Voice of Professor Layton explains how he got the job, influences on his portrayal
A portion of an ONM interview with voice actor Christopher Robin Miller...
ONM: And how did you land the role of Professor Layton?
CRM: The process was rather typical. I do a dozen or so of these auditions every week. My agent called me in to read for an out-of-state opportunity. I knew that hundreds of people were being submitted from all over the country.
The likelihood of success was at the lottery-winning level, but the five or so lines on the script with the brief character description above them grabbed me. It sounds weird, but sometimes a script says, "You're mine!"
ONM: Where exactly did the voice come from? Is it based on anyone in particular?
CRM: He's an amalgam of several influences. I am a character actor and have always been drawn to the quirks that such performers have. They play the most interesting people. The Professor is a kind of mix of the Narrator (Sebastian Cabot) and Owl (Hal Smith) from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I mentioned this in another interview, in which I named Sebastian Cabot and then Owl and failed to mention Hal Smith. I wrote my answer at 2:00am and it sounded like I thought S.C. played Owl. My bad, people. All I can say is, the professor needs his sleep!
ONM: And how did you land the role of Professor Layton?
CRM: The process was rather typical. I do a dozen or so of these auditions every week. My agent called me in to read for an out-of-state opportunity. I knew that hundreds of people were being submitted from all over the country.
The likelihood of success was at the lottery-winning level, but the five or so lines on the script with the brief character description above them grabbed me. It sounds weird, but sometimes a script says, "You're mine!"
ONM: Where exactly did the voice come from? Is it based on anyone in particular?
CRM: He's an amalgam of several influences. I am a character actor and have always been drawn to the quirks that such performers have. They play the most interesting people. The Professor is a kind of mix of the Narrator (Sebastian Cabot) and Owl (Hal Smith) from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. I mentioned this in another interview, in which I named Sebastian Cabot and then Owl and failed to mention Hal Smith. I wrote my answer at 2:00am and it sounded like I thought S.C. played Owl. My bad, people. All I can say is, the professor needs his sleep!
