Interviewing The Cast Of ‘Dragon Ball Super: Broly’: Vic Mignogna- The Voice Of Broly

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

Click here for our interview with Monica Rial, the voice of Bulma.

Click here for our interview with Jason Douglas, the voice of Beerus.

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!

Next up is the titular character himself! Vic Mignogna has voiced Broly since the Funimation dub of the original Legendary Super Saiyan film in 2004. Perhaps best known as the voice of Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, Vic has also played Junpei Iori in Persona 3 and its various films and spinoffs. Other well known series he’s featured in include Attack on Titan and One-Punch Man, and lesser known shows like Madlax, a personal favorite of mine. Chances are if you play games or watch anime, you’ve heard Vic’s voice. Now with Broly being reimagined, we talked to him about what it was like to play two different versions of the hulking berserker.

Josh- This is essentially the second time audiences are being introduced to Broly. His portrayal based on everything we know so far seems to be a little bit different from his past versions.

Vic- Different in a very good way! A very good way. I love Broly! I love that character, I have for many, many years. If there was one thing that I would have changed, and I think most fans agree, it would have been to give him a more significant backstory. Give him some kind of foundation or background that he didn’t have, and this movie certainly does that. And it does it very effectively.

Sean- From what we can gather, this version of Broly doesn’t really like to fight like the original version. Yet, we know we know he will actually be doing a lot of fighting. What were your thoughts on this kind of split and dichotomy?

Vic- I love it! You know, I think one of the things that Dragon Ball is known for is fighting, battling, tournaments and competition… So you expect that. And the action in this film is certainly worthy of Dragon Ball. But what you don’t always expect is a deeper story, is a sympathetic story for a character that on the surface may seem pretty menacing. But when you find out more about his background, you actually develop a… I don’t want to say sympathy, but your heart goes out a little bit to him, I think. And that just makes it more powerful.

Josh- Was that challenging at all to take this character that you played years ago in a different form and having to approach it in a different way?

Vic- Not at all! In fact, I welcome it! Because as an actor, you always love the opportunity to play a deeper character, right? I mean, anybody that screams loud can play a character that only screams loud, right? But if suddenly you’ve got a character that’s got variations on his personality and what makes him who he is, that makes him more fun to play! Which is always a welcomed thing.

Sean- If you had to choose between the two versions of the character, which one is more fun to play and which [would you choose] as a fan?

Vic- Both of them! Excuse me… I mean the second one for both reasons! (Laughs) The Broly we’re about to be introduced to is definitely my favorite for both reasons! I think the fans are really going to enjoy it more because there’s more to connect with, and I had fun playing a character that had more dimensions than just, “Oh! There was a baby crying next to him when he was born and he freaked out.” Ehh… That’s a little thin! (Laughs)

Sean- There is such great animation in this movie. Was there any point where it was too hard to record because you were just too taken aback by the images?

Vic- Well, I will tell you what! I will tell you that Justin Cook over there, (voice actor and producer on Dragon Ball and other Funimation projects), who worked on directing my stuff, he has as much better eye for it than I do! He has…

*Justin Cook shouts at Vic in the distance*

Vic- (Laughs) No! I’m just telling them! They were asking me about, you know, with the action and the fighting being so fast moving, it is easy to get pulled in! Like, “Wait a minute! I was supposed to do something and I don’t know what…” But Justin has a great eye for it, and he literally would say, “Okay, right here, you’ve got this, this, this, and it all happens in like half a second.” So I depended a great deal on him to keep me focused on what I was doing.

Justin- I depend on Vic! Let’s get that clear.

Vic- Right! He’s smirking when he says that! (Laughs)

Sean- Another question about recording. What is the key to recording the perfect battle scream?

Vic- Oof… You know what? Voice actors have told me for years that there is a way that you can yell without hurting your voice… I don’t but it! (Laughs) I don’t think that’s true. I think that if you fake it, you can tell. Does that make sense? So, umm… One of the reasons Broly is such a challenging character to play is because you can’t hold back! You can’t fake it. It has got to be full on, everything you’ve got, and so I don’t think there’s a way of cheating the yelling and the screaming. The key is, let it rip! Let it rip. Because the last thing you want to hear is the director go, “Could you uhh… Give me a little more?” I mean, oh god, really? So just let it go!

Josh- With this version of Broly, did you get somewhat of a break from the screaming? Is it as much?

Vic- No [break]! (Laughs) Umm… But I will tell you that our approach to the recording process was that we would record for like two hours a day, because you don’t want to do it much longer than that. Because you’ll actually stress your voice out and then you won’t be recovered for the next day. So we took a week to record this role for a couple of hours a day. Maybe some days we would do maybe three hours, but you don’t want to scream bloody murder for five or six hours a day cause then you’ll go home and you’ll wake the next morning and your voice will not have recovered. So then you’ll be out of commission for a few days. So our strategy was a couple hours each day, and then I would go home and drink tea with honey and sit quietly… (Laughs) And let it reocover!

Josh- The way that Broly is being portrayed in this version of the film kind of makes him seem like a missing link between Goku and Vegeta. What role do you think he plays in their rivalry and friendship as a Saiyan?

Vic- That’s an interesting question! That’s a very interesting question! And I hope based on the way that the story unfolds and the way the movie ends, I’m hoping sincerely that we’re going to see more of Broly. I think he’s a much more compelling character. He’s just as badass as he ever was, but now there’s more dimension to him. And I think it leaves it wide open for him to show up again and play a more pivotal role between Goku and Vegeta. I hope that happens! I sincerely hope it happens.

Sean- Do you think that Broly is kind of this product of Saiyan culture because of King Vegeta’s corruption, and because they are meant to be angry and fighting even when they don’t want to?

Vic- No! No, I think he’s a product of his father. I mean, you know. If Broly’s father is his singular main influance, just like you or me. Your dad has a great deal to do with the person you are by the time you’re 12 or 13 years old, right? And some of those habits are hard to break because they’re so deeply ingrained. I think that it’s Broly’s dad that is largely responsible for who he is.

Josh- That brings up an interesting point that I didn’t think of before. But since Broly was kind of isolated while Goku and Vegeta had their own thing, and he was kind of separate from the conflict with Frieza and everything… And this is just from what I know from the trailers, so I could be wrong, but do you think that Goku and Vegeta had that time to grow and develop and move on past Frieza’s influence on Planet Vegeta, do you think that Broly is kind of a way to pull them back towards their Saiyan heritage that has kind of taken more of a backseat after the Frieza Saga ended?

Vic- Possibly! Possibly so, but as you even pointed out, Broly is kind of a reluctant warrior. He’s not fighting because he even really believes in it himself. And you sense the turmoil in him, which is much more interesting than it’s ever been. It makes the character more interesting. And I’m not really sure how his presence will influence Vegeta or Goku, or like you said, “Pull them back.” Hopefully that’s something that will be explored either in the series to come or even another movie possibly. But they’ve certainly left it wide open for that!

Tomorrow, we sit with the Prince himself, as Chris Sabat talks to us about the process of recording the film both behind the mic and in the director’s chair!