Recently, I had the chance to interview Erica Lindbeck, who is arguably one of the most adored voice actresses of the modern era. She has voiced several beloved characters over the last few years, including, but not limited to, Futaba from Persona 5, Jessie Rasberry from the Final Fantasy VII Remake games, Black Cat in Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Misty in Cyberpunk 2077. She has also starred in League of Legends, Helldivers II, The Outer Worlds 2, and countless other iconic anime and games. 

Our interview dives into how she got into voice acting, her recent role in Marathon, the different types of characters she’s played and their commonalities, and the joy and love she’s found in the mediums she’s worked in. We hope you enjoy this exclusive interview, and we’d like to thank Erica Lindbeck and her team for making this possible! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This interview features spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

It’s very nice to meet you! So obviously, you’ve had a massive career when it comes to being a voice actress. You’ve been in a lot of projects over the last few years and done some really incredible work. So, I wanted to ask, how did you get your start? What was the point where you thought, “Okay, this is something I really want to do with my life?”

Erica Lindbeck (EL): Okay, I’ll try to truncate it as much as possible…I would watch a ton of cartoons, of course, but I never clocked that I wanted to do [voice acting]. I just always knew, I’ve always felt very compelled to perform, whether that be like at the dinner table with my family, like I love making people laugh, it’s one of my favorite things. But as far as like—I’m an ADHD kid for life—and as a child I was obviously a little bit difficult to control
and not a lot kept my focus. 

And so, theater actually was one of the only things I really enjoyed doing and was compelled to do. Mostly because, I mean, again, if anyone wants to get into VO and they live in an area where, you know, maybe being…VO projects or television on camera aren’t available to them, you know, obviously, theater is the thing that you do. I did community theater, I did the one-act play competition, the NCTC (North Carolina Theater Conference) one-act play competition was my favorite part of the year during high school. I did all the musicals, like acting was just the only thing…that really kind of kept my attention.

And so I would say that it’s tough to answer because I don’t know that there was a moment that I went, “Ah, yes, this is what I wanna do.” It’s more just kind of, it’s always been like in my marrow that this is just what I do, I am a performer…I didn’t wanna major in anything else. You know, if I were gonna go to college, I was gonna do acting studies, and that’s what I was fortunate enough to do, so, yeah.

But as far as voiceover specifically, it’s not a very sexy story, but it, you know, when I was graduating from UCLA, I was pursuing on-camera and I was consuming a lot of anime and video games as a fan, just as a medium, and I thought to myself, “Huh, maybe I should try VO as well”. I took—this is so embarrassing—I took a voiceover class when I was like 20. I drove out to, I drove out to Torrance to take Crispin Freeman’s class, but not because I really wanted to take a voice acting class, but because I wanted to take an acting class with Alucard from Hellsing.

But then…I just kept doing them and kind of went, “Okay, okay, I think I can do this maybe.” And so I pursued, you know, on camera, and I knew theater wasn’t something that I wanted to do as a career, musical theater. I love to sing, I sing a lot, but I knew I didn’t wanna go that route, and I knew I didn’t wanna do theater always as a job. And so I was like on-camera at VO and VO was the thing that really took off for me, and I’m so grateful, you know, that I get to do what I do. 

It makes a lot of sense because usually when I talk to other creatives, they either have a specific moment or it’s like a collection of moments.

EL: Yeah, possibly, yeah, I would argue it’s a collection, it’s a collection of moments. But I do love it, I feel very fulfilled by, I mean, I think if you’re a self-actualized person and you’ve done the work on yourself, you can find fulfillment in just about anything. I think that’s the thing we learn as we get older, right? Like, there’s no one thing that’s gonna make everything okay. You know, I can find fulfillment anywhere. I’m very lucky that I get to do what I do, though, yeah.

Kind of on that similar note…a lot of people nowadays are kind of wondering, you know, how do you get into voice acting? So, is there any advice you’d like to give to those people about getting into that?

EL: I think as far as advice goes…you know, it’s funny, I feel like I’ve answered this question so many times. Not in like a negative way, I just always, whenever I’m on a panel, and I get that question, I go, “I’m gonna give that to someone else.” I usually feel that to someone who teaches, you know, because I don’t really teach, or someone who’s been in the industry a little bit, a little bit longer than I have.

I think that if it’s what you want to do, then go do that. There are opportunities to perform literally everywhere and don’t limit yourself by saying, “Oh, I’m not in LA,” or “I’m not in New York,” or “I don’t have the money,” or “I’m not in Dallas,” et cetera, et cetera. I really think that you can find opportunities to perform, to learn, and to grow just about anywhere. I think there’s community theater. I think a lot of people, you’ll notice— not everyone, of course, like it’s not one size fits all—but a lot of the people who have had a lot of success in VO and work steadily, or people who have a lot of theatrical training.

Not to say you don’t have to go to school for it, of course. Like I did go to UCLA for theater, and I did learn a lot there, but I do think there are so many classes available online.  I think, again, it’s like, “if there’s a will, there’s a way.” I also don’t want to, I don’t want, I feel like there’s this weird kind of pervasive sort of thought that some people kind of disseminate is that it’s like, it is hard, but it’s not impossible.

I don’t want to gate-keep. I don’t want to be like, “Oh, it’s so difficult, you’ll never be able to do it.” The odds are not great that you’ll be able to make a full living in the entertainment industry in any facet, but you can do it. There are opportunities to perform. You have to do it. You have to do it for the love of the game, baby. You can’t do it because you want to win an Oscar or an award at The Game Awards, or you’d want to be in this specific franchise.

Like that’s all, all the cool things that I have booked in my life have been just a byproduct of my passion for the craft, so to speak, for acting. And that I really love doing it. It’s just what I do. I was like, “Never tell me the odds, there are no other options, I have to do this.” And when I say “this,” I don’t mean necessarily VO, I mean acting, you know, performing in some capacity. 

Is there any kind of part of the voice acting process that you think doesn’t really get as much attention as others? Ones that you wish got more love, so to speak. 

EL: All of it, all of it. Oh my gosh, looping, like loop groups, who are doing all the background like improvisation, and all these films. I don’t do a lot of loop groups, as you can tell. Loopers work so hard, like the night before, they’ll be like, “Oh, you’re in the 911, and you have to be all these EMTs,” and they’ll learn all this verbiage and learn how to improvise, you know, for just miles on end about these topics. It’s so, so impressive.

Dubbing anime, I don’t think people understand how difficult it is to even do, even dub an anime into English, just so it’s good. You know what I mean? They don’t understand how hard it is. Even just doing it really incredibly well, love that. But even just like the amount of passion I think—actually that’s what I would say. Even a passion, like people who work on the anime side of things are so freaking passionate about these titles and bringing them to American audiences, or sorry, English-speaking audiences who wish to watch it, watch it in English…Where, like, the animation was actually animated to the English voices, you know?

It’s very difficult. And I think people are really, really hard on it. Obviously, we know there’s a lot of, you know, back and forth online about that, so yeah. There’s a lot of stuff, though. We have to be such good imaginers…a lot of times. You know, you’re in a game, and the other person isn’t in yet, and you just have to kind of like make up this conversation. The directors are reading you in. It’s very, it’s like guerrilla warfare!

And there’s so much passion in this industry. And that’s why I’m very reticent to give myself any flowers, even though I know that they’re deserved, but I am such a small part of such a huge process. There are just so many people on the backend making me look good, doing, you know, writing these incredible scripts. There’s always, I’m standing on the shoulders of giants as far as that goes!

Something I’ve always been fascinated by is when voice talent or voiceover talent goes to a convention and you know, they’re interacting with a bunch of different people and you probably have so many people come up to you and you usually get around the same sort of roles that, “Oh, I know you for this, I know you for that.” Are there any that have really surprised you, where they’re like, “Oh, I know you for this certain role”?

EL: I’ve gotten to a point now where someone will bring me something, and I’ll go, “I don’t think that’s me?” and they’ll go, “Yes, it is,” and they’ll pull up my IMDb, and I never thought I’d get to that point. I was like, “Is that-? Oh yeah, so it is me, I guess.” One of the really surprising things in the last couple of years was Misty from [Cyberpunk 2077], which I love my work. I love my work in Cyberpunk, but it feels like it’s experienced a little bit of a second wind, and people really love her, and I think that’s really cool.

But I love it when people come up for Smiling Friends. They’re shocked, they’re like, “Hey, you’re like every female character in Smiling Friends, except for Charlie’s
girlfriend,” which is the lovely Monica Franco, we love her so much. Yeah, some of it’s like old stuff, old JRPGs that I, like the first ones I ever did, which I love. What’s ironic is…I could book the next lead in Assassin’s Creed and get flown out to the UK to do MoCap for months, and I still wouldn’t be as excited as I was when I booked Atelier Shallie.

Like when I booked like Kanadeko in Omega Quintet (Editor’s Note: It appears that while Erica Lindbeck mentioned Kanadeko as a voice acting credit, she in fact voiced Kyouka in Omega Quintet). Or like Monster Strike, when I got a couple of roles in Monster Strike, which is a mobile game. The sheer energy I felt and excitement I felt, I remember screaming in my car and almost getting into an accident on the freeway, when I found out I booked Monster Strike. But yeah, as time wears on, man, I do forget. I forget.

It’s funny, the first voice I recognized you in Cyberpunk, because I also know you voice Meredith Stout-

EL: Yeah, so that was the character I actually booked, like when we all pitched in.  That was the character that I booked, and then Misty ended up becoming…they kept writing for her and writing for her, and she became this character. Like line-wise, she’s not a huge character, but everyone has to meet her.  That’s why everyone loves her, and everyone comes up to me because everyone has to interact with her. She’s also a fricking kick-ass character, I love her.

I also remember Spider Murphy, who somehow has even fewer lines than both Meredith and Misty. I went, “Oh, wait a minute, that sounds like Futaba!”

EL: They actually referenced that. I think, if I remember correctly, yes, they referenced Futaba, and I was like, all right, yeah, sure. It’s funny too, cause like…it is obviously in my wheelhouse because I’ve voiced Futaba in Persona 5. But in my brain…she’s just such a faraway character for me. But people will be like, “You voice Futaba Sakura!” and I’m like, “Yeah, I do. I am not a little gremlin redhead, I apologize.” 

What I’ve noticed is that, in every form of art, specifically voice acting in this case, you obviously have to put a little bit of yourself into that role. Is there a character that you have found yourself relating to more after the fact, like after you’ve already done the VO for them? Where you’ve gone, as time has passed, you think, “I connect more to this character now.”

EL: Futaba for sure, I think her hero’s journey has been so lovely, and mine—I’ve changed a lot as well. I think I’ve grown in ways—maybe not exactly the same ways as Futaba has—but I think living with a character for that long, you do find some similarities. Art imitates life, and vice versa.  There was one actually, speaking of Cyberpunk, I, when I started recording for Cyberpunk…So, you know Misty loses her partner, Jackie. So, my partner actually passed away between the original recordings and Phantom Liberty.

And so I remember going in and just not even needing to do a damn thing to get to where she was. And I also found a lot of inspiration in her because you could tell that the wind had been knocked out of her sails, and that’s really sad, but I also felt that…before I’d been through what I’d been through, it would have been devastating for me to see her like that, but I now have been on that journey.

And…it’s a beautiful and horrific journey to go on, but I think that there’s a lot of hope at the end of it. And I didn’t go into it feeling hopeless as I probably would have if I hadn’t experienced what I had. Because I’m in a great place now, and I
would hope that Misty is too, but yeah, I didn’t have to do anything. I was like, “Oh, I get it, yep, I get it.” She’s different now. She’s not who she was, but I think that the difficult things in our lives cause us to evolve. And most of the time, for the better, I would hope, if you do the work. 

I’m so glad to hear that you’re in a better place now. It is interesting to hear that sort of change, because one of the new endings that Phantom Liberty added was where we see Misty after two years. And a lot of people kind of look at that ending as a sadder ending, but in many ways, it’s such an interesting ending for Misty in particular. Because we see her, how she has evolved and how she has changed, and sort of—not recovered necessarily— but she has gone on a very different journey as a result, and she has completely changed herself. And you can see that in the way that you performed for her in that ending.

EL: Oh, thank you, I really appreciate that! Yeah, and I think that’s why it means a lot to me when people come up to me and talk to me about Misty. They’re like, “Oh yeah, that Phantom Liberty ending,” especially that Taxi Cab moment. I watch that scene all the time, and I’m like, damn, if I ever had to make a new visual reel or something, I’d put that in there. Cause I’m like, “That’s a scene from a movie.

Yeah, I love it. It makes me emotional to think about. And again, like when you haven’t experienced something directly, it feels weirdly more depressing but when you’re living through it and you understand that there are these moments of just like desperation and intense change, but also on the flipside of that, like there’s a lot of levity and you do feel that with me, and in some of those scenes. So, I love how you can tell that she’s down, but she’s not out. And I felt very much the same way. 

Absolutely. There’s almost like a catharsis in it.

EL: 100%, you can like mourn those parts of yourself, but also there’s sort of this wild hope in the change that you’re going through, weirdly. Yeah, I don’t know.

No, I totally get it! Something I’m curious about when it comes to a lot of really big voice talent, and voice talent all over across the industry, is the characters that are sort of like the player character. Take Helldivers, right? 

EL: Yes, I was Helldiver #1, actually. Say my name, oh my goodness! Let’s put some respect on it!

Of course! Or even something as recent as Marathon, with your role as the Vandall shell.  How, if at all, does your approach to voicing that character change versus someone like Black Cat, for instance? Is there a change, or is it just kind of the “same as it ever was,” so to speak?

EL: I think something that we always keep in mind is if it is a player character with a lot of lines, or a character that you’re taking control of…you don’t want to get annoying, to be frank.  You don’t want to sound annoying or grating to the player. That’s something that we really try to watch out for. I will say with Vandal, we really approached her. I approached her just like a character. But I will say, what I do love about a player character, especially for something first-person, obviously Helldivers is a whole other thing because we were just screaming our lungs out the entire time.

But with Vandal, I knew like, “Okay, this is going to be over comms.” They wanted the vibe of Marathon to be very cinematic and very natural, and I loved that. I loved that they went in that direction. So I knew that I could play it very close to the vest; we didn’t need to yell. So in that respect, I think it’s more like a technical difference, I think, more than anything else. I approach them all as similar, the same character; we just adapt to whatever material is in front of us.

Helldivers on the other hand, it just screams, it’s just screams. I think Vandal, her name, used to be Glitch, but I think she’s a very nuanced, fun, narrative, cinematic performance. It’s funny, I just pulled up, I pulled up my old audition for Helldivers, and I listened to it, and I was playing it so straight. I think what happened was, because I don’t usually do, just for the sake of my vocal cords, I will not audition for any role that is just screaming. I don’t do that anymore. I haven’t done it for like six years. And so that one, those auditions went around and then they came back around, like a week later, and my agent goes, “Hey, they’re asking if you’ll read on this, and I was like, “What?”

So I was like, “It’s all screaming? No.” And then I looked at the lines, and I was like, “Oh, these are hilarious, I gotta do this. Gotta do my big one.” And so I did! But yeah, I played it very straight. I think I went even further with some of the lines, but they would go, “Okay, all right, all right.” But they let me keep in like “Sweet liberty, my leg!” Like all this crazy stuff, it’s absolutely insane. 

Yeah, that’s awesome! With Vandal in particular, there is that visual aspect, right? Where she, even in just her design, there is an entire story there-

EL: And with the cinematic!

–I was actually just gonna ask about that! That was completely different, because she is a character in that. She is the main character in that cinematic, arguably.

EL: Like the way that she was presented both in the slides when I read on the role, and also that was the first thing that I did, and then months later going in to do the actual in-game lines, she, for me, is very much just a regular character. Because we had this huge gift to be able to establish her in that way, and then go in and sort of do her in-game. Cause I was never like, “Oh, she’s a, she’s like a shell.” Like it didn’t feel nebulous to me. I knew who this person was.

And with the audition, they were really smart. The auditions, they gave a little monologue. It wasn’t just a bunch of piecemeal lines because they really, you know, they wanted to make sure it could be cohesive. I don’t even think she has any lines that are as long as the monologue was in the audition. It was just a big rambling monologue, and I went, “I know who this is.”

Actually, Glitch/Vandal is very much like if I had maybe done like Jinx in Arcane or something, or a little bit of Futaba, like that sort of frenetic [character]. That’s what I love about her is like a lot of player characters in these games are so cool and chill. And I’m like, “No, she’s stressed. We’re all stressed.”

I love the way she moves in that cinematic. You can tell she’s just a little stressed, which wouldn’t we all be? Like, I would not be the cool girl in one of those games. I’d be like, “Ah, shit, there’s guns everywhere.” But yeah, but the cinematic was so fun. Alberto Mielgo told me I got to work with him. He directed me on it. 

It’s interesting to hear that you recorded for that first and then the in-game voice lines!

EL: Yeah, isn’t that crazy? That is usually pretty rare, I would say.

Definitely. I’ve personally been loving Marathon recently. 

EL: My brother’s playing it and he’s a Vandal main, which is so funny. And my brother doesn’t give me an inch. He is not someone who’s like, “Oh my gosh, I play all your games.” He’s like, “I guess I’m Vandal now, whatever.” He’s like, “I feel like a freak.” He has, I think, one of her higher tier skins or something. But I have friends who are playing it. I’m really happy. It sounds like it’s a tough game to play.

It’s very difficult. I’m not very good at extraction shooters. Every time I play, I lose a lot of loot. And I’m like, “I’m getting my butt kicked, but I’m having so much fun.”

EL: I think it’s interesting. I was watching people talk about it when they, because they had that big press push, months and months ago, and then they came back around, and they made some tweaks. Someone was talking about, they were like, “it matters what decisions my teammates make. I remember where I lost my gold backpack. I will pass somewhere, and there is an emotional tie to a lot of these places and a lot of the decisions that my teammates make.” And I think the world is heavy. It does not feel like you’re just going back in, going back in a vacuum. I found that quite interesting. Maybe that’s what’s hooking people in.

It is a story in itself. Even though there isn’t really a single player aspect of it, there’s still a “story.”

EL: And that’s probably why people are finding it so compelling. And I also found it funny, because when they first announced the game, some people were saying, “I don’t want an extraction shooter.” And people were like, “Well, it’s not for you then. It’s for people who want to play extraction shooters!” That’s what it is. 

Yeah, exactly. In the past, you’ve played a lot of very different archetypes of characters. You’ve played more like morally dubious characters, kind of like a Black Cat, versus more traditional heroes or more introspective characters. Are there any that you’ve sort of either A, gravitated towards, or B, want to do more of?

EL: I do like characters where I get to play the comedy. What comes to mind is Cassie Cage in Mortal Kombat 11. Like I love a good joke. Yeah, I love playing comedy. I think Glitch is, or sorry, Vandal is very, very funny. I think emotionally, that’s a really interesting question. I’ve been getting to play a few more morally dubious characters, see, that’s funny, because to me, I don’t feel that Black Cat’s morally dubious, I don’t, but I know that objectively she is. 

But for a character like Daki, okay, that was one of the first in Demon Slayer, that was one of the first, like, actual morally dubious, bigger characters that I had to play. And I was like, oh no, she’s wild. Like I had to go to the dark place to voice her. Or like Lady Nagant in My Hero Academia. Actually, funnily enough, yeah, in anime dubs, like I feel like I’ve gotten a chance to sort of spread my wings there. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t gravitate towards them.

It’s more honestly a vocal quality thing, too. I do think that that does come into play when it comes to characters, especially women who are a little like, a little scarier, a little more exercising in the gray. I think I tend to skew a little bit younger with some things. In the last few years, I have been able to snatch up a few, you know, a few more “evil sexy lady roles.” I mean, I’m not saying that I wouldn’t voice an unsexy evil lady. I absolutely would, but they tend to all be pretty hot, I’ve noticed.

Yeah, it’s an unintended side effect, I guess! Or, even a character like Meredith Stout, for instance-

EL: I was literally thinking about Meredith, but I was like…she’s like at an 11 all the time. I remember just being like, “Oh my god,” like, that was kind of when I realized that I could do stuff like that. I think also, I think characters that are really raw, and they’re like the nerves of humans, because I am the same way. I think, I think I gravitate towards those roles that are very much like, they wear their hearts on their sleeves for better and worse. I don’t really hold a lot back as a, as a person. So I think I do gravitate towards those.

Yeah, for sure. Is there a sort of dream kind of character that you want to fill? Like you mentioned, a little bit of those kinds of more villainous or middle sort of morality scale, sort of. Are there any others where you’ve kind of gone, “I want to play something kind of like this.”

EL: I would love to play in the world of…like a Bioshock game would be so fun. I love the Bioshock games. Or sort of an Assassin’s Creed. I’d love to do a super long-form narrative game where I get to go do like MoCap for several months, something like that. Resident Evil would be really fun, or Silent Hill.  Cause again, I’m always, I try not to always be a 12 out of 10, you know, as a person.

But again, like that’s probably why I love this job. I feel like I would be somewhere not great if I weren’t able to have the therapeutic experience of pulling all these things out of me. All these big feelings that I have and using them for my art, there’s something really positive in that, I think, pulling out the parts of me that aren’t so pretty. The jealousy, the anger, the fear, all these things that I push down, you know, there’s a lot of power in telling those things that they’re okay and validating them because we all have them. Like, why would we pretend that they don’t exist?

I’m curious, if you were in that sort of Resident Evil or Silent Hill world, would you wanna be the S.T.A.R.S. member kind of navigating the horror, or like Grace [Ashcroft], or would you wanna be the evil scientist kind of character?

EL: I will say I do think that I could do either. But I think like…I forgot the actress’s name, but I listened to some of Resident Evil Requiem, and I just was like, she is that character. She just, that’s a thing that I could do, but I also, I look at that, and I just go, that’s perfect casting, oh my gosh. Angela Sant’Albano, yeah, she’s absolutely fantastic, like I love it. I personally feel it’s more interesting to be like one of the Dimitrescu characters. 

But I also do like playing a vulnerable character. I just think that there are other people out there that could maybe, like that’s their lane, and they could really accomplish that with ease, with so much ease. And for me, yeah, it’s a little more difficult to get there, or maybe just not, I’m thinking of it just from a casting perspective. I’m like, “What’s the easiest way to get this product?” It would probably be through someone else.

Oh, actually, also like a Baldur’s Gate, that’s something I would love. I’d love to do, actually, funnily enough, I love a “pompous asshole” character, but I also, I really do like subtle performances. I really, I do enjoy that. And in that respect, yes, like a Jill Valentine, or a Claire, or something, would be really fun, because I do really enjoy playing characters that are close to myself. I find joy, I’m like, I just love it all. I love all of it. I love it, you’re just spreading out this buffet, and I’m like, I wanna do all of it. I love a “wilting violet” protagonist who’s afraid of everything. And I also love a strong, pompous villain. I think they’re all super fun.

Actually, kind of in a similar vein, last year I had a chance to interview Jennifer Hale–

EL: Oh, who’s that? (laughs) Legend, we love her so much; she’s amazing.

-I’d like to actually ask you the same question I asked her, which is kind of cheating. But I know-

EL: How dare you?

-I know, shameful. But looking back at your history as a voice actress, what is a line of dialogue that you still think about to this day? 

EL: This is just one that’s kind of top of mind, but it would be Morgana’s ult from League of Legends.  I love League, I’ve voiced three League champs: Taliyah, Morgana, and Zoe. So obviously, I just wouldn’t stop auditioning and bothering them. But I love one of her ults, which was, “Look what you made me do.” And I remember, because I naturally don’t actually have that low of a voice, you know? And I have my brethren, you know, Laura Post, Allegra Clark, like all these women who just have deep, like in “bass of hell” voices. 

And we’d been, we’d been recording and recording. And I, I remember just going, I don’t know if I’m gonna hit the, like the, the, the noise gate, but that, “Look what you made me do. Look what you made me do.” And I remember that’s my false chord. Like you know, in metal bands, like how they scream, they use like false chords. So I didn’t realize that that was, that was what was happening. And I thought I had broken my voice. 

I’d never done that. Cause I was like, “I need it lower. I just want it more gravelly. I really wanted it to hit.” And that kind of came out of my face, and I remember being like, “Oh no, was that too much?” I’m an actor where you generally have to pull me back. I will go too hard, and then you’ll have to pull me back.

They ended up using it in the game, and it sounds awesome. But I remember just in that moment thinking, oh my God, I like, hurt myself when really I had just engaged my false chord to add some gravel, which is great. And I use it all the time now because again, I don’t have like, I don’t have a super deep, deep bassy voice naturally. So for certain things. Another morally dubious character, Morgana, there you go.

I have one last question: So speaking for myself and others, there have been a lot of characters that you voiced, that I myself have really found comfort in. And the same can be said for many others, where I have heard stories of people relating to the arcs of Black Cat or Jesse. Does that, does that ever get sort of overwhelming? Or is there a sort of comfort you would want those people to take away from your work?

EL: I want them to know that I am so honored that I could be a part of them finding comfort in the media that we’re all creating. And also if I’m crying at a panel or anywhere— I cry all the time. And so someone will come up and be like, “I started playing during the pandemic of Persona 5, and Futaba is like this comfort character for me.”

Or, “I got my autism diagnosis a few years ago, and Futaba has just been such a lovely representation for me.” Or, people literally tell me, “I played Persona 5. And now I feel like I have friends the way that Futaba does with the Phantom Thieves. And I’m at this convention because of that game and because of the friends I found through that game, and my friends are right over there.”

And I’m just like, it makes me cry just talking about it. I will, I will cry. And if I’m crying, don’t be afraid of me. That’s what I want them to know. Like I just, I’m just so, again, I’m a very raw nerve of a person. It just means the absolute world to me that I could help. Cause I know what it’s like to feel like, I know what it’s like to feel alone. I think we all do. And if I can be some small part of helping people feel less alone, that makes me feel amazing. So yeah. So don’t get scared of me if I cry at you. I can’t stop it. I’m not good at stopping it.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I don’t want to make you cry, but Persona 5 was kind of the thing that got me into writing. 

EL: Oh my god! I’m glad to hear that!

But, I think that about covers it! What are some upcoming projects we’ll see you in? Is there anything that you can talk about?

EL: I think the two things I can talk about right now are Gameoverse, which is a really cool animated series I’m working on with Glitch Productions. I’m voicing the protagonist Kit in Gameoverse. You guys should check out the trailer. I don’t know if they have an official date for the pilot coming out, but it’s coming out in May. So that’s gonna be really, really fun. A catgirl trying to save the world with her friends.

And Helluva Boss is another animated show I’m in, and season three is, I don’t know if they have a release date for that, but look out for it. I’m not sure. I should look this stuff up. Cause I’m like, what’s NDA and what’s not? But my character, Loona, has a song in season three. So yeah, we’ve recorded that, and I think it’s gonna sound great. So I’m stoked about a lot of stuff I have. There is stuff coming down the pipe, but I just can’t talk about it. Recently, I voiced Silver in Deadlock, which is in beta right now. She is a werewolf. I love her.

Obviously, Vandal in Marathon just came out. I do have one thing that might or might not be coming out in a couple of weeks, but we’ll see. Maybe, who knows? Who knows? I don’t know! But yeah, I’d say right now that’s, that’s probably what I’ve got, what I’ve got on the docket. I’m excited. I’m really excited about the work I’m doing right now. So I’m in a really, really good spot. 

That’s great, I’m glad to hear that! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to do this! I had a lot of fun doing it!

EL: Well, same! I know, I could chat forever. This was so lovely! Thank you.