From AX Idol to Love Live!: An Interview with Voice Actress Xanthe Huynh

Xanthe Huynh is a voice actress that's known for her roles in anime like Love Love! (Hanayo Koizumi), Cells at Work! (Platelet), Persona 5: The Animation (Haru Okumura), Tokyo 24th Ward (Asumi Suido), and many more! Her voice can also be heard in popular video games such as Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Marianne von Edmund), River City Girls (Sabuko), Crystar (Yuri Minano), and more as well! Basically you've probably heard her voice in something you're a fan of and we recently were lucky enough to interview her at FanimeCon! We discussed everything from her start in voice acting, her favorite roles and anime, and lots about Prince of Tennis! If you're already a fan, or are hearing about her for the first time, this interview will have a little something for everyone so be sure to check it out, and maybe watch some Love Live! afterwards!

A-to-J: Thank you for the interview! Can you please give us an introduction and tell us a little something about yourself?
Xanthe: Sure. My name is Xanthe Huynh. I’ve been in anime such as Cells at Work, Maquia[: When the Promised Flower Blooms], Kageki Shojo!!, Tokyo 24th Ward, and video games such as 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, Persona 5, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and a couple other things.

A-to-J: You mentioned Fire Emblem Three Houses.  Do you have a lot of people asking you questions at this convention?  During your Q&A, you were saying that a lot of people were playing the game during quarantine and everything.
Xanthe: Oh my gosh, it’s so wonderful to hear everyone’s stories and relationships with the games, because as a voice actor with a small part in it, it’s nice to hear feedback and see what people are really resonating with. I’m happy that Fire Emblem is one of them. There are so many characters that people can really latch onto, and I’m happy that Marianne is one of them because of her story arc. She's one of those types who is super-duper introverted and I definitely relate to that. It’s always nice to see those interactions with characters who try to bring that person out of their shell so they’re more comfortable. I really love that, and I’m glad that people like that aspect of the game so much.

A-to-J: She’s really cute and I love that game. I played so much when I first bought it. Anyhow, how was it that you got into voice acting?
Xanthe: I had started in theater, I did a little bit of it in middle school and high school, and I got my degree in drama.
For voice acting specifically, I was speaking to a friend of mine about how it would be cool if I could merge my love for anime and my love for acting into one thing, but I had no idea how to get into it. She told me that there was a voice acting competition at Anime Expo called AX Idol and that a person who had won before had been in stuff. I thought it would be really cool to check out, but I didn’t expect to get very far. I figured I would compete, get experience, and get my gameplan together for the next year to compete again. I actually made it as a finalist which I wasn’t expecting. The studio liked me enough that they brought me in for a tour and an audition, which is what the winner got. It’s like I won, but not in the official capacity.
So, that’s how I got started. I didn’t know anything about voice over, but I had acting experience, so I was able to learn in the booth as I went. I was very fortunate and very lucky. Since then, I have taken a lot of classes and training to hone in on the craft.

A-to-J: What have been some of your favorite roles you’ve taken on?  I want to assume maybe Hanayo [from Love Live! School Idol Project] because you’re dressed as her.
Xanthe: Absolutely. I love Hanayo! She is my rice goddess! I love being the Platelet in Cells at Work because I love that show so much. Of course, Haru from Persona 5 is one of my favorites, as is Marianne from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I adore all of my characters. Miyoko from 13 Sentinels is another favorite of mine. She’s just so positive and sweet. Ai from Kageki Shojo!!! Is also another one of my favorites. She goes through so much and grows so much throughout the series. She overcomes her trauma through her relationship with other people. Those are some of them. I feel like each time I answer this question, it’s a different smattering of characters. I love them all.

A-to-J: I remember you saying that when you voice act for a character you watch them grow. How do you usually feel through that?
Xanthe: It’s so satisfying to see where they started and where they end up. In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Marianne has this support scene with Ignatz that is still one of my favorites. It’s the one where he takes her to look at the sunset. It’s something that happens every day and you take it for granted, but it’s just a moment of peace and quiet enjoying the scenery. I remember when we recorded that I thought: “Wow. That’s the first time Marianne has felt comfortable and at peace with someone.” It really struck a chord with me. There are so many beautiful moments in that game.  Whenever that happens, it’s really inspiring.  Maybe I should think about how I’m living my life.
A-to-J: And how to grow as a person as well.
Xanthe: Absolutely.

A-to-J: Have you ever found it difficult to get into a character whose personality is very different from your own?
Xanthe: Definitely. It depends on casting. I feel like when you’re cast as a character, it’s already something that’s a strong suit or something that’s a part of you. For me, in auditions, I try to go for a type that’s in my voice range, but maybe the personality is a type I’m not used to playing. Like, if the character is really energetic, that can be a lot harder for me because it’s very tiring because you’re so big and out there. For me, it’s the big emotional switches. Like, for a yandere-type character it’s really hard to flip the switch and be overeager and sadistic.  Characters like that, I find when I’m auditioning for them, it’s a bit of a stretch so it can be for me to get into them which is probably why I don’t play them very often. It’s always about the adventure and the fun in trying those out and learning from them. Then, maybe getting better and maybe someday playing them. We’ll see.

A-to-J: You said something about switches when playing characters. When you’re playing Hanayo, she’s very timid and quiet but when she starts talking about idols, she starts talking really fast and excited. Did you find that hard to do?
Xanthe: I did watch through the series before going in to record, so I knew those were coming, but it was still hard to make that switch because she’s almost mute in the beginning. She’s barely able to put a word out there when they’re doing announcements over the PA but when she gets to talk about idols, something she’s really passionate about, she just rants on. For those moments I was like: “I just need to take a deep breath and then go for it.”  Sometimes those switches can be difficult, but the director is very understanding and will say something like: “Okay. You just need to tweak this a little bit and you’ll be right there.”

A-to-J: That’s very helpful. Is there any type of character you prefer to voice?
Xanthe: I don’t know if it’s more of a preference, but something I’m more comfortable with. I do enjoy the sweet, shy characters because I really relate with them, especially the slightly awkward ones. In Scarlet Nexus I play a character named Tsugumi, and she’s also fairly shy and reserved. She mainly talks to the main character, waters her plants, and keeps to herself. She has so many fun, awkward conversations like: “Oh, you’re so stylish. I kinda want to become like that too.”  They’re like these weird segues into asking questions and I’m like: “Oh my god, I’m cringing so hard because I feel for her.”  It was so satisfying too. When I was recording for that it was so awkward that I started laughing after I recorded one of the lines, and I look over and see the engineer and director laughing too because it’s so funny how these situations get. I don’t know if that answered the question...
A-to-J: It does. Awkward, cute, kind of voices. Your voice sounds perfect for those characters.
Xanthe: Thank you.

A-to-J: Were there any characters that you found particularly difficult in the past? 
Xanthe: There’s definitely challenge roles. I know you may have already heard me talk about it earlier at the Q&A event, but there's the character of Bebe in Madoka Magica: Rebellion. There were so many technical challenges with that character. She’s a little witch who speaks in gibberish and cheese names. Because of the nature of dubbing we never get the script ahead of time, so there’s no way for me to practice. At the time, there was no way for me to watch the movie in Japanese to preview, so I didn’t know what was going on in the story. Plus, the Madoka universe is kind of out there with lots going on. The script is written phonetically so I had to get it all word perfect without having read it before, so that was already really hard. Then I had to match the timing of the Japanese so it matches the mouth flap of the character while also keeping the emotion in there. I’m not just regurgitating the words, I have to put this emotional context in there because she’s saying these things in gibberish that the characters understand. My mind was overworked and I was fizzling out. I was so insecure. I was worried they were going to recast me because it was so difficult but we did it. It was so satisfying to watch when it came out. I feel like fans don’t even know I voiced her because I voice Nagisa, her human form. That was a real challenge.
A-to-J: I remember you saying you got a lot of praise for it because we couldn’t even tell the difference between the two.
Xanthe: Yeah. The director told me later on that Hiroe from Aniplex that told him that she couldn’t tell the difference between me and the original voice actress. I feel like that’s the highest form of praise. I’m glad she felt that I was really able to play the character well. Hopefully, they didn’t see me sweat on the other side of the booth, because I was like: “Ahhh, I’m really trying my best here!”

A-to-J: You did a great job especially if you got such a high praise from them. Next question, are there any characters you think you would be a good fit for? Like someone you haven’t voiced before but you would love to play.
Xanthe: I can’t think of any new ones off the top of my head, but definitely for the longest time it was Prince of Tennis. That was an old, old series that I never thought I would be a part of because it already had a dub for the first 50 episodes. When auditions [for the new dub] came around, I was like: “I have to read for Sakuno. Please! Please! Please!” Not just because she has the long braided hair, which you can’t see right now because I’m in cosplay. I really related to her. The show had a really special place in my heart. That was something I wished I could play but I never thought would happen. That was definitely a dream role that came true. I’m very fortunate and very lucky. 
Getting to work on it has been amazing because Howard Wang, the director, is also a massive Prince of Tennis fan. We would have these geek-out moments in the booth like: “Oh my god. It’s that song!” He would tell me how much fun he was having casting all these actors and we would talk about our favorite characters. I was like: “Okay. We should get some work done because we’re geeking out right now.”
I think he’s talked about it before, but the order in which we’ve been recording has been really insane because we started with, I think, Prince of Tennis II and then there was another arc. Then, we went back and started from episode 51 and forward. Then, we did the movie in the middle of that. So it’s all out of order and we’re hoping that we’ll go back and do the first 50 eventually. So, we’re starting at the end and kind of going back to the middle and then eventually, going back to the beginning which is hard for such a long running series because there’s lots of returning characters and inside jokes are repeated again and again. It’s so hard keeping track of that when recording in this order.
They’re so fortunate to have Howard working on this because he knows the show so well that he’s able to say something like: “This joke here is a reference to this thing way in the beginning, so I have to make sure it’s consistent if someone is watching it in order later on.” I don’t know how he does it. I swear he’s like that meme with the board where he’s like I’ve got this all down.

A-to-J: It must be so fun to work with someone who’s a big fan of it as well. Are you a fan of any of the shows you’ve worked on? Something that you constantly want to watch over and over again? 
Xanthe: Prince of Tennis is definitely one of them. It was already a comfort anime I watched a lot. So is Kuroko’s Basketball. That was another one that got dubbed way after it had initially released that I was also a fan of because Kuroko is bae. I’m really happy I got to be in it because it’s another show that doesn’t have a lot of female characters. The character that I was cast as, Momo, gets to interact with my two favorite characters in that show.
A-to-J: A lot of fangirling.
Xanthe: Yes, constantly. She is a fangirl, and I am a fangirl at heart.
A-to-J: Matches up.
Xanthe: It’s a match made in heaven. Sailor Moon as well.
A-to-J: It’s a classic.  
Xanthe: I grew up with that. It’s crazy that they redubbed it because everybody loves the original series, including all of the cast. It was amazing to get to be a part of my childhood. Pokémon as well. It’s crazy that the things I grew up loving, I now get to be a part of, which many people don’t get to do.

A-to-J: You’ve also done a lot of voice work for gaming. Is there any different sort of difficulties you’ve found working in gaming as opposed to anime or movies?
Xanthe: It depends on the type of game you’re working on. A lot of JRPGs have a similar sound to anime, but the pacing is much different. In anime, you’re constantly starting and stopping because after you record they try and match it up to the mouth flaps and make sure it all fits correctly. In gaming, you just do your isolated lines and you don’t have to worry about matching the flaps unless it’s a cutscene. There’s not too many of those. Some games, you just have to match the original timing of the Japanese so that when they put it in, it all just works out. I like that in video games there tends to be a little more freedom in them.
In some games, because of how quickly you go, I personally need a lot more breaks in between because I’m constantly talking and I get kind of tired, and I’m reading and reading and reading and my brain needs to reset. Then it can be vocally stressful too. If you’re voicing a game that has a lot of called out stuff, a lot of different ways to die, that’s something you have to be mindful of so you don’t blow yourself out early in the session and then you can’t work for the rest of the day. I think those are the differences of working in games versus working in anime.

A-to-J: Pacing and everything’s a little bit faster. Speaking of games, are you a gamer also? Any favorite games you like playing especially during COVID? Did you catch up on a lot of games?
Xanthe: I would love to play more games but I don’t make the time to for a lot of them unfortunately. I did play through all of Persona 5. I got to Futaba’s arc in Royal and I’m trying to finish that before I go to Strikers. Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I’m about 40 hours in. I still need to get through all of that too, but so many students lose their items everywhere that I’m spending all this time walking around asking them: “Where are you? Is this yours? Is that yours?” I’m still going through that. When fans tell me they’ve played through all the routes, I’m like: “That is amazing. I’m so terrible at this game. Show me your ways! I don’t know how to finish because people keep losing their stuff!” There’s so much to do. I feel like I start a lot of games because I want to see what they’re like, but I haven’t gotten to finish a lot of them except Persona 5. I feel like that’s the one JRPG that I’ve played to completion. I like playing DDR. I haven’t in a while.
A-to-J: There’s a DDR machine here.
Xanthe: Maybe I should get back on it. [puts on a voice] I definitely gained a little doing COVID [returns to normal voice] so DDR would be good for me. I kind of fell off track because during COVID, you think I would play more, but I live on the second story of an apartment and I wouldn’t feel right stomping on my downstairs neighbors.

A-to-J: That’s a nice courtesy. It’s been a rough couple of years for voice actors. You did a lot of virtual conventions over the last few years. How was it having virtual meetups?
Xanthe: It’s a different vibe because you’re not in a big panel room with a lot of people.  Usually, it’s more one-on-one like this for virtual meetups so it’s a lot easier because you talking to one other person.  I think I was lucky.  At the beginning of the pandemic, I had a talk scheduled at my alma mater UC Irvine.  I was scheduled to talk to the drama department and the video game department but once the pandemic started, they switched to virtual.  Because of that, I think a lot more people were able to attend.  I also got to bring my friend and fellow anime voice actor, Ricco Fajardo; we went to UCI at the same time.  I got to bring him in to do a demonstration.

A-to-J: Do you have any special skills or talents your fans might not be aware of?
Xanthe: Not that I can think of. I wish I were more of a talented individual. [puts on a voice] Voice acting’s all I got.

A-to-J: That’s okay. What are some of your recent and upcoming roles you’re excited for?
Xanthe: Just announced is Ni no Kuni Cross Worlds, that’s out now on mobile. Next month is Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. I think those are the ones I can talk about right now. Got lots of things coming out soon. Very recently, Vampire in the Garden on Netflix. Really great miniseries.

A-to-J: Lastly, can you give us a closing message for your fans?
Xanthe: Thank you so much for playing the games and watching the anime I’m in! It’s always great to hear your feedback. I love seeing all the fan art, I get tagged in so much of it. You are all so talented and creative! I’m really fortunate to have this bond with you all. Thank you so much! I’ll keep working hard and being in more stuff. Thank you!
A-to-J: Sounds good! Thank you so much for the interview!
Xanthe: Thank you for having me!
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We'd like to thank Xanthe Huynh for the interview and we strongly encourage everyone to check out her work and follow her social media via the links below. As always, keep an eye out for more from Xanthe Huynh in the future! Also, special thanks to FanimeCon for this opportunity!

For More Information On Xanthe Huynh:
​Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItsXanthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItsXanthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsxanthor/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/itsXANTHOR

The above interview was conducted by Garwye Wong, with assistance by Manuel Figueroa, and photography by Ivan Aburto. Transcription by Jeffery Kelly.