Interview With Bryson Baugus

Soaring High, One Role At A Time!

Whether it’s letting loose his vampiric charm, dealing with an onslaught of beautiful beasts, whipping up some epic Italian cooking or landing the mother of all spikes, Bryson Baugus is no stranger to portraying characters that are as rambunctious as they are slick!

From the dungeons of DanMachi all the way to the heights of Haikyu, Bryson has managed to secure himself quite the roster of eccentric protagonists under his belt in recent years. Luckily for us, he was more than willing to chat about the challenge and fun that comes with each VO experience.

No, we didn’t try to make him actually spike a volleyball.

First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to let us probe your brain!  

“No problem!”

Starting out with one of your most recent ventures, can you describe that moment when you realized that you were now part of the Blade Runner canon?

“I actually didn’t know I was involved in something related to Blade Runner until the week before it came out! I recorded the movie about 3 or 4 months before it’s release and it was under a working title at the time. I found out later by one of the people at the studio that it was a Blade Runner anime movie that I saw a lot of friends sharing promotional videos of on my Facebook page, so I thought it was really cool to find out about something I was involved in and not realize it until later, haha! As for being a part of the canon, I think it’s pretty cool! I’ve actually never seen the original blade runner movie, but I know that it’s pretty iconic, and after seeing a lot about it over the past year (due to the recent sequel coming out) it’s made me interested to check it out. (Yes I know, not to watch the theatrical release version haha).”

Ren isn’t the only character you’ve portrayed whose found themselves caught up in a world-shattering experience, there’s also Kimihito! Can anything ever prepare you to take on a project like Monster Musume?

“That was really a crazy experience to work on that show haha! I don’t think anyone could be appropriately prepared to work on something as crazy as Monmusu unless they had some sort of understanding of what happens beforehand. And I certainly didn’t, haha!”

This one might be hard to answer given the hilariously on point performances provided by the likes of Molly Searcy, Allison Sumrall, Brittney Karbowski and the rest of the cast …but if you had to choose, who is your ideal monster lady?

“I actually don’t know as they all seem pretty dangerous to me! Haha. If I had to choose, I’d say probably stick with Miia, as she’s the one who had been with Kimihito the longest and knew him best.”

Diabolik Lover’s Kou Mukami isn’t exactly what you would call a traditional vampire, but he’s certainly got a sadistic streak. Was it fun to just embrace that inner evil?

“Kou was actually one of my first bigger roles! He was also very different from the kind of roles I had been in for previously, and it’s always fun to stretch out my performance range! Making blood-sucking sounds using my hand is definitely also one of the more interesting experiences I’ve had in the booth, haha!”

From the diabolical to the heroic, Bell Cranel is pretty much everything you could want in a protagonist. What did you find to be his most appealing trait?

“Probably the fact that he tends to be very friendly and polite to everyone (unless they give him a strong reason not to be), and how forgiving he is to others! I like those things about him cuz it’s pretty much how I am!”

We certainly see him grow as a warrior and as an adventurer, do you think the same will apply to the relationship he shares with Hestia?

“I’m actually not sure. He almost seems to have blinders on to anyone who isn’t Ais as it stands. But I definitely hope so as Hestia does so much for him!”

Food Wars has no shortage of big personalities, but its fair to say that Takumi Aldini and his Italian swagger managed to steal the show whenever he graced us with his presence. What’s the appeal of a character as flashy as him?

“When I first saw him, I thought he was gonna be this sort of “cool guy” who’s really low-key and a typical anime-rival style character, but I was happy to find out that that’s actually how he likes to think of himself to the extreme! To the point where he thinks he’s so cool and everyone around him finds it embarrassingly funny. I think his flashiness comes from this desire to show off how cool he is, and it actually works sometimes, but I think it’s really charming when he gets called out for overdoing it!”

Takumi can certainly be larger than life when handling ingredients, but there’s also a sweet poignancy when it comes to the relationship he shares with his brother. Which side of Takumi did you enjoy portraying the most?

“I’d say my favorite side of him to play is when he’s frustrated at someone (typically Soma or his brother) for making fun of his over-the-top intensity! I especially liked a scene where he claims that he’d  challenge Soma to a food war the “next time he sees him”, only to have to ride next to him on the bus 10 minutes later, and Soma starts making fun of his big claim from earlier.”

Haikyu has soared to become the modern pinnacle of sports anime. Was the infectious energy shared between the Karasuno High Volleyball Club reflected behind the scenes with you and the rest of the voice cast?

“Unfortunately, we record these shows with one actor at a time, so we generally don’t often get to meet our cast mates while working on it. However, I did already know some of my other cast mates from previous encounters and have seen/met some of them since working on the show and I would say that everyone involved was super excited to be working on this show!”

Shoyo Hinata’s dream to make it big on the court despite what many other players would call a handicap made for quite the powerful message. As an actor, could you relate to this on some level?

 “I wouldn’t say I have any particular “handicap” that would stand out in any way; however, I totally relate to him wanting to overcome obstacles to do what he wants! Acting (and especially voice acting) is very hard to be successful at for anyone, and while I feel really lucky to have the successes I’ve had over the past couple years, I’m determined to do even more in my career!”

Bryson, thank you so much for your time! If fans want to message you and let you know how much they adore Takumi’s home-cooking, where can they find you?

“People can ‘like’ my public Facebook page at facebook.com/brysonbaugusva or follow my Twitter @baugusbryson. I also have an instagram @brysonbaugus, and a few YouTube channels I contribute to now and then! (Bryson Baugus, Bryson Baugus 2, and OhSoTastyProductions)!”

And finally, as an honorary member of WatchMojo, if you could choose a subject for a top ten list, what would it be?

“Probably “Top 10 ‘boring adult’ cereals” (Raisin Bran is the best)”