| Legacy of
Power » Interviews » Robert Axelrod |
1. Robert, most Power Rangers fans would almost automatically know you
as Lord Zedd, the emperor of evil, how exactly did you get into the
entertainment before Power Rangers. And extending the question a bit,
how did you jump into voice acting?
I was asked to perform something in front of my kindergarten class. In fact, the teacher had gotten a hold of a big old TV set that had no "insides" and put us in there, one at a time. I did something like Senor Wences in there; remember Senor Wences? Turned my hands into puppets and did some kind of ad libbed comedy routine. I had the class cracking up and I liked the attention. So I continued from there. I sooned learned that it took work to succeed in the field. It didn't all just happen ones has to be trained in the subject.
2. How did you get the role of Finster?
I had been working for Saban Entertainment since the middle '80s. When the Power Rangers came down the pike, it was just another show to audition for. We had just finished doing WOWSER and HALLO SPENSER, and the Power Rangers was the next up to do. I actually audition for Finster, Goldar, Baboo, and Squat and Haim and Shuki Levy chose me to do Finster. I had a special feelin for the character, so the voice was "real" and Haim & Shuki must've picked up on the "authenticity" of the characterization.
3. When you first started Power Rangers, you voiced Finster, Rita's
master monster maker, did you honestly believe that Power Rangers
wouldn't make it and would be cancelled and what was your reaction
when everyone at Saban was told that basically Power Rangers was an
overnight success?
We all thought Power Rangers would go 52 episodes and then disappear into reruns. Yes, it was pretty much what you might call an overnight success. The show just caught on like wildfire. I heard a story about the head on Fox Childrens TV saying that either "this show is going to be a wild success, or I'm going to get fired for taking a chance on it". Well, it became a wild success. We all just kept coming to work, and hoped it would never end. When x-mas time came, and there was this totally mad rush for the toys, we knew we had made it big. That, by the way, is when we went in as a group (the voice people) and asked for more money.
4. What exactly was the ADR process like at Saban/Power Rangers? And how
was it arranged such as did you ever see what you were supposed to dub, were
you with the other cast members or were you just there reading lines?
They bring us in individually and we would dub was on the screen with the lines and we would have the script in front of us. We really didn’t know what the episode would be about, but me being Lord Zedd, had some knowledge about what the episode was about. I very rarely did anything with anyone else.
5. The second season of Mighty Morphin' saw the introduction of Lord Zedd,
how did you get the role?
I heard the role was going to be cast and being there I was able to ask for an audition. Besides Lord Zedd, there were a few other characters being cast, which I don’t think were regular characters. I had a voice that I had worked up that was similar to Lord Zedd for something for something not for Saban and decided to do some vocal adjustments. I did the audition and the producers didn’t know it was me because it was so heavy compared to the other characters I’ve done in the past. I did the audition again and they didn’t know it was me and because the character was in for the long run and didn’t think I could maintain it for the long haul. I auditioned a third time again.
6. What exactly was the basis of your voices such as Finister and Lord Zedd as
they are pretty different sounding characters.
I look at the physically of the character and I look at his pacing. Finister was a fast pacing and was like a professor and I based him off of a show called “Hallo Spencer” and a character called Lexi and he was the town professor, so I based the character on him. For Lord Zedd, I was showed a concept and was explained to be a Darth Vader character. I auditioned for a character for another show that I didn’t get that was more of hissing character, but I removed the hissing and deepened it a little.
7. Why do you believe that Lord Zedd is one of the most loved villain characters of the Power Rangers Universe?
He had a lastibilty, he was around a long time. I think that because he was such a clear cut character and had a sense of humor (which he didn’t really).
8. Given the fact that the cast suggested various things for their characters, when it came to the pretty large character of Zedd did you ever offer suggestions as to how he should be handled?
Sure. We would rewrite a lot of things right in the studio. Sometimes they would get a new writer and would have Zedd say something he would never say. I never got around to suggesting whole storylines, though I probably should have. I did write for the show for the first two years, I wrote the ADR dialogue and the concept was already there. But the suggestion I was able to make was right there in the studio with Zedd’s lines I was able to change.
9. Do you feel the way some fans do about Zedd's character such as the fact that
he was such a strong character, but when Rita was reintroduced that he sort of lost his back bone?
Yeah, I feel that way. And like I’ve said before, it didn’t have to be because Rita was reintroduced. I don’t think it was a bad idea, because it allowed for more storylines. It was the marriage that screwed it up and there could have been a friendly rivalry or a truce and each character could’ve maintained their individual strength and the marriage concept compromised that strength for both characters. But, they may have done because of complaints.
10. What exactly was behind the decision during Zeo that Lord Zedd wouldn't be one of the major villains, but rather a minor one compared to the Machine Empire?
I don’t know other than the evolution of the show. They wanted to transition out of the Lord Zedd era I guess. I don’t know what was behind the decision other than wanting to make some new storylines.
11. There was some rumors that Lord Zedd and Rita were supposed to return during Turbo, which is why they made a cameo role in the second movie, in a large role that was similar in nature during Zeo, why didn't this happen?
Yeah, but it never did. I got a call that said that we might be coming back and it never happened.
12. So, during Space, Zedd and Rita appeared three times which was far less often than the appearances of lets say Divatox, would you have wished that there were more stories involving the "lovely" couple and in what capacity?
Sure, I would be able to work more. But like I said, they decided to evolve the characters out.
13. Were you satisified with the "destruction" of Zedd and what do you visulize he would be up to today?
He just went off some place. He’s probably just wreaking havoc in some other universe. They know I’m around if they wanted to bring the character back. Because, by far he was the most popular bad guy. But the show is being handled by Disney now and I don’t know anyone involved with the show.
14. Did or do feel like that your work on the show is overshadowed by the actors on screen?
No, I think we each had our bit and I would’ve liked more interaction between Zedd and the Rangers on Earth.
15. How willing would you be to return and voice Lord Zedd (or any monster really) for a special episode or two?
I don’t know. I would be willing to return as Lord Zedd, I don’t know about any other character. I suppose if they had another character who was a regular I would do it, but again I would prefer to come back as Lord Zedd though.
16. Within the last few years we have lost three wonderful actors from the series: Bob Manahan, Thuy Trang, and more recently Bob Papenbrook; how did these losses affect you as you most likely worked with on the series?
When I heard she (Thuy) died in a car accident, I was devastated. I went to Bob’s wake and he was still a young guy. It’s scary because it teaches us of our own mortality.
17. At the end of "Countdown To Destruction", Lord Zedd was purified by Zordon's energy wave and was returned to being a more correct human, was this you we were shown dancing with "Rita" (Carla Perez)?
That wasn’t me.
18. Are there any dramatic or funny behind the scenes stories you could share?
Oh sure. I remember the session when we did the live show. Which went out across the country. That was a 14 hour session (8 am to 9 pm), we were just exhausted, but we got it. There were a lot of funny things that I don’t remember; it was a lot of fun doing the show.
19. What have you done post-Power Rangers?
I did a good part in a movie called “The Last Shot”, it was a Disney or Touchstone movie. But voice over wise, I’ve done little things here and there and something’s I don’t remember, but Zedd was my crème de la crème. And I did Armodelamon.
20. How different is voice acting for Power Rangers, a live action television show, and voice acting for an animated series?
Well for Lord Zedd I didn’t have to match any mouth movements because he didn’t have a mouth, but I did have to match his gestures. He thought he was an actor and I did try to talk to him about it, he was pretty good though in costume, he just said the lines to fast. But doing animation we had to match the mouth movements and it starts with the script being good.
21. Which one did you enjoy the most – Power Rangers or Digimon?
Power Rangers, of course, I liked doing Digimon, it was fun.
22. As you may or may not have known, there was a tenth anniversary special called “Forever Red” which involved Zedd’s personal war zord and the last remaining generals of the Machine Empire using it to destroy earth and seek revenge for the destruction of King Mondo and ten red rangers have to team-up to take down the threat. Do you think perhaps Lord Zedd should’ve been this villain and would you have been willing to do his voice?
Oh yeah, I didn’t know anything about it.
23. Were you surprised about the Disney take over of Saban and then the choice to move Power Rangers to New Zealand?
Oh yeah. Barbara Goodson or Scott Page-Pagter called me. We knew because partially everyone was fired and was a company we worked with since the early 80s and Haim sold out.
24. Power Rangers has been a long lasting franchise and unlike the other series you’ve worked on with Saban (Digimon), it has a singular fictional universe, are you surprised that it hasn’t been rebooted yet or more importantly that it has reached 14 seasons, which is more than most television shows of any kind?
I’m surprised it’s still going on.
25. What was it like when you heard that Doug Sloan, Ann Austen, and Jason David Frank returned during their various times to work on the show again? Especially since, rumor has it, that they all left on bad terms, no doubt Disney played some part in that.
No doubt. I would really like to see Scott Page-Pagter back on the show, which would mean he would bring a lot of voice people back.
26. Have you seen any more current episodes of Power Rangers since you last did a voice (2001’s Time Force) for the show?
No I haven’t seen, I don’t watch the show, but I should.
27. Have you worked with any Power Rangers actors who have gotten into voice acting or any voice actors that you worked with since leaving the show full-time?
I might have worked with some of the voice actors and stuff with anime.
28. Sometimes in voice acting, are voices run through a computer or machine to give it a little bit extra? Because its hard to believe that some actors are able to do some of those voices to the extent that they do and obviously some voices have that metallic/computer like voice, such as Bob Pappenbrook’s Deviot during Lost Galaxy.
Yeah, I know Lord Zedd was run through something, but by the time it got edited and put onto screen, it was all me.
29. Even though your voice appeared in the first movie, Zedd appeared in the second one, even though Zedd had a non-speaking role, was it you who provided his snores? They sounded very Zedd like.
No, I did no work on the second movie.
30. Most screen actors tend to be part of the “Power Rangers Curse” where the show hinders their resumes. Though being a voice actor and how many different monsters and voices one person can do, has it actually boosted your career? Especially when you have been with the series full time for three and was featured in the feature film.
It got me into places, but it hasn’t done much for my career. It makes for interesting conversation.
2007 Update:
1. You said you would rturn as Lord Zedd, however Disney has decided to bring a new character to become Zedd and Rita's son; what do you think of this?
It's a terrific idea. It would've been nice to bring back Zedd and Rita, but it was logical in sequence for the producers to use a son instead as Disney is notoriously cheap.
2. Rita was brought abck for the role of an Empress of Good Magic, but without Barbara Goodson, does this also not surprise you?
It doesn't surprise me, while its disrespectful to the actor its all about the dollars and cents...a few hundred dollars less.
3. What have you done since the last time we talked?
Mostly I've done on camera stuff; I did three films in April and a commerical; 2006 was not the best year because when you're sick you loose work.
4. What can you tell me about your PR (Public Relations) firm?
I do publicity and we do in-house publicity for the Attic Theatre located on West Washington Blvd. I've done theater work and acting word and its time consuming.
5. I recently read that you also go by the name of Axel Roberts. Why do you occasionally do this and why do actors in general use different names?
What's when we didn't want to get in trouble with the union. We could've gotten fined or kicked out.
6. Are you involved in any projects?
I have nothing coming up, but I go to auditions all the time. When I don't get a part, I forget about it. It can get cut throat, but that's the business I got into and I play by the rules.
7. Just under a month ago, Disney confirmed that it has licensed the newest Digimon series from Japan, will you be involved?
They are probably forming the actors out, I'll call my agent. If they can go out country and pay cheaper or even non-union its less expensive.
8. Could you see yourself in another profession, if so which one?
I used to love waiting on table [laughs], I would be a doctor because of the challenges they face.
9. Is there anything you would like to add?
Well, no not really. I think the Digimon thing is interesting. Though I am also a play reviewer and I review plays for www.reviewplays.com |
