Timber: Meeting voice actors is probably the coolest thing about going to anime conventions. Some of the fans can get a little crazy, though, and I'm sure you've seen your share of that. What's the most bizarre question you've ever been asked or request you've ever gotten from a fan?
Crispin Freeman: Someone got up in front of an entire room of hundreds of people at a convention and asked to have sex with me. And seemed deadly serious about it and wanted an answer right there. That was awkward...
Timber: ...Wow.
Crispin Freeman: Usually it's not such a clear strange question like that. More often, it's just a sort of awkwardness that can happen when it feels like fans just want to tug at your shirt sleeve as if to say, "Pay attention to me!" That can become draining after a while because you can't possibly give everyone in the room personal attention.
Timber: That makes sense.
Crispin Freeman: Fans want to interact with creators, and Creators do like to interact with appreciative fans. The key word there is appreciative and not obsessive. An appreciative fan has social skills, says please and thank you, doesn't monopolize a creators time and has good hygiene. You'd think all of that goes without saying, but the fact that I keep saying it means that it actually doesn't.
Crispin Freeman: The only problem comes when a fan is so "needy" that the creator starts to feel uncomfortable and so starts retreating, which makes the "needy" fan reach for them that much more and then you're in a downward spiral.
Crispin Freeman: I love having good, structured ways to interact with fans. Like this moderated chat room. Without the moderation, it can be a bit much for one little person like me to handle, and I was a hacker and I'm comfy with technology.
Crispin Freeman: Sorry if that turned into a bit of a rant, but I'm always trying to improve creator and fan relations! :)
Crispin Freeman: next
Baka Crow I love waking up in on a Saturday morning and watching the spectacular Spider-man. My question is when recording with other voice actors who are in the same room. Do you guys have time to play around or is it straight to business?
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MewChero: First, I'm a huge fan! Thanks for gracing us with your presence. Question: Do you ever watch the whole show you are working on or just the parts you are assigned to voice for?
Crispin Freeman: When I can, I try to watch the whole show I'm working on. Sometimes that's not possible, but I do my best. On some shows, however, I either don't have time, don't have access or it just makes more sense to trust my director and go with their vision of the show.
Crispin Freeman: next
ChibiSasuke: Thanks for coming today :D I'm sure you have thought about other careers before, or something else you would wish to do. If you had a choice to be anything besides a voice actor, what would it be?
Crispin Freeman: An astronaut!
Crispin Freeman: I actually went to Space Camp when I was in High School, although I went to the accelerated program, Space Academy! It was a blast.
ChibiSasuke: REALLY? That would be fun!
Crispin Freeman: I was going to major in Theater and Astrophysics in college, but the requirements were too much so I minored in Computer Science instead.
Crispin Freeman: I started out as a theatrical actor and then transitioned into voice acting. I'm sure I'll make many more transitions throughout my life as I follow my interests. Right now I'm focusing on my writing and teaching much more.
Crispin Freeman: next
Uta Okami: Thank you so much for taking time out to talk to us, Mr. Freeman! I was wondering, how did you first become interested in voice acting? Was it something you always wanted to do?
Crispin Freeman: I never thought that I'd become a voice actor probably because when I grew up voice acting was mostly Looney Toons stuff and that wasn't really me.
