Just when you think the cast can't get any better! It does with the addition of Miss Alice Himora as Kagura Cadaverous!
You ever watch Pitch Meeting? That Youtube series that features a guy playing two guys and the one when really impressed by something just says, "wow, wow, wow" in quick succession. That was me listening to Alice's performance the entire time. Now if you don't understand that reference I'm just it's not quite sinking in just how good it was, but allow me to elaborate. So plenty of people auditioned for Kagura, and plenty were good, but I feel like a lot people leaned maybe too much into the spider aspect of her character? Went with a voice that was... hmm, shrill? A bit too... spider personified? Which just wasn't something I was looking for. When I heard Alice's performance I immediately was like, "this is exactly how I imagined her sounding, this is easily the best choice." Alice though also auditioned for other characters and all were fantastic so then it was like, "okay, but like do I want Alice for Kagura or someone else?" And later someone did an audition that was good and they fluently spoke Japanese, which was like, "whoa, what?" And while yeah that was very cool, ultimately the script didn't call for Kagura to speak a lick of Japanese so while it was an impressive skill it wasn't something I'd utilize. And ultimately Alice was the one who nailed the characterization on the head so I picked her for the role. And let me tell you uh- choice validated. Audition lines are kind of interesting because there's a clear science to knowing what lines to select, but even then it's such a small sample size that you don't really know what you'll get in the end. An actor's audition lines might be great, but then lack the experience so they fall sort of flat on like a technical side of things whether it be with you know audio like quirks, or maybe just not able to really hit a line. And then sometimes once you hear the performance in it's entirety your decision is like- so validified that it's like, "how was there any doubt" or you know- hesitation. For me hearing Alice actually get to perform the role was like, "why the f#$k does this talented woman want to work with me?" It was just that incredible it was like, "perfection" it was like someone went into my brain found the audio file labeled, "Kagura's voice" pulled it out and gave it to this woman. I was sort of gob-smacked. It could have been because it had been a while since I listened to her audition, but I think it was more so because like I was saying auditions really only give you these minor glimpses of possibility. I can't rave about Alice's work enough. She just got it, I don't know what you want from me. The whole time between thinking, "incredible" and "nailed it" was me being like, "how the crap did you hire this person? They're far too good for this silly thing." And also just so everyone knows, Kagura's lines are wordy. It's not like a single sentence she's got some like moments of reflection in there and contemplation. And on top of that Alice has to keep this femme fatale energy the whole flarkin' time. And she does! We'd come to like a small paragraph and I'd be like, "okay here it comes there might be a flub or two, or some wonky pacing." And no Alice would destroy it. And it would just feel so natural and she could easily play that coy side and jump over to where the character needed to feel like this very much capable physical threat. Kagura has a lot of nuance in my opinion, and I think it'd be easy for an actor to sort of play her one note, like, "okay she's scary". And it's like yeah, but she's sort of like a Great White, terrifying, but also strangely alluring. Maybe that's just my brother and I, we've always been like, "yeah those sharks terrifying, but would I go into a cage to see one willingly? Yes absolutely." And that's the vibe of Kagura, she has to be playful, scary, kind, and mesmerizing. It's a lot guys. On top of all that, she's having these paragraphs of existentialism? It's just- like I said an incredible performance from Alice. It isn't too common that I've hired an actor that sounds exactly how I imagined the character, but it certainly was in this case. And like I said Alice is just so very clearly good at this. I don't know! Like flark! What more can I say? She's an amazing talent anyone lucky enough to work with her, let alone even have her interest? In your project should count their blessings, because it's just like- she could be part of these huge franchises and- they would be better for it. Frankly. I don't know, I just consider myself so very lucky to have gotten to work with her on this. And I've hit that point where I'm aimlessly rambling and trying to verbalize my feelings, but like when a performance makes you feel something sometimes no matter how hard you search you just can't quantify why it does. And f*$k maybe that's the best thing I can say, Alice's performance made me feel how I intended Kagura to make someone feel. Uneasy, curious, protected, threatened. So I'll just end with that. And of course with.
Alice Himora, welcome to Pleasant Sparkle Academy.
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