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When I dropped by Virginia Beach for lunch with voice actor Brian Drummond (Sonic Prime) last summer, he introduced me to Ian James Corlett (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) in the convention center’s break room. The Dragon Ball Z co-stars had just wrapped up a panel about their careers and their time playing Vegeta and Goku. After our lively discussion at lunch, I left Drummond and Corlett when they returned to their booths to greet a long line of fans and sign autographs.
Corlett’s prolific career spans nearly 40 years with his vocal talents across radio and TV commercials, animated programming, and video games. In addition to Goku and Master Roshi in the first Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z English dubs, Corlett’s famous roles include Mega Man in Mega Man, Bob in ReBoot, Cheetor in Beast Wars: Transformers, and more.
Recently, I spoke with Corlett on Zoom to learn more about voice acting and one of his hobbies.
On Trying to Make Your Own Way
For Corlett, it’s important to be proactive in your life, especially in a profession full of projects that are somewhat “against the odds.” When you tackle challenges, whether in auditions, projects, or life, “stick to it and whenever you can, try to make your own way.”
He summed up this advice in another way, based on something his father always said. “If everyone is going in this direction, look in the other direction. It’s not necessarily to go [there] but make sure you look over there and see if there’s a way that you’re not just one of the crowd.”
On Voice Acting Misconceptions
Whenever he goes to comic cons, Corlett addresses common misconceptions about voice acting careers. One misconception is that very few accomplished voice actors just have roles handed to them. In reality, he spends a lot of time reviewing lists of roles that are available. “You look through and [say] ‘This one makes sense for me, this one doesn’t. Pass on that.’ Every day I’m auditioning for something.”
Another misconception is that you only need a great voice and the ability to imitate people. Rather, you should pursue proper training as an actor and understand the technical aspects of a project. “That goes for people that do trailers, promos and that part of the industry. It’s still acting. You still have to look at a script and break it down.”
Corlett encourages aspiring voice actors to start now by taking an improv class or joining a theater program.
On Different Roles
Since childhood, Corlett has always loved classic radio shows. When he was about 10 or 11, he listened to a morning talk show that featured older programs like The Shadow or Sam Spade. “I liked, as a great old mentor and studio engineer used to say, the theater of the mind. That stuck with me and I still listen to old radio shows. I absolutely love them!”
Corlett tends to be hired for relatively intense roles, like Dio in the new Final Fantasy VII Rebirth video game. And if a project is part of a huge franchise or series, he needs to keep the exciting news a secret for weeks. While he enjoys those opportunities, his comfort zone and favorite work is still in comedy. “I’m thrilled to have done several Family Guy episodes. I seem to specialize in British characters and butlers.”
Those quick scenes typically don’t attract news headlines. However, one of his butlers was in service to U.K. royals “Harry” and “Meghan” in a Family Guy episode. “I played the butler that came in and delivered their boatload of money from Netflix that no one really knew what it was [for]. That was high profile!”
On Vintage Cars
Outside of work, Corlett is a vintage car aficionado and he’s quite skilled in the mechanics involved. “I’ve got a vintage 1966 Porsche that I restored. I took all the old gas guts out of it and converted it to an electric car years ago.”
It’s rare that he encounters anime fans at comic cons who love cars as much as he does. So he finds other vintage car fans in his local community. “I love driving that thing around to Cars and Coffee—here in California it’s a big thing—and just talking to people about vintage cars.”
Follow Ian James Corlett on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for his latest updates.
