I'm Anairis Quinones. I'm a black Puerto Rican voice actress most known for voicing Mirko in My Hero Academia, Nessa in Pokemon: Twilight Wings, Harriet in RWBY, and more. Ask me anything!

How do you feel about voicing a Japanese woman who looks and acts like a rabbit?

I love it. I voiced Harriet in RWBY just last year, so getting to play another "bunny character" that's SUPER fierce and unique in her own right is beyond exciting. :)

How did you get into voice acting?

I got interested in it when I was about 12! I listened to the commentary track of FMA: Conqueror Shamballa, and Laura Bailey discussing her process for finding Lust's voice. It really intrigued me! Then I found voiceover forums online and just started doing it as a hobby. As I got older, I began treating it as a career, and eventually shifted into industry work.

So is it something you successfully do from home or is there serious studio time? How is the industry process for selection? Are there in person auditions or do you submit like voice clippings, like a verbal resume so they can hear your voice?

When I first started out, it was from home. I did book industry work from home, but I didn't find a lot of success until I relocated and started working at studios.

The industry process is pretty similar to online in the sense that it's a constant grind. I'd say more difficult, though, because you have a lot of REALLY good competition and so you have to figure out your strengths and sharpen them constantly.

I know years ago in-person auditions were the norm. I've done a couple of them, but majority of my auditions in VO are online. They just email the sides and you record your takes and send it back.

How do you train for your profession?

Really interesting work btw.

Lots of workshops and studying! The only job where watching anime and playing video games is legitimately productive. :)

Thank you so much!

I’ve heard that many anime dub VAs don’t watch the original Japanese dubs of shows because they say it could harm their performance. Is this possibly true. Does this apply to you?

That makes sense! I like to study my characters as much as I can, so I utilize all information available--and that includes the original Japanese, if it's available for me to watch. But I always watch it with the intention of understanding their interpretation, not to mimic.

Like with Nessa, I remember listening to the Japanese reference when auditioning and thinking her voice gave her a "hime" vibe. I took that into consideration when discovering my own voice for her.

Thank you so much for all the questions!! I was only planning to hop on for two hours, but I ran late so I wanted to spare some extra time. <3

I'm going to log off now. Please be sure to follow me on Twiter (@anairis_q) if you aren't already! My Hero Academia EP87 airs tonight @ 12AM, and I'm going to be livetweeting with fans and other cast members. If you haven't met Mirko already, you will tonight. :)

Appreciate you all SO much, and please stay safe!!

Would you say that voice acting is harder than regular acting, both in terms of how to best portray the character, and how taxing it can be on your voice?

Hmmm, I think they're difficult in their own ways. There's emphasis in regular acting on body language and facial expression, and learning how to give nuanced performances with that. In voiceover, the emphasis is in your voice--and I've heard of a lot of regular actors struggling to handle the nuance in voiceover because that's not something that's emphasized in their line of work.

I think acting in general is a difficult art form to master, so I can't say either is harder than the other. But voiceover sure isn't a walk in the park like some people think!

Do you feel proud by helping to represent persons of color through anime like Nessa? As you know, most of the characters in the Pokemon anime have lighter skin tones, so characters like Nessa stand out!

Thanks for your work!

Oh, absolutely. Everyone wanted a black female VA for Nessa (& Mirko), including myself, so I completely understood how important it was to be that representation. I am incredibly grateful that I could be them.

How many times were you given a role and thought, "This is basically just me"?

Also, REP PR CHICA!!!!

WEPAAA <3

A few times! When I auditioned for Mai in Asagao Academy, I thought she was fun. But when I recorded the rest of her lines, I realized she was just me, haha.

I always find little things like myself in characters, it's rare that I find characters that feel A LOT like me.

Hi! First I want to say thanks so much for voicing all these characters that I found a new love for! Just a couple of questions(sorry in advance if the AMA follows Family Guy’s Spiderman rules of everyone gets one).

The Naruto franchise is my favorite anime. If you could cast yourself as a character from the franchise to dub for a Naruto Kai situation, who would it be and why? Also I wanted to know, what are your general thoughts on filler; do you hate it with a fiery passion or are you generally okay with them?

Thanks for the chance and I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work despite what some sub elitists on twitter think!

Aww, thank you for loving them! They're all such crazy good characters. <3

Whew, Naruto? That dub is impeccable tbh. But it would be really cool to play Sakura, she has some awesome pop-off moments. Knowing my voice, though, I'd most likely end up playing Temari or Karui.

It really depends on the show! Some shows have such a great cast of characters that you don't mind the filler; it's just more to love. But then there's some shows where I'm not there for the filler, so I watch grumpily because I KNOW if I skip the filler I'll somehow miss some story. Lol

Thanks so much!

Ooo! I think you’d make a great Sakura, maybe even a Tsunade. Your snarky Mirko I would love to see with Tsunade’s bad bitch energy lol. But Temari or Karui would be exciting to hear too! I love both of those characters truthfully.

Yeah I know that hat you’re talking about with the latter part of filler arcs. I watch Boruto after all so I have to pay attention to everything or I’m gonna miss something unfortunately xD. But that’s cool to know you’re down with the filler cause as long as it’s for a character you like. Thanks for answering my questions!

Can’t wait until I hear more of Mirko, as soon as I can get a hold of some of her figurines I gotta get some so if I ever see you I can get you to sign them for me ! ^ _ ^ <3

Tsunade crossed my mind, tbh!! She would definitely be fun, for sure.

I gotta watch Boruto, it's animated so well. But I never finished Naruto too so I gotta do that first!!

Thank you for asking. <3 Haha absolutely, I'd love to!! I'm for sure picking up Mirko merch whenever it drops.

How is the VA union? I remember Jennifer Hale campaigning for more breaks among other things a few years back. Have things improved?

I'm not eligible for union status, so I don't know! I hear the union's been pretty good with its people recently, though.

Thank you kindly. Is it harder to get jobs as a non union member than?

I don't think so! I've heard that there's more non-union work than union. But I've also been unable to audition for union projects because I'm not SAG-eligible, so I guess pros and cons on either side.

How much do you like rabbits?

Also, big fan.

You know, I used to have a pet rabbit when I was little!! Her name was Precious and I loved her so much. :) I love them.

Thank you!

Hey! Congrats on your recent new roles and I'm so excited to hear more from Mirko in MHA S5 & 6, I feel like you're going to crush it! Did the outpouring of excitement and support surprise you when your casting was first announced?

Thank you so much! :)

For Mirko, I sort of expected it because of the show, the character, and the significance behind representative casting, but the fandom still surprised me, haha. I'm really humbled.

Yeah, while S4 casting overall has been pretty fantastic imo, I'm extra happy and excited that a black voice actress was chosen for Mirko. Have an awesome Toonami debut tonight and hopefully the wait for future episodes isn't too long haha!

Yes, Colleen has done such an incredible job with this dub!! It's the only anime I really keep up with these days.

Thank you so much!!

From pcasi_va on twitter:

What're your favorite ways to practice Voice Acting?

What would you recommend for new VAs?

I love to practice by just voicing things. I'll play games like Undertale and Hollow Knight and go hard voice acting them; I always find new fun voices or performances. I also like to observe other performances!!

I recommend finding your passion and basing your foundation in having fun, not in being famous or being in your favorite anime. It's a hard field, and without passion, you're gonna crumble real fast. Other than that, acting classes!! Voiceover classes especially, but acting classes actually have a lot of useful techniques for VO.

What are your favorite videogames at the moment?

Undertale, Nier, Nier Automata, Hollow Knight, FF7, Bloodborne, Iconoclasts, Rule of Rose, The Last of Us, KH2.

There's been a lot of good ones recently, haha. But those ones come to mind immediately to me

Can you tell me some fun facts about yourself?

I write! I actually wrote for some visual novels a few years back. :)

I also REALLY love flower crowns and wanna learn to make some myself.

I've also visited the UK!! I probably would've moved there if I didn't want a career in voiceover.

Who is your favorite MHA character? Regarding Harriet, how did you feel about her villainous role?

Deku without a doubt! I really love him, he's come so far.

Haha, it's been interesting. It's funny, I don't see her as a villain, but I know that's because I've gotten to understand her intimately so I understand that her actions aren't villainous to her. So I guess I'm feeling like she's misunderstood!! Lol

If you were not voicing Mirko, which other character from My Hero Academia would you have preferred to voice and why?

I remember kinda wanting to audition for Eri last year, but I was still new in the industry at the time so I never got the audition.

But, with all of the characters in mind...Toga, I've always wanted to play a yandere type of character! Leah does amazing as her!!

Oh! Another question if that's alright! Did you apply for Miruko (BNHA),Harriett (RWBY) and your other roles or were you contacted by any of their companies?

Yup! I've never been auto-cast for any role. I auditioned for all of them, and the respective directors chose me. The only contacting I got was to audition like everyone else!

Would you ever voice act for video games if ever given the chance? Or do you feel that VA's are different depending on whetever it's an anime or movie or vido game?

Oh for SURE, I honestly love video game work!! I've only done work for SMITE in the industry so far, but I want to get into doing JRPGs and AAA titles.

I think every field is different and some people have strengths in certain fields. I've been told my voice is ideal for commercial work, but it's not where I want to work and it's not where I book most, either. So it's up to the individual VA where they want to focus.

What was your first voice acting role?

In the industry, it was Crested Porcupine in Kemono Friends. Before that, though, I'm not super sure! I was so caught up in the fun at the beginning that I never really took note of my firsts.

Are you a fan of ramen, pho, or any food a lot of people may associate with weeb culture?

Haha, yeah! But I REALLY stan Korean BBQ. I will never turn down an invitation for it!!

From towa_kitsune on twttier:

Do you think Mirko would take any students in as interns other than for the team-up missions? (I was thinking of drawing my oc with Mirko...)

Awww, but teams are for weaklings!! Haha, I think she would ignore any intern applications, honestly--she'd only acknowledge someone who has spunk. I wouldn't be surprised if she took on Bakugo. But she also treasures honesty, so I think Deku could impress her, too.

If you lived in the MHA world, what kind of Quirk would you want?

What about if you lived in Remnant (RWBY’s world)- what Semblance would you want?

Oh gosh, I'm not sure! I think it'd be cool to have a quirk like Night Eye. But knowing me, I'd probably want any quirk that lets me have water abilities. Just let me be a waterbender!!

I think I'd want Blake's, hers is really cool!

I know you've done some podcast work. Which was the most interesting project you've been on so far?

I don't do podcasts very often, but the ones I have done have all been SUPER interesting and fun! I think my favorite one so far was Black Friday. It was a podcast that explored what the world would be like if white people suddenly started turning black. I played the main "antagonist", who was a Newsreader. Getting to do a newsreporter voice AND be a villain was pretty neat.

Are there any characters in the future (anime/western animation) you would like to voice act? And congrats on mirko!

I try not to having any specific aspirations like that since there's so many factors to this work and disappointment/rejection is common! But in general, I'd love to start to voice more cute characters. I've played so many spunky, tomboy types--I wanna go REAL anime!!

In Western animation, I'm honestly not looking for any particular characters. I do want to be apart of well-written shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, though.

were you a fan of the show beforehand? and if so do you read the manga or have you started now because of this role?

I was a fan, since 2016 or early 2017. :) It was such a refreshing show for me back then, and it's the only anime I really keep up with nowadays. I'm terrible at watching on-going anime lol

I only watched the dub and never read the manga, but when I got the audition for Mirko, I read her chapters specifically to understand her character more. I'm keeping up with the latest chapters!

I can't wait to see you in action in the coming seasons! you got some good stuff coming!

I know!! I can't wait <3 thank you!

What do the day-by-day responsibilities of a VA look like?

It varies for every VA, because some of us do it full time and some of us do it part time! For me, it's always been flexible. I have to do lists I work on daily, but I always shift things in my schedule because there's always something going on. A new audition, interview, booking--it's impossible to predict each day.

I'm a workaholic, so I'm always recording, editing, emailing, and organizing my finances and schedule. I also love to interact with fans, so that becomes a part of my day too (though less scheduled and more sporadic.) It's a little chaotic, sometimes too much for me, but I love it haha

Alright, I have a couple of ones I wanted to ask!

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Do you often do impressions of other characters for exercises and such?

What foods can you no longer have (or have very little of) as a result of your voice acting career?

Have you been working from home for any voice roles so far?

Not often! I definitely used to do it more when I started out, but now that I know my voice, I focus on characters in my wheelhouse and then exploring how to use my voice on characters outside of that.

I've never changed my diet for this career! But I do make it a point to avoid dairy and apple juice whenever it's recording day. Anything that builds up phlegm!

I have! I recorded Nessa and Mirko from home, and some other things I can't talk about. It's been interesting.

I have! I recorded Nessa and Mirko from home, and some other things I can't talk about. It's been interesting.

Oh wow, i would have never guessed that! Do you have a janky setup full of blankets to dampen the echos and such?

It is DEFINITELY janky haha! I record out of my closet. It has vinyl mass, foam, rug, and heavy blankets and it's worked pretty well for me. I only wish I had more space to work with, and double walls...and a proper door lol

Dubs or subs?

I honestly like both! I usually lean towards dubs because I like studying other people's work, but I still watch subs tbh

What direction did Colleen give you when you played Mirko?

I'm not at liberty to say, I'm sorry!

I know in a previous interview that you originally studied/ were pursuing a career in physiology but had a change of heart. My question is how were you able to transition from the stability of that career path to professional voice over?

I did! I don't think it was hard fo me because my restlessness in stable jobs was stemming from not being able to pursue VO. It was difficult to deal with the judgment from my family and others, sure, but I felt so much relief at being able to do what I wanted that I made it work. But I've always been really ambitious and stubborn, haha

Favorite hot sauce?

I don't have one :') I'm not too big on spicy, honestly

Who’s your favorite Disney Princess?

Moana! <3

if you could have any quirk in the series, what would it be?

You know I just said Night Eye's, but I'm thinking about Hawks and his is really cool too! Hawks or Tokoyami.

Hello!

I just wanted to say that I seriously LOVE how you/mirko sounds right off the bat. you've got a really cool voice. it's exactly how i imagined her to sound like in my head, and I can't wait to hear more!

so here's my questions, feel free to answer both, one, or neither of them haha;

Are you caught up on the MHA manga? and if so, are you pretty excited to voice all of the crazy stuff going down right now? ;—;

What's your favorite character that you've voiced so far in your career?

thanks! :)

Thank you so much!! I'm glad you like my voice for her. :)

I was watching MHA anime dub only, but I read Mirko's chapters when I got the audition. So I only know what goes down in her chapters! But I am super super excited to voice those scenes, it's going to be so much fun!! I'm excited to see how it looks and sounds production-wise, too.

My favorite character is probably Nessa! I spent a lot of time studying her and she honestly means so much to me.

This is a question i've had for a while but if you do what characters do you ship with the characters you voice? (This is mainly referring to Mirko and Lucinda)

Mirko and Lucinda dating?? That'd be interesting, I never thought about it!!

I don't ship any of my characters together, honestly, but who knows, maybe that'll change haha

do you have any other voice actors that you're friends with or look up to?

I look up to so many!! S/o to Zeno Robinson, though. He's always has my back and I love him so much. <3

I just want to know, if you weren’t doing voice acting, what else would you be doing? By the way, You’re amazing ! 💛

I would probably either be writing, or working in the mental health field still. I really want to be a therapist.

Thank you <3

I've always wondered, after voicing so many distinct characters, does it ever get difficult to switch between them? Like for example, do you ever get in the booth and accidentally give Mirko a "Nessa" voice by accident on the 1st few takes?

No, but I do think overlap happens after awhile. Nessa and Mirko aren't similar personalities so it's easy for me to separate them, but Mirko and Harriet are. But even then, I spend so much time studying each character I voice that their switch is already on by the time we start recording.

Why does it matter if you are black, why put it in the title?

Cuz I am! I take pride in my culture and the significance of being a woman of color in a field where POC are rarely heard.