Ryan Colt Levy ponders his next character.
What characters are you speaking into existence?
Ryan Colt Levy is a voiceover actor based in Los Angeles. Levy is a New York-born actor and musician, most commonly known for a variety of English voiceover roles such as Rody Soul in My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission, Denji in Chainsaw Man, Shahid in Fire Emblem: Three Hopes, Squalo in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, John Watson in Moriarty The Patriot and Jazz in Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun. Ryan Colt Levy sat down with Forbes to talk about his voiceover career and hopes
Goldie Chan: Thank you for joining us, Ryan. Could you share what your career path has been?
Ryan Colt Levy: It’s been quite the non-linear adventure, honestly and I genuinely believe I wouldn’t have this career without every step that’s brought me to this moment. Growing up in New York, my parents nurtured my interests in film, art and music from the moment I could express myself. I initially wanted to be a filmmaker and actor before anything but I found the guitar at age 12 and began a romance with a music career almost immediately. I formed bands with close friends and spent the next 15+ years touring, making records and trying to find my place in the music industry.
In 2015, I moved to Los Angeles with my bandmates and started to flirt with the idea of acting again. I began training in scene study/improv classes and took any job I could book from extra work to commercials. I never had a plan to focus my energy on voice over, but after accidentally booking a project and finding myself in the booth I fell deeply in love with the process and knew I couldn’t look back.
I’m continuously grateful to all who have given me an opportunity and continue to let me use my heart, soul and voice to bring their worlds and stories to life.
A selection of characters that Ryan Colt Levy has played.
Chan: You’ve now worked on a quite a few projects. What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on?
Levy: It’s hard to pick in some ways because some of my favorite sessions have been for NPCs or “incidental” roles simply because the energy of everyone involved on the day is just that infectious. But, I can absolutely say that Rody Soul in the most recent My Hero Academia film was an extraordinary and surreally personal experience to work on and see come to life in theaters.
Chan: How would you describe your personal brand?
Levy: Something that I personally found deeply difficult as a musician in a band was the concept of needing a personal brand. I never felt like I knew what it meant as a group and couldn’t find a comfort zone where it felt genuine. What I love about being an actor is I don’t need to create a brand as much as just be myself as honestly and openly as I can be. I can leave branding to the work I choose to align myself with and let my performances speak for themselves while still being true to me outside of the work.
(I suppose in some ways I’m still bad at describing it anyway, hah!)
Chan: One project that everyone is talking about is your new role as Denji in Chainsaw Man. What is exciting about being part of Chainsaw Man?
Levy: It’s that rare, one in a million, dream project that I was a huge fan of in manga form long before the anime was happening. Ask any actor and they will tell you we never allow ourselves to “want” a role because It’s never as simple as the one who cares the most wins. But I allowed myself to want this.
I had dreams of just getting to audition, but never actually expected the opportunity to arise. When I found out I booked Denji, I couldn’t sleep for days out of shock and disbelief. I’ve never been so excited to be a part of something or to share it with the world and I couldn’t ask for a better cast and crew to do it with!
Chan: What is a dream project you’d love to work on or a collaborator that you’d love to partner with?
Levy: I’ve always wanted to work with Kojima. His scope of storytelling is on another level and he continues to shape the landscape of video games in the most cinematic and experimental of ways. I’d also love to work with Paul Thomas Anderson someday. He’s been my favorite filmmaker since I first saw Boogie Nights in high school.
Chan: What is your favorite part of your personal community?
Levy: I truly appreciate how genuine and supportive the voiceover community is towards one another and in my own personal community, I love that my friends and family keep me honest, grounded and open.
Chan: What makes an audio-based story come alive?
Levy: Above all, a great story and even moreso, a great script. Next a passionate, intelligent and kind director, because they will be each actor's guide with balancing tone and momentum in each scene.
Chan: What change would you like to see in the audio industry?
Levy: I’d love to see more studios take chances on new (prepared) remote talent more often because there truly are SO many incredible actors, engineers, directors, writers that may not be in the major cities but will have professional home setups since the pandemic.
Chan: Any last branding or career advice for people looking to get into voiceover work for this year?
Levy: The only thing I can truly say from my heart is to be true to yourself, whatever that looks like. Your personality is just as important as your skillset as an actor because YOUR personality is where your choices and true voice come from. You can look up to and study all of your heroes or peers ahead of you but don’t exhaust yourself trying to mimic someone else’s truth. Be you and fly.
