Making Silly Voices & Wearing Costumes: An Interview with Voice Actor & Cosplayer Madison Brunoehler

Madison Brunoehler is a voice actor, cosplayer, and content creator that is probably best known for her work in Five Night's at Freddy's (Happy Frog), Warhammer 40,000 (Alpha Pariah), The Great Wizarding War (Narcissa Malfoy), and more. We were lucky enough to catch up to her recently at San Diego Anime Con where we discussed her start in voice acting, her cosplay work, what it's like meeting fans at anime conventions, and lots more! Fans of Madison, or those discovering her for the first time, will want to read on and definitely check her out via the social media links at the end!

A-to-J: Thank you for the interview! For those who may not know you, could you please introduce yourself?
Madison: Hi! My name is Madison Brunoehler, I’m a voice actress and a cosplayer.

A-to-J: Amazing! I’m so glad you could be here with us today at San Diego Anime Con. So, you do cosplay. What’s one of the most intense cosplays that you worked, on or is there a particular series that you enjoy cosplaying from?
Madison: I kinda jump around from all genres of everything from Disney to Critical Role, to anime to all over the place. The most intense one I think I made was Fearne from Critical Role [the Faun druid/rogue from Campaign 3]: Horns, staff, hooves, the whole nine yards. It had a tail; it was everything. It’s an intense cosplay, and I definitely can’t wear parts of it for very long.  
A-to-J: That’s very understandable.
Madison: It looks fantastic though.
A-to-J: It’s like: “Gotta catch you at a very specific time to like...”
Madison: Great for photoshoots, not for cons. 
[Both Laugh]

A-to-J: So, in terms of your involvement with voice work, what motivated you to start voicing characters from projects such as video games and shows?
Madison: Well, I’ve always been making silly voices every since I was little. Like I remember coming home from seeing Lilo & Stitch in theaters. That gives you a timeframe for when that happened.  You can do the math on how old I am. I came home from the theater, and on the drive I started making the Stitch voice. [Imitates Stich] Just doing this silly little goofy thing.
A-to-J: That’s a really good impression.
Madison: [Normal Voice] Thank you very much. I remember my mother was definitely like: “How are you doing that? What is this coming out of my child? What is it?” And it’s said that what you do as a child is what you’re mean to do with the rest of your life. It’s the thing that you’re really drawn to genuinely so it really makes sense. Looking back on it, I was always meant to be making silly voices and wearing costumes. That makes absolute sense. So when the opportunity presented itself to me later in life, and I was in the sound booth for the first time. I was like: “This is the most comfortable I have ever been anywhere for something that I have no experience with.”
A-to-J: So, you were sold on voice acting?
Madison: I was sold. Yes. I pivoted my career and was like: “This is it! This is what I’m gonna do no.” I got training. I got the equipment. I did the work, and now this is what I do.

A-to-J: That’s great! Is there a particular role that you feel very accomplished in being able to do? What makes you feel the most accomplished?
Madison: I did a role in this audio drama series called The Great Wizarding War which takes place in the time of The Marauders in the Harry Potter universe, so the First Wizarding War. I play the part of Narcissa Malfoy and I wanted this part so badly like: “Oh my god!” because I had seen the previous productions that they had done and I absolutely loved it. I was following the entire production and was like: “I want to audition for this.” So when I actually go the audition, I was like: “Okay. I’m giving it my all for this audition. This is my performance time with this audition,” so the fact that I actually booked that one, oh my god! That makes me so proud.
I’ve got some others ones that I want to work on, and just be like: “Just let me audition! Just let me audition for this project! Please!” I loved playing Narcissa and that cast was phenomenal. It was the most fun I’ve ever had with recording because we actually got to record it all together which is so rare for voiceover work. So we actually got to play off each other, feel each other’s energy. Oh god, I loved that. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

A-to-J: That is incredible! I also want to ask this: You’ve worked in the Five Nights at Freddy’s series. Can you tell me a little bit about how that role went for you?
Madison: It was actually a bit of a mystery because when I originally got it, they didn’t say that it was for Five Nights at Freddy’s.
A-to-J: Really?
Madison: It was a complete mystery to me. I kind of had hints of it and I thought: “Oh, maybe this is for a fan film of it, or maybe it’s a knock off version of Five Nights.” I didn’t think it was actually for Five Nights until after I was done recording it. And it was like: “Wait a minute! This is legit for FNAF [Five Nights at Freddy’s]!”
I’m kind of upset that I didn’t know that, and also glad that I didn’t know that because not knowing it allowed me to have no pressure for it. It was just like: “Yeah!  I can do this!” and I did it really well, and I had a really good time doing it. Then, finding out about that was like: “Oh! Well, now I’m not stressed about that.”

A-to-J: That’s good. Straight up giving it your best regardless as to what the case is. How do you feel about the Five Nights at Freddy’s movie that recently came out?
Madison: I love the fact that they made it for the fans. They really were like: “Yeah, if a new audience comes into this, great! Glad you like it, but this was made with the fans in mind. This was made for them.” And you can tell with even MatPat’s cameo in there that it was like: “We know! We know our audience.We understand. We are not pandering here. We are giving this our all.” Even the fact that they made the actual animatronics practical. I love that. That’s fantastic because they’re so real. They’re really there, and that I think adds to it immensely.  

A-to-J: Yeah, the practical effects, especially when you mix that with your CGI, are so immersive. Coming back to cosplay, now that you are going to these conventions, you’re able to meet your fans. How does that change the dynamic? As a cosplayer I imagine you still want to enjoy yourself when feeling the vibe with everybody especially when they are plenty of fans that are so happy to meet you.
Madison: I’ve been cosplaying since I was 14 and my first cosplay was Envy from Fullmetal Alchemist. It was an anime con. I had no idea what I was doing and I did all the wrong stuff, but I had so much fun. I’ve been cosplaying nonstop since then, so I’ve been on both sides of it. I’ve now been on the opposite side where I’m the fan meeting somebody, and I understand now when somebody comes up and they’re so excited to meet me. It’s really important that it’s not something I blow off. This is a huge moment for them, and that moment is important for me to make sure it’s treated with value and love and respect, and made sure that they are getting the most of that interaction. So I love that I can be on both sides of the curtain; see how it’s done and also do it myself, and just have a good time all around. Because, that’s all we’re here for. We’re here to have a good time and just express ourselves as much as we can for the things that we love.

A-to-J: Is there any particular project that you’re allowed to talk about that you’re excited to talk about or anything that you’re able to promote?
Madison: You can watch me in some of the latest episodes of The Tunnel Twins. Most everything else is under NDA at the moment so I’m not allowed to say that much. You can follow me on my social media Madi2theMax on all the things. End of the convention; my brain’s a little foggy.

A-to-J: No, it’s all good. As a sendoff, what can you say for encouragement for anyone who either wants to get into cosplay professionally, update their seamstress abilities, or be a voice actor? 
Madison: This piece of advice actually works for both things: Don’t break the bank right off the bat. You don’t have to have the biggest, best sewing machine or have to have the biggest, best microphone. Start small. Start cheap. Start with finding pieces at thrift stores and altering them using hot glue. That’s what I did. And, then as I grew, I got better and I figured out how to use a sewing machine. I had a rinky dink sewing machine that was 10 years old when I got it, and ran it for another 20 years. And then I upgraded to another better sewing machine. And then I upgraded to another, better sound booth once I had the experience and I had worked with a USB mic. Then, I got a sound compressor and all that stuff. Start small, but practice. Practice all of it. And you’re first stuff’s gonna be bad, but you’re going to look back on it and go: “Wow! That was bad. Look how far I’ve come!” But, you gotta start with the bad stuff and learn from there. You don’t get better by being good from the start.

A-to-J: Thank you so much, Madison. I’m glad for your being here. Where can everyone follow you or find you?
Madison: You can find me at Madi2theMax on pretty much all the social medias. It’s M-A-D-I-2-theMax.  
A-to-J:  Thank you so much for being here!

We'd like to thank Madison Brunoehler for the interview and we strongly encourage everyone to check her out via the links below. As always, keep an eye out for more from Madison in the future! Also, special thanks to San Diego Anime Con for this opportunity!

For More Information on Madison Brunoehler:
Website: http://www.madi2themax.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj61dBpPwQRN6yrvZphoNxA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madi2themax
X: https://twitter.com/madi2themax
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@madi2themax

The  above interview was conducted by Josh Cruz. Transcription and editing by Jeffery Kelly. Article photo taken from San Diego Anime Con's Special Guest promotional package.​