Interviewing The Cast Of ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’: Jason Douglas- The Voice Of Beerus

This is part three of our ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’ interview series.

Click here for our interview with Ian Sinclair, the voice of Whis.

Click here for our interview with Sonny Strait, the voice of Bardock.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the continuation of the DBS anime that re-imagines the fan-favorite villain from the perspective of series creator Akira Toriyama, will be releasing in theaters nationwide on January 16. To count down to the release of the film, we will be posting a round table interview conducted alongside Sean at VRV, with voice actors from the movie each day leading up to the release date, culminating with a full review of DBS: Broly itself!

Today’s interview is with Jason Douglas, the voice actor for the God of Destruction himself, Beerus. Jason is a veteran voice actor who has been featured in dubbing roles for over a decade. Ranging from classics like Elfen Lied and Full Metal Panic to newer shows like My Hero Academia, RWBY and One Piece, chances are if you’ve watched popular anime over the last few years, you’ve heard his voice at some point. Outside of anime, Jason has also voiced Krieg, the playable Psycho in Borderlands 2, and can be seen on the screen in the Sin City film and Breaking Bad. With Beerus arguably being his most popular role, we sat down with him to ask him how the god’s presence will be felt in the Broly film, as well as how it feels to play one of the most well received additions to the Dragon Ball cast.

Sean- Can you tell us what Beerus’ role in the film is, both in the flashback storyline and the present storyline?

Jason- I think you’re gonna learn some things about Beerus that really… I wanna say things without getting too spoilery, but I think the Beerus that we see in this film confirms for me some things that I’ve considered for awhile now, which is that he is getting restless in his position. He might even be getting… There might be a vulnerability there. I’ll just put it that way. I think that we are not finished seeing him develop as a character, and I think what we see of him in this film will set up perhaps some future conflict perhaps between him and Whis or between him and Goku and Vegeta. I think it will seem trivial to some degree, but I think it sets up a possibility for a future change in the Beerus storyline. That’s about as careful as I can say all of that without giving anything away! (Laughs)

Sean- The character wasn’t actually in the first Broly film. Were you a fan of the original film and were you happy to be apart of it?

Jason- The original film wasn’t really on my radar screen. I felt like, especially with the way Toriyama wanted to really reboot the character… in a fresh way with this film. I think that in some ways, we kind of need to set aside what we think we know about Broly from all the previous iterations of that character and just take him for who he now he is as he’s launched in THIS iteration of the Dragon Ball franchise. Because I think it’s an interesting character and I think he will be a bit of a live wire. And someone that going forward… I think just adds some unpredictability to the Dragon Ball universe, you know? And I think that’s who Broly is. I think he’s incredibly powerful, but it’s a power that I don’t think is easily constrained. So I think Vegeta and Goku, especially under the tutelage of Whis, are always about discipline and control and focus. Whereas Broly is the proverbial wild child, you know? The idea of a kid raised by monkeys living in the jungle, you know? Like swinging from trees. And so,  I think that just lends to his intrigue as a character.

Josh- Speaking of Beerus and his history with the Saiyans, it was kind of said as more of a throwaway line almost in Super, one that hasn’t been addressed much yet, but it was mentioned how Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta on Beerus’ order. Now, is that anything he is gonna have to answer for?

Jason- Well, I think this film is interesting in that it expands the backstory of a lot of that. This film is really great for sort of deepening the mythos of the Dragon Ball universe and giving that scene… When you see it in Super, it feels a certain way. But I think once you get to know Planet Vegeta a little bit in this film and you see the kind of world that they’re living in, it sort of begins to make more sense in a certain way. And so I for one was glad obviously as the English voice of Beerus, but as the actor trying to bring that character to life, to see kind of a richer landscape of what that was about. We definitely gain a lot of perspective on Planet Vegeta.

Sean- Was there any point where the animation was just so breathtaking that it was difficult to completely record your lines because it’s just so amazing?

Jason- Um… Yeah, that’s interesting… I was quite impressed with the animation for this film. Luckily, I had a chance to watch it from start to finish. It was still unfinished, but in some places, it was complete. I could tell even then that it was going to be just… It was definitely moving up a notch from our expectations from the show. I think when we saw Battle of Gods, our expectations were instantly elevated by what we saw with that film, and that’s been three our four years ago now. So their ideas about the show and about how to cast the animation for that has evolved even since then. I think it’s epic, I think it is very Tolkien-esque at times. It has the flavors now of a deep mythology that I think we maybe didn’t have before.

Josh- Speaking of Battle of Gods, it was the first time that there was new material for Dragon Ball Z in about a decade and a half…

Jason- 17 years I think, yeah!

Josh- When that came out, it introduced Beerus, who is now a major part of [Dragon Ball]. How did that feel being a new character added in such a well renowned and established universe, and how do you feel about him being so widely accepted in the fandom?

Jason- I’m grateful that the fandom of Dragon Ball have accepted obviously me as part of that inner circle which for so long was carried so skillfully by Sean [Schemmel] and Chris [Sabat] and those folks. It’s always an amazing thing to be part of a franchise that has worldwide acclaim and to get to contribute to that in some way. And so I’m thrilled particularly on this show that the English dub is not just an afterthought, but that there are a lot of fans worldwide really who eagerly anticipate what we do. I hear from fans who love the Japanese version and the English dub version and will watch them both. It’s like they get two performances, they get two chances to watch the show be interpreted. It’s a real honor, and for someone who’s really been doing this… I started doing anime before I ever started working on camera for film and television. It was one of the first professional jobs I ever had as an actor after starting in theater, it was doing voices in anime. You know, that’s been just over 20 years now. And so for me to get to do a character like this in Dragon Ball, which is such a worldwide phenomenon, is just an amazing milestone for me. It’s definitely an honor.

Josh- As far as Beerus, one of my favorite things about him is that he has the ability to just  be the funniest part of the show, then the next second, he can be the most dangerous part of the show.

Jason- Right! For me, that’s what makes him so much fun to play. He’s not a one dimensional character. He’s not just sort of written as a utility kind of function to advance the plot, and then he’s gone. I think as the audience, we’re intrigued by him as a character. Not only does he make us laugh, but he gets us excited. I think that he has that effect within the show as well. I think Goku and Vegeta obviously have respect for Beerus as a character and he represents something that I think they want to attain for themselves. I think it’s important for Beerus to not merely be a kind of a malevolent force, but as a way of saying, “Are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure that you want what I have? Because I’ve been at it for a good while and I’m a little bored.” I think there’s a subtext to Beerus that says, “I’m a little bored with this, guys. Do you want it? Come take it, but make it interesting!”

Sean- Are you down for more if there’s more to come?

Jason- Yeah! I’m around! (Laughs) Obviously, I pursue on camera work, and I do other voice work and video games. But I’ve never not done anime except for a very short period of time in the mid to late 2000’s when I was kind of quiet in the business. But I’ve been doing anime nearly longer than I’ve done anything else as an actor, so for me to get to play this character is really an opportunity of a lifetime and I hope that it does continue for me as it has for these guys! You know, they started 20-some odd years ago with this franchise when nobody knew or cared what it was, and they’ve stuck with it all this time. They saw it gain in popularity and saw it achieve worldwide phenomenon status. So if I could be apart of it for my 20 years as they approach 40, I think that would be great!

Check back tomorrow for our next interview with Monica Rial, the voice of Bulma!