‘I’m Batman: A conversation with Kevin Conroy’ was the first panel I attended during my visit at the ComicCon London on Friday. It had a deep meaning for me; Batman has always been a super-hero who fascinated and intrigued me during my childhood. Kevin Conroy entered the stage unexpectedly, and a deafening handclap boomed in the Main Stage conference hall. Conroy smiled and waved his hand at the audience, before making himself comfortable on the black leather sofa. His energy was totally contagious; people chuckled at his initial thanking words. He has been the voice of Batman, the animated series which started in the Nineties, for almost twenty years.
“I’ve always been a stage actor,” he began, “and being the voice for a cartoon was a new and challenging experience.” Working in a booth and recording for hours wasn’t easy at the beginning; Conroy didn’t know exactly how to deal with it. “When they offered the contract, I was surprised. I had seriously thought I hadn’t made it because it was my first audition.” There was another fact that surprised him; Conroy didn’t expect the enormous success they had. The contract he signed stated that the show was only one season, but then the seasons increased. The series wasn’t the only project; Batman soon became a film, then a series of films along with the original series. “My imagination helped me to act as Bruce Wayne,” Conroy explained. “I had the script before my eyes, and, although I initially thought I had only to read it, the preparation behind my character was more intense than what everybody might ever have thought.” Conroy remembered how he prepared the audition; he didn’t really know Bruce Wayne’s story, but, when the director explained him, he realised that he had to put himself in Wayne’s situation. “That was the boost to get the best out of me,” Conroy said, eyes glistening at the lights pointing at him. “I couldn’t interpret that role without plunging into it.” While he was preparing the role, Conroy wondered how it was possible that nobody could recognise Bruce Wayne. He was one of the richest men in Gotham and very famous. “It didn’t make sense at all,” Conroy said, shaking his head. “It was a thing that I couldn’t understand, so I decided to change my voice when I had to act as Batman. I thought it was a good trick, and the director accepted it.” The enthusiasm Conroy emanated was totally involving. I’ve never seen such a reacting audience; the attendee chuckled when Conroy chuckled, they smiled when he did. It was like having a conversation with a friend you had known for a long time. “I still remember the first time a guy recognised me,” Conroy announced. “I’m from New York, but I was working in Los Angeles. That was a quite bizarre situation.” The actor needed to go to the post office, but he had to ask a guy for information in a parking area. After a few minutes, the guy called him Batman, taking him aback and forcing him to admit he was the actor voicing the superhero. The excited guy didn’t let him go until he hadn’t talked to him with Batman’s characteristic voice. “That was the funniest experience I had ever had,” Conroy exclaimed, laughing. His laughter was peculiar; you couldn’t help laughing even though you had tried resisting it. The final Q&A pointed out Conroy’s extroversion. “’A mask of a phantasm’ was the best film we made,” the actor said. “I really loved – and I’m proud of – the moment in which Bruce Wayne realised that he couldn’t escape his destiny.” The scene Conroy mentioned portrayed Bruce Wayne in front of his parents’ grave. He had fallen in love with Andrea Beaumont, but he had to choose between having a normal life or carrying on living his double identity life. “Bruce was completely conscious that his destiny was to become Batman,” Conroy affirmed. “It was impossible for him to run away from his fate.” Conroy burst into a fragrant and explosive laughter, as a member of the audience asked him which hero he would like to voice if he hadn’t become Batman. “I couldn’t have accepted any other role,” he proudly exclaimed. “Batman is a normal hero, without any super-power to help him, but his determination. He is a character to whom anybody can relate. If you noticed, Batman never kills, he fights the villains and, then, he closes them into Arkam.” Conroy was very proud of having been the superhero of Gotham City. The experience permitted him to meet and work with numerous amazing actors. “Life is completely unanticipated. I adapted my job to the role I had obtained as Bruce Wayne adapted his life after the tragedy that happened to him.” Conroy then concluded. “Acting is taking the chance. An actor has to be ready to fail. Our job is to dare to fail. If we don’t bear this simple rule in mind, we can’t do what we love to do.”
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