Crispin Freeman


Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, ADR director and writer who provides voices for English versions of Japanese anime, animation and video games. In anime, some of his prominent roles include Zelgadis Graywords in Slayers, Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Alucard in Hellsing, Kirei Kotomine in Fate/Zero and , Itachi Uchiha in Naruto, and Shizuo Heiwajima in Durarara!!.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Freeman is the oldest of three children. He attended the Latin School of Chicago, where he graduated in 1990. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College, majoring in Theater and minoring in Computer Science. Afterward, he earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in Acting and performed on Broadway, at the American Repertory Theater in, at the Mark Taper Forum in, at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park and at the Williamstown Theater Festival. As a child, Freeman was greatly influenced by anime shows such as Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets. Casey Kasem voiced the role of his favorite character, Mark of Battle of the Planets. Later, he discovered Voltron, Star Blazers and Robotech, being quoted in the January 1999 issue of America Interview saying, "That show really blew me away." Freeman has also stated that the reason he got into the industry was because of the anime television show The Vision of Escaflowne. Freeman initially got involved in the anime voice-over industry when a friend of his landed a role in Peacock King.

Career

Knowing Freeman was a big anime fan, a friend suggested he call up Central Park Media 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. He has been best known for his work in Marvel Comics based productions such as The Spectacular Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men and '. 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, the god of the sun Helios in God of War III, Haji, Joel the 6th and Van Argeno in Blood+, the main protagonist Baldur in Silicon Knights's Too Human, Breakdown in ', the Winter Soldier in ', and Iron Man in '.
Freeman teaches classes, workshops, and performance lectures in the Los Angeles area. In addition to classes, Freeman has a website called Voice Acting Mastery which includes podcasts and other resources regarding voice acting.

Personal life

Freeman is the oldest of three children. His sister, Cassidy is an actress who played Tess Mercer in the television show Smallville and Cady Longmire in Longmire. Their brother, Clark, is an actor and musician; they are involved in a band called The Real D'Coys. Their family has German, Scottish, and Jewish ancestry.

Filmography

Anime

Animation

Films

Video games

Other dubbing

Live-action