Michaela Dietz (born November 1, 1982) is a Korean-American voice actress whose professional career started in 2005. She voiced the character of the lost 4th dinosaur member Riff on the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

children's television series ''

Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...

'', Amethyst on the

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

television series ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral ...

'' and '' Steven Universe Future'', Dolly Dalmatian on

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's '' 101 Dalmatian Street'', Pita in ''

Fallout 76 ''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. ''Fallout 76'' is Bethesda ...

,'' Vee on

's ''

The Owl House ''The Owl House'' is an American animated fantasy television series created by Dana Terrace that premiered on Disney Channel on January 10, 2020. The series stars the voices of Sarah-Nicole Robles, Wendie Malick, Alex Hirsch, Tati Gabrielle, Issa ...

,'' and Darryl McGee on

’s ''

The Ghost and Molly McGee , creator = Bill Motz & Bob Roth , voices = {{Plainlist, * Ashly Burch * Dana Snyder * Jordan Klepper * Sumalee Montano * Michaela Dietz , theme_music_composer = {{Plainlist, * Michael Kramer * Allie Feder , opent ...

.''

Early life and career

Dietz was born in

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

on November 1, 1982, then was adopted and raised in Cooperstown, New York at three months old. She studied International Studies at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

. She has spoken about how her experience as an

adoptee Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

inspires her performance as Amethyst on ''Steven Universe''. This article extracts quotes from Dietz's AMA on the Steven Universe subreddit. Dietz began acting on television in 2005 with the role Ellie in ''Discover Me''. She later appeared in a short in 2009 entitled ''Red, Black & Blonde'' as an Auditioning Dancer #1 and Interracial Couple #3 in ''K-Town''.

Later career

Dietz has voiced ongoing characters in two American children's animated TV series, Riff in ''

'' and Amethyst in ''

'' and its epilogue series '' Steven Universe Future''. However, her role as Amethyst was the first time she had voiced an animated character. She voiced Amethyst in the mobile phone games ''Cartoon Network Superstar Soccer: Goal'' (2014), '' Steven Universe: Attack the Light'' (2015), '' Steven Universe: Save the Light'' (2017), ''Steven Universe: Unleash the Light'' (2019). In 2019, she voiced Amethyst in the TV film, '' Steven Universe: The Movie'', a continuation from the ''Steven Universe'' animated series. She also voiced Amethyst in an anti-racism PSA by

Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator and screenwriter. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series fo ...

and Ian Jones-Quartey in 2021. She has since go on to voice several characters for

, such as Dolly Dalmatian on '' 101 Dalmatian Street'', Vee on ''

'' and Darryl McGee on ''

.'' She also voiced Glass Boy in the '' Adventure Time: Distant Lands'' episode, "Obsidian", and Danelda in two episodes of ''

Mighty Magiswords Mighty may refer to: * ''Mighty'' (The Planet Smashers album) * ''Mighty'' (Kristene DiMarco album) * ''The Mighty'' (1929 film), a 1929 American action film *'' The Mighty'', a 1998 comedy-drama film * ''The Mighty'' (comics), a DC Comics title * ...

''. She also voiced Blue Behemoth in ''

Kid Cosmic ''Kid Cosmic'' is an American animated superhero television series created by Craig McCracken for Netflix. The show is based on his 2009 comic The Kid From Planet Earth. Produced in-house by Netflix Animation, the show is McCracken's first to h ...

'', and Dottie in two episodes of ''

Tuca & Bertie ''Tuca & Bertie'' is an American animated sitcom created by cartoonist Lisa Hanawalt for Netflix. It began streaming on May 3, 2019. It stars Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong, with a supporting cast including Steven Yeun, John Early, Richard E. Gra ...

''. Additionally, she voiced various characters in '' Monsters at Work'', Jennifer in an episode of '' Fairfax'', and Michelle Green in four episodes of ''

Craig of the Creek ''Craig of the Creek'' is an American animated television series created by Matt Burnett and Ben Levin for Cartoon Network. The show's pilot episode debuted directly on the official app on December 1, 2017. The series premiered online on February ...

''. She recently voiced Ariel in the 2022 episode, "Ariel Force One", of ''

Middlemost Post ''Middlemost Post'' is an American animated comedy television series created by John Trabbic III that premiered on Nickelodeon on July 9, 2021. Premise Parker J. Cloud, a former raincloud, their friend Angus, and pet walrus Russell deliver ...

''. She also voiced characters in video games such as ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'', '' Fallout 76: Wastelanders'', and '' Lego Dimensions''. In 2021, she voiced Tomas in the film, '' The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf''. The previous year she provided narration for a series of narrated videos which were part of a

digital series celebrating

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (, officially changed from Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month) is observed in the United States during the month of May, and recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans an ...

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dietz, Michaela 1982 births Living people American actresses of Korean descent American adoptees American film actresses American video game actresses People from Incheon American voice actresses Middlebury College alumni Place of birth missing (living people) South Korean adoptees 21st-century American actresses