That's not a bad idea at all. If we're only casting black actors, what about Tim Russ?
While Tim Russ' voice probably isn't deep enough for Book, Keith David might be too deep. Dorn feels like the closest to Ron Glass so far.
Keith David's voice is too deep. Dennis Haysbert has the same issue too imho. I think Dorn has more empathy in his natural speaking voice than Tim Russ. Shepherd Book's voice is defined by a soothing warm baritone empathy.
Dorn is actually pushing his lower register as Worf. When he's being natural, it's a damn close match to Ron Glass, except Glass has a subtle, unique nasal resonance too, that I can't think of anyone who could match perfectly, unfortunately.
There's actually a person that does voice-over narration to various history and science shows, who sounds just like Ron Glass.
I asked the Google AI, "Who is the narrator of various History, Science or DIscovery Channel shows that sounds just like Ron Glass?" and this is what it gave me:
Since this is an animated project, I say get someone who sounds as close to the original as possible.
I asked the Google AI, "Who is the narrator of various History, Science or DIscovery Channel shows that sounds just like Ron Glass?" and this is what it gave me:
Since this is an animated project, I say get someone who sounds as close to the original as possible.
I second that. If SAG wasn't an issue, I'd go hunting Youtube for impressions and talk to the best impersonators.
Voice acting is about the voice and the acting. It's hard to get both. I think the best I've heard is Jacob Dudman as Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor for Big Finish. You wouldn't know it wasn't Matt Smith. It's not just that he gets the voice right, he acts the part well too. Not all impersonators can deliver on the acting side.
That's a good point, I think in situations like this a lot of people get to focused on them sounding like the person and forget they need to be able to match the acting skills of the rest of the cast. If it came down to it, I'd rather have a person who doesn't sound exactly like Ron Glass but gives a good performance than a person who sounds like Glass but can't give a decent performance.
Ever heard of I Am Weasel? I used to watch that a lot during my late teens. Dorn was amazing in it.
Even though I knew they recast Rhys and Claptrap for Borderlands 3, I couldn't tell when I listened to them. And when Resident Evil 9 came out I thought they had gone and rehired Paul Mercier, and was shocked to learn it was Nick Apostolides, the guy from Re2 and 4 remakes. I guess for videogames at least, they're really good at finidng replacement VAs? I mean sometimes. The new Ada and Wesker suck.
