Adam McArthur is currently the English voice of Yuji Itadori the curse bearing martial artist and one of the main protagonists of the smash hit Jujutsu Kaisen. We had the chance to catch up with him at the end of August at Otakon 2021 in Washington, DC.
Interview with Adam McArthur
We will start at the beginning. What drew you to voice acting?
I could have done construction but I chose voice over. I actually wanted to be an actor since I was a kid and don’t really know where that came from. I took acting classes at the age of 16 and the owner of the acting studio was a voice actress.
What was one of your first jobs?
One of my first jobs was voice over for Macy’s commercials and I got hooked on voice acting. I saved my money from those commercials and had an animation demo produced because I loved cartoons. I've been doing it (voice over) for 20 years now.
What kind of animation were you a fan of?
Hanna-Barbera, Looney Toons, Ninja Turtles and shows like that. I didn’t really discover anime until I was in high school in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. I really didn’t get into anime until around 2015 with shows like Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood and My Hero Academia.
Did you ever doubt that you’d be able to make a career out of using your acting talents?
Never, not even once. I don’t know if I’m blissfully ignorant or stubborn. I have the mindset that someone has to do these jobs and it might as well be me. Is it hard, sure. Is it not going to be fun sometimes, sure. Are there times when I’m going to worry about when the next job will come, sure. But in the end someone has to do these jobs so why not give it a go.
You’ve had a busy year with voicing characters in several very different series, Shadow House, a very cute but mysterious show, The Saints Power is Omnipotent, and the smash hit Jujutsu Kaisen as Yuji Itadori. We will get into the Jujutsu Kaisen material soon but… is Kyle Salutania from Saints Power just a dick or just miss understood?
I think that's a great question. He is totally misunderstood. I think he actually does care. He has to put on this air of standoffishness but ultimately he does care about Aira. I think he does have some redeemable qualities.
Did you have a chance to look at the manga or subbed episodes before you got the role in Jujutsu Kaisen?
As a voice actor you don’t often have the chance or access to the show or the manga. I was fortunate that there were already a couple of subbed episodes out when I got my audition. I decided to watch it and was immediately a fan of it.
Did you have a chance to look at the manga or subbed episodes before you got the role in Jujutsu Kaisen?
As a voice actor you don’t often have the chance or access to the show or the manga. I was fortunate that there were already a couple of subbed episodes out when I got my audition. I decided to watch it and was immediately a fan of it.
As a dub actor I never try to do an impression of the sub actor. But I definitely think that taking that into account is important because that actor created the essence of the role from their interpretation of the manga or source material.
What move of Yuji’s or any other character would you like to have in your repertoire of martial arts moves?
Oooh… divergent fist was so cool, but, I think it would be silly not to say black flash. Although Todo’s ability to switch places with the boogie woogie is good too. I think boogie woogie would be great at a convention because you wouldn’t have to wait in line. I could just boogie woogie my way to the front.
Final Thoughts
We want to thank Adam for talking with us despite his busy Otakon 2021 schedule. We especially want to thank him for breathing life into such a cool character like Yuji from Jujutsu Kaisen.
I’m a journalist, writer, photographer, video producer, social media manager and above all a storyteller. I’m located on the east coast of the United States but travel the world with the love of my life. I’ve been a nerd since birth with a love of history and science. I fell in love with anime, watching ROBOTECH and Venus Wars in the 80s when our only source was secondhand VHS dubs. A crazy new thing called the internet changed that, giving me access to new and amazing anime every day. I love to write for work and pleasure. I’m living the dream of every kid, getting paid to watch anime and loving every subtitled line.
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