Corey Wilder (Wanshi EN VA) Interview

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From GRAY RAVENS: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions! We’re honored to speak with such a skilled and active voice actor in the industry!

Tell us about yourself and your career! How did you get into voice acting?

Yo! My name is Corey Wilder! I'm a 24 year old actor turned voice actor 4 years ago hahaha.

I used to do a lot of stage and Film before jumping into the voice acting world.

What got me into it was two things:
1) was the Hazbin hotel pilot, I really liked that you could make your own series without A-list celebrities and animators.

2) Covid happened so all of the theatres and film sets were closed down and I needed to find a way to do acting again which led me to voice over!

How long have you been voice acting?

As of now 4 years! It feels so much shorter than that though hahaha.

What types of voices/characters do you like to do?

The common ones I get that I like are the soft boys, the snarky lover, and the egotist.

But ones I dream of playing are over the top villains and even some kind of monster creature I can shred my vocals with 🤣

Is there a specific work or role that strongly influenced your career as a voice actor?

Honestly Micah Yujin from error 143, I'd say that's the one that people know me the most from, that's the one that got the most eyes on me.

The game blew up like crazy to where it even got number 1 in the app stores!

It came with good and bad, but it was still awesome to see!

How were you first introduced to PGR?

The audition 🤣🤣! I had never heard of PGR or seen anything of PGR until I reviewed an audition for it.

I did look up videos to study the characters and understand each of them a little better before submitting.

What is the process of recording for PGR? Do you use characters' lines in other languages for reference?

The process of recording is like how you record for other voice over projects, you hop in a booth, get on call with the director, and then just start acting haha.

As for using character lines for references we don't really do that unless it's involved with the specific poses or movement of the character.

All the English voice lines that don't involve movement are just a me (Corey), Stephanie (Voice Director), and Kuro original 😎😎.

What sort of voice direction do you get for Wanshi?
Do you get any lore information on Wanshi's story when recording his lines?

I actually don't get much lore information for Wanshi, I'm given a description of the character and essentially where to keep his energy and tone at for each of the lines.

We usually make up scenarios in our head for why he would be saying these lines, but I also happen to know a lot of the lore myself because I started to deep dive into his lore after I was cast, so I had a little bit of a leg up so I could know what was going on haha.

What is your interpretation of Wanshi's character, and how did it influence his line delivery?

My interpretation of Wanshi's character is that he's a person who has experienced a lot of loss and betrayal in his life, and because of this he acts like he's jaded/sleepy and doesn't really care about taking anything too seriously.

To me that's a facade though, I feel like he cares about people more than anyone in Babylonia, why else would he assist the Commandant in going out into the red tide to save humans, to save the human's homes from the siren (I like calling it the siren because of its melodic screams).

Knowing this I tried to make it where his lines had a bit of complexity in them where you could see slimmers of the Construct that deeply cares about others poking through.

Stephanie (Voice Director) also caught onto that and helped me refine it more so it was a lot more clear and I can't thank her enough for her direction.

Do you get to add any of your own spin or input to Wanshi's line delivery?

Any time you hear a yawn or a sigh or a grunt in a voice line that isn't done in the original language is all me baby haha.

I also sometimes like to make him a bit more sassy and soft boyed cause I'm 100% sure he's a BRAT haha.

What do you like about voicing Wanshi?

I like how calm he is compared to a lot of characters I voice which actually made him one of my hardest characters to voice(?).

I am a very theatrical person and have a musicality in the way I speak, so with Wanshi I had to kill all of that and be as plain as I possibly could lol.

It was really really hard.

What was the most difficult part about voicing Wanshi?

Keeping him cool and calm haha. As I said before I don't normally play that voice type so it was a challenge haha.

Wanshi now has a new frame out. What was it like reprising your role for this new version of him?
Were there any differences in how you delivered Hypnos' lines vs. Lucid Dreamer's lines?

It felt so awesome coming back to voice him!

When I first recorded for him I was still trying to learn about how I wanted to voice him, so when I came back it felt like a second chance to really nail him down.

The differences I made between the two is that I felt Lucid Dreamer was being more open with his true emotions compared to Hypnos.
He still tries to put a little bit of a facade on, but it's faltering because he believes that he isn't good enough no matter how much power he achieves.

But luckily, Commandant and the rest of the constructs helps strengthen him and keeps him moving.

I wanted to add a bit of hope and slight despair in these new lines he was given, while still keeping a lot of what I did for Hypnos since a lot of people liked that.

The lobby and affection lines assume that the character is talking to the Commandant, who stands in for the player.
Do you picture Wanshi speaking to you when delivering those lines or did you have someone specific in mind?

OKAY SO FUNNY STORY!

For the regular affection lines I picture him speaking to just a random soldier in a mask that I deem as the Commandant BUT for the love or getting closer affection lines, I envision him talking to a bed lol.

Were there any funny or interesting moments while recording lines for PGR?

So I'm not sure if this is funny or interesting, but sometimes my eyes play tricks on me whenever I'm reading lines.

So on occasion whenever I was addressing the Commandant the words would change to "My love" or "Love" whenever I was reading.

I'm not sure if this reads too much into my shipping nature, but I thought it was silly to share 🤣.

What do you think is the appeal of Wanshi as a character?

1) He's hot and ragged looking lol

2) I think people interpret him the same as me. Someone who is distant due to tragedy, but still wants to take care of you in the best way possible.

Which of Wanshi’s lines left the greatest impression on you?

"You matter because you are you, and you matter to the end of your life."

Those are very wise wise words. You matter always and make sure that you never forget that 💗.

I know Wanshi sure won't.

Who is your favorite character in PGR besides Wanshi and why?

Alpha hands down.

I really really appreciate the journey that Alpha has been on. From being a sort of "mindless" drone that only wanted one goal, to now breaking her shackles (wink wink) to find her own fate/destiny.

I like characters with layers like that and Alpha checks off my boxes beautifully!

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to enter the world of voice acting?

YES, I'll lay it down in three rules!

1) Don't be a dick:
People talk in this industry and if you wind up being some kind of jerk to the people in your industry, than we 100% won't want you here. Don't be a dick.

2) Put in the work and master your craft:
Acting is one of the most competitive and hardest industries. You will be going up against a 1000 of your colleagues in friendly competition to see who gets a part.
Which means your acting needs to be A+. You need to understand your voice and what types you can play confidently, take workshops or even personal coaching, and just know that even if you don't get cast it's not the end of the world.
The roles meant for you will find you. I promise.

3) Form genuine connections:
This kinda blends in with the being a dick/jerk part, but I've met a lot of people who just talk to others because of what they can offer them.
Don't be that person. Make friends because you want to make friends, not everyone will want to be your friend, but don't use them as a tool.

Treat others how you'd want to be treated, okay?

Thanks for taking the time to interview with us!
Do you have socials or something you'd like to promote?

Thank YOU guys so much for the interview, it was fun!

For socials you can find me on these ones:
Instagram: Corey_n_wilder
Twitter: @wildercorey
Tiktok: cnwilder
Youtube: Corey Wilder

For promotion I'm gonna promote my hyperfixations Link Click and LazyEule's project Hiraeth 🤣.

If you like Time Traveling stories with a bit of mystery, comedy, and suspense Link Click is a show for you.

If you like a soft boy alien space prince being exiled from his planet because of the sins of his ancestors then you'll really love Hiraeth haha.