From the Stage to a World of Voices
I joined KBS’s 27th voice-actor intake on January 1, 1999. I’d auditioned for broadcasters many times, and it was a job I wanted so badly that I was absolutely thrilled when I heard I’d made it. I was doing musical theater then. Everyone in the cast knew I was trying to become a voice actor, so they all congratulated me. I kept auditioning while performing and doing other work. I think I studied voice acting seriously for about two or three years.
These days, many aspiring actors train at academies for seven or eight years, sometimes as long as ten. It was a little different when I was preparing. There were more opportunities to audition, and more people were hired. While doing musicals and other work, I applied whenever a broadcaster held auditions. The length of time I spent auditioning wasn’t necessarily the same as the time I spent studying seriously.
I loved comics as a child, too. Around my first year of middle school, I wondered whether to become a comic artist or an actor, but I made up my mind fairly quickly. Knowing myself, I didn’t think I could stand being shut away in a room drawing all day. I liked expressing myself directly in front of people. In my third year of middle school, I joined a small theater and began performing onstage alongside adult actors.
I became so absorbed in acting that I drifted away from comics for a while. I found them again after becoming a voice actor, when I worked on audio dramas adapted from web novels and webtoons. Reading the originals to prepare got me hooked again. Now I have five or six webtoon apps on my phone. Before bed, I curl up under the covers and read the series I’ve saved, or find new stories and works with beautiful artwork. It’s become almost a daily routine.
My tastes are broad. I listen to everything from hip-hop and jazz to bands, K-pop, and classical music. With films, I watch B-movie horror and creature features, action, fantasy, romance, auteur cinema, and documentaries. I used to visit the Busan International Film Festival, the Jeonju International Film Festival, and the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, as well as digital independent, environmental, women’s, and European film festivals. When choosing a work, I think I’m drawn less to a particular genre or subject than to how well it’s made and whether there’s something intriguing about it.
I’m especially fond of science fiction, and I love Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell film. I first saw it after becoming a voice actor. Every time I watch it, I discover something I hadn’t noticed in the visuals, the world, the themes, or the characters. It keeps me thinking about human identity and the future of humanity. Although it was an older film, I thought I’d love to dub it. Later, I dubbed Scarlett Johansson in the live-action adaptation. Then, one day, a studio offered me a Japanese VR animation project. When I opened the video, it was an edit of that film I loved, centered on Major Kusanagi and Batou. It gave me goosebumps.
There’s a TV series, too, but it was that particular film I loved. Oshii’s philosophical and aesthetic depth kept bringing me back, and the more I loved it, the more I wanted to play that role. When the VR job came along, all I was told was that it was a video made in Japan. I readily agreed. Then I opened the email, and there was the work I’d wanted to be part of for so long.
The Time Held in a Display Cabinet
The first figure I bought was Nico Robin from One Piece. Buying everything I wanted would get out of hand, so I made a rule: only collect characters I’ve played. As the figures accumulate, they’re not awards or anything, but looking at them brings back each project and the things that happened during recording. I could collect DVDs of my work, but I wanted merchandise that let me see the characters right in front of me. I especially love Robin’s early cowgirl look. I have a few cowboy hats at home myself. That look appeared in Netflix’s live-action adaptation, too, and I had such fun dubbing her.
Elsa is the role of a lifetime. Between Frozen and Frozen II, there were shorts called Frozen Fever and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. The figure I brought today wears Elsa’s dress from Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. It was so beautiful that I wanted to show you. Seeing Elsa’s dresses is a big part of the fun, I think. Someone told me about Frozen 3, so I looked up a video. I’m excited to see what story and dresses await us.
Frozen Fever is the one where Elsa has a cold and is all woozy, while Olaf is the main character in Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. So the figure I brought isn’t Elsa from the first or second Frozen film. It’s her look from that short released between them.
For Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph, rather than follow the raspiness of the original voice, I played her as cute and mischievous—a little rascal you can’t help liking. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, Vanellope, the princess of Sugar Rush, meets the Disney princesses, including Elsa. I voiced both Vanellope and Elsa in that film.
Black Widow in the Avengers films is another memorable role. In the past, if an actor’s dub by a particular voice actor was well received, that voice actor would often continue dubbing them across broadcasters. I’ve dubbed Scarlett Johansson in many films, including The Man Who Wasn’t There, Lucy, Ghost in the Shell, and the Avengers series. Once, fans rented a theater to screen a Korean dub and invited me. I couldn’t go because of my schedule, but I was deeply touched and grateful.
The new dub of Pippi Longstocking for EBS, Korea’s educational public broadcaster, meant playing a character I’d grown up watching. I worried less about children seeing her for the first time than about spoiling the memories of adults like me. I tried to capture as much as I could of the feeling the senior actor who’d played her before me had created. After it aired, I heard the ratings were good and that the main audience was people in their forties and fifties. Adults who remembered Pippi were watching her again with their children. That makes it a very special project to me.
Even the way the ratings news reached us was funny. The producer received a text from their team leader saying Pippi had caused a stir, and at first wondered whether there had been a broadcast standards problem. It turned out the ratings had been excellent. Getting to play someone I’d watched as a child, and having people with similar memories watch her with their own children, has stayed with me.
Protecting the Voice of the Queen of Blades
My most treasured figure is the Queen of Blades from StarCraft. I bought the others myself, but this one was a gift. After finishing Heart of the Swarm, I wanted one, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it for sale. So I asked the director at Blizzard. They said they had one and would set it aside for me. I jokingly insisted they had to give it to me, or I’d turn up outside Blizzard’s offices. The wings are delicate, so I worried about breaking them even bringing her here today. Once, a magazine reporter asked if they could have it, and I told them, “Don’t you dare!” That’s how precious it is to me. Across all the animation and game characters I’ve played, I think the Queen of Blades has the most charisma.
I was approached to play Sarah Kerrigan without an audition. I think the first thing I recorded was something like a trailer, with a different director from the one I later worked with on Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm, and Legacy of the Void. At first, she had a strong image as a villain: betrayed, taken by the zerg, and made their queen. As the expansions came out, she gradually became a more layered character. I found her dark and incredibly charismatic, but also very sexy.
In the English version I heard, Kerrigan and the Queen of Blades didn’t sound very different. When recording Heart of the Swarm, I wanted even a slight distinction between her fully human days as a Ghost and her life as the zerg queen. I suggested changing the pace of her speech as a human, and lowering her tone to give the Queen of Blades a slightly darker feel. The director agreed. The queen has all kinds of feelings connected to her revenge, but I tried to maintain the underlying authority of someone who leads the Swarm.
That doesn’t mean I assigned different emotions to her human and queen forms. Whichever form she’s in, the emotions follow the circumstances of the story. Within that, I was trying to give her vocal tone a small shift.
The studio manager told me later that, for a while, Blizzard had asked that I not be cast in its other games. I think they wanted to protect the voice of such an important character, so it wouldn’t turn up elsewhere. After some time, I did get to work on other titles. A trailer for Heroes of the Storm included a joke that recalled the Korean version of “Let It Go” from Frozen, and I burst out laughing during the recording.
If I played her again now, the experience I’ve gained from all those other characters would probably come through, even without my realizing it. Watching the old footage, I can see shortcomings, but I think the direction I chose then was right. Finding things I could have understood or expressed better isn’t unique to Kerrigan. Whenever I listen back to my work, in games or animation, I think about what I could have done differently or taken in another direction. I bring those thoughts to the next project.
The Queen of Blades is still a major role that follows me throughout my career. If I’d been trapped in that image and only played similar characters afterward, I would have felt disappointed. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened. So I’m still grateful when people remember me as Kerrigan and the Queen of Blades.
When Taking Emotion Away Is Harder Than Adding It
I was approached to play Snow White in GODDESS OF VICTORY: NIKKE without an audition, too. I’ve worked with SHIFT UP since Destiny Child. We go back to when it was a small company. A character isn’t something a voice actor builds alone. You develop it with the audio director and the director from the game company. I prepare what I can, but the people in the studio also draw more out of me.
At SHIFT UP, they encourage you, tell you you’re doing well, suggest pushing something just a little further, and cheer you on. If I’m crying in a scene, they cry with me. Those responses heighten my emotions as I perform. There are many ways to draw out good acting, but that warm, family-like atmosphere at their sessions is well known among voice actors.
I once asked why they’d cast me. I think they felt an experienced actor would be a good choice because I’d need to alternate between her younger, Innocent Days self and the present-day character. At first, Snow White’s duty and responsibility to protect humanity came before everything else. She had little empathy, almost like a machine.
I found it harder to remove emotions I wanted to put in than to immerse myself in a situation and add them. I kept telling myself to toss the words out, rather than try to deliver them. As the story progressed and she regained her memories, more of her emotions began to show. The blunt things she says now are another change from the old Snow White, and I think her memories have had a major effect. I think the writers do a wonderful job with the humor of her casually dropping a line that leaves everyone else horrified.
The scenes I enjoy most are the ones where she’s a glutton. She’s normally cold, with almost mechanical reactions, but when food appears, her eyes light up and she suddenly becomes enthusiastic. I had fun playing her talking with her cheeks stuffed, and the fans enjoyed it, too.
Her farewell to Red Hood and the scene where she transitions to an alternate form were difficult, though. I’d wondered myself what had happened to turn the innocent, shy, fragile girl of Innocent Days into the person she is now. Playing that change meant expressing panic and doing a lot of breath work. For her Innocent Days voice, I considered how young she looked, as well as her personality and background, and tried to bring out that innocence and shyness.
Different Beings, Played by the Same Person
When I was first approached to play Rhinedottir in Genshin Impact, I had only about two lines and almost no information. All I was told was that she was an important character. I had no idea it would take years for her appearance to be revealed. When she returned in a substantial way, I auditioned again. I sent a few younger-sounding samples, and they decided I would continue in the role. It’s such a vast world that I think there were a lot of variables while they worked out the details of the character.
Performing with no information is genuinely difficult. There was a different feel to those first two lines and to the recording years later, when her appearance and story were finally revealed in more detail.
Auditions are everyday life for voice actors. We audition for all kinds of games and animation, get some parts, and miss out on others. They’re a wonderful opportunity for newcomers, but they also let directors choose with greater confidence that someone suits a role. Some senior actors used to feel uncomfortable being asked to audition. But I’ve never thought that, because I’ve been working so long, people ought to know my voice by now.
I hadn’t expected to play Naberius as well. Naberius looks just like Rhinedottir, but they wanted a completely different sound, so we developed it in the studio by listening to the Chinese version and working with the director. To me, both characters are still shrouded in mystery. Especially with Naberius, I don’t think what’s going on inside or the character’s intentions have been made clear yet. Perhaps there’s more story to come. So I use less intonation and less emotional fluctuation, preserving that ambiguity so listeners can’t easily tell what lies behind a line.
In the past, actors would go into the studio together and work through the script, so we often had to change voices on the spot. Now, even in animation, we often record separately. I’ll finish Rhinedottir before moving on to Naberius. Recording character by character makes organizing the files easier, but it also lets the actor concentrate on one person. When you keep switching back and forth, the pressure not to sound alike can lead to changing things just for the sake of it.
For Sunbringer in Zenless Zone Zero, I auditioned for all three roles: Dracaene, Lindverne, and Eldreda. I think Dracaene was the one whose concept changed between the audition and the main recording. Initially, she was much more like a very young child, using short expressions instead of speaking in natural sentences. By the time recording began, that had changed.
Three characters, so triple the pay? In some respects, yes. Three people have more lines than one, and that means more recording time, so naturally the pay increases. But understanding each character’s background fully and playing all three on my own isn’t easy for me, either.
The fact that all three came from one being was revealed fairly early. I think that, if the intention had been to conceal that relationship and present them as completely separate people, they would have cast a different actor for each. Put young, innocent Dracaene beside the adolescent-like Lindverne and Eldreda, a commanding adult, and it almost feels like watching one character grow up. When performing, though, I don’t deliberately leave shared traits. I think of them as different people. Still, because one actor plays them, I think similarities emerge naturally.
When Zenless Zone Zero version 3.3 comes out, I think you’ll be able to play it yourselves and discover more about their connections and the other secrets. Please look forward to it.
Leaning Toward a Character Without Being Swallowed Up
I auditioned for Hsin in Wuthering Waves, too. Judging by her appearance alone, I initially thought she might be a seductive, alluring character. But when I read her background, I found a great depth of responsibility, duty, loneliness, and solitude in her role as a Sentinel. She has that love of Waking Moon Brew, but overall there was a real weight to her. At first, we recorded promotional videos without the main script, so I asked a lot of questions in the studio about the direction they wanted. They asked for the weight of being a Sentinel, and I worked that into the performance.
At the studio, I heard that the developers considered these two characters very important and were putting a great deal of care into them. I think they were particularly careful about secrecy right up until the main recording. It wasn’t until I received the full script that I understood the distinction between Hsin the Moon Fox and Hsin. I ended up performing several different parts, including Suhsin and Hsin’s past self.
It wasn’t easy to move between such different qualities: her natural personality, the way she imitates Hsin the Moon Fox as a Sentinel, the moments when she opens her heart, and her innocent, playful side. At home, I study the script and prepare the character as thoroughly as I can. But when I immerse myself in a situation and its emotions, expressions I hadn’t known were there sometimes emerge. I think a lot changed naturally as I followed the story.
The audio director and the director from the game company help build the character, too. On Chinese projects, I sometimes receive direction remotely. With Korean games, we may also connect remotely while I’m recording at an outside studio. I can’t say that I did it all on my own. After version 3.7, Hsin felt a little more relaxed, having revealed who she was. For Pioneer Podcast, I tried to blend a foxlike allure that would charm listeners with a wistfulness and loneliness left by what she’d been through, using breath in the delivery.
When recording the scenes where she pours out her feelings to the Arbiter, or meets Hsin the Moon Fox for the last time, I bring tissues. Once I’m immersed and concentrating, I start to share those feelings. But it isn’t like a radio drama, where you can perform continuously. I listen to one line of the Chinese reference audio, then perform one line. Even while the next reference plays, I have to hold on to the previous emotion and breathing so the completed scene connects naturally. It’s easy to lose that immersion between lines. I think maintaining it is part of being a professional. Keeping that concentration going takes a great deal of energy.
I compare acting to a seesaw. If the character is on one side and the actor on the other, it should tilt toward the character, but that end mustn’t touch the ground. If it does, the actor has been swallowed by the character. I think actors need to be able to control their own performance. You also have to wipe the emotion away and move on to the next scene.
I have a daughter myself, so I could understand Hsin the Moon Fox’s feelings as she sends Hsin forward. That was my favorite scene.
If the responsibility to guard and protect means being ready even for your own existence to end, you’ll struggle, suffer, and come to understand things as you make that choice. Even gods aren’t so different from people in that respect, I think. Wrong turns, errors, mistakes, self-blame, and regret can frustrate me and make me hesitate when I see them up close. But enduring that process can make us stronger and take us to the next stage. Even when everyone says you’re doing well, you wonder why you’re still anxious. I think that anxiety can become a driving force, too. That’s what I’d like to tell Hsin.
I was worried about how people would receive the work. I looked up the responses and felt relieved that so many people liked it. I was grateful to hear people say it had moved them deeply. Please keep taking an interest in Hsin. Don’t switch to someone else the moment a new character comes along!
Building Light and Shade, Waiting for the Next Color
I do look up reactions to my roles. After appearing in a video, I’m curious about how people saw it, so I read the comments and sometimes leave my own. Other people sometimes tell me things I haven’t noticed. When I went in to dub Netflix’s live-action One Piece, a younger colleague still serving an initial exclusive term came up to me. They’d watched the Korean dub and said it had been getting great reviews. I asked where those responses were, and only then found out that footage of Nico Robin in the Korean dub had been released as a trailer.
It wasn’t just my own fans; the dub as a whole was receiving praise. People don’t always seek out dubbed versions of live-action works, but we take a different approach when dubbing live action. I was delighted that people appreciated it and said they felt much more immersed.
Someone asked whether I felt guilty toward the actors playing the Heretics when recording Snow White’s blunt lines. Not at all! After what those characters have done? I don’t think it’s enough yet. I could go further. I hope they’ll write even harsher lines for me.
On my voice-sample website, I use adjectives like sophisticated, natural, lively, and weighty. But being asked to describe the profession itself that way was new. People can see the same job differently, but I’d like to use the noun “calling” for this profession. For an adjective, I’d choose “exciting.” For So Yeon as a voice actor, perhaps “versatile.”
I’ve thought about what lets me bring depth to characters with a story behind them. A protagonist often begins with something missing and becomes more complete through the events they experience. The villain in conflict with that protagonist has a background of their own, too. While teaching myself digital drawing as a hobby, I came across a technique called glazing. It began in oil painting. You first build up light and shade in black and white, then lay color over it. To me, that gives the image more weight and volume than creating the shading in color from the start.
I think my acting works in a similar way. I started performing young, studied at an arts high school and in a university theater and film department, and built up my own layers of light and shade. When I play a character now, I lay color over those layers. If I have a particular strength, I think it’s knowing what to draw from them and how to give the performance depth.
I once asked myself what other roles I’d like to play, but I’d played so many different people that I couldn’t readily think of one. Yet characters I never imagined, like Sunbringer, still appear. The roles I’m given make me think, challenge me, and move me forward a little at a time. Whatever characters come next, I want to meet them and keep feeling that excitement.
I still think my own voice isn’t especially distinctive. I don’t mean that negatively. A director may cast an actor because they want that actor’s particular persona in a work. With someone like voice actor Si Young Jun, the voice alone makes you think of him immediately, and that’s wonderful, too. I want my own voice to remain neutral. I think I’ve been able to play such varied roles because it doesn’t stand out or impose too strong a color. I became a voice actor because I loved changing my voice to play different people, so, from my perspective, I’ve been moving in the direction I hoped for.
When I meet fans, I’m So Yeon the voice actor, not An So Yeon the private person. I’d like to be a voice actor who gives you plenty to remember.
Voice actors usually work behind the scenes, so I don’t often get to show people what I’m like directly. I’m an actor, and I meet fans through the characters I play. I’d be happy if one person said So Yeon meant one character, and someone else disagreed and named another. Am I being too greedy? I’d rather each of you remember me through whichever character comes to mind.
I can’t quite find the right words to express my gratitude. I think I can keep taking on new roles and sharing them because people love those characters and think well of my work. I don’t know which character will bring us together next, but I’ll work to make you feel that this voice actor still had a new side to show you. Please keep supporting me. I hope we can keep meeting for a long time.