Talk:Kerri Kane

Interview

Kerri Kane was nice enough to contact the Wiki staff to give us an image for her page, and then she even agreed to give us a little interview so that we could expand her article. Here's the contents of her original email response to our questions.

- Where were you born?
I was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Yay Red Sox, Patriots, & of course Bruins! Though after living in Seattle, I must admit to loving the Mariners also! I moved when I was in my 20’s to Oakhurst California (worked at Sierra On-Line) then back to MA, then to Florida, then to Seattle, and then finally back here to the Sunshine State. Whew, exhausting, all that moving, like a pinball! I think we’ll stay put for a bit now.

- Did you play "Mario" video games as a kid?
Oh yes, yes, yes! I have been and always will be a Nintendo fangirl. I admit it! I started playing way back when with Mario NES and Duck Hunt. I can still hear the sound that dog makes! My favorite games from Nintendo are definitely Super Mario 64 and most all of the Zeldas. I also played a lot of Animal Crossing. I don’t have the new one yet for the 3DS but it looks sharp. Oh and of course I like the Karts, oh and wait, Banjo-Kazooie for the 64 console…loved that game, and then there’s Star Fox SNES, Tricky- “Find” See…told you, fangirl, more like fangeek, geesh ; )

- Your LinkedIn profile says you were a graphic designer before a voice actor - what prompted the career change?
Well, actually I still do both. It works out pretty well. I help out with my husband’s company with the brochures, ads, etc. things he may need for conferences and whatnot. I also work on illustrations for children’s cards and flyer work for animal non-profits under the name Tiny Cows Design. So far, I have been able to wrangle both of these varying careers and it has worked. Both creative jobs, but in different ways.

- How did you get the job of voicing Rosalina, was there an audition?
Yup! The audition for the character came in the first few months of a trial run with my first ever voice agent. I was so psyched as before I started VO, I had a list with 3 “dream” companies I hoped to voice for. Nintendo was one of the three : ) After I sent in my audition, I of course, second guessed myself! “Why did I say that?” Why did I say that like thaaat?” etc. Finally I gave myself a break and thought, well, at least I got to audition for them! I was shocked when I heard I was their top-pick for the character. I didn’t believe it… I didn’t believe it on the way to record. I still didn’t believe it when I was in there recording, nor on the way home, or…well you get the idea! Even though it was brief, the whole experience has been and always will be very special to me.

- By the sounds of your last e-mail, you're no longer voicing her because you moved away, is that right?
Yes that is true. But to be honest, I had been told by numerous people that I would more than likely lose some of my Seattle jobs with our move. So, I did know beforehand that it was probably coming. I was contacted to come back to do new recordings for another game company and Nintendo (Nintendo over the summer), but we had moved 3,000 miles away. I was of course disappointed, but that’s how it goes. Before our move, I was in communication with a very talented West Coast voice actor. He told me his story of how he started voicing a brand new character for a game that became very popular. I believe he voiced the character for several games before the game company itself relocated. When they moved, they did a local recast for his character. So, recasting happens often enough for a variety of reasons. Maybe the company wants to go in a new direction, maybe they want the character to sound older, or younger, maybe the voice actor’s contract has expired, maybe the VA doesn’t want to work in voiceover anymore, maybe the VA moves, or the game company moves, lots of different reasons.

- Which other characters, if any, would you voice for Nintendo if given the opportunity?
Great question! I think it’d be fun to voice Rosalina when she was younger. The young Rosa from the storybook? Or maybe Rosalina’s daughter, from the future. Can you imagine what SHE would be like?! I’m picturing some sort of dark clothing maybe? Leather? A rebel? Could be anything, but she would, of course, kick butt! Either of those would be very interesting and fun!

- What's your favourite thing about the "Mario" series?
Oh, so many things!! Well, Charles Martinet for one : ) Our family is definitely a multi-console family, we like all kinds of games, but for the Mario series itself, I think what I love is the brightness of the games. They are colorful and cheery with creative characters. Cat goombas! No matter what is happening in the world, or what the weather is like where you are, you can pop into a Mario game and WHAM! Sunshine and fun with some serious challenges here and there. Wow, did that sound dorky. But it’s true, at least for me…

Well, that’s it for now, hope I didn’t ramble for too long…it could’ve been much much worse!!
Cheers everyone!
Kerri Kane

Lots of really fun and interesting stuff here - big thanks to Kerri Kane for taking the time to share it all with us! - Walkazo 19:21, 12 January 2014 (EST)