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Backstage - Interview with Kevin Conroy and Andrea Romano
A representative for The World’s Finest attended theSuperman/Batman: Apocalypse premiere at the Paley Center in New York City, held on Thursday, September 23rd, 2010. The event featured the New York debut of the animated feature plus an opportunity to talk to the cast and crew behind the new Superman/Batman: Apocalypse release. Despite only having a few brief moments with both participants, The World’s Finest managed to ask Superman/Batman: Apocalypse voice director Andrea Romano and Kevin Conroy - the voice of Batman himself - a few quick questions before the premiere of the latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie.
Below is an edited transcript of both concise interview opportunities, exclusive to The World's Finest, first with Superman/Batman: Apocalypse voice director Andrea Romano and second with Kevin Conroy.
Andrea Romano
 The World’s Finest: Darkseid has a new voice actor in this film - Was it difficult to have someone new to the role after Michael Ironside?
Andrea Romano: It's difficult to find their voices because people get in their minds they connect an actor with a role. They just can't help it. It's like thinking of William Shatner as Captain Kirk, you just put that together - that's who he is. But we kind of had a nice thing in this piece where we have Tim Daly as Superman and Kevin Conroy as Batman. So we kind of have that "everybody gets comfortable" zone. And then you have Darkseid, a new Darkseid, and I'd always wanted to work with Andre Brauer, I just enjoy the actor. Darkseid is one of those characters that he's this big lethal walking rock, he just looks like that. And I thought you could play that with like a James Earl Jones voice, but let's go elegant, let’s try something a little different. Let's not just do deep-voice-always-in your-face villain. I think Andre does a beautiful job of capturing this guy's ego, cause that's what Darkseid's all about, it's "ego". Andre doesn't have an ego but he acts it really well.
WF: Supergirl and Superman speak Kryptonian in this film. What went into that, and how did you go about creating the language?
AR: Totally made-up. When you listen to it, it sounds like a bunch of languages put together... French, a little Spanish, a little Middle European. It's just gibberish. But in order to act it, regardless of what they're saying, it has to make sense. You can actually tell "Oh I know what they're saying. I have a sense of what it is they're saying.” It's like when you watch a foreign film without looking at the subtitles you go. You get a sense of what it is they're saying. It's just another language.
WF: Wonder Woman plays more of a mentor role in this film as compared to Justice League. Did you have Susan Eisenberg approach the role differently?
AR: No. The thing that’s a little bit different in this [movie] is that her will dominates Batman and Superman's. It's what she wants and she's going to make sure she gets it, to take care of Kara and train her and bring her to Themyscira and not leave her in Metropolis or Gotham. And so it's a much more aggressive Wonder Woman than in the Justice League world.
WF: All-Star Superman is kind of a quirky take on Superman and that whole world. Did that affect how you and the actors approached that film?
AR: We try to do each one differently, so that everything isn't exactly the same. So we're stimulated and also the actors are stimulated and the audience has something new to look at. We try to keep the quality at the same height but not always the same note.
Kevin Conroy
WF: Since each film is different, do you approach Batman differently each time? In this film?
Kevin Conroy: I think the important thing for me to do is to maintain the consistency of the character throughout all the films, because the audience has really grown to know him so well. The audience knows him probably better than the producers know him, you know what I mean? They would know in a second if I did something that was not Batman-like, so I can't fool around with that too much. I've tried to be really loyal to the character and from what I've heard from the fans they get that, they like that so it works both ways I think.
WF: Did you record your part in the same room as the other actors for this film?
KC: Yeah. That's the great thing about Warner Bros. and about Andrea Romano. She always insists on everyone being together, which is unique for the studios. A lot of the other studios like to have you record separately, because then the technicians have a completely clean take so, in post production, they have a lot more control. They like that. But in terms of performance quality, I think there's no comparison. You just don't get as good a performance, so Andrea likes to get everyone together. That affects the kind of actors she gets. She needs people who will work together well. So she loves theater people, she loves people with really strong acting chops, that can really play together well. They don't want kids who are going to fight in kindergarten, you know what I mean?
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