Over a decade has passed since a pathway called a “gate” which connects this world and another dimension suddenly appeared, and people with superhuman powers called “hunters” have been awakened. Hunters use their superhuman powers to conquer dungeons inside the gates to make a living, and Sung Jinwoo, a hunter of the lowest rank, is considered the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind. One day, he encounters a double dungeon, a high-level dungeon hidden inside a low-level one. In front of a severely wounded Jinwoo, a mysterious quest window pops up. On the verge of death, Jinwoo decides to take on the quest, which makes him the only person who can level up.
Such is the synopsis for Solo Leveling – ReAwakening, and for fans and the uninitiated alike, this new momentous theatrical experience features a catch-up recap of the first anime season – based on the South Korean web novel series – coupled with an exclusive sneak peek of the first two episodes of the highly anticipated second season.
As this exclusive theatrical event arrives in theatres this week, Peter Gray spoke with voice actor Aleks Le, who provides the English dub of Jinwoo, to touch on the most rewarding aspects of his work, how he has personally related to his character, and how he brings life to the screen without the benefit of physical expression.
Voice acting has always fascinated me. For you personally, are there any specific techniques or rituals that help you get into character?
It really depends on the role. Sometimes, I could just wake up and walk in and it’s real easy. Other times, I need to spends hours to prepare. But for the most part, it usually consists of vocal warms ups and then drinking a lot of water and just having a lot of time to rest in between sessions and in between work.
Have you found that your voice evolves the more dialogue you record? Especially with this character, do you find the more story you’re involved in, you find that character’s voice?
I think so, yeah. There’s a lot of characters that take time to get used to. And I think there’s a lot of characters, for example this one (Sung Jinwoo), that take more than just stepping into the booth. It’s a huge process of studying the character, knowing the character, setting the tone, and the dialogue for the character. Yeah, this role in particular required a lot of studying, and also pacing.
Taito Ban is the Japanese vocal actor for your character. Do you take any inspiration from their performance? Or do you approach it completely separately?
I think with every show, or dub, we have to take some inspiration from our Japanese counterparts. Yeah, here we really look to (Taito Ban) to see how crazy he goes with his line, or to kind of gage a ceiling of what we’re able to do. But, creatively, for this character and for this audience, we decided to give it our own spin. That was really important, to find the identity and the unique voice of this character in our own language, instead of just trying to be a carbon copy of an existing performance. This character is so nuanced and he has so many great moments that we really needed to hone in on that essence, instead of worrying about just repeating a performance line by line that’s already been done elsewhere. We wanted to add new context and new details to this as well.
Does that help in taking any pressure off the fact that there’s all this source material? Are you able to navigate that and make it your own thing? Given there’s so much background to this character, and so many fans.
I mean, kind of, and then not at the same time. It’s a difficult line to tell. With any big properties or projects, there’s bound to be a lot of pressure and responsibility as a performer to create something that the fans are going to be happy with. Even though I had my own creative vision, I still had to be very aware of what it is that fans liked about the character and how I can currently merge both my vision and their idealisation of the character together. But yeah, this is a very involved role, and we’re always thinking about every line we approach. It’s a very cognitive process. We have to be very present for it.
Going off that, voice acting obviously requires you to convey these intense emotions without physical expression. How is it for you in bringing moments to life using only your voice?
I think you’re only limited by your imagination, and then also the animation. So, if you were to perform in an original media where they were animating it to your voice, you would have limitless freedom with what you can do, and there’s no reason for you to hold back. There’s no reason that voice acting should be any different from on-camera acting. You still put physicalities in your performance. You can still do everything and I think that’s really important. But when it comes to adapting pre-existing animation with a dub like this, you also have to be fully aware of what it is the animation is doing, because it should inform you as an actor, on your specific choices. For me, it’s always about paying attention to how the character is moving on screen. And if he’s not on screen then that gives me a lot of freedom to do whatever. But if he’s moving, then I have to make sure what I’m doing is honouring the animation as well as the storyline.
Has it gotten easier for you to do the “action” acting?
I think that’s the easiest thing. Because I’ve been doing this for many years, and I’ve done many video games and action shows. I think the action and screaming of any project is the easiest part. I think the hardest part is nailing everything else about the character that makes it memorable. Fight scenes, they’re not really about you, they’re more so about the action. But there’s a lot of other moments where the character can shine through dialogue.
Were there any aspects of Jinwoo as a character that you related to personally? Did portraying him influence your perspective on self-improvement or resilience in relation to your own life?
Personally, there’s a lot about him that I related with, especially earlier in the season because the character goes through a lot of change. I mean, his journey kind of mirrors mine and his attitude about the world. Because when I started, I was also very naive. I was very angry at the world. I was very upset whenever it felt like everybody else had it better than me. I definitely saw a lot of myself and my own arrogance in the younger version of him, but it was cool to see how he progressed as a character, and the more power he gained, and the more present he became, the more calculated he became as well. So I did try to implement a lot of my older and earlier mindset into the role, and I think that helped a lot in terms of portraying that naivete.
Would you say that’s been the most rewarding part of voicing Jinwoo?
I think the most rewarding part is actually seeing all the fan reception. As an artist, we’re working so often in a vacuum. So, me and the director, we spend hours and hours on this show, and we work on it even when we’re not in the studio. We work on it at home. We’re eating dinner and we’re always texting each other. So to actually see that people are enjoying it and appreciating it and our efforts? That’s very rewarding. As somebody who’s only ever focused on working and creating what I think is a good performance, sometimes I get a little too caught up in it, and I don’t realise what other people are saying about it. It’s been really cool to see the fan reaction and to see how excited everybody is for this movie.
Solo Leveling – ReAwakening is screening in Australian theatres now, both available in Japanese and English.
