Crispin Freeman is an American voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter who is best known for voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime, animation, and video games. Some of his prominent anime roles include Zelgadis Graywords in ''

Slayers is a Japanese light novel series written by Hajime Kanzaka and illustrated by Rui Araizumi. The novels have been serialized in ''Dragon Magazine (Fujimi Shobo), Dragon Magazine'' since 1989, before being published into indi ...

'', Kyon in '' The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'', Togusa in the ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

'' franchise, Alucard in ''

Hellsing ''Hellsing'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It was serialized in Shōnen Gahōsha's Seinen manga, manga magazine ''Young King OURs'' from April 1997 to September 2008, with its ...

'', Kirei Kotomine in '' Fate/Zero'' and '' Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works'', Itachi Uchiha in ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'', Gyomei Himejima in '' Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba'', Hagi in ''

Blood+ ''Blood+'' (stylized as ''BLOOD+'' and pronounced "Blood Plus") is a Japanese anime television series produced by Production I.G and Aniplex and directed and written by Junichi Fujisaku. The series was broadcast on MBS and TBS fro ...

'' and Shizuo Heiwajima in '' Durarara!!''.

Early life

Freeman was born in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. His father is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. He is the oldest of three children. His sister Cassidy is an actress, while his brother Clark is an actor and musician. Freeman graduated from the Latin School of Chicago in 1990 and earned a BA from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

, where he majored in theater and minored in computer science. He then earned an MFA in acting from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and went on to perform on Broadway, at the

American Repertory Theater The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is a professional not-for-profit theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1979 by Robert Brustein, the A.R.T. is known for its commitment to new American plays and music–theater explorations; to ne ...

, at the Mark Taper Forum, at

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

's Playhouse in the Park, and at the Williamstown Theater Festival. As a child, he was greatly influenced by

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

such as ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida. It was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-re ...

'' and '' Battle of the Planets''.

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio presenter who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40'', as well as the weekly syndicated televi ...

voiced the role of his favorite character, Mark of ''Battle of the Planets'', and Freeman even wanted to change his name to Mark at one point. He later discovered '' Voltron'', ''

Star Blazers ''Star Blazers'' is an American adaptation of the Japanese anime television series . ''Star Blazers'' was first broadcast in the United States in 1979. It was the first popular English-translated anime that had an overarching plot and storylin ...

'', and ''

Robotech ''Robotech'' is an American-Japanese science fiction Media franchise, franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production; it was first released in the United St ...

''. He has also stated that the reason he got into the industry was because of the anime '' The Vision of Escaflowne''. He initially got involved in the voice-over industry when a friend of his landed a role in '' Peacock King''.

Career

Knowing Freeman was a big anime fan, a friend suggested he call up

Central Park Media Central Park Media Corporation, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan (on the corner of Centra ...

(CPM) and apply for a job doing English dubs. When originally approached about dubbing, he initially declined. It was not until he remembered all of the anime shows he watched as a child that he realized that many people are introduced to anime through the English dubbed versions. In 1997, Freeman landed the role of Zelgadis Graywords in ''

'' along with Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart and Veronica Taylor. He was the second and final voice actor to get the job after Zelgadis' original voice actor, Daniel Cronin, lost contact with CPM after a year-long halt in the dubbing. Years later, he turned to the American animation voice acting grounds. Freeman has been best known for his work in

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

-based productions such as '' The Spectacular Spider-Man'', '' Wolverine and the X-Men'' and '' The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes''. He then starred as several versions of Roy Harper in '' Young Justice'' for

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

and

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

Since then, Freeman has had various roles throughout his career. He has appeared in many video game titles as memorable characters, such as

Albedo Albedo ( ; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is Diffuse reflection, diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects ...

from

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

Xenosaga ''Xenosaga'' is a role-playing video game series developed by Monolith Soft and primarily published by Namco. Forming part of the wider ''Xeno (series), Xeno'' metaseries, ''Xenosaga'' is set in a science fiction universe and follows a group of ch ...

series,

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

in '' God of War III'' and '' God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla'', Haji, Joel the 6th and Van Argeno in ''

'', the main protagonist Baldur in Silicon Knights's '' Too Human'', Breakdown in '' Transformers: War for Cybertron'', the Winter Soldier in '' Marvel: Ultimate Alliance'', and

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, the character first appearan ...

in '' Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2''. Freeman teaches classes, workshops, and performance lectures in the Los Angeles area. In addition to classes, Freeman has a website called Voice Acting Mastery which includes podcasts and other resources regarding voice acting. In February 2023, Freeman guest voiced Lieutenant Nolan, an Imperial lieutenant with particular disdain for clones, the commanding officer of Crosshair, in '' Star Wars: The Bad Batch''.

Filmography

Anime

Animation

Films

Video games

Other dubbing

Live-action

References

;Interviews
Crispin Freeman Interview
at RPGSite
Crispin Freeman: Q and A
at The Anime Lodge
"A Very Different Place" - A Crispin Freeman Interview
part one
"A Very Different Place" - A Crispin Freeman Interview
part two including audio
"Anime Today Episode 31" - Crispin Freeman Interview

'Kana's Korner' Interview
on 91.8 The Fan

External links

* *
Voice Acting Mastery
- Crispin Freeman's voice acting podcast blog *
Mythology and Meaning
- Crispin Freeman's website for his lectures on anime * *
Crispin Freeman
at Crystal Acids Voice Actor Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Crispin 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American writers 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American writers American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male video game actors Television writers from California American male screenwriters Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Latin School of Chicago alumni Living people Male actors from Chicago Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from New York City American male television writers American voice directors Williams College alumni Writers from Chicago Writers from Los Angeles Writers from New York City 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) Screenwriters from Illinois 1972 births