Garfield Logan a.okay.a. Beast Boy could have initially debuted within the pages of the Doom Patrol comedian, the self-proclaimed weirdest superheroes of the DC Universe, however he’s in all probability recognized greatest as a fan-favorite member of the Teen Titans. Nevertheless, it wasn’t till the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon that he actually discovered recognition within the mainstream exterior of comics. Although quite a few actors have portrayed Beast Boy in varied media together with animation and live-action, Greg Cipes has the dignity of being the primary actor to deliver Beast Boy to life in media exterior of comics in that aforementioned Teen Titans animated sequence.
After nearly 20 years, the character continues to be synonymous with Cipes who continues to voice the character not solely within the present Teen Titans Go! cartoon however the Younger Justice animated sequence as properly. Whereas Go! is a way more humorous revamp of the unique 2003 sequence, Younger Justice explores the lives of the teenage and adolescent superheroes of the DC Universe whereas addressing actual world points and matters. Actually, the most recent season has seen the usually lighthearted Beast Boy coping with melancholy and PTSD.
Forward of the discharge of the brand new Teen Titans Go! & DC Tremendous Hero Women: Mayhem within the Multiverse crossover animated movie, we had the fortune to speak with Greg Cipes about his deep reference to Beast Boy and venturing into darker territory for the character.
Taimur Dar: A lot of the magic of Teen Titans Go! may be attributed to the very fact you file collectively. Clearly, as a result of pandemic it’s all been distant like for this undertaking. How have you ever adjusted working remotely for Teen Titans Go! while you’re not in the identical room with that instantaneous forwards and backwards.
Greg Cipes: We do file collectively over the telephone. There’s expertise that enables us to nearly be collectively. However with Younger Justice, most of that sequence was performed earlier than I even had a correct soundproof room in my home. I used to be recording in my closet with blankets throughout. I used to be coping with being very sick from having COVID. I used to be one of many first individuals to get it actually unhealthy. I obtained to channel that into Beast Boy’s darkish power that he was coping with in his personal illness. So it form of labored properly collectively. I paid the worth however it was price it. [Laughs]. However now we file collectively nonetheless nearly however in correct sound cubicles that at the moment are in my front room in Venice Seashore or anyplace. I’m in New York proper now and there are studios the place I can file.
Dar: Teen Titans Go! has reached a reasonably main milestone changing into the longest working DC animated sequence. These early episodes and first season are so vastly totally different. The plots are extra easy in comparison with how loopy and meta the present ultimately turned. For you, was there a degree while you felt that the present discovered its present voice?
Cipes: I really feel just like the voice is continually altering as a result of we’re so free-form and evolving with the synergy of the universe. We’re continuously staying contemporary and shifting. One of many nice issues about this present is that DC and Warner Bros. permit us to be unhindered.
Dar: I bear in mind in a previous interview you talked about how the totally different model of Beast Boy you’ve performed every has his personal animal power. Might you elaborate?
Cipes: I positively use the facility of animal spirits and what every animal brings to the desk offers me an ideal springboard to deliver Beast Boy to life. I mix that with my very own emotional financial institution which is huge and based mostly on all of the superb experiences I’ve gone by means of in my life. I deliver Beast Boy to life by means of that mixture of energies. I’ve been taking part in him for 20 years. Being the primary voice actor to deliver him to life has given me a singular place to co-create a personality with DC and Warner Bros. that’s by no means been delivered to life earlier than I made him who he’s in the present day.
Dar: I positively really feel just like the comics have take inspiration out of your tackle Beast Boy. I’m pretty sure however I’d should verify, however I don’t consider that Beast Boy was a vegan earlier than the Teen Titans cartoon. Now that’s turn into part of his character. How do you’re feeling concerning the affect you’ve had on Beast Boy in not simply animation however comics?
Cipes: I like how my work has influenced each realm of Beast Boy as a result of he’s me. The truth that he’s a vegan due to me and my love for animals is divine alignment. Whether or not you eat meat or not, we have to create a steadiness on Earth the place animals are extra revered and Beast Boy represents that for a lot of generations now. This character lives on eternally.
Dar: Over the course of Teen Titans Go!, Beast Boy has developed some distinctive catchphrases and lingo like, “That’s what’s up” and “Mama.” I’m curious should you got here up with them and what impressed these phrases?
Cipes: I used to be very a lot impressed by characters like Bart Simpson and all his catchphrases. It was pure for me to need to give you catchphrases that youngsters round the entire world can be utilizing. Being Beast allowed me to channel these sayings like “That’s what’s up” and “Mama.” Even reveals like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles I obtained to give you “Booyakasha” and got here up with a catchphrase for that present too. I like developing with catchphrases!
Dar: Name it cosmic however on the day we’re having this interview, the most recent episode of Younger Justice simply dropped which launched Beast Boy’s emotional help animal, a canine named Wingman, clearly impressed by your individual canine additionally named Wingman. I consider Wingman within the present is a corgi or a minimum of a unique breed than your Wingman. However I’m actually curious how Wingman made it into the present?
Cipes: Wingman is in each recording session, each enterprise assembly, each flight, each comedian con. We’re by no means aside. Naturally he’s the middle of my universe. He makes it into every thing that I do. And he evokes Beast Boy’s persona. On Younger Justice I begged for them to offer him an emotional help animal for his PTSD and all of the trauma that he went by means of. The producers had been like, “Yeah, let’s give him Wingman.” So it’s form of a dream come true to have Beast Boy obtain Wingman as his emotional help animal. He’s not a corgi however Wingman is a multidimensional being!
Dar: As you talked about earlier, this newest season of Younger Justice has taken Beast Boy to some darkish locations exploring PTSD. It’s a really delicate however essential matter. How was it for you as an actor tackling some actually heavy points with a personality who is generally lighthearted?
Cipes: It’s paralleled what I’ve gone by means of my complete life. A method or one other, what Beast Boy goes by means of in his world, I’m going by means of it in mine. Whereas I used to be recording these darkish moments that Beast Boy went by means of in Younger Justice, I used to be going by means of my very own moments with tragedy and being sick. I channeled it into the character and into these scenes and it actually simply labored. Persons are responding in such a ravishing method to Beast Boy to being extra susceptible and this different aspect of Beast Boy that you just’ve by no means seen earlier than.
Teen Titans Go! & DC Tremendous Hero Women: Mayhem within the Multiverse is accessible now on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital and can be out there to stream HBO Max on June 28.
