Writers BreRoxAwesomeSox and Gamergy got an interview with Kenny James, the voice actor of Bowser, at Indy PopCon. You can see the video here and the transcripts below it




Bre: “Chris and Bre here with WiiWareWave, and we’re here with Kenny James, the voice of Bowser. Thank you for being with us.”

Bre: “What’s your favorite thing about being a voice actor?”

Kenny James: “Getting to play. Charles [Martinet] and I agree on this all the time. It’s like you get to go in somebody’s sandbox and just goof off. You just get to play around, it’s fun”

Bre: “How did you become a voice actor?”

James: “I decided I wanted to do it, and so I created a website back in about 2001 when the internet was still pretty new. I built a little website using HTML and I got a demo made. It got to the right people by accident, it was the right place and the right time. Next thing I know I’m Bowser for 14 years.”

Bre: “What’s your favorite character you voice?”

James: “Bowser, cause that’s the only one I really make any money off of, and not a lot. Trust me. I’ve done some other little things. I did a character that told bible stories at this megachurch in North Carolina. I can’t remember when the church is called, but I was a little green dragon that told bible stories laughs

Chris: “So you’re always playing a green dragon?”
James: “Yeah it seems that way laughs there always seems to be a theme here. Only bowser was [a deep voice] and the green dragon was a [high pitched voice]”

Bre: “What’s something that you feel like every voice actor must constantly be doing”

James: “I drink [water]. I’m the worst enemy of my own voice. One of the things I actually do is if I’m going to be recording something I start hydrating the day before. If I’m in a show like a musical where I’m singing. I will hydrate until I can’t stand it anymore.”

Chris: “How many bottles of water do you think you drink on a full take?”

James: “A 2-hour session I’ll drink at least 6 20-oz bottles of water. You get to where you don’t even think about it anymore. You get to the point where you think “If I drink any more water I’m gonna die”

Chris: “Does your boss get mad if you take breaks all the time?”

James: “No, they’ll offer me breaks and I’ll go ‘nope!’ they’ll say ‘do you want to rest for a bit?’ and I’m like ‘nope nope nope lets go, lets finish it up’"

Bre: “We have is a really fun [question], what’s your favorite Mario Party?”

James: “I don’t know, I like all of them. I know it’s a cheesy answer but I like everything I’ve been put on, because it’s super jazzy. The first time I heard my voice on the game I wasn’t that happy with it was Super Mario Strikers. You know Bowser drops in, I didn’t find out until later that I was the robot team too.  When [Super Mario] Galaxy came around, I was like, “oh listen to me! Ever since then I’ve been “oh it’s me, it’s me!”

Bre: laughs

James: "I have no real favorite, Meowser was in [Super Mario] 3D World, and because inventing the sound on the spot I was really happy with it."

Chris: "If you have kids, do you play the games you voiced in?"

James: “My son has played some, he’s 24 now but he’s played [some of] the games. He probably doesn’t now he’s more of a Fortnite guy. He’s a beast [at it]”

Chris: “Last one, who do you think in a fight? Waluigi, Wario, Mario, or Bowser?”

James: “Depends on who’s playing laughs”

Chris: “Free-for-all, the characters are like the canon ones”

James: “I’m just gonna have to go with Bowser”

Chris: “That’s fine, I’d have to agree. Bowser in Galaxy [was strong] I don’t know how Mario won that one”

James: Laughs “I know, then Bowser was so sad at the end of that."

We even got to talk more with Kenny James after the interview, and he was a very cool guy. Definitely visit him if he comes to a local convention!