Brian Sommer Interview

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This interview was held by Rick123Axel.
Brian Sommer portrayed Danny St. John and Pete
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How did you get your roles as Danny St John and Pete? 
Most all roles are aquired the same way. A game developer who is in need of voice talent will prepare an audition packet. That will include descripitions of the characters and some audition lines (often refered to as "sides"). Those will be sent to the talent agencies. In turn the agencies will send them out to the actors they represent who they feel may fit the requirements of the roles. The actors record their auditions, which are sent to the developer. The developer makes the selections from the submitted roles. On occasion, and actor may get a "direct booking". That means the director or producer selected them without an audition. Usually because they have worked together in the past and they know the actor can handle the role. That was the case with "pete" recently. I did not audition for that role. The director felt I could fill the requirements of the character and they scheduled me to come in and record.
Were you shocked to discover Danny was a cannibal?
In the original audition packet for Danny we were told about Danny's "little secret".   So it was not a surprise when it came time to record his lines.
Which character do you prefer portraying Pete or Danny?
I have made a pretty good career out of voicing the bad guys.  Danny was definitely one of those.  The bad guys are always so much fun to voice because they usually have the best lines.  You can get away with things when you voice those characters.  The just have more 'meat on them' (no pun intended with Danny).  But Pete turned out to be a pretty good guy.  Even though he is a little gruff, he actually has everyones best interests at heart.  So it was a nice change to play someone who was not trying to eat people or take over the universe.
Did you watch the TV show or read the graphic novel prior to getting a role in the Game? I knew the TV show was based on a graphic novel, but I had not see the show, nor read the books prior to auditoning for the roles.  I did take some time to research the franchise once I booked the roles.  It is always good to be prepared, to know what kind of 'feel' the project would have.
Did you watch the TV show or read the graphic novel prior to getting a role in the Game? 
I knew the TV show was based on a graphic novel, but I had not see the show, nor read the books prior to auditoning for the roles.  I did take some time to research the franchise once I booked the roles.  It is always good to be prepared, to know what kind of 'feel' the project would have.
Have you played through the game? If so do you have a favorite character?
When season one debuted, the producers got all the voice talent together to play the game as a promotional sort of thing.  I had to admit that was the first time I had a game controler in my hands since Atari first came out!!  I enjoyed playing but "Wow" there are a lot of buttons involved.  Ha ha.  I only played a bit of the game, but I have watched several videos on line of others playing the game.
 In what ways are you similar to, as well as different from your characters Pete and Danny?
Well the good news is, I am not a cannibal!  Nor am I from the South (grew up in California).  The characters are in a very intense set of circumstances.  So I dont know if I can compare myself to them unless I had the same experiences.  And lets hope that does not happen!
How do you get into the role when recording?
As voice actors it is our job to give vocal life to the characters.  So even though I do not have the same "likes" as Danny, I have to sound like I do.  Voice acting is not unlike any other acting.  The idea is to allow the character to speak through you.  You kind of put the character on as a costume and become them for the session.  In your imagination you have to see yourself in the scene as the character.  Feel what they are feeling, see what they are seeing, and then speak as them.
Do you have any ideas of scenes cut featuring Pete or Danny?
I dont know of any specific lines that were cut from the finished project.  We recorded quite a lot of dialog, but to my knowledge I think it is all there.  There may have been a line or two of Danny's that may have been deemed too creepy to leave in the final game.  The problem was, if Danny was too creepy, too early on, people would guess that someting was up.  We didnt want to give it away too quickly.
What is your opinion of Danny St John and Pete overall?
Well what can you say about Danny....Creepy, murdering, cannibal.  Not the kind of guy you would want to bring home to meet mom.  And Pete (as I said before) will turn out to be a pretty 'stand up' kind of guy.  I cant give it away, but stay tuned!
What was your reaction to hearing that The Walking Dead had won the Game of the Year award at Spike VGAs as well as the huge success of the Game in general? Did you ever expect it to become so successful?
I was more than pleased and quite honored to have been part of a project that won so much praise.  When you are working on the game you are never thinking "could this be a big hit?".  Instead you are concentrating on your performance.  Making sure it is the best it can be.  It is up to YOU guys (the gamers) as to weather or not it will be successful.  But it sure is nice to see a game like this do so well.  It is a very story driven game.  Its not just a point and shoot.  Anytime the story drives the game, it usually has to do with characters and dialog.  And where there is dialog, there is work for me!
Did the cast and crew do anything special after the Game was finished?
We get together now and then to have a few drinks and talk shop.  But we did have fun playing the game.
Are you currently working on any other projects?
I am very happy to be working constantly.  I just finished voiceing some characters for a Disney hidden object game called Disney Hidden Worlds.  I recorded a character for an upcoming Skylanders game, but that has not been released yet and who knows if the character will actually make it into the game.  More on that later.  I also had the honor of voicing a character in Telltales follow up game "A wold among us".  I voiced Colin the Pig.  There are plenty of other projects I am working on that will be announced in the future.  So keep an 'ear' open.
Thank you again on behalf of the entire wiki! We appreciate it very much!
Thanks for all the questions.  Hope this was satisfactory.  Take care, and thanks again for your interest in the game!  
Category:Interviews