Pop Culturalist Chats with Julie Nathanson

Julie Nathanson is the voice behind many of your favorite characters. She’s an accomplished actress who’s worked in film, television, and video games. Her credits include Dallas & Robo, Far Cry 5, Avengers: Assemble, and most recently, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay. We spoke with Julie about her latest animated film, how she prepares to play a character, and the new single she just released.

PC: Tell us about Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, your characters, and what drew you to this project.
Julie: Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay was a blast to work on. It was, for me, a return to working with DC/Warner Brothers. When I began as a voice actress, the first animated series that I was a part of as a series regular was The Zeta Project, which was also a DC/Warner Brothers property. Getting to play in this arena again while also having it be an Alan Burnett written project was really special and made me all excited.

My characters are Jewelee and Silver Banshee. Everyone in this movie is a villain. It’s villainous faction against villainous faction vying for this mystical object. There are no good guys. You have to figure out which bad guys to root for. Jewelee is a member of the suicide squad during one portion of the movie. She’s out for herself, as most villains are. She’s a little more manipulative and conniving, while my other character, Silver Banshee, is a much darker character. She’s a woman of few words and has a menacing quality to her. She’s such a departure from the way that I present myself, so I really had a lot of fun playing Silver. They were both great characters and I loved having the opportunity to play two different roles in a project. It’s always fun to differentiate one character from another.

It was a really fun project. The cast is amazing. I thought Christian Slater was wonderful as Deadshot, Greg Grunberg was fantastic as Steel Maxum, and Liam McIntyre is just such a doll. I met a lot of the cast for the first time at WonderCon, where we premiered it. The whole event was basically like a party.

PC: What is the preparation like when you’re playing two characters within the same film?
Julie: It’s the same kind of preparation I do for any project. I always say that I start with knowledge and empathy. For the first few days, you have to research the crap out of any character. If it’s an existing character in the comic world, as most of these were, I find myself researching as much as possible. I look at images, storylines, and character development so that I can understand and ground the character in reality. Then, I look for a place of empathy. How can I put myself in these characters’ shoes? Why do I care about their evolution? How do their relationships affect me? The voice part comes last. If I’ve done my homework properly, the voice part is naturally formed out of that research and they’ll sound different organically.

PC: You’re bringing Silver Banshee to the Legos DC Super Villains video game this fall. Is the process different when you’re working on a video game?
Julie: In general for video games, you don’t know the entire story. When you’re doing a movie or a television show, you have the whole script in front of you and you have that context. A lot of the time with video games, we walk in and sometimes we’ve never seen our lines before. We work with the voice director to not only trust them, but also for them to offer the context to give us what we need to make that character fit into the universe as seamlessly as possible. In that way, the process—recording and research—can be different, but the process of voice discovery itself is really similar. Maybe I can’t do as much of the knowledge research, but I ask whatever I can in the room to find out what they need, how they want this character to sound, how they want this character coming from a relational standpoint, how they want this character to fit in this universe, and then I’ll dive in as quickly as I can. So yeah, the preparation is a little harder to do when I haven’t seen a script ahead of time. For something like Far Cry, where I played Jess Black, I was given the script and a lot of information about the backstory and character beforehand. She has so much depth and such a dark and painful history, so it was really important to keep her real and understand her arc. I was really grateful that UBIsoft gave me as much information as they did so I could prepare for those sessions.

PC: You’ve been a part of a lot of big franchises. Are you ever nervous about signing on for a project, given how dedicated these communities are?
Julie: Yes! [laughs] Nervous, excited, hopeful, all those things. I always hope that the fans who are so dedicated to a franchise are pleased with whatever I’ve done, but I know I’ll never be able to please every single fan out there. As an artist, I have to be okay with that and accept that I’m going to make the best decisions I can. I’m going to follow the directions that I’m given and hope that people appreciate what I’ve done. There’s a level of responsibility with bringing characters to life from an already known universe, but I also think that’s the responsibility of any entertainer. You have to do as much as you can to honor the art you’re working on. You have to create the world that it’s your job to help color, then you have to step away and hope that people enjoy it and know that you brought all that you could bring to it.

PC: Do you have a favorite fan interaction?
Julie: For me, in terms of fan interactions, I really enjoy connecting with fans in person at conventions when I have the opportunity to go. One time, there was a little one who was very nervous and overwhelmed at a convention, which I can really relate to. I asked his mom what he loved and she said Avengers. She told me that he watched the show, Avengers Assemble, which I’ve been a part of as Crimson Widow for several seasons now, so I did a little Crimson Widow for him and I loved to see that I was able to make this kid so happy and it seemed to decrease the stress of the experience. It was a really cool individual connection among the masses. I also really enjoy connecting with fans over Twitter. I’m such a verbal person and the forum in Twitter is so based in conversations. Sometimes it goes terribly wrong and Twitter can be used for evil and not good, and I’m painfully aware of that. I really do really like connecting with fans on Twitter, though.

PC: Besides voice acting, you released your new single. Can you tell us about “Wise Up” and your connection to the song?
Julie: Aimee Mann’s song, “Wise Up”, which was featured in the film, Magnolia, has been in my mind and heart since I saw the movie. I was so taken by this film that when it first came out, I sat in the movie theater and could not leave after the first showing and actually sat there through the second showing. [laughs] I was just so moved by it.

I’ve always heard “Wise Up” as intended, which would be the singer imparting wisdom onto someone struggling with substance addiction, but I’ve always had this other interpretation, too. It’s a slight departure, but it’s the singer talking to herself and thinking about all the different things we can become addicted to that aren’t substance related. I really found myself continuing to love this song and I hit a point where I thought, “Well, I’m a trained singer, I know this isn’t my complete focus [being a singer-songwriter], but I felt compelled to do it. I got some really wonderful people involved, a great producer, and permission to do this song. So, I released a cover of “Wise Up” and it’s been received really well. I’ve been touched by the responses and I’ve heard from a lot of people that it’s timely, especially in our world climate. It’s available on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify.

PC: Can we expect more covers or some original music?
Julie: Well, I do have another song that’ll probably be coming out later this year. It’s completely different and in the grand spirit of what I like to do, which is a lot of everything. [laughs] It’s is a lullaby and is an original song. I’m excited about sharing it with the world. It’s definitely a departure from “Wise Up”.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Julie: I do! It’s Friends. For me, there’s such a comfort in watching Friends.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Julie: Soap Dish

PC: Favorite book?
Julie: I have so many! I have to say A Wrinkle in Time. I feel like my life’s philosophy very much matches a lot with the message of that book.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Julie: Into the Woods

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Julie: Grand Opera

PC: Last show you binge-watched?
Julie: Orange is the New Black

PC: Hidden talent?
Julie: I can recite the first sixty digits of pi.

Make sure to follow Julie on Instagram and Twitter.

Photo Credit: Photographer: Jason Willheim / Stylist: Simona Sacchitella / Hair + Makeup: Muamera Pulic