[Honey’s Anime Interview] Voice Actor Ricco Fajardo (Otakon 2021)

Were you always an actor? Were you one of those kids that craved the spotlight?

Absolutely not. I was the most introverted kid. I was quiet and shy sitting in the corner. I kind of thought I invented Emo in high school. I was also poor growing up so we always had hand-me-downs. I have jeans but they’d be really tight and I’d never get a haircut so my hair would be really long and cover one eye. I get these big hoodies because I’d want to hide my malformed growing body. We also moved around a lot and I became very introverted.

I found myself in theater in my junior year of high school. I found that there were people that don’t judge each other right away and I don't fit in but that is okay. We all didn’t fit in, we were a bunch of vagabonds and in that we had community.

How did theater help you come out of your shell?

I wasn’t very good at communicating but having wonderful writers like Shakespeare to use helped and when you combine that kind of language with the emotions of a teenager it sometimes sings.

What was one of your first acting roles?

I was cast as Macbeth at the age of 20 in community college theater and I kept growing from there. I think it was good for me, it was therapeutic for me to explore the language of people who had clear ideas and thoughts and crystallized it into spoken words.

You were cast in the role of Haruhiro in Grimgar of Fantasy of and Ash, what are your thoughts on this gritty isekai?

That story captured my heart. I love role playing games and I play rouges all the time. So, ironically when Mike Macfarlin said, Hey I got this new show, it's beautiful and filled with watercolors and music is insane and I want you to be the lead the character is a young reluctant hero. The story has a lot of monologuing and it was such a way for the cast to get to know their characters. The story is slice of life but with a dark gritty texture, the opening scene is the characters trying to get a kill and none of them had ever killed anything before and they are trying to kill one goblin. The goblin is screeching and running away, but they need to make money or starve and when you slash the goblin it doesn’t evaporate it screams and calls for its mother. The characters do what they need to do and become so damaged in the process. I’m so happy you watched it and appreciated it.

You had the chance, in a very small way, to be in Godzilla: SIngular Point, is it neat being part of such a historic franchise?

I know. I believe the character was some military guy about to be lit on fire by Godzilla.

I know but isn’t that cool?

It is cool, man. But, you want to contribute to the story in a meaningful way.. And I think the lines are like “batten down the hatches” and then “Arrgh I’m on fire!” I didn’t even get to say his (Godzilla’s) name.