Sean Schemmel (born November 21, 1968) is an American voice actor, ADR director, and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime, and video games. His most notable role is the teen and adult voice of Son Goku in the

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

dub of the ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'' franchise.

Career

Initially, Schemmel never planned on becoming a voice actor; he trained to be a classical

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player. When a friend persuaded him to audition for ''

Dragon Ball Z ''Dragon Ball Z'' (''DBZ'') is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. Part of the ''Dragon Ball'' media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1986 ''Dragon Ball'' television series and adapts the latter 325 chapters ...

'', he tried out for a minor character who was going to be killed in the first season of the show. He had been recording for two weeks before he was told that he was going to be the lead. Since being cast as Son Goku by Funimation in 1999, he has been the most consistent English voice actor for the main

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of the ''Dragon Ball'' franchise, having voiced the character's older teen and adult incarnations in every anime series produced to date (''

'', '' Z'', '' GT'', Kai, ''

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, and Daima'') and most ''Dragon Ball'' animated movies and

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, as well as other characters such as King Kai and Goku Black. Besides voicing Goku, Schemmel has lent his voice to several other anime characters including Amidamaru in ''

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(2001)'', Lucario in ''

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'' and Elliot Grant in '' Mew Mew Power''. His other roles in animation include

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in '' G.I. Joe: Sigma 6'', Gonard in ''

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'' and

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in ''

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''. In video games, Schemmel has provided his voice to Makuta in ''

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'', Black Doom in ''

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'', Maxwell in '' Bullet Witch'', Horace in ''

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'',

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in ''The Dark Knight Rises'', Sun Wukong (whom Goku was originally based on) in '' Smite'', and Marc Wilson in ''

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''. In addition to his voice acting career, Schemmel was also an ADR Director and scriptwriter for

NYAV Post NYAV Post is an American recording studio located in New York City. It was founded by Michael Sinterniklaas in 2000, with a West Coast branch located in Los Angeles, California. The studio is prolific in recording anime dubs, original anima ...

, where he had directed and adapted for English dubs of several Japanese anime series. In the field of narration, he has won two awards for his audiobook recordings.

Personal life

Schemmel was married to Melissa Cox, from 1993 to 1998. He married actress Melodee Lenz in 1998. The marriage ended nearly three years later. In a 2018 interview, Schemmel mentioned that he is on the autism spectrum.

Filmography

Anime

Animation

Live-action

Video games

Awards

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schemmel, Sean 1968 births Living people American male screenwriters American male television writers American male video game actors American male voice actors Television writers from California American voice directors Male actors from Los Angeles People from Waterloo, Iowa University of North Texas alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors