I mean? So, um but I think it's important, man, for people to um to get a hold of a good book on On how the mind works, man, and the magic of the mind, and how easy it is to turn the tides with just thoughts and training yourself to have different kinds of thought patterns. It's very easy to turn the tides of your life. That's what that book did for me. That's what it did for me. And it did, man. It worked quick and powerfully. I mean, right after, to just to be straight up, man, I mean, right after I dug into that book, I started getting some amazing jobs, man. I I immediately got a three-year Taco Bell campaign that bought me my first home. Shortly after that, Apex Legends, Halo Infinite, the biggest games I'd ever been a part of. Apex Legends now coming on seven years. Halo Infinite was almost a$1 billion budget, and I was like the third lead in it. That's crazy, man. They could I told them when I got hired, I was like, you guys could have hired any Hollywood actor for this, and they would have said yes. I mean, that's that's twice the budget of Titanic. I the last I knew, like when we when we kind of got shut down by COVID, it was at like 750 million the budget at that time. And uh little old me from the bottom of Louisiana, man, was picked to be in this damn to carry that weight, you know what I mean? And um, if that's not magic, man, I don't know what is, you know what I mean? That's one of those holy grail kind of jobs right there, where you're gonna be working for like a year, getting flown to Seattle every month to go shoot for a week, and then flown back to LA to go to your normal, you know, routine and your other jobs that you're on, and then flown back to Seattle the next month for a week, and then and I did that for a year, you know what I mean? But all that started happening, man, after I changed my mindset, you know what I mean? And uh it was it was like magic.

SPEAKER_01: 21:42

So really I mean, the answer uh to my question is the way you can protect yourselves is protect your peace, protect the your energy, protect the way that you uh approach everything. Because you're right, it it is so easy to get bogged down in the in the doomsday stuff to use the phrase that you are using. And um, you know, Eric, what did we have early on in the podcasting days where like download numbers are low, focusing on why aren't we getting you know, where's why aren't we building the community yet? And then like all this time later, because we surrounded ourselves and started meeting such amazing and uplifting people, we were able to build the platform while still small, still having an impact. Somebody stopped us the other day, Nicholas, uh the other day at Hallmat, and was like, Is that Phil and Eric from the Wave Forward Podcast? And it was a girl who had won a giveaway from us in 2021 or something like that, and she recognized us at the show and wanted to take a picture and all that stuff, and it's like you guys are so that we graded this. So, you know, like we just put something out there, she still follows us and and she recognizes, and like, man, again, all that wouldn't have been possible if we didn't believe that we could build this platform, you know.

SPEAKER_03: 22:51

You're dang right. Well, man, you guys have you first of all, I gotta tell you guys, man, you guys have awesome personalities, man. You know, you you guys are fun guys to be around and fun guys to engage with. So you're gonna bring in a lot of good people, man, like uh over the course of you guys' careers, just because of who you guys are, you know. That's a big deal right there, man. Just the energy when people approach you right there says something, you know. I get approached a lot for a lot of stuff. But you guys have that awesome energy, man, where people, oh, these are good dudes right here, you know what I mean? So, so props to you guys.

SPEAKER_02: 23:20

Yeah, no, we we appreciate that. And I mean, like, listen, right back at you. Like, uh, me and Phil talked about for the longest time being like that is Nicholas is one of the nicest, humblest voice actors that we have met, like genuinely. So we know if our egos start to get big and you start to back away from us in the green room, we'll know we have gone wrong.

SPEAKER_03: 23:44

Oh, you guys are big time now, huh? I see. All right, can't even get a spot on your podcast now. Dang.

SPEAKER_02: 23:49

But but yeah, that's why it's just it was just such a special moment to be able to continue to connect. You'd remember us, we'd start picking up on conversations, even if it's been a while, and you meet so many people. So, you know, that definitely told us something, like we made some type of impression. Um, and that was just really special uh for us. So definitely meant a lot for us, and the fact that you can give a lot of this, you know, maybe wisdom is the wrong word, especially because you know, I know uh you don't normally like give advice, but the the perspective you're giving, I think is really important and it's really strong for a lot of different people who need to hear that message. I know that with your process in what you do, you've been a performer since early adulthood now, so it's pretty much in your blood at this point. But I do want to know, like, when you're going into these roles and you're going into these performances, like, what is the one thing, the one core thing you feel you bring to the table for all of them? You mentioned with Halo, like they could have brought any A-lister and they would have been happy to get that job. You brought something to that role, like you do with all of them, whether it is again in gaming, in anime, uh, an audiobook, whatever medium, you kill it. So, like, what's that core thing that you bring to the table? And is there something different from all of these roles that have a similarity in uh maybe a challenge for you that you're still trying to work and overcome uh to this day?

SPEAKER_03: 25:19

Yeah, man, I I I think if I could say anything about what I bring, it's just a very human-grounded approach to everything. Matter of fact, I've had to I've had to learn to be bigger, you know, and and and to amplify things more as I've gotten into voiceover, especially for like zany cartoons and things like that, you know what I mean? Probably lost out on a hundreds of those jobs because I was a little bit underperforming, you know, or or un not making it big enough, not making it enough of a a boisterous performance, you know. I I've always um held on to my theater roots, I've always um held on to the roots that I have in film acting, and I've I've carried that over into voiceover, and and some places it hurt me, and a lot of places it's helped. Um the the key to anybody getting into to voiceover coming from the the theater and film side is like you gotta learn the nuances of of all voiceover, you know, because I'm kind of I kind of do everything, and I've I've been blessed to do that, you know, I've been blessed to do everything. But with that comes learning a lot as you're in your career, and learning and making sure you're studying a lot of things, studying DreamWorks animated series, studying Nickelodeon animated series, studying the stuff that's on, although I haven't been on a Fox cartoon yet, you need to know what those performances are like, you know? You need to know what the Halo franchise wants. You know, what have you seen in their in their performances of of some of these previous games, or or how do you, you know, you need to know how to analyze these sides when they come to you, you know, and the character breakdowns and stuff like that. Forgot the second part to your question. Do you remember what it was?

SPEAKER_02: 26:58

Yeah, yeah. So uh like that's like the thing you bring to the table for all of them. Because so much is getting thrown at you. I mean, you just mentioned right there and perfectly outlined, like, you're having to consume all these different like encyclopedias of genres of entertainment and media. Like, is there a common difficulty with all of it that you're still kind of working? Something that they share where they all have a similar challenge?

SPEAKER_03: 27:26

This the challenge of all of them, you know, is when you're recording auditions to get these jobs. Yeah, we you know, I get offered jobs as well, but still you're you're auditioning your ass off all the time. You're the director. You know what I mean? 90% of your career, you're the director. So maybe that number's a little off, but you are. I mean, you're you're auditioning your ass off a lot at all levels. I don't care who you are, unless you just decided like, I'm not gonna audition anymore. I'm just gonna wait for stuff to come in, which is, you know, I don't know who can do that. Maybe there's a few people out there that, you know, are already uh rich and, you know, it's just kind of at that point in their career. But uh usually, I mean, even, you know, even some of my close buddies, man, that are that have been killing it for a very, very long time, they're auditioning their asses off. They auditioned for Apex, you know. Chris Edgerly, man, he's you know, he's been on The Simpsons for I don't know how many years, hundreds of episodes of The Simpsons. Chris has done really well. He auditions his ass off still, you know. Yeah, we pass on some things, you know. So it's not for me, whatever, but so the the diff the I guess the one difficulty would be, which is something I enjoy actually, is you're the director of all your auditioning. You know, and so for me, it just takes a lot of experience over a lot of studying what you're gonna be reading for, the type of project you're gonna be reading for, understanding what it is. In the beginning, I would just get sent auditions from my agent in the very like first year, and I would just open it up and like go on a microphone and you know, go in the booth and start reading. And then thank God at that time your agent was directing you. You would drive to your talent agency at that time for the first like three years of my career, or what was of uh what little I had of a career, you drive in into the agency, and then they'd have three or four things for you to audition for, and the director, you know, the the um talent agent would direct you. So, uh, but that that that all came to an end, you know, and then and now the talent is responsible for directing themselves and sending it in. If you have a really good agent, they might give you some notes and send it back to you and say, hey, go back and read this again, you're way off. Otherwise, most talent agents, if it's way off, they just don't tell you they didn't send it in. So you've got to be on your P's and Q's about turning in really good auditions that fit whatever it is you're reading for, whether it's a a Taco Bell campaign and knowing the energy of what they're asking for in that campaign, having gone on YouTube and looked up a bunch of their previous campaigns, and you just kind of see what they've been doing and what the energy sounds like of their it may be different, you know, this new campaign, it may be different. But at least you've got a concept of kind of what they've been doing, you know? And then same thing for for animated series, you know. Do some damn research, man. If it's uh if it's a brand new show, what network's it on? What kind of stuff has that network been putting out? What are the performances like? You know, what is what is the energy like of those performances? That's the that's the work we have to do. If you want to be getting jobs, if you want to be that small percentage getting big jobs, that's in my opinion, that's the difference. Is like never getting lazy about that stuff. Man, it's so easy, even for us that have been doing it for a long time. It's so easy to get lazy, and you just like look at your you know your email real quick, and you're like, oh shh, I got a few things I gotta record, you know. And then you just jam in the booth, and then you just start recording, you think you know what you're doing or whatever, and then you find out like, oh man, I didn't even I didn't even read it all the way through. Like I I didn't even read the directions all the way through, you know, like the all the little, you know, these emails, man, sometimes they're very long-winded and uh, you know, of of a particular casting. Breakdown of the show, breakdown of the characters, you know, multi-paragraph, a dossier of material you might have to read before you start recording. And sometimes you just get lazy about it, you know. So I guess that's the that would be the toughest part, man, is always doing the work before you actually turn the mic on, you know?

SPEAKER_02: 31:32

Yeah. One thing, you know, Phil brought up Jim Carrey, so it's funny we're just going to actors quotes. This is not something we typically do, but I I did see something like George Clooney talking about how he feels like all like a lot of people are hitting home runs with like big box office films. And when you think of George Clooney, you don't really think maybe the Oceans trilogy, but you don't really think of like a specific franchise, you think of him more as the actor who's had a long career. And he talked about how a lot of people would hit home runs in like the action department, but then they're just labeled as an action star, where he feels like he's been hitting doubles his whole life, and that's allowed him the flexibility to be in all of these different roles. And I think that's just really interesting, uh, an interesting perspective that you're bringing from it because not everyone looks at it like that. And Phil, I know that's not something we don't we often hear uh in a lot of the guest episodes we've had.

SPEAKER_01: 32:24

Hey man, you hit a bunch of doubles, you get a bunch of RBIs. So, you know, that's a pretty that means you're reliable hitters.

SPEAKER_00: 32:30

That's right, that's right.

SPEAKER_01: 32:31

And that's what that's what George Clooney is. So, you know, I I I love that to kind of um talk about how you know you've already touched on, you know, you've you've gotten to be a part of so many cool and and iconic franchises. And you know, a question I always love to ask is, is there a particular character? I'm sure you have a fondness for all the characters that you have played there. You know, everybody they all hold a very special place. Is there a specific character that you have uh that you have voiced that you would or uh even in your live action career that you would like to have spent more time with and and have revisit in the future? Or and that you think maybe there was some some story that was still there to be told. Any of those characters? Oh man, uh yeah, a hundred a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03: 33:14

Um I mean Halo Infinite. That's that's uh I'm still you know, uh Halo, the company, uh Halo Industries, I think they're called now, if I'm not mistaken, they're doing a lot behind the scenes right now. They've got a lot of things cooking, and I'm I'm hoping that uh I'll be brought back on somehow, some way. You know, I just they did they did already bring me back, which was phenomenal. For the audiobook. That's right. Yeah, you know, Phil, yeah, right on, man. I uh yeah, man. I just uh just a month ago finished recording that audiobook and now it's out. They moved they moved pretty quick on that stuff, man. That was um, I want to say like after I've rapped, shh, the book came out like I want to say two weeks later or something like that. But um that was a shock, man. That was an absolute shock to hear from them. I I was always hoping, but I didn't expect to hear in that way. And I'm not I'm not really um I'm not really the best audiobook guy, you know what I mean? I've I've I've done a few short ones for um some small um Disney books for for young kids. I think I did one for the movie Coco, and I did one for um uh I did another one, I forget what it was, but uh the first time I made an attempt at like a a big book, I said never never again. I I'm not gonna cross this river again. No way. I was this was a long time ago, but I was engineering it and sending a couple chapters at a time to the the writer, and it just wasn't it just wasn't happening, man. It was taking way too long, and you know, you got a voice like whatever, 20, 24 characters, 30 characters in the book, and and then you know, the book was 560 pages or something, and it was just like to the in-between time of getting the notes back from the director, and then all this stuff I had to go redo. And then the you know, the the writer ran out of money eventually, and I was like, oh, thank God. Thank God I'm off the hook here, you know. But uh with Halo, you know, cut to whatever 15 years later or something, this this offer came through, and it was you know, it was from Simon and Schuster, so it's like very high-level, big budget director, engineer. You just show up and they do it all. You just show up and record, they do it all. And uh you take direction, and um it's still a lot of work, it's still a lot of hours, you know what I mean. But um it was awesome, man. I got to, you know, narrate it and perform my character in it, which was which was really cool. And I'm hoping that this is kind of a sign of things to come, man, that there's and then the you know, the rumors are that they're um they're remaking, I guess, Halo 1, 2, and 3. I know uh part one is already uh done, you know, it's already a reality. I guess they're they've already got some sort of release speculated in 2026 or something. But um, yeah, man, I think they're I think they're gonna do a lot more. So that would be the one that I would absolutely it's been a blessing that Octane has hung in there, you know, in Apex Legends, man. I mean, seven years, this primary cast has been has been we've man, we've been blessed, man, with that that project. And um man, much love to to to Vince's family, man. I heard us maybe you guys got the news. Bless his family, you know, the the the the sad news of Vince. But man, they uh they gave us a uh an absolute blessing of a project there. And and to think that, you know, we're all still working on it is crazy. It's just crazy, man. To get a to get a job that goes seven years is pretty it's pretty rare, you know, it keeps going. And um, and man, uh, you know, piggybacking off that, uh I'm I'm on, you know, recording season six of Spidey and his amazing friends, which is six years going in six years deep now. Another phenomenal blessing. You know, one of the one of the big blessings for a voice actor is to be on a Disney show, Disney, Disney Jr., you know, a Fox show that goes on and on and on and on. That is, that is, that's the holy grail, man, in my opinion, in my personal opinion. And it was something I wanted, man. I wanted a Marvel show. I wanted to be on a Disney show, and uh, and I that was something that I I had sitting right there on the screen of my mind for years, and it finally it finally brought itself into reality, man, which was really amazing. And here we are, six years deep on Spidey, dude. It's just bless a blessing. I already I recorded my first episode of season six uh just last week, actually. Last week, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 37:46

It's crazy to hear that like the difference between the pendulum of Spidey and Friends and Apex, like six, seven years, and then watching you get outed each season of JJK. Like, you know what I mean? Like, although they did give you the coolest character the second time around. Like, that's just such a such an amazing difference to see like the longevity of something and maybe the popularity even in the short span of something else.

SPEAKER_03: 38:11

They they double whammied me on JJK, man. Killed me off twice.

SPEAKER_02: 38:14

We uh are we getting three? Are we breaking that on the podcast? We're getting a third.

SPEAKER_03: 38:18

We have some news. We got uh some colour game action happening. No, I'm talking about June Pei in season one. I was I voiced Junpei and then Toji.

SPEAKER_02: 38:28

Yeah, no, you're coming back for the culling games. I you're coming back one more time, right? That's the breaking news.

SPEAKER_03: 38:33

That would be amazing. Yeah, that would be amazing, man. To die a third time, that would be brilliant. You know, that'd be awesome, man. I don't know. I don't know. You know, as far as I, because I don't read the manga, but from what I've heard, it's all been written and um Toji may be in a few flashbacks, but that's all hearsay. I've just heard people telling me that, you know, when they come and visit me or whatever, and yeah, man, I think you're gonna I think you're in a few flashbacks or whatever. Are they gonna call me in for those flashbacks? I have no idea. Are those flashbacks a reality in the anime? I have no idea. But uh man, I'd I'd love to I'd love to get surprised and have to pop back in there, man. That'd be amazing.

SPEAKER_02: 39:10

Yeah. Yeah, no, a ton of a ton of surprises in your line of work, uh, I'm sure. And it's it's all such a process. And I know you've talked about this before. Like, it's hard to romanticize the process, like it's hard to do that because you kind of go in and you do what's best for the character. So I'm kind of curious because we definitely want to get into some pop culture stuff and and some casual talk here. I I want to ask, uh, what is the process for you between roles or takes? So I know that process as a whole, it's hard to romanticize, but if you're kind of looking at the individual time period between those roles, between those takes, like you have that straightforward blinder mentality of doing what you have to do. Is there anything else to it that is kind of unique to your a personal process on how you get this done?

SPEAKER_03: 39:57

Yeah, I mean, I just uh, you know, I have this. Kind of faith that I have all the tools already kind of in the database programmed in, you know. The tools are there. So then I just go off of instincts, you know. I I I just rely a hundred percent on instincts. I'll do all the prep work before a session, if I can, if I have it. If I don't have the material, then you have to, again, you have to really trust your instincts and the tools that you've amassed over the course of years and years, you know, and and going all the way back to college. But I I rely on instincts, man, and I just go by, let's say before a session, I've got material. It's a if it's a new character, I've gone over that that character and and ideas in my mind of who he is. If there's a visual, great. If there's not a visual um yet, like in the case of um of like Apex Legends, there in the at first I didn't have a visual for Octane, then I just I sculpt it in my own mind, just going by the material that they've handed me. I'll just sit there and ponder. Sit there and think of what comes to me, you know, when I when I see this material. And uh, you know, for example, um Octane, the first information that I got about him was that he was a cross between Antonio Banderas and Desperado and Johnny Knoxville from Jackass.

SPEAKER_02: 41:15

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03: 41:17

And that he was this fire plug of uh, you know, a crazy energy, you know, psychopathic almost guy. I I'm I'm paraphrasing a little bit here, but it was it was definitely the Antonio Banderas part and the Johnny Knoxville part were there. But no imagery. So I just uh I just kind of plugged that in, man, and just let my crazy mind go go go nuts, you know. And um, and so I just do that with everything. I do that with everything, and I just rely on my instincts when I get in there. With Toji, you know, that was um, that was really interesting because, and I may have said this to you guys before, you know, I was never offered uh characters considered villains. So, especially like these kind of hulking, you know, muscular big characters like that, you know, big villains like that. Like I uh I had been just prior to to Toji, uh I had been offered um Kisiki in Tokyo Revengers, who's kind of this Napoleon complex, you know, snively kind of villain. Very different from Toji. So, so uh again, what did I, you know, I was shocked when they offered me Toji, but what did I do? You know, I went in there, I was like, man, they're offering me a dude like this. Holy crap, you know, um, let me just rely on my instincts. I think, I feel like this guy is gonna come across this way, you know, given the information that I have, what he's been through in life, what he looks like, his posture, I'm just gonna go with this. And then I just, you know, the instincts just lead me where I'm going with it. And, you know, there's times where it might not work out, you know, but uh that's all I that's kind of all I can do. I don't have um that's my magical process, you know. I don't have any other magic uh or anything that's that's like, you know, brilliant I can say that I do other than that, you know.

SPEAKER_02: 43:03

Now, and that's completely fair. Like that that makes a lot of sense. It's it's a hard question to to answer when you have that mindset. Like again, you're you're just going straight into it. You're doing what you think is best to the best of your ability. Uh, and like Phil mentioned, there's there's such a protection of peace there that I can tell is part of your process as well. And uh Phil, that's why it just comes full circle, you know, from that your first question of this one.

SPEAKER_03: 43:26

Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, that's that's very that's very true, you know. That's uh at least in my opinion, uh, from my perspective in this career, man, it's an important thing to have is kind of that that inner calm when it comes to performing, because that can bite you in the ass. Whether you're doing mocap, you know, performance capture on on Halo, and there's a uh a bunch of cooks in the kitchen watching you, and you know there's hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, you better you better have some inner calm. You know what I mean? Because when all those lights are on and you're in that tight suit and your butt cheeks are showing, and uh and you gotta perform with Master Chief, you know, and uh that's put up or shut-up time. That's right, man. That's right. You know, you better have some inner calm, man, in those moments, you know. It's uh it's it pays dividends, man. And that's that's one of those things that comes with um for some people, it comes with just years and years of performing. Other people can just do the mental work, man, and get there, you know, and find some some relaxation and some inner calm, you know. But going into any session, whether it be anime or or spidey or whatever, I just go in there calm. You know what I mean? I go in there calm. Sometimes, you know, you may have had some hectic stuff going on that day, and then your session's coming around the bend, you know. You got like, oh shit, my session's gonna start in 30 minutes, you know. I may have to go sit down and meditate, you know what I mean? I may go have to sit down and just um just make my mind blank, you know, and relax for a second before I walk in there. And uh these are the things that you just have to do as a performer, you know. You have to, you have to know that uh, you know, it's uh it's it's business, but it's also supposed to be fun. And uh there's people paying you a lot of money to be doing to be recording in these sessions. And so you have to go in there and deliver whatever that requires, man, getting your inner calm together before you walk in there. Nobody wants to hear you come in the session say, okay, sorry guys, sorry, I've had all this shit today. It's like been a crazy day, and I'm just like, okay, okay, all right, all right. Yeah, but I think I got it together now. Nobody wants to hear that shit. Some actors might think that's a fun thing to say to disclose that and come into the session, but man, if if it's if you're getting paid a lot of money for that session, there might be some a few people in that session going, oh geez. You know what I mean? And there might be a day. And there might be a lot of talent, there might be a lot of talent out there that maybe aren't getting called in for that same company anymore because of some things like that. You just never know, man. So, you know, that's another, you know, that's another thing that I live by at least, is going into these sessions reliably me.

SPEAKER_01: 46:01

Yep, and I think leaning on your instincts and what got you there, you know, why would you deviate from that at that time? You know, you you're you sit in and you you bask in the fact that you were here, you were chosen. Like, lean on that, you know, I think is what uh I've definitely learned early on as well. Nicholas, as we transition towards the end of the uh, you know, latter half of the episode, and we just want to, again, just talk to you about some general pop culture stuff. I did have a question for you because, you know, in preparation for this episode, and then this is funny that this question came up as far as your process, you kind of gave a little tour, it's like a little YouTube short. You kind of gave a little tour of your space of what you do when you step away from the booth and kind of like gather your thoughts, and you showcased a couple of pinball machines that you have, uh, both horror themed, one Halloween, one Freddy Krueger. Are you a big horror fan uh on on your end of your personal time? Big time, man.

SPEAKER_03: 46:54

Big time. I uh, man, I am I will go back and re-watch these horror films so often. It doesn't have to be any time of year. I I love rewatching the Halloween franchise. I love all the nightmare on Elm Street movies, man. I love the insidious franchise. I love the paranormal activity franchise. I love the Friday the 13th franchise. I love uh man, I love it all. Uh I even love the old classics, you know, the Fright Night and so many, so many solid ones out there, man. But uh why? I I don't know, man. I don't know. And Halloween is also one of my favorite times of year. I go to Universal Horror Nights all the time. It's the best time of the year, arguably. Yeah, best time of the year, man. Yeah. I love Christmas too, but I think I just like Halloween more, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 47:35

It's something about the just the or the overall vibe and the aura, I think. Uh in a lot of people are uh I think you know the the leaves are changing, the time, you know, maybe not in Florida, but yeah, you know, there's seasons elsewhere uh outside of Florida, but we think so. We've heard. What are your thoughts on the current uh status of of horror? Because right now it's it's in a very healthy spot when it comes to new franchises, returning franchises. Like, do you have any of the newer franchises that you have really enjoyed in the horror space? Ooh, shoot me one of them, Phil.

unknown: 48:06

Shoot me.

SPEAKER_01: 48:07

Um, so looking at last year, uh Sinners or 2025 Sinners, of course, was a big one. So good. Yeah, so good.

SPEAKER_03: 48:13

Yeah, these man, these movies are still. I mean, I can't if if the if the trailer gets me, man, I can't, I I have to be there. You know, I have to see it. Sinners is so solid. The one that Demi Moore did, it's odd, man. Talk about twists and turns. That was incredible. I did not expect that, man. I didn't know what I was getting into. That movie Malevolent, I believe it was called.

SPEAKER_02: 48:36

Yeah. Um that's uh I I didn't see it, but that was um the director had done horror before or didn't do horror before. It was like it was really like uh it was kind of like divisive.

SPEAKER_03: 48:47

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And then it just which just made me think of Barbarian. If you guys saw that one, another five.

SPEAKER_01: 48:54

I have not, but it is it is one of my sister's favorite horror films of all time. I I need to check it out. I also need to watch Weapons from this year. Weapons is so solid.

SPEAKER_03: 49:02

Black Phone 1 and 2, both very solid. I love Ethan Hawk as well. It's cool to see him playing this like villain, you know what I mean? This this lead bad guy or whatever. Yeah, man. I I I still I still love the state of the horror films right now, man. It's um I'm you know. And now um the uh the It series, I'm uh man, I gotta get back on it. I've been in Welcome to Dairy, right? Yes, Welcome to Dairy, man. I've been uh in the middle of a move. I don't know if I told you guys, but I just I just moved to Dallas. Okay, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02: 49:35

I think we reached that we reached out and you were like, I just finished my move. I was like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_03: 49:40

So it's been, man, I've had a lot of things have been on the back burner. Even I had to take time off of the move for Christmas with with my family, and now I'm back to the house, is still like only like six, fifty-five percent together, you know what I mean. There's still boxes that haven't been opened, there's still furniture that has to be gotten, but it is it's kept me away from a lot of my my normal life, you know, as far as like watching my shows and and so um pretty soon here I'll be able to get back to uh to to Derry. And um I think I left off. Is it has it wrapped up already? It has, yeah. Okay, yeah. See, I'm yeah, I'm at least three, four episodes behind for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 50:18

And my sister and a friend, a good friend of ours were raving about the finale. So uh they they they loved it.

SPEAKER_03: 50:24

So yeah, man.

SPEAKER_01: 50:25

Yeah. Have you been down to uh I know you have family here in Florida. Have you been out to a scare uh well it used to be Spucala, uh now it's called Scaradice. Have you ever been to one of those horror-themed shows or conventions, even just as a guest? It's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03: 50:37

Not not the ones in Florida at least. I there was one in uh Ontario that uh is called CreepyCon, and I went two years in a row to that one, and uh man, I got to see the Lost Boys there. That was that was phenomenal, man. I was almost like, I didn't even want to like go up and say anything to those guys, man. I was like that guy. I was like, oh man, I'm gonna embarrass myself. I'm gonna, you know. So I just kind of laid back, I just walked by and was just appreciating that they were there, you know what I mean? And then I saw Cassandra there, Elvira. Oh my god, man, people love her. People love her, man. She was she was busy all damn day. She, I don't think they probably had to just drag her out of there and cut the line or something, man. But yeah, man, I love going to that that particular show or any of those shows if I we'll see what what uh what shows pop up in Dallas that are like the horror theme conventions. I'll I'll definitely attend. I mean, I I feel like I am as I'm like a kid when I go to those horror conventions. I just want to like buy everything when I'm there. And I really have to limit what I put in my front pocket when I go to those things. The very first one I attended, I got rid of like 300, 350 bucks in the first like 10 minutes. I ended up buying like yeah, I bought like a coffee table, I bought like a bunch of t-shirts, I bought a couple of expensive Funko Pops, uh a Halloween Michael Myers Funko Pop, a Freddie Krueger Funko Pop, where he's got like the the the Night Randall Street Part Three, Dream Warriors, the needles for his fingers.

SPEAKER_01: 52:07

How did you get a coffee table home?

SPEAKER_03: 52:10

Well, it was near my house.

SPEAKER_01: 52:12

Okay, oh, okay, gotcha. It was near my house.

SPEAKER_02: 52:15

I was curious, like, how did you yeah, between between all the stuff you get you want for yourself, like how do you have room for all this?

SPEAKER_03: 52:22

Yeah, it was near it was near my house, man. The one that I went to was probably like 10 miles from my house in uh Ontario, California, my previous house.

SPEAKER_01: 52:29

Got it. I I think what it is with horror and Halloween in general, just to kind of as to why it's so popular, is because it's weird. And and we are inherently weird and and weird is fun. And I think that's why with horror there's so it it's so great because so many different films can capture a a different audience. So like one horror film is not going to be for everybody, and that's totally fine. And uh with with horror fans, I I think they're you know they're always just so so passionate because you embrace that really strange side of it and the the creepy side, which I think is what makes it a lot of fun. Scaradice is something that we usually go to. Um at least my me and my sister go to every year. We're gearing up to go again uh at the end of January, so that's gonna be a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_03: 53:10

That's gonna be awesome, man. Yeah, if I if I was there, man, I'd go to all of them. I'd go with you guys, man, to those shows, man. Those are for me, that's you know, and I'm not working, I'm not, I'm not, you know, a guest there, I just get to go enjoy, you know, and appreciate the guys that showed up, you know what I mean? Because man, some of those, some of those films, I'm like if I ever ran into Robert England, you know, I'd be like especially like if I was had access, like you know, the shows that I'm a part of, you know, you just you're in the green room, you're around everybody. And I'm around a lot of really cool on-camera talent too at some of these shows, like like Fan X Salt Lake City, you know, you got like a lot of on-camera people that you worshiped that are that are back there with you and stuff like that. You get to say what's up to them. But somebody like Robert Englund, man, I probably have like sweaty hands, and I'd be like, dude, I've I've watched every single one of them like uh like 30 times each, man. I've watched all you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I gotta I gotta eat, man. Thanks. Good good meeting you, Nick. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 54:02

Oh yeah, you know where the man is here? It's like he's just asking you like where the like where can I get a drink?

SPEAKER_03: 54:06

Dude, I flipped out when I met uh Linda Hamilton from the Terminator franchise. Oh man. I met her at uh in the you know at Fan X, Salt Lake City, and uh there was this like two-level green room with an escalator connecting the the top and bottom. And when I find I knew she was gonna be there, so I was anticipating. Also, I was I was part of the um the Terminator Zero anime. I I had a really cool role in it. And so I wanted to talk to Linda and see if like, you know, she knew anything, if she had been offered it, if she was gonna be a part of it, you know, if there's gonna, you know. And so anyway, I run into her, and when I do, I'm coming up one escalator and she's going down the other one. And I kind of do a double take and realize it's her going down, and I flip around. I was like, Linda! And she flips around and she's like, Oh my god, you almost killed me. And I was like, I'm so sorry. I wanna I'm coming down, I want to talk to you. You know, I'm coming down. Stay right there. Yeah, and uh I was like, I am so sorry, Linda. I I've just wanted to meet you, I love you. I uh I've wanted to meet you. Um and then I just you know I praised her for her work as you know, Sarah Connor, and then I asked her if she was uh offered Terminator Zero and if she you know knew anything about it. Oh yeah, I did know about it, yeah. No, no, I I I wasn't asked to be a part of it or something or whatever, but and she asked if I was. I said, yeah, yeah. And I was like, you know, I was hoping it was gonna carry on or whatever, but had a nice little chit-chat with her and was blown away. And then I ended up running into her at the hotel at the coffee shop, you know, in line again uh the next day or something like that. And it was kind of like, well, you know, kind of like old, old, old buddies for a second there, you know, at the coffee shop.

SPEAKER_02: 55:46

Yeah, it's always it's always cool to see those relationships bloom from like nerding out to like what they turn into. Uh like we uh we met uh the uh voice actor for Denji and Chainsaw Man, uh Ryan Colt Levy, and we did a panel with him. He was like really cool. Like, like you guys are like 1A1B in like probably coolest, nicest people we've ever met. And uh, you know, it turned from just like a casual conversation to the next time. Uh he had taken a picture with us the first time, and we came up in line at an event and we were like, let's do another picture, but within this picture, because Phil had printed it out, I got him to sign the photo so he was holding the photo from the first time we worked with him. So now our thing is we're gonna have like this inception-like photo happen every time when he comes to Jacksonville in March. So we're gonna continue that tradition. It's just like really cool to be able to build those relationships and like it's all for the love of pop culture and stuff that we've enjoyed over the years. Is there something that you have kind of felt you missed out on? Because like me and Phil, uh, we watched I watched 40 movies this year, Phil watched 50, and we both still feel like we kind of miss stuff all the time between running the podcast nine to fives. I can only imagine on your end, you might feel like that. So in the last couple years, this year included, is there anything you feel like has been in your queue too long? You still have it on your radar, like maybe you're pushing it off for a reason. Is there anything or multiple things that you kind of have your eye on?

SPEAKER_03: 57:18

Yeah, some of these Taylor Sheridan shows, man. I haven't seen one episode. Well, I take that back. I probably saw a little bit of episode one of Tombstone. How do how did I not see Tombstone? Like that's like that's a phenomenal. I know it's a phenomenal show, you know what I mean? I still have to watch season two of Tulsa King. I did catch season one. Phenomenal. I mean, a phenomenal. So yeah, I I I I I'm slipping on season two.

SPEAKER_02: 57:43

What was another big Taylor Sheridan uh there's a bunch of them, I think, on Paramount Plus. I don't know. I don't know if this is it, but I see clips for uh Landman with both.

SPEAKER_03: 57:55

We just started Landman over Christmas at my aunt's house, actually. It's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02: 57:59

He seems like he's having a fucking blast with that role. Like don't tell me so Billy Bob Thorne.

SPEAKER_03: 58:05

I mean, kudos to all the all the actors on that show. Uh they're they're all phenomenal. But man, he's this he's the focus, at least from the the the handful of episodes that I've seen over the Christmas break. He is what your eyes are on, man. His his casual Billy Bob Thornton demeanor is carrying that show and making you want to tune in because of just his his attitude and his energy, man. It's he's so solid. He's so him. He's it's just being him, man, you can't miss. He's like, you know, he's he's like pulls you right in. I mean, he is easy to watch, man, Billy Bob. So yeah, I'm I'm looking forward to to Landman 2. I can't believe I'm I'm so late to the game on all these shows, you know, like like you know, what you asked. Um there's probably more. I did catch some really good Apple TV shows, though, that I had I didn't even intend on signing up for Apple TV. It's my favorite once. My favorite of the streaming services.

SPEAKER_02: 59:03

Hey, you're talking to the number one Apple TV like supporter over here.

SPEAKER_03: 59:07

Oh my god. Man, so many good ones, man. Sugar with Colin Farrell. Phenomenal, man. Phenomenal. What's uh uh what's the one with like the whole like alternate reality um damn it, it's been so long, it hasn't uh had another season yet. Um For All Mankind? No, I haven't see that's that's the one I slipped on too. I need to I need to see that.

SPEAKER_01: 59:30

Oh my gosh, it is so good. It is incredible.

SPEAKER_03: 59:34

God, what's it Okay, there was so there was two. Silo? Silo was phenomenal. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 59:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_03: 59:39

Uh watched all of Silo. But the other one where they get in that box. No, Dark Matter? Dark Matter, where they get in the box. Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 59:46

Dark Matter, yeah. I need to watch that one.

SPEAKER_03: 59:48

Those three shows Silo, Dark Matter, and Sugar. Like, now I'm a huge Apple fan of of all their programming. So I'm so glad that I that I signed up for Apple TV, man. That's I've Put a lot of people on uh dark matter and uh and su and uh sugar. Sugar kind of I don't know how big it is on Apple TV right now, or or if it kind of fell away a little bit or whatever, but it um it was definitely quiet. Yeah, it's not one of the more talked about ones, but it's so interesting and it's so solid, and it's just different enough from anything you've ever seen as far as a detective show. It's like just different enough where you're like, oh, this is fresh. Like, this is a whole fresh take on a detective show, you know?

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:29

And Colin Farrell's in his bag right now. Like, hey, he can do no wrong right now.

SPEAKER_03: 1:00:33

He's I know, man. Damn. Yeah, he is, he's man, that guy's just had a yeah, he's had a blessing of a career, man. Holy shit. He's he's no he's not slowing down anytime soon. Did you get to the studio this year?

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:45

Uh the studio is the name of the show.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:48

Oh, no.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:50

I just realized that's a layered question for you. Yeah, right. Uh the studio is the uh it's the the show with um Seth Rogan, um, and it's about Oh, yeah, I've seen the promo, yeah. Yeah, oh it is it's excellent. It's my favorite show of 2025, especially if you, you know, with you being out there uh when you were out there in LA and Hollywood, I think it would be you'd very much enjoy it. Or I'll give you PTSD, one of those two things. I don't know. That's like the bear and yeah, some of those other shows, but yeah, but I I love uh for all mankind. Ted Lasso is my favorite. I have a Ted Lasso tattoo, so that that show has had a profound impact on me. Shrinking is probably my favorite right now. That show brings me to tears every single episode. Oh wow. It's outstanding. But yeah, Apple TV is slept on because they don't really promote too often. They kind of just rely on all right, if you're gonna sign up, you know, here's what we have to offer. And I think that's why so many of those shows are slept on. Um there was another show that came out, what is it called? Air Polybrious, I think, that came out this year that people's gillian show, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, a whole bunch of shows.

SPEAKER_03: 1:01:53

Breaking bad Vince?

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:54

Yeah. Oh shit. Yeah, that's a show that uh I I think is gonna get a lot of, it's gonna win a lot of uh win a lot of gold here in the beginning of 2026. So yeah, Apple TV is is definitely slept on, but again, it's because like uh I mean there's so many streaming platforms to choose from, and and I think also a lot of people have a misconception that you need to have an iPhone to watch Apple TV, and that's not the case. So definitely love Apple TV.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:20

Still uh going back to the studio, was there any moments that they did they show any auditioning casting?

SPEAKER_01: 1:02:25

Not auditioning because Seth Rogan, the main character, he be is the head of a studio. He becomes the head of the studio, so but there is I think it's episode two or three that is one of my favorite episodes of television ever. It is so good. It's called the one shot, and it kind of gives you an idea of what the episode is about. But yeah, it's it's it's great. So, but yeah, it's more so from the executive studio head point of view, and that's what Seth Rogan is. Yeah. Oh, that'll be awesome. Yeah, I'll watch it for sure.

SPEAKER_02: 1:02:51

Yeah, there's a lot to catch up on, a lot to look forward to as well. So, kind of for our last question as we're winding down the episode, and and we cannot thank you enough uh for the conversation so far. You brought up a lot about like that one mindset mentality of just like like just going forward, blinders on no matter what. I have no idea if you had any interest in watching this or if you saw it, but over Christmas, uh Marty Supreme with Timothy Chalamet came out, and I don't know why, but I really feel like you would enjoy that considering a lot of that mentality that you have. Uh, you're either gonna really enjoy it or you're gonna really hate it. One of the two. So that's gonna be a personal recommendation I'm gonna give to you that I didn't expect. Is it already out right now? Yeah, it's out in theaters now. It came out Christmas Day. So holiday movies are always so interesting because they either really hit or they really don't. But A24's biggest opening so far, so it's not doing too bad.

SPEAKER_03: 1:03:47

Man, all right, all right, yeah, you're giving me a reason to step out and go to the theater now. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02: 1:03:51

Yeah, I would highly recommend it. But uh, as our last question, is there anything going into next year? And this can be in the world of pop culture on a personal level that you're looking forward to 2026 when this episode drops will have just started. You know, what are you looking forward to the most? And you can kind of put anything under that umbrella as far as what you might have your eyes looking towards the future for.

SPEAKER_03: 1:04:13

Man, looking forward to getting a few more pinball machines, that's for sure. Is there a particular one you got your eye on? Oh, yeah, which which franchise you would would you like to add? Yeah, a couple of a couple of older ones actually. There's one called um Circus Voltaire. That's an old uh pinball, older pinball machine. That's really awesome as far as playability. It's like a really fun one. I really also I love the um there's a uh a Wizard of Oz pinball machine that came out recently. That's that's a pretty badass pin. There's a few uh few other older ones that I really like. The Terminator 2 pin. I don't know if you guys have ever seen it or played it.

SPEAKER_02: 1:04:53

They they have like some new ones at Dave and Buster's, and I feel like both of those were there. Really? We went to David Buster's in Orlando, or not Dave and Buster's, we went to that arcade arcade time.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:04

Arcade time. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02: 1:05:06

Yeah, it was uh they definitely had Wizard of Oz for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 1:05:09

Yeah, definitely had Wizard of Oz.

SPEAKER_03: 1:05:10

Oh, right on, okay. The uh the term the Terminator 2 one is obviously a pretty old one, right? It's I that must have that must be like 95 or 96 or something, that one. But um, there's some people, man, that have these things in immaculate shape. So yeah, anyway, I want to get a few more of those. That's a that's uh that was a big plus of getting a bigger house and moving to to Dallas, you know. That uh I was outgrowing the space that I had there in my previous house, and I ended up getting about double the house now. So I I have like uh the potential for having like a little mini arcade now, so so that's gonna be cool. Man, I just uh I'm looking forward to just the adventure of 2026, really, you know, to getting some some brand new jobs, to carrying on with some of my my ongoing jobs like Spidey and Apex and and doing some cool traveling as well, coming to see you guys, obviously, getting over to Florida hopefully a few times in 2026, hopefully getting over to Nashville maybe for the first time. Yeah, man, and and just carrying on this adventure, man, and and kind of just looking forward to the unknown.

SPEAKER_01: 1:06:11

Yeah, uh, it is uh 2026. You know, we Eric and I knew 2025 was going to be a big year for us, both personally and professionally, and it did turn out to be that. So it is really set up a lot for what 2026 is going to be for us as well. And I know I can speak for Eric when I say that uh we're gonna take a lot of that, a lot of what you shared with us here today into 2026, and and we'll we'll cheers our waters here to uh to to manifesting what uh twins in in 2026 as well. You know, we're very excited for what is to come. Cannot wait to see you uh here in a couple weeks at at Brick City Anime Festival. So uh again, thank you so much for the time and for uh for hanging out with us here this evening. It has been such a joy to continue to get to work with you, and uh uh we can't talk about it really specifically here quite yet, but there is a very cool panel coming up on day two of Brick City Anime Festival that Nicholas and I will be a part of. And uh so hope to see you there. I know you already did that in the beginning as far as uh where to find you social media-wise. So again, that'll be in the show notes of this episode. Anything else you want to share with our audience uh as far as what you're working on that you can share with us before we wrap up for the evening?

SPEAKER_03: 1:07:23

Oh, they could just grab me on Instagram and they'll find out. You know, I I keep it uh I keep all my uh my my news right there. I usually post it on my stories or I'll or I'll put it up if there's something big uh big that I want to uh put out there. But uh yeah, if they uh just grab me on Instagram, they'll see it on my stories for sure, whatever I got going on. And uh I'm always super careful about uh any anime NDAs or anything else, because man, you can put your foot in your mouth real fast on that stuff. But uh there's a lot, there's a lot of cool stuff happening this year, a lot of stuff that'll be announced. And um and I just want to thank you guys, man. Thank you guys for being as cool as you are, and uh keep kicking ass, man. You guys are kicking ass. I've seen your trajectory on the rise, and uh it's just gonna keep getting better for you guys, man.

SPEAKER_01: 1:08:03

Yeah, we appreciate it. So uh yeah, um again, everything you need for Nicholas will be in the show notes of this episode. Also, if you're listening to us for the first time and you want to know where to keep up with the Wait Forward Podcast, that will also be in the Linktree link in the show notes of this and every single episode. You can follow us over on social media, Instagram, TikTok, join our growing Discord community, head on over to YouTube, like, share, and subscribe, and follow us over on Twitch where we stream each and every single week. On the personal side, make sure to follow Eric and I as well as our personal journeys, me through voice acting. Eric will be streaming twice a week over on his Twitch channel. And if you want to support the show, you can also head on over to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you're listening, and leave us five stars. Another great way to support the show. We appreciate all of you that have done that so far. But if you find yourself wanting to get a little bit more out of the podcast in 2026, maybe getting episodes early or having a hand in the content that we release, Eric will let you know a little bit more about that before wrapping us up for the night.

SPEAKER_02: 1:08:56

As we do with every episode, just a quick shout out to all of our members of Patreon who are supporting us monthly to continue to keep the show growing. And that would be Briar T3 Kato, Vintage Macaroni, Corey from The World's My Burrito, Nick Casbaro, the author of the Vidillirium series, and Botter from the Short Box Podcast. If you want behind the scenes and early access to episodes like this one, or you want to be a part of Patreon month where you can actually decide some of the movies and films that we watch for some of our series on the show, you could definitely do that there. But all the free stuff that Phil mentioned, that only takes a moment of your time, is good enough for us, and we truly appreciate anything and everything that you do. With that all being said, we hope to see you at Brick City Anime Festival. My name is Mr. Eric Almighty, that is my co-host, Phil the Filipino, and our guest, Nicholas Roy. Woo! Please remember, we release episodes every Wednesday for the podcast, and all you have to do is wait for it.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09:56

This is the Wait for It Podcast.