Voice Actor Reveal: Elrohir

Today I finally get to announce that Corey Wilder as the Dökkálfar, Elrohir! I've been waiting so long to work with him and so long to announce his role. I approached him months ago after he was actually suggested to me, ironically if I recall right after he had already sent me his demo reel anyways for future reference. And I guess I just somehow didn't even think about it, so I guess good VA lesson for everyone. People do forget even when they have your demos. Luckily someone suggested them to me and then I was like, "oh hey this person sent me their demo already." And when listening through it again with Elrohir in mind, I was like, "oh yeah this could work." Then it became this really long waiting game essentially just for the timing to be right on my end of things. I kind of had no idea going in how Corey would choose to play Elrohir, I was just going off his demo and blind faith that whatever he did would be incredible. I would say a good chunk of the PSA if not most of it I have no idea how the character should sound; I've said this before. But for Elrohir, maybe because I had spent considerable time with him, or maybe because I myself felt very invested in him, I had a much better idea of how he should sound. And I will say not's not necessarily how Corey sounds. But I don't want people getting the wrong idea, because I don't view this as a bad thing. For me the voice in my head is just a guideline or a suggestion my brain makes in order to help me better write. What Corey brought with his performance was so much more valuable. He brought a real tangibility to the character with how he chose to play him that I don't know would have been there if I went with someone who played it closer to what I imagined while writing. Corey plays Elrohir in a way that really makes him feel other worldly, and ancient, even touching that ethereal note without making the character seem unapproachable. Which I think is what would have happened if you ripped the voice straight from my head, he would have sounded so otherworldly he wouldn't have felt as personable. Elrohir needed to sound inviting and charming, but he couldn't be devoid of other things like frustration and annoyance. I think there's just something about how Corey plays this character that like I said feels so foreign, how he inflects certain words, the flow of his sentences. It all just feels different, without being so different that as an English speaker you're like, "wait what?" And none of it feels forced, it all feels very natural. Corey just got it, he asked what I sort of had in mind and I gave him sort of an core assessment on Elrohir, and what he came back with while like I said was different than what I heard while writing; was so immediately like, "there he is, finally. Elrohir is complete." Which is really the best way I can describe how his acting made me feel, every second I was excited to hear more. For the first time I really felt charmed by the character, really had that moment of "oh, ha, ha yeah, I'd want that man's attention." I don't really have the words to adequately praise Corey's work and what he brought to the character. I mean he may not have the biggest following, but my gods, he stands shoulder to shoulder with his peers no question about it, from the first line I heard I was immediately in. I literally had to pause midway through to text my partner to tell them how good his performance was and how seduced I felt by my own character. If that doesn't tell you how good this man is at acting then I don't know what will. So without further adieu, Corey Wilder, welcome to Pleasant Sparkle Academy.