Angela Allan: Hey Jonny! Thanks for chatting to us today. First up, we’d love to know what are you most excited about for coming to Melbourne? Have you had a chance to look up anything that you wanna check out while you’re here?
Jonny: Oh, man, I have no idea. I’m just waiting for people to tell me what to do. Please give me your suggestions. I’d love that because all I love to do is, like, see things I’ve never seen, eat things I’ve never eaten. Those are my biggest things.
AA: So I wanted to know who are you most excited about seeing at Supanova, and then I’ll dive into a little bit about you. But I just wanna know who are you most excited about seeing at Supanova? You know we have Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite)…
Jonny: Well, it’s funny that you say that because of the whole list, he was the one I was, like, “Oh. My God.”
AA: Yeah. Right?
Jonny: Because Napoleon Dynamite was a big part of my growing up, right. Like, what a…that movie made splashes. And I think, I was so impressed with the lead and the character. And so when I saw Jon was on the list, I was, like, he was the one…I was, like, “Oh. I gotta see a load of him,” and be, like, “Oh, dude.” There was such inspiration in his ability to play such a character. There’s some other people on the guest list that I’ve seen before. I see all the time, but it’s always good to see him again.
AA: Awesome. I just wanted to know how did you land the role of…well, the voice acting role in Lucio in Overwatch. Because that’s become pretty massive. I mean, you’ve got your own cereal.
Jonny: I know, yeah, which is wild, man. In fact, when they were, like, “Hey, man. We’re making that cereal a real thing, and it’s gonna be available in grocery stores,” I think my head exploded.
Because as a kid, it’s, like, cereals were the utmost importance for me, and now, like, being…having a character that’s along the lines of Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam up there, I was, like…that was a moment for me. I was, like, “Oh, man.” It’s just been a wild ride this whole Overwatch experience. It’s just been such a…I mean, it’s a gift that’s always continually, like, giving things that you didn’t even know you wanted or needed. “Come let’s go buy some cereal.”
AA: So, yeah…
Jonny: Yeah. But you asked me how…
AA: Oh. Yeah. How you got the role…? But let me know how you landed that role because that’s pretty exciting now, how far it’s gone.
Jonny: And you know what? The process was very simple. I got an email audition for this…it was under a code name: video game. And it was just, like, a picture of a Latino boy with a skateboard. It had a description that said he’s like your older brother type, fun, friendly, somebody you wanna hang around, and very encouraging.
I was, like, “Okay. All right. All right.” And then it had five voice lines that you just had to say. And so I gave my best shot at those five voice lines. And then what happened was, like, I sent it off and, like, two or three months later, I got an email from the people at my agency saying the people from Blizzard really loved your audition, and they want to cast you as Lucio. And I was, like, “Wait a minute, Blizzard?” It was under a code name. So I was, like, “Wait. What game was this that I signed for?” You audition for so many things that you never see.
And then I was, like, “Oh. This is Blizzard.” So that was my first inclination that being, like, a big deal or something that. And then, yeah, I just went in and recorded. It was, like, one of the more just flowing jobs I’ve had. It didn’t take too much, like…and I’ve had jobs in the past that do a lot of character work, but I think since I’ve found my sincerity in this voice early on, like, this was kind of just a moment where I was, like, “Okay. This is fun. This isn’t, like, too difficult.” And then that game blew up in a way that I was, like, “Whoa.” One of the simpler things I did turned into this, like, massive hit that just keeps on giving that’s just, like, wow, that’s wild that that happened like that. So, yeah.
AA: Amazing. That’s so exciting that you went for the one audition and they loved you straight away. So that’s always, like, really rewarding as well.
Jonny: Yeah.
AA: That is awesome to have it still keep going. And especially, I know the Instagram video of you eating the Lucio cereal, that was really amazing. I really enjoyed that.
Jonny: Yeah.
AA: It tastes like marshmallow. Yeah? Is that what you said?
Jonny: Yeah. It’s like marshmallows. It’s like it reminds me of Lucky Charms… that has the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. Yeah. If you had a bowl of all the marshmallows, yeah, which I loved growing up.
AA: You’ll have to bring one on the plane. You have to bring one in your suitcase so everyone can see it.
Jonny: I know, right?
AA: Because I don’t think we can get it here.
Jonny: I don’ think they’re gonna be…I don’t think you guys can, but I’ll try to smuggle some into the country.
AA: Yeah. Try to smuggle some in for us. We always get left behind in these things.
Jonny: Oh, man. And they’re good, too, those.
AA: Yeah. Well, we’re missing out. We’re missing out. So what do you love most about acting versus voice acting? Do you have a preference?
Jonny: Yeah. I think there are joys. And I think partially it’s…with voice acting it’s kind of a…you don’t have to worry about what your face looks like. You don’t have to worry that you’re not…you’re moving your eyebrows too much, since you have to be able to communicate with just your voice, so that lends to more…less self-awareness or, like, self-consciousness mostly. So that’s a really wonderful feeling.
And then the other parts of, like, acting is just once you’re on camera, and you hit the moments, like, a little bit more precise, you need to know your mark and your blocking, and then those…it’s more in some ways challenging to make that look more natural and, like, breezy and flowing. That’s such a talent, but it takes a lot of, like, focus and energy. And so I love both of them. They have their own, like, worlds, right? For me, on camera acting has a little bit more of a challenge to be as relaxed as possible while doing all this map in your head of where I stand, remember your lines, and all the stuff, right?
With voice over, it’s more relaxed. You’ve got the script in front of you. All you got to do is, like, breathe life into it with your body and your voice. So, yeah, that’s kind of how I feel about those, but for me, in general, what a gift to be able to do that for a living.
AA: For sure. And just so I can learn a little bit more about you, this is a fun question, if you could have dinner with one actor or actress, either dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Jonny: One actor dead or alive… Man. So I’ve always loved, like, character actors, right. And I think I was always blown away by Gary Oldman and his ability to transform in every role. I mean, I think I…when I saw him in “True Romance,” there is this moment where my friend does watch this guy on screen, and I’m captivated by his performance. And then my friend is, like, “Yeah, man. That’s Gary Oldman.” I was, like, “What? Wait. What?”
That was a moment where I understood, like, true emergent, like, a character, so much so that if you really look, it looks like Gary Oldman, but you’re so captivated by his, the character, yeah, that you forget it. And I was, like, “Wow.” To be that good of an actor, I think was a moment for me. To take on these characters. And in the past, I’d really admired Johnny Depp’s work, of character work that he was doing back then. Because he has the leading man look, but he was also just really great at creating this deep character that you’re just, like, “What’s that guy thinking? What is going on?” He has that ability.
And so, yeah, I would have to pick Gary Oldman, I think, for now. So, yeah.
AA: So on your website, I know you’re linked to your Wikipedia page, and I know Wikipedia pages aren’t always 100% accurate, but one thing that stood out to me is that you teach self-confidence and improv for the famous author Neal Strauss. Is that right? Because Neil Strauss I know would be, you know, the guy that infiltrated the pick-up field. So am I reading that correctly? Like, this is just blowing my mind right now.
Jonny: Yeah. So I did…I would come in and give speeches on some, like, motivations for him for some of his seminars and things like that.
For like self-confidence and belief in yourself. I think at that time, he was just a friend who noticed my ability to be able, like, with improv and stuff like that, and how helpful it was to, like, steal comments. Because I think the biggest thing I learned in life was, like, your ability to just be okay in a conversation, right, is sometimes the hardest things we can do.
And so improv to me became this, like, amazing meditative, beautiful experience to know that even though…like, as you get up on stage with nothing and have to perform and make a show for everybody. But when you realize that no matter what you say, things are gonna be okay. That even if you make a mistake, sometimes the mistakes are the gold, right, in life and to be okay with it, to welcome them. Like, all the anxiety you have in social situations and things like that become way less daunting. So you allow yourself to shine more and become just a little bit more of yourself.
AA: That’s exciting. So you still do those sorts of speeches or presentations?
Jonny: Well, I haven’t done them for Neil in a long time now. But I think there is something like…I mean, I think it’s just like if you go to any one of my panel, they’re always about self-belief and loving yourself and all these, like… So I still do…you know what I mean? I still do in that form. I love doing panels because it’s a… You know what I say. It’s always about me.
But it’s always, like, how can we, like, have better perspectives on our lives, so that we live more fulfilling lives? Because it’s always a choice, right? And so I think one of my biggest things.is helping people understand that every moment they’re making a choice, either to see the world in a negative or see it in a positive. And, like, the more grateful you are for simple things, life becomes, like, this amazing place where unexpected things happen, and you open yourself to things.
And I think when I did that for, like, even voice over, I had a moment where I was, like, maybe I should pay more attention to video games more instead of, like, just being, like, “Oh. They don’t pay so much.” Like, in fact, the industry, they’re not up with, like, SAG standards and saying. “Hey, maybe if I just treat it with utmost respect when I get a role, let’s see what happens.”
And then Overwatch happened, and then this happened. You know what I mean? So it’s, like, when you start looking at things a little differently that’s what happens.
?? Jonny Cruz is at Supanova Melbourne on April 6-7. Check out the guests and grab your tickets here.
Angela Allan
Angela Allan is founder and editor of Soot Magazine. She is an award-winning journalist, conversion copywriter and digital marketer . Angela loves her three dogs, blues music, and she believes Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac is her spirit sister. Follow her on Instagram here.
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