Crispin Freeman
{{Short description|American voice actor}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Crispin Freeman
|image = Crispin Freeman.jpg
|caption = Freeman in 2009
|birth_date =
|birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|death_date =
|death_place =
|occupation = {{hlist|Voice actor|voice director|screenwriter}}
|spouse =
|relatives = Cassidy Freeman (sister)
|education = Williams College (BA)
Columbia University (MFA)
|website = {{URL|crispinfreeman.com|Official website}}
|yearsactive = 1997–present
}}
Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Graywords in Slayers, Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Togusa in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, Alucard in Hellsing, Kirei Kotomine in Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Itachi Uchiha in Naruto, Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Hagi in Blood+ and Shizuo Heiwajima in Durarara!!.
Early life
{{No footnotes|section|BLP=yes|date=May 2016}}
Freeman was born in Chicago.{{cite tweet | user=CrispinFreeman | last=Freeman | first=Crispin | number=454420609045647361 | date=April 11, 2014 | title=A primeval forest sounds lovely! I was born in Chicago and never found one there. Show us where it is! | access-date=January 30, 2017}} His father is Jewish.{{cite tweet|number=15578078550|user=CrispinFreeman|title=@binkxy Absolutely! My Jewish father would love that!|date=6 June 2010}} He is the oldest of three children. His sister Cassidy is an actress, while his brother Clark is an actor and musician.[http://www.newsarama.com/tv/090501-cassidy-freeman.html 'Lex Schmex' – Meet SMALLVILLE's Tess Mercer] Newsarama.com Freeman graduated from the Latin School of Chicago in 1990 and earned a BA from Williams College, where he majored in theater and minored in computer science.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} He then earned an MFA in acting from Columbia University and went on to perform on Broadway, at the American Repertory Theater, at the Mark Taper Forum, at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park, and at the Williamstown Theater Festival.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} As a child, he was greatly influenced by anime such as Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets. Casey Kasem voiced the role of his favorite character, Mark of Battle of the Planets, and Freeman even wanted to change his name to Mark at one point.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}} He later discovered Voltron, Star Blazers, and Robotech. He has also stated that the reason he got into the industry was because of the anime The Vision of Escaflowne. He initially got involved in the voice-over industry when a friend of his landed a role in Peacock King.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
Career
File:Crispin Freeman at Super-Con 2009 5.JPG
{{More footnotes needed|section|BLP=yes|date=May 2016}}
Knowing Freeman was a big anime fan, a friend suggested he call up Central Park Media (CPM) and apply for a job doing English dubs. When originally approached about dubbing, he initially declined. It was not until he remembered all of the anime shows he watched as a child that he realized that many people are introduced to anime through the English dubbed versions. In 1997, Freeman landed the role of Zelgadis Graywords in Slayers along with Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart and Veronica Taylor. He was the second and final voice actor to get the job after Zelgadis' original voice actor, Daniel Cronin, lost contact with CPM after a year-long halt in the dubbing. Years later, he turned to the American animation voice acting grounds.
Freeman has been best known for his work in Marvel Comics-based productions such as The Spectacular Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. He then starred as several versions of Roy Harper in Young Justice for DC Comics and Warner Bros. Since then, Freeman has had various roles throughout his career. He has appeared in many video game titles as memorable characters, such as Albedo from Namco's Xenosaga series, Helios in God of War III and God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, Haji, Joel the 6th and Van Argeno in Blood+, the main protagonist Baldur in Silicon Knights's Too Human, Breakdown in Transformers: War for Cybertron, the Winter Soldier in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, and Iron Man in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.
Freeman teaches classes, workshops, and performance lectures in the Los Angeles area.{{Cite web |url=http://crispinfreeman.com/classes.html |title=Crispin Freeman | Classes |access-date=2011-11-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103050156/http://www.crispinfreeman.com/classes.html |archive-date=2011-11-03 |url-status=dead }} In addition to classes, Freeman has a website called Voice Acting Mastery which includes podcasts and other resources regarding voice acting.{{cite web|url=http://www.voiceactingmastery.com|title=Voice Acting Mastery: Become a Master Voice Actor in the World of Voice Over - Become the Character. Live the Dream. Find Yourself.|website=Voice Acting Mastery: Become a Master Voice Actor in the World of Voice Over}}
In February 2023, Freeman guest voiced Lieutenant Nolan, an Imperial lieutenant with particular disdain for clones, the commanding officer of Crosshair, in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.{{cite web|last=Young|first=Bryan|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1221277/the-bad-batch-season-2-episode-12-review/|title=The Bad Batch Brings Us One Of Its Best Episodes Yet|website=Slash Film|date=March 8, 2023|access-date=March 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311083838/https://www.slashfilm.com/1221277/the-bad-batch-season-2-episode-12-review/|archive-date=March 11, 2023|url-status=live}}
Filmography
=Anime=
=Animation=
=Films=
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+List of voice performances in feature films ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes | ||||
{{dts|1998}} | Grave of the Fireflies | Doctors, Old Man | rowspan="5" |English dub
| | |
rowspan="3" | {{dts|2001}} | Revolutionary Girl Utena | Touga Kiryuu, Prince
| | ||
Night on the Galactic Railroad | Campanella
| | |||
Space Travelers | Hayabusa "Jay" Jetter
| | |||
{{dts|2002}} | Cowboy Bebop: The Movie | Operator
| | ||
{{dts|2003}} | Sakura Wars: The Movie | Brent Furlong | Credited as Joseph McDougall, English dub | rowspan="3" | |
rowspan="2" | {{dts|2004|05|11|format=y}} | Slayers Premium | Zelgadis Graywords | rowspan="4" | English dub | |
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence | Togusa | |||
2005
|Prince Justin / Turnip Head | | ||||
rowspan="2" | {{dts|2006|04|25|format=y}} | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | Rude | ||
Ice Age: The Meltdown
|Various characters | | | ||||
{{dts|2007}} | Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Solid State Society | Togusa | rowspan="3" |English dub
| | |
{{dts|2010|05|21|format=y}} | The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya | Kyon | ||
{{dts|2015|02|24|format=y}} | Tiger & Bunny: The Rising | Virgil | ||
{{dts|2017|03|31|format=y}} | Teen Titans: The Judas Contract | Roy Harper / Speedy | ||
rowspan="2" |{{dts|2018|format=y}}
|Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. presage flower |Kirei Kotomine | rowspan="7" |English dub | ||||
Mirai
|Yukko (Human Form) | ||||
rowspan="2" |2019
|Kray Foresight | ||||
Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. lost butterfly
|Kirei Kotomine | | ||||
rowspan="2" |2021
|Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train |Gyomei Himejima | ||||
Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. spring song
|Kirei Kotomine | ||||
rowspan="3" |2024
|Gurren Lagann The Movie: The Lights in the Sky are Stars |Anti-Spiral |
=Video games=
=Other dubbing=
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of voice performances in other dubbing ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes | ||||
{{dts|2005}} | Oldboy | Lee Woo-jin |
=Live-action=
class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of appearances in film and television ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes | ||||
{{dts|2008|07|03|format=y}} | Adventures in Voice Acting | Himself | {{cite press release | url=http://www.adventuresinvoiceacting.com/wp-content/uploads/press_kit/aiva_v1_press_release_12-04-07_AiVA_NY_Anime_Fest.pdf | title=Bang Zoom! Entertainment to Preview Adventures in Voice Acting Documentary at New York Anime Festival | work=Adventures in Voice Acting | date=December 4, 2007 | access-date=September 17, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006074601/http://www.adventuresinvoiceacting.com/wp-content/uploads/press_kit/aiva_v1_press_release_12-04-07_AiVA_NY_Anime_Fest.pdf | archive-date=October 6, 2014 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }} |
References
{{Reflist|refs=
}}
;Interviews
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100718100548/http://ps3.rpgsite.net/articles/189/231/crispin-freeman-interview.html Crispin Freeman Interview] at RPGSite
- [http://www.animelodge.co.uk/crispin-freeman-interview/ Crispin Freeman: Q and A] {{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at The Anime Lodge
- [http://www.jivemagazine.com/article.php?pid=2868 "A Very Different Place" - A Crispin Freeman Interview] part one
- [http://www.jivemagazine.com/article.php?pid=2870 "A Very Different Place" - A Crispin Freeman Interview] part two including audio
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070715154558/http://www.rightstuf.com/podcast/animetoday/03/031.shtml "Anime Today Episode 31" - Crispin Freeman Interview]
- [http://918thefan.com/2010/kanas-korner-crispin-freeman-interview/ 'Kana's Korner' Interview] on 91.8 The Fan
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{official website|http://www.crispinfreeman.com/}}
- [http://www.voiceactingmastery.com Voice Acting Mastery] - Crispin Freeman's voice acting podcast blog
- [http://www.mythologyandmeaning.com/ Mythology and Meaning] - Crispin Freeman's website for his lectures on anime
- {{anime News Network|people|1074}}
- {{AnimeCons name|248}}
- [http://www.crystalacids.com/database/person/1457/crispin-freeman/ Crispin Freeman] at Crystal Acids Voice Actor Database
- {{IMDb name|0293342}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Crispin}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:20th-century American writers
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:21st-century American writers
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American male video game actors
Category:Television writers from California
Category:American male screenwriters
Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni
Category:Latin School of Chicago alumni
Category:Male actors from Chicago
Category:Male actors from Los Angeles
Category:Male actors from New York City
Category:American male television writers
Category:American voice directors
Category:Williams College alumni
Category:Writers from Los Angeles
Category:Writers from New York City
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)