Yuri Lowenthal

**Yuri Lowenthal** (born in March 5 ,1971)  is an American actor, screenwriter, and producer known chiefly for his voice-over work in anime, cartoons and video games. Some of his prominent roles in anime and cartoons include teenage Ben Tennyson in *Ben 10*, Sasuke Uchiha in *Naruto*, Jinnosuke in *Afro Samurai*, Suzaku Kururugi in *Code Geass*, and Simon in *Gurren Lagann*. In video games, he voices The Prince in Ubisoft's *Prince of Persia*, Alucard in *Castlevania*, Hayate/Ein in *Dead or Alive*, Matt Miller in *Saints Row*, and Yosuke Hanamura in *Persona 4*. He has a production company Monkey Kingdom Productions with his wife, Tara Platt, where they have produced several feature films and a live-action web series called *Shelf Life*. He co-authored the book *Voice-Over Voice Actor* which gives career tips.

## Early Life and education

Lowenthal was born in Ohio and raised in Nashville, Tennessee and northern Virginia[1][3] His father worked for the United States Agency for International Development, and he spent two years in Niger in North Africa.[1] He didn't do much acting until the end of high school when he tried out for drama class in his senior year, but it was enough to get him interested in acting.[4] His early exposure to anime was from shows such as *Speed Racer*, *Star Blazers* and *Battle of the Planets*.[5]

At The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, he took classes in theatre but majored in East Asian studies where in his third year, he studied abroad in Osaka, Japan.[6] He also participated in the school's gymnastics program and ROTC.[1] After graduating in 1993, he joined the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET) where he served as a Coordinator of International Relations, helping out foreign English teachers in Shiga Prefecture. While at JET he continued to participate in theatre and acting.[1][4][6] After two years there, he still wanted to try acting full-time, and moved to New York City and participate in theatre in shows that were off-off-Broadway.[1] He spent six years in New York doing theatre and indie films.

## Voice-over career

Lowenthal moved to Los Angeles and worked in live-action and theatre roles,[9][10][11] To supplement his on-camera work, he and his wife Tara Platt took a voice-over class.[1][4] Their instructor later happened to be directing the English dub for an anime show called *SD Gundam Force*; he got his first ever anime dub role there, and soon tried out for other anime roles as well as other voice-over work in animation, commercials, and video games. Lowenthal recalled that his first voice appearance in a video game might have also been for *SD Gundam Force*.[12]

Lowenthal's first major role in video game voice-overs was as the Prince in Ubisoft's *Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time*. In an interview with *Critical Gamer*, he describes that role as "a very lucky break for me, because it ended up being a super game. We audition all the time for all different kinds of projects, and videogames are one part of that, a part that I love." He said that "[he felt] that [he] in a way originated that role". Lowenthal did not return to voice the Prince in *Warrior Within*, being replaced by Robin Atkin Downes. Lowenthal felt that this was a conscious decision by Ubisoft to fit in with the game's overall tonal shift, and thought it was the right decision. For *The Two Thrones*, he returned to play the role, as fans had stated their preference for his portrayal of the character.[13] The Prince became one of Lowenthal's favorite roles, and he was pleased to return to the role for *The Forgotten Sands*.[14] According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future games from both fans and staff, as he needed to remain true to and improve on his original portrayal. This ultimately gave him little creative freedom with the character after *The Sands of Time*.[12] For the reboots following the live-action films, the staff wanted a different portrayal of the Prince to Lowenthal's, and so recast the role.[13]

Lowenthal continued voicing in other anime shows, including the lead character Haru Glory in *Rave Master*, which had a run on Cartoon Network's Toonami line up.[15] He also voiced a character in *Zatch Bell!* which had a notable run on Cartoon Network. He starred in a number of anime shows such as: *Girls Bravo* where he played Yukinari,[16] *Scrapped Princess* where he voiced Leo Skorpus,[17] *Kyo Kara Maoh*, where he voiced Yuuri Shibuya, and *Saiyuki Reload* where he voiced Son Goku.[18] When he auditioned for *Naruto*, which was being directed by the same person who did *Rave Master*, he had tried out for multiple roles including Sasuke and Iruka, and got a call back for Sasuke. In an interview with Silionera, Lowenthal said that "It certainly allows me to go to some dark places as the series continues. And it makes Sasuke that much more interesting as a character. And that much more fun to play." [17] The *Naruto* anime became one of the more popular anime shows in the U.S.,[19] and its sequel *Naruto Shippuden* has also aired on Adult Swim.