Interview: Catherine Taber

Catherine Taber - Comicon 2007

At Comicon, we met Catherine Taber, the actress who provided voices for characters in such games as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. I grew up playing Atari 2600 and 5200 (and was probably the last kid in Florida to get a Nintendo), so the production value and concerted effort that goes into modern video games still kind of blows my mind.

Pink Raygun: What are some of the voices you’ve done?

Penelo Catherine Taber: My most popular characters to date are Mission Vao from Knights of the Old Republic and Penelo from Final Fantasy XII. I also have a couple of cartoons coming out next year that I’m not allowed to talk about, but they’re very cool.

PRG: How did you get into doing voice acting?

CT: I actually started on camera, which I still do. I just kind of fell into it. Someone referred me and my first audition for voice over was actually for Mission for Knights of the Old Republic and I got it.

I’m a huge Star Wars fan myself, so it’s a good fit for me. I like sci-fi, I love gaming, and my boyfriend’s a huge gamer. So, I think since I really love it, it’s something that’s worked out really well for me.

PRG: How is providing the voices for a video game different than what you’ve done for cartoons?

CT: Really, it’s not that different. It’s all just creating a character. What’s cool about voice over is that I get to do stuff that I wouldn’t get to do on camera. Being different ages, and not having the physical limitations you have as a camera actress, like being too short, too tall whatever. I tend to play more realistic sci-fi stuff. The video games are a lot more advanced than they were, so doing voice for them isn’t much different than being in a movie.

Usually with the video games, you’re by yourself, so you’re in the audio booth by yourself with the director. A lot of the times with an animated series, even if you do a guest star or a co-star, you’ll have the whole cast there and you’ll go through the script in a table reading. That’s really cool.

PRG: Women [characters] tend to have a tough time surviving science fiction unless they’re someone’s mom or they’re married or a nun or something. Are you finding it any different in video games?

Mission Vao CT: I don’t think so. The characters I play tend to be young, strong women and I tend to play characters that serve a purpose, like playing the character who is the moral compass of the game. So, even if I die in the end, like I do in Knights of the Old Republic if you go Dark Side, it’s at the end. I haven’t been those characters that are the sideline characters. I’ve been lucky enough to play these main characters who have a point of view and are important to the storyline.

PRG: What are some of the on camera roles you’ve done?

CT: Most recently I was in Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon. I also starred in feature called The Girls Room with Soleil Moon Frye and Wil Wheaton. Apparently it was playing on Lifetime or someplace last night because a woman actually recognized me from that! I’m lucky that I get to do all of it.

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