Interview With Tom Taylorson

Blub Blub Blub! (He’s Everyone’s Favorite Octopus!)

Whether he’s giving guidance a new generation of actors or exploring the stars alongside the rest of the Tempest crew, Tom Taylorson never fails to inspire and hook us in with his impressive voice work!

He reintroduced us to the Mass Effect universe as Scott Ryder and also brought the house down as both the hero and villain of modern indie hit Octodad. 

Lucky for us, he found time to take a break from exploring the Andromeda galaxy to have a little chat about his performances, his lectures and a good ol’ nerd out about why Mass Effect is so awesome!

Before we start with your roles, I would like to talk about your experiences as a guest lecturer and voice over coach. How do you first go about trying to make your students understand the value of voice acting?

“I like to think that my students already understand the value of good voice acting. It’s why they were in my classes to begin with: To better know about and deliver good voice acting. They know good work already. The real challenge is to get one’s own work to deliver that quality.”

In your lectures, what are some of the examples you use, in terms of video games, to highlight just how powerful the medium can be?

“I asked my students to discuss what they thought were the most effecting works for them. From there we got our base. Often I found that the same titles came up. Older titles like Grim Fandango; the Baldur’s Gate series. And then modern classics like many BioWare titles and the Uncharted series; the Arkham Asylum games, The Halo series, GTA, Red Dead Redemption. I’m always of the opinion that if it works for you, is believable, evocative, and effective – it’s good work. It may not always be to our tastes, but you know good work when you hear it.”

Octodad: Dadliest Catch rose up to become something of an indie darling in the mind of gamers. What was it like to watch it explode into the classic we all know and love today?

“I am very proud of that game, what it’s become, and the Young Horses team. I met those guys when Octodad was a student project at DePaul University in Chicago. I’ve since watched them take that idea, expand on it , have a successful Kickstarter, release the game on every platform imaginable, and continue working as a pioneering independent game developer in Chicago. They’re a great, imaginative, hard working team and I look forward to seeing what else they have up their collective sleeves. Also – the game introduced me to Fryda Wolff. So, big bonus there.” 

People can’t get enough of Octodad, largely in part to your dual performance as the titular character as well as his hilarious chef of a nemesis. How did you find the voices (or blubs) for each character? 

“Sushi Chef was interesting. The Young Horses walked a fine line with their original character description for the audition (as a student game project at DePaul University) they said they wanted a bombastic chef with an accent, but maybe not, but Japanese, or not. Maybe he’s Japanese, or maybe he’s not but trying to be…they were trying to be nice and not go for the stereotype of what you might think of when presented with the idea of a villainous sushi chef.” 

“I took one look at the dialogue and thought ‘actually, guys… that’s exactly what you’re looking for.’ He’s a combination of Ken Watanabe and Roger L. Jackson as Mojo Jojo from Powerpuff Girls.”

“Octodad came from a quick analysis of what an octopus might sound like. I thought ‘ok, they have beaks…what would that sound like…’ and that was thrown out immediately. Not interesting or evocative enough. But then I thought ‘how many wet, blubbery noises could I come up with…’ that was the key. I use combinations of clicks and growls from the back of the throat, tongue blips, cheek flaps, and even my hands playing over my lips to get everything out. It’s silly fun.”

If a sequel never comes about, in your mind what becomes of Octodad and the Chef? Do they live happily ever after or will their conflict heat up again in the far future?

“Oh, I think the Chef is a changed man. He leaves Octodad and his family alone.  More interesting, I think, is the fallout with his wife and family. There’s a Telltale adventure game in that.” 

The character of Gilgamesh has been a long-time staple of the Final Fantasy franchise, however this most recent version had much more depth to him. What was your approach to playing such a classic boss character? 

“That was definitely a look at the script and the scene and just play the heck out of it, quite honestly. I mean, that’s what all acting is; but to think of the place of that character in the FF series or what the original Japanese actor was doing would be folly. Thoughts like that get in the way. So you keep it simple: What’s my version of this character and how they react in this scene? Go.”

You’re a well-documented video game nerd like the rest of us, not to mention a huge fan of the Mass Effect series in general. Do you have a moment from across the franchise that you believe cements it in your mind as one of the all-time greats? 

“The Suicide Mission from ME 2. Right up there with that – Mordin’s sacrifice in ME 3. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.”

“I actually met the actor, William Salyers, who plays Mordin during the sessions for ME: Andromeda. THAT was awesome to say the least. I taught his work to my students and then one day – there we are just chatting at the studio. He’s great.” 

Everyone has their own version of Scott Ryder, but in your mind what are the core components that make up this cosmic explorer, and which of those aspects did you really latch onto when recording his dialogue?

“There’s a lot of ‘don’t look at me; I’m just making this up as I go along.’ at every moment with Ryder. That was a lot of it. The having greatness thrust upon him thing. You look at Shepard and she was already great and then she becomes awesome, even super heroic over the course of the game. Ryder is not that. Ryder’s a scientist, an explorer. Dad was too, but he was also a leader. A member of N7. A real hero. And then one day – dad’s gone and he left you with the mantle of leader, for better or worse. A lot of Ryder is diffusing the crushing responsibility with humor and, at times, brushing past it. I even think there’s more that might’ve been done with Ryder’s grappling with that responsibility. It’s a lot of Ryder faking it until he/she makes it. And even then, still hunting for perspective because of the unfathomable newness of everything.”

Do you have an ideal squad and romance? Or do you have enough love for the whole Andromeda crew?

“I have to admit for having great affection for the whole crew. My play through (admittedly unfinished) was Sara romancing Suvi. Suvi’s a fun character and Katy Townsend kills it in the role.”

One of the little unexpected gems Andromeda gave us was the sweet and hilarious relationship you shared with Fryda Wolff. If you had it your way, what project would you love to take on with her in the future?

“I’ll do anything with Fryda. She’s been a good friend since my move to LA a couple years back. She’s exceptionally good at what she does and is just a force of nature. I’d be lucky to work with her on something again in the future. She’s so far ahead of me it ain’t funny. So we shall see. Happy to hang in her shadow in the mean time.”

Thank you so much for your time Tom! If fans want to get in contact, look up your lectures or just show off their personal Ryders, where can they find you?