Todd Haberkorn (@ToddHaberkorn) is a VIP in the voice acting industry, having played a wide variety of characters is everything from Ben 10 to Monster High.
He is especially well known in the world of anime, where he is revered for his work as Natsu in Fairy Tail, and for such titles as “Digimon,” “Sailor Moon Crystal,” “Pokemon,” “Dragon Ball Z,” “Naruto,” “JoJos’ Bizarre Adventure” and numerous video games.
He just narrated an audiobook called Flux Destiny: Fortuna’s Rings, which is an anime-inspired story, also available as a Graphic Novel. Amazon gave it 5 stars and it is hot off the presses as it just came out today! You can listen to the first chapter here: http://www.fluxdestiny.com/preorder
Todd took the time to answer some of our questions, so let’s get right to the interview!
Hi Todd, thanks for taking the time to answer some questions! You are one of the most prolific voice actors ever—what is your secret for staying so busy for so long?
I blame my mom. She was a tirelessly hard and focused professional and is a fierce woman. She was an example I was lookin’ at everyday in our single parent household as someone who came from absolutely nothing in America to being a force to be reckoned with in the medical world. How could I not try and stay busy all the time?!
Tell us about your latest project, Flux Destiny: Fortuna’s Rings.
Its a great combo of imaginative story telling mixed with a savvy producer mind. You’ve got an author who understands that he wants to speak to an audience that is open to a fantastical world of robots, mystical forces, and colorful characters. And what better place to go than an anime audience?
But its a story that appeals to anyone faced with the uncertainties of life – its got universal appeal. The characters all have different flavors and there’s plenty to chew on for folks looking for variety in their storytelling with a mix of humor and drama. On top of that, the author has been so good about interacting with the current and future fans of the franchise cause he truly believes in his creation and the is grateful for the support from the fans.
Why do you think teens are going to want to check it out?
Teens will get the sense that this story is talking directly to them…in regards to how sometimes our vision for what we think our life needs might be out of alignment with what those around us think we need and that’s okay.
As long as we are open to discovering our many layers as people – our path or function in life will present itself and our destinies, hopefully, will be a little clearer.
Favorite character you’ve ever voiced, and why?
Gotta go with Natsu. He and I along with the rest of the Fairy Tail family have been together for many years…not to mention, I have a tattoo from the show on me forever! So he better be my fav!
LEAST favorite, and why?
I don’t think there’s a least favorite character…cause when I’m voicing a role – I have to find those reasons why I dig them.
There may be aspects of the character I don’t automatically jump towards – for example, if its really tough on my vocal cords cause of yelling or a certain pitch – those might get a brief moment of “okay, let’s do this” sauce as I brace my voice for the session, but I wouldn’t say there’s a least favorite.
What’s the strangest thing or funniest moment to happen to you as a voice actor?
My masterful handyman is a fan of animation and such. I was telling him about a show I directed last year called Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas (cough, out on Netflix now). Well, I mentioned that it was a fun show full of action and adventure that his kids might like and he did a double take, saying “Saint Seiya? The anime?” I confirmed it and he said “that’s the password to my computer! I love that series!” That was nice 🙂
I get recognized in the oddest places…Best Buy, the airport, Disneyland…all kinds of spots.
Tell me something people would be surprised to know about you?
How quiet and chill I am at home. I’m a pretty laid back guy. But you wouldn’t know it by a lot of the roles I have the honor of taking on. But, at home, you wouldn’t really know I’m there just cause I’m so quiet and of course, my asian ninja ancestry.
Secret obsession?
Disney mugs! I love collecting the mugs that come out annually from Starbucks. And you can only get them at the theme parks! I hop right on eBay if I don’t see them at disneyland and snag them all. They’re great!
Biggest fear?
Gigantic roller coasters…#NoHulkCoaster
Biggest pet peeve?
Spoilers for movies!
What do you have coming up next?
Many projects – few I can talk about. Besides Flux Destiny, of course.
I’ll be featured as Ebony Maw in the upcoming Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance 3 for the Switch, Doc McCoy in Desperados 3 on Steam, Power Players – which will debut on Cartoon Network in August (I direct it and am in it), Fairy Tail is in its (for now – hopefully) “final season” and we’re in the 300s in terms of episodes, and many other fun things! Stay tuned!
Could we get a quick selfie of whatever you are up to to keep it real for the fans? : )
https://twitter.com/ToddHaberkorn