Interview with Tara Strong on Voicing Harley Quinn in Batman Arkham City

For 2011 update for Tara Strong, this is our

Tara Strong latest interview. We talked to her

on Tooncast about a year or so ago, I guess.

I am TFJU and Mike, and I'm joined by Tara, the

rising star. Hello. Hi, how are you, Mike? Pretty

good, pretty good. And we are getting ready to

talk with Miss Tara Strong. Totally excited for

that. It's just an honor to speak with her. Yep.

Basically, how this came about was after the

news broke about her voicing Harley Quinn in

Batman Arkham City coming up. I figured, okay,

well, Tunecast is coming to a close. What better

way to close it out with a Tara Strong update

interview? And anything else you want to say

before we get to that? Just that she's just such

an amazing voice actress, and she's a huge inspiration,

and I'm really looking forward to speaking with

her and just, you know. getting insight into

her world and what it's like to be Taris wrong.

Yes, and that is coming up next. Robin! Stop!

Hands up, rat girl! Sweetie, get mommy's bazooka!

Hello everyone, this is Michael Blanchard and

I'm joined by Tara Blair. Today we have a super

awesome privilege to interview once again, Tara

Strong. Yes, that's right, Batgirl and now Harley

Quinn is on the line with us. Hello Tara, how

are you? Great guys, how you doing? Pretty good.

We're doing great, thank you. All right. So Tara,

first of all, thank you so much for taking this

opportunity to speak with us. Just really, we

really appreciate it. And before we get started,

you were just an inspiration to voice actors

everywhere and especially to one of my good friends.

His name is Jordan. He is actually an aspiring

voice actor too. And I just want to give him

a little shout out since I got the great opportunity

to speak with you and your work is just truly

amazing. So just keep doing what you're doing

and just thanks for being such an awesome voice

actor. You're no problem. So first off, what

is it about voice acting that, you know, makes

it worthwhile? Oh, well, it's tremendously fun.

You don't have to wait for hair and makeup and

lighting. It doesn't matter what you look like.

It just matters about your talents and what you

bring to the table. And it's a world that's full

of creativity, that fosters creativity and welcomes

it and cherishes it. that might be fueled by

money or celebrity. This business happens to

be really fueled by talent and creativity. That

sounds interesting. It is true. You know how

you don't have to worry about makeup or hair

or anything like that. It's one of the benefits

of being a voice actor. Of course, the day you

look like hell, they're like, oh, we forgot to

tell you Access Hollywood was coming today. Oh,

good. When I when Tara and I interviewed Jason

Marsden we had asked him the similar question

about you know voice acting and we got to talking

about you know voice acting is a job that you

can just you could show up in your pajamas every

day and The next day after I released that interview

on geek cast radio comm the next day He posted

on Facebook a picture a cast picture with him

in the front in his pajamas That was hilarious.

Yeah, so hilarious. So from Batgirl, Raven, Queen,

Vicky Vale, Kat Matui, Huntress, to Billy Batson,

you certainly have had a run with DC Comics characters

and animation. And now you step into Harley Quinn

for Batman Arkham City. What was it like? Like,

what was the whole process of how did this fall

in your lap? Well, first of all, aren't I lucky?

Yeah, I mean so many great roles that are just

so I'm so honored I mean when I first moved to

LA and I booked back there I was Freaking out,

you know, I've done a lot of animation in Toronto.

So certainly I wasn't new to it But I was new

to Los Angeles and I had my agent at the time

was like, oh my god, you're her You're the girl.

You're the bad your bad girl. It was like a very

very exciting Moment that I'll never forget And

Harley is one of those characters that it's a

tremendous, tremendous role to jump into and

I do not take the honor lightly at all. It was

an audition like any other and I've worked with

Arlene and I worked with everyone else so I wasn't

sure at the time why and I still actually know

the reasoning but they asked me to come in and

I, you know... had worked on matching her. And

they said, we don't really want you to match

her. We want her to make her kind of your own,

but in the spirit of her. So that's what I did.

And I hope the fans respond to her, because like

I said, it really is a tremendous honor to step

into Harley's shoes. Those are big shoes to fill.

Very big shoes, yes. It was a very interesting

experience for you to do Harley. The voice Harley

did. Oh yeah, very interesting, because like

I said, we all know what it's supposed to sound

like. So for me, I have a good ear and it's the

tendency to want to voice match completely, but

they said they really wanted it to be like her

and enough like her that the fans know who it

is, but also make it your own. Can you give us

a sample at all? I don't think I'm allowed to

just yet. Okay. When we talked to you before,

we mainly focused on bubbles and cartoon animation

and all that stuff. Doing video game voice work,

especially for a Batman game, what was that like

for you? Was it just you in a room talking to

yourself? Well, Arkham Asylum was done in a very

big studio. It's a little different than some

of the other games. I got to watch the picture

that's already been done. Animation for this

game is really fantastic. The fans are going

to absolutely love it. I'm sure you've seen part

of the promos for it online. And it really looks

sensational. So when I was in the room and saw

it on the big screen, it was overwhelming. It

was really, really well done. And I got to see

Harley and got to really put a voice to her actions

because she's already been animated. A lot of

times for series work, we go first and then they

animate it to our voice. But in this case, I

actually got to see it animated for a point of

reference of what it's all looking like now and

how it's evolved. Yeah, I mean, it's just amazing.

And the funniest thing was everybody assumed,

like when that trailer first came out for Arkham

City, the funniest thing was everybody assumed

when they saw Harley, oh, that's Arlene. Yeah.

You don't, you only hear. She only says like

what, two and a half? It's like two seconds of

vocal. I hope it sounds enough like her that

people aren't disappointed, but not so much so

that they're like, oh, she didn't sound like

her there. You know what I mean? It's like enough

like her to give her the flavor, but not so much

like it that I'm trying to replace her, because

I have a very warm spot in my heart for her as

well. I worked with her on this series. When

I was doing that girl in the series, she was

Harley. So I certainly am not pushing to take

her away from. all the great work she's done,

and again, trying to make it my own. It's similar

to when I booked The Fairly OddParents. The original

voice was Mary Kay Bergman, and of course, she

passed away. And initially, they said, you know,

we want it to sound like him. And then it was

sort of my instinct to say, I can't sound exactly

like him. It's too hard, because I loved her,

you know? And so they said, well, get it similar,

and then make it your own, which is exactly what's

happened here. And I certainly hope the fans

respond to it. If I may, Tara, you give Harley

Quinn a very, you do her justice, you really

do, from what I saw in the trailer. Aw, thank

you, thank you. You're welcome, it was just amazing.

It's one of those things where hopefully they'll

show a longer trailer, because, I mean, like

I said, the Harley scene in the trailer that's

out now, it's like two seconds and you miss it.

And that's why I don't think people really associated

that, oh, that's not Arlene, that's somebody

else. Oh, yeah. And it's funny because I was

so excited when I booked it. But of course, you're

not supposed to say anything until it's released.

And I woke up the other morning to my Twitter

just blowing up. And Kapow had released the interview.

And the Arkham City web page had released the

interview introducing the character. And at that

point, I was like, wow. Just so y 'all know,

I'm very excited. completely get the honor that

comes of being a part of this legacy and once

again booking an amazing role, which I just seem

to have had some really nice luck with that.

So, Tara, if I may, what is the main difference,

if any, between voicing for animation and voicing

for video games, and do you prefer one over the

other? Well, in some ways it's more fun to do

a series because you're with a full cast and

you get to play off the other actors. And some

games can be tedious if it's four hours, you

just by yourself, even if you're not screaming.

If it's just you, you guys know this from doing

radio stuff. If it's just you by yourself for

that length of time, it can be tiring. But certain

games are not so tiring and interesting to watch.

For instance, like Arkham City, the animation

really is so spectacular that... Every minute

was cool to be a part of, just watching it and

watching it, becoming a part of it. And you know,

voiceover is a very collaborative business and

you sort of create characters and realities together.

And Arkham Studio is one of those really special

ones. Of course you can't compare it to, you

know, doing a series with people like Kevin Michael

Richardson or Mark Hamill or Kevin Conway. That's

a completely different experience. And they're

both lovely in their own ways. I think one of

the benefits of working by yourself is that you

get things done a lot quicker. So if I had to

do a game, for instance, and we're all matching

to picture, it would be much more than four hours.

They couldn't do it in a one, four hour session,

since we're not just trying to do acting good,

but we're also trying to match the existing mouse

slots in picture and make it look accurate and

still have the essence of the characters. I see,

so there's a lot more involved in that with video

games. Yeah. Wow. Exactly. Yeah. Those three

guys you mentioned are three interviews we would

love to get. Well, I think Kevin's on, Kevin

Michael Richardson's on Facebook. Yeah, he is.

And I can always put in a good word for you.

That would be awesome. You know, okay, so all

this video game talk, are you a gamer? Do you

play video games with your kids or do you do

any of that kind of stuff? My kids are younger,

so they really like, they ran the Kingdom Hearts

stuff. And the Nickelodeon games, they get really

excited if they get to a stage where they can

hear my voice. And, you know, they didn't play

Final Fantasy, but they got to see Riku in the

Nickelodeon, I'm sorry, in the Kingdom Hearts

game. The Nickelodeon game, they were really

excited to see Kimmy. But I don't have a tremendous

amount of time, and when I do play games, it's

more like I'm a very competitive word game person.

But, you know, I get more fan mail for video

game voices that I've created then, animation

stuff, and I think it's because real gamers feel

like they're in the game with you and they get

to know you. It's a big honor to be part of that

process. Interesting. Tara, what was the atmosphere

like at the Arkham City recording session? Can

you give us a little insight into that? Was it

exciting? Yeah, it was very exciting and again

because I was completely humbled and excited

to get that role And then when I saw the animation

and again imagine seeing just that little clip

on a big screen It's like a full feature screen

that I brought to voice match it to so it was

really humbling and interesting and exciting

and You know a little bit scary initially making

sure that everybody was happy with moving forward

with the new Harley and still feeling like we're

honoring her essence and her character. And I

think the fans will see that that comes through

in the acting and in the performance. You know,

a lot of people think, oh, I can do a Philly

voice and that's how you can get into acting.

But it's really not. It's about what you can

bring to life with your voice and the acting

and being in the moment and feeling these. I

always tell people that want to get into voiceover

to take acting classes and improv classes. make

sure you really believe when you're in those

moments. I mean, I close my eyes a lot of the

time or I picture myself in those scenarios and

really try to act as if I'm on camera in those

moments and I hope that comes through when you

guys are watching the game. Oh, it definitely

does come through all that effort that you just

explained about what you can bring to the table

and taking classes. I agree with that because

I'm exactly like that. I'm an actress as well.

So I agree with everything you have to say and

you know, it's just like that and you can tell

when you see the characters brought to life.

You can tell how much effort went into it for

the voice acting and everything. It's like your

heart and soul go into it. Oh yeah, and it's

nice too that there is the internet now and the

appreciation for the voice actor and certainly

with gaming. I think originally they didn't think

it was very important to get... quality voice

actors and quality actors involved in the games,

and quality voice directors included. And now

I think they see that the audience and the fans

really demand that they're not playing games

to just hear someone not putting their heart

and soul into something. And I think that's really

coming through in the newer games. Oh, definitely,

because I think we've seen a really huge difference

in terms of the voice acting in video games compared

to now as before a long time ago when they were

just generic kind of sounding voices. Right.

Yeah, there's more emphasis put on the voice

acting in video games, am I right, compared to?

Absolutely. And the nice thing for me, like I

said, they used to not think it was important

to have voice directors. So they would have someone

very passionate about the game from the gaming

studio. like a writer or someone that did some

of the design try to direct and a lot of them

don't really understand the correct verbics to

get what they want out of their actors or they

get, oh you know, can we have 30, 40 takes of

a death scene and then you wipe out my voice

for the rest of the week. So it's nice that they

get the importance of the quality of the voice

actor and the voice director and they think that

combination is what you're seeing. Oh exactly,

we definitely are seeing that. Yeah, so Tara,

can you maybe take us through just a little brief

date in the life of Tara's strong voice actors

extraordinaire? We're kind of curious about that.

Well, right now we're getting a pedicure, which

I think is very important for voice acting. I

actually have a meeting at Nickelodeon today,

and then I have an audition for an on -camera

thing. important even in life. Like I said, it

doesn't matter what you look like to keep appearances

up and it's nice when you're doing a job and

you either look something like your character

or you look like you could portray it in real

life. And a lot of times they do dry your face

with your expressions. So as much as I kid around

about not mattering what you look like, I do

definitely put some care into it. And depending

on how busy I am, you know, the nice thing about

my job is, like I said today, I've got, you know,

something that's 12, 30, and then something at

2. And I don't normally have very full days in

terms of the hours, unless it's like a, you know,

for instance, let's say it was when I was doing

Powerpuff Girls, it would be, you know, Tuesdays,

9 to 1, and then Charlie Odd Parents Thursdays,

2 to 6, and those kind of things get scheduled.

And then in between that, I have auditions that

I do pretty much all day from my home studio.

Wow, that's amazing. Very busy days and you not

so busy days. Yeah, it's busy and even though

it's not busy, it's busy because I have two kids

and then my husband and I like to write together

and pitch shows together. We're always on the

go and trying to create things. Yeah, I just

think it's great that I'm from Canada as well.

I'm from Toronto and I just think it's great

how much you've accomplished. It's great to have

a fellow Torontonian get big. A fellow Tara Torontonian.

Yes, a fellow Tara Torontonian. Exactly, exactly.

So just to get on to another question, what is

your favorite role? Do you have a favorite role?

Oh gosh, I get asked that all the time and normally

my first response is the role in the Little Mermaid

sequel melody because I don't know what little

girl didn't want to be the Little Mermaid but

she had to play her daughter and sing in the

studio with her and even look at Jodie Benson

was so surreal. So that was really fun, and I

loved, loved working on The Powerpuff Girls.

It was just a great dichotomy and great relationship

between the girls. Fairly odd parents, same thing.

A lot, a lot of fun. And Teen Titans, for me,

was always really special because it was really

a very magical room, which is, I think, why we

had such a successful show and why the fans miss

us so much, because we all really just clicked

with each other and loved what we did. I miss

that show probably the most. Very interesting.

That was actually, The Little Mermaid 2 was one

of my favorite sequels to Little Mermaid. I know.

It's so cute. I have to admit. I have to admit.

I found out you were a Melody. That made it even

better. I love that one. It's cute. What is some

advice you could give to aspiring voice actors

to kind of break into the business? Well, I can

say that it's definitely not easy and I did some

directing this year and I sort of found out why

is that there's not that many really really great

people. There's a lot of okay people and there's

a lot of really bad people and if you want to

put yourself out there make sure that you're

at the best of your game because if you get in

front of an audition room and you're not feeling

confident and you're not there yet you blow your

chances and because it's such a small group of

actors that they like to use over and over You've

got to be at the top of your game before you

put yourself out there. And my advice with that,

like I said before, acting classes, improv classes,

singing lessons, get your breaths and exercises

down. And any time you can do accents and imitate

people and work on that. And then if you can't

get into a voiceover class that has studio time,

that's always great, too. Yeah. uh... one last

question uh... really quick before we let you

go uh... terry strong in social media you are

everywhere it's not you know i wasn't really

doing twitter i had an account i was really doing

it and then one day when i was on Big Time Rush

Kendall said to me you don't twitter and i said

no not really i don't really get it let me show

you and then At that time, I think I had 100

people following. And then Kendall wrote, hanging

on Big Time Rush set with Adter Strong. And literally

in a minute, it went to 500 people. Like once

you tweet, you just can't stop. Oh, it's fun.

You know, it's interesting to see the interaction

between the celebrities. That kind of stuff is

always fun. And then I kind of like to have some

comedy in between talking about whatever shows

I'm doing, mix it up a little. i'm not sure if

you talk to me about my i'm talking about hurting

which is always fun uh... but i think i think

i think my favorite facebook post of years so

far has been terry strong prefers you not refer

to her roles as nostalgic banks because so many

people do it and it was actually very funny yesterday

because i was working on uh... another thing

i can't talk about like that but not one of the

I've worked with for years and years. I was showing

him a picture of Cree Summer's new baby, who

is very, very cute. Her name is Brave. And Cree

and I, I don't know if you know this book, I

did my first cartoon with her when I was 13 up

in Toronto. And so we've known each other a very

long time. And when I showed it to my friend

that works at Disney, he said, oh my gosh, Cree's

got a baby. I just remember when you guys were

young and hot. And everyone looked at him like

he was a total moron. And then the rest of the

time the director was like, you know, when hair

used to be hot and that became like the joke.

That's why if you saw on my page Curtis wrote,

you're so pretty. But it's funny, you know, I

like being a part of people's childhood and actually

when I get fan letters that say, you know, it

was so inspiring growing up with you and I actually

taught a class recently at my friend's acting

class and it was about 40 students from Australia.

And one girl stood up and she literally went,

oh my god, you're Melody. And I was like, yeah.

And she burst into tears. And she said, when

my dad, when we were little, my dad was gone

in the army the whole time. And I just had my

Melody doll. And I just held onto her. And you

got me through such hard times. And you know,

it's nice to be a part of someone's childhood

like that. And of course, I had to give her a

hug and an autographed picture. That's very,

very cool. That's so cute. Yeah. Yeah, that's

nice. So are there any upcoming projects that

you got going on that you can maybe give us a

little inside scoop if you're allowed to? Well,

I do want to talk about Napoleon Dynamite because

I think it's absolutely hilarious. And of all

the primetime stuff I've been involved with,

of course Family Guy is untouchable because it's

hysterical. But separate of that, this show is

so funny. Every single script is laugh out loud

funny. And I got to work with all the original

cast. So to see, you know, John... Peter and

that's from Ramirez in the room and just like

it's just pretty wild to see them all and then

to work with them And like I said every single

script is funny awesome That's great. You know

what, Tara, thank you. You know what, really

just thank you so much for taking the time to

speak with us. And Jordan, if you're listening,

hope you really enjoyed this interview. I like

Jordan. I'm sure he'll appreciate that. He's

kind of jealous I'm speaking to you, but... Hey,

a lot of people should be jealous of me. This

is the second time I've gotten to speak to her.

This is my first time. I'm jealous of you. uh...

i do have to say i think my favorites you know

we're talking about arkham asylum earlier and

that's kinda like your i mean it's not the biggest

thing you've got going on like that's called

the next big thing the next big news of of of

what you've been doing and i have to say my favorite

Any of the Batgirl stuff from the old series?

I got to say my favorite was between you and

Arlene, between Batgirl and Harley, and Return

of the Joker and that flashback scene. I really

do love the chick stuff. I think that stuff was

so fun. One of my favorite episodes was with

me and Supergirl when we're in the towel getting

ready and all that stuff. I love the chick stuff.

It's really fun. It's a huge honor. And it is

a big deal. Like I said, when I woke up, my Twitter

was blowing up. believe once it was really how

many uh... and were excited about it posting

about it and i remember when i worked on the

series clerks uh... the ad that uh... having

a great time with the guy that roe clerks yeah

i need a good daughter harley just knowing that

the fans that come with that i just like i said

i hope they uh... they like that We would like

to thank Tara for taking the time to chat with

us in this special Geekcast Radio Network interview.

Please hold the line and we will be back with

the outro. Hey, Tara Strong here and you're listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. So there you have

it, folks. Tara Strong, the new voice of Harley

Quinn in Batman Arkham City. It was nice talking

to her again. She's so great. She's so funny.

It was truly an interesting experience talking

to her I learned a lot and Jordan and everyone

else hope you guys really enjoyed the interview

and got some insight and enjoyed it just as much

as we did. Yes and that's gonna do it for this

GeekCast Radio Network slash Tooncast interview

and we will see you at episode 100 for Tooncast.

you help Joker do it Harley okay so he roughed

the kid up a little but I'll make it right yeah

your mother of the stinking year ha you'll see

we'll be one big family