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ST: Who are you?
My name is Vic Mingogna and I'm playing the role of Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist.
ST: Who is Edward Elric?
Edward Elric is...the coolest guy in the world. Actually, he's a young boy; he and his brother have a natural talent for alchemy that I think they inherited from their father. Early on in the series they experience a tragedy that causes them to do some experimenting with alchemy. It goes terribly wrong and Edward loses his arm and his leg and his little brother actually loses his entire body. Edward, to save his life, encases his soul, if you will, in this nearby suit of armor and the two of them begin a journey to find the Philosopher's Stone, which hopefully will give them the power they need to reinstate their bodies.
ST: What's difficult about playing Ed?
Well as you've probably figured out if you're watching this, he's a lot younger that I am. I say that to my shame... but what I want so much to capture in him is the pain. I mean, this is a little boy. For all intents and purposes, he's still a child. And yet he's thrown in to this huge world; he's experienced great tragedy and he has a lot of challenges... and then he has this enormous power that half the time he doesn't...he's still trying to control himself and his own actions and attitudes. It reminds me of that Twilight Zone where that little kid turned out to be this hugely powerful...you know, if he just thought something it happened. And so here's this 14, 15 year old boy who's got this enormous power and a great deal of pain to deal with. He's got a lot of dimensions and that's fun and challenging at the same time.
ST: Is it weird to portray the close relationship between Ed and Al when you're alone in the booth and when Al is played by a 12 year old boy (Aaron Dismuke)?
That is a great question and I'll tell you what's interesting. We were recording yesterday and I actually got to have a scene with Al. I had never heard him before. And I mean, I was tearing up. It was a very tender scene and as you know a lot of time you record in a vacuum. You're not hearing anything but your own lines and you trust the director to say "okay you really need to be more this because this is what's happening" and in this scene Al's voice had already been laid down and this little boy did such a wonderful job and was just like "Oh, can we stop for a minute [tearing up]?" It was wonderful. So I'm loving...I've not ever gotten to work with a younger boy or girl in a show like this, ever, so I'm really excited about that.
ST: What was your reaction when you saw the show for the first time?
I was in love with it. I'm in love with this show. I've told every Fullmetal fan that has written me e-mails and instant messages. They're like, "um, have you gotten to see the show at all?" Yes! As much as I can! I've got a friend who's been giving me the subtitled episodes and I'm keeping up with them as soon as he sends them to me. I love it. I love the show. It's one of the neatest series I've ever seen. I've done a lot of stuff for different companies for the last four, five years, probably thirty-five or forty shows, and this is the neatest one yet.
ST: How is Fullmetal Alchemist different than your previous work in anime?
How is Fullmetal Alchemist different? It seems like the show, for some reason, which I can't really even put my finger on it right now... the show is bigger. It's got more of all the things you love about anime. There are always things that attract certain people to certain shows. And this one has everything. It's got humor and then it'll turn on a dime and be extremely powerful and extremely emotional. And then it'll be suspenseful and then it'll be almost even kind of warm and fuzzy and then it'll turn again, to something funny again. It always keeps moving and I love that about it. So I think that makes it different.
ST: Did working on the game first let you get familiar with the character before starting on the actual anime? How has that affected the show?
I hope it's OK to say this, but I enjoy working on the series more than the game. The game is more about the game and the little scenes that you do for the game are really vehicles to get you into playing the game. It's not as much about the little scenes, they're just merely transitions from one level to the next. But the show is about the show. The series is about it and it's as full-on, all there. It didn't so much give me a lot more preparation for the series. It did get me more excited. I was calling every day- "when are we gonna start Alchemist? Oh, we're starting tomorrow? Oh, OK. I'll call tomorrow." I was very excited to start the series and I think working on the game ahead of time made me all the more champing at the bit to get into the show and start doing the work.
ST: Is there something you do to get yourself into character?
I've really enjoyed watching the shows ahead of time. Don't tell anybody this, but I don't really watch any of the shows beforehand, in all the voice work that I've ever done. We don't get the shows ahead of time, so you walk in and you're like "Oh, so that's what he does and so that's what he says. And it's completely new. But with Fullmetal, I had the opportunity to get some of the subtitled versions and take them in and actually dwell on the guy and think about Edward. When I first auditioned I originally kind of had it in my mind that he was this cocky little kid, but the more I watched the show and the more I thought about him I thought, sure, he's got his cocky side but he has been through a lot. I mean, for the things that have happened to he and his brother to have happened to them at that age, there's a lot more to him that just that. So how do I prepare for him? I just think about him a lot. I think that's the best thing I could do, is just dwell on him and what he thinks about things.
ST: Does it bother you if fans compare you to the Japanese voice actress?
No, it doesn't bother me to be compared, because the actress who did Ed in Fullmetal Alchemist did a great job. I can't take away from that. She's great. We're different, and I'll be honest with you if I can say this, I've gotten instant messages and emails from people who were at Otacon and saw the premiere and said "I love you so much more than the Japanese person that did Ed. I didn't like their voice and I like your Ed better." So what we learn is that you've got people on both sides. And there's nothing wrong with that. I say just allow people to enjoy what they enjoy. You like subs only? God love you, God bless you, enjoy your subs. And the Dub lovers don't poo-poo on the sub lovers. Did I just say poo-poo? Don't dis on dub-lovers, how about that?
ST: What's the coolest thing about Fullmetal Alchemist?
How long is this tape? There's so many cool things. So many cool things. This may not be a strange theme in anime, but a young boy having so much power. A young boy with so much natural ability like he has, the ability to do the things that he can do is exciting and fun and different. And that's always fun, to see how he's going to use alchemy in each of these different episodes, to cope with, or to overcome, or to deal with, or to protect, or whatever application he's using his talents, that's always fun, to see how each episode is going to be different, what's he gonna do this time, what's he gonna transmute? That's always a surprise.
ST: Do you think Ed and Al will have a happy ending?
Oh, I hope so. They deserve one. They definitely deserve one. I get news from people who are big fans of it who are watching it very closely in Japan and they're saying as the series goes along it gets more and more intense and things come out of nowhere that you would have never thought of. As you would expect in any good story, these surprises are coming out of the woodwork, but I hope things are going to work out. I mean, how much would I love to see Edward get his arm and his leg back and even more how much would Edward love to give his little brother his body back?
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