"I actually have some good news for you then. Dream Vision is recruiting voice actors." The director told him.
He thought for a quick second about Dream Vision.
“Isn’t Dream Vision a movie-making studio? Why would they recruit voice actors?” The guy questioned wanting to know why a popular Hollywood studio was suddenly branching out into animation.
“Well, It is a known fact that Dream Vision bought an animation studio and is now planning to start a superhero show based on the Marvel comics they bought. Right now, as far as I know, they are in search of someone to voice over Spider-man, who's also going to be the main character. So, they are holding an audition."
An ‘Oh’ left his mouth listening to the director’s words.
“Yeah well, I don’t know if you read comics, but you should if you are going to audition. And trust me on this, you don’t wanna miss this opportunity, not like you have anything to lose here,”
The director tried to encourage him. From what he had seen of the guy, he was very hardworking but was unlucky at the same time.
Even with good talent, he was still only at the level of a small-time voice actor.
“But isn’t Dream Vision huge, they could easily afford top voice-actors. Why are they even holding auditions?”
A wave of questions flooded his mind.
“Apparently, they need a voice to suit Spider-man, so they are doing everything to get the best one. You know, the best part is that Will Evans would be there for the final round of the auditions. You must know that he gives chances if he feels like someone has the potential regardless of their rankings, so you should totally give it a try,”
The guy nodded, realising the opportunity behind the director’s words. “Yeah, I will give it a try for sure, thanks,” He said and smiled.
***
During the meeting, Will explained the general theme of Ultimate Spider-man, and also instructed the writers on how the first few episodes will go through. He also made sure to explain how Spider-man will repeatedly break the fourth wall and other stuff.
That was a major part of the original show, so he wanted to maintain it.
After gathering all the necessary details and clearing their doubts, Pixar studio and Marvel comics had already started their work. Every employee was equally excited as it would be their very first big project. Big enough to leave a huge impact for decades if they do it right.
Since Will had enough money; the budget was not a problem for him. In fact, due to all the projects he did and all the profits he earned, he was not going to cut off any budget but invest as much as possible for every project that was currently ongoing.
Moreover, since DTA had hit it high already and was finally star-studded with a lot of good actors and actresses, they were continuously getting a big amount due to all the advertisements and other movie projects.
Therefore, it was finally becoming a successful venture.
With the [Ultimate Spider-man] series work starting, Will only has time to participate in the final round of the audition. It was mainly because he felt the importance of it. The voice actors that they hire can be used effectively in his future projects too, such as in future spiderman games and other animated shows he was planning.
-
[July 8th, 2012]
Will was finally in New York City; the City that Never Sleeps. He was there to start the rest of the pre-production of [Friends].
The reason to choose New York City was that Will felt that it would be the perfect place to shoot the scenes. In Will’s eyes, [Friends] would be able to sync perfectly with NYC.
Dream Vision has already started working on everything that needs to be done under the supervision of Susan. In fact, Susan was handling almost everything in New York and had even rented a small apartment here to work.
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From the set to how the live studio audience would work, Susan was handling all of them because Will wanted to start shooting as soon as possible.
Apart from starting to shoot, Will had this urge to get to know the actors better. [Friends] basically would be nothing if not for the bond that the actors possessed. Will would be utterly unsuccessful if he didn’t know who the actors are personally and if they didn’t sync that well.
The entire theme of [Friends] was based around the interior bond and Will wanted to recreate it perfectly, if not better than the original.
Wanting to get to know the actors personally, Will invited them to a friendly meeting in one of the most famous restaurants in New York City. It was known as ‘Dungeon of Skyrim’. For some reason, even the name was funny when Will initially booked it by himself.
It reminded him of a past video game.
“Oh hey, nice name for a nice restaurant,” Matthew Perry was a bit late to the meeting while others were already laughing at how Will shared his first experience in finding Leo.
“Good to see you, and now that we all are here,” Will cleared his throat. “Let’s start with [Friends], shall we?”
Everyone nodded and passed a ‘yeah’ and some more little responses. Ever since they got here, the environment has been pretty nervous and tense. But with time, Will started to talk and some others joined sharing stories and experiences in Hollywood. Everyone was in fact trying to impress Will.
Will at first was skeptical about Eric Dant who was the actor he chose for Ross Geller because he acted very distant even when Patricia Miller, who was chosen as Phoebe, cracked a joke about how she got here after having a huge fight with her roommate who was also her sister.
But then, Eric shared how his co-actor in a previous movie had annoyed him to death, while at times when they had to share a room.
Apart from Eric and Patricia, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry. Shannon Miller and Zachary Huff were seated. The environment got a bit tense but Will thought it would be for the better until they got a clear idea about what [Friends] was.
“Okay, I would start off by introducing who is who. I know that all of you are nervous as heck, I can feel it here with all the gazes, but don’t be. I will help because I will be directing the first few episodes,” Everyone nodded. “Back to the story, let’s start with our Chandler, Matthew Perry,”
Matthew smiled.
“So, Chandler; Chandler Bing. In simple terms, the sarcastic king. In the group, he can usually be the first one to point out the elephant in the room with a sarcastic remark, regardless of whether it is appropriate or not. He gets the most zingers because the jokes are his way of coping with problems, keeping the upper hand, and just simply going through everyday motions. Chandler’s quick wit is his defining trait,” Will said.
Even though the actors had read the script, they still listened to Will as he was the writer of the show.
“Moving onto… Joey Tribbiani. And basically, he is somewhat like a child, in personality. He’s always open to all kinds of ideas to have fun, like building a fort, sticking his head in a turkey, and so on. Joey's emotions regularly get the better of him, which sometimes leads to very poor decisions. As for his job, he is the guy who’s going through life as a struggling actor in New York, without a stable income or a plan B. He's basically the real-life example of YOLO.”
Zacchary Huff laughed along with others listening to Will’s opinion on Joey.
“I can be that,” Zacchary commented.
“Next we have the last male, Ross Geller. Eric Dant, I’m sure you can somewhat relate to him. He is basically the only introvert among the six friends. Rather than deriving energy from group activities, introverts need some alone time. Ross seems rather shy and reserved. He feels fulfilled when he’s engaging in intellectual activities, namely thinking and talking about dinosaurs. Ross is all about facts and will go to extreme lengths to prove his way is the right way,” Will said looking straight into Eric’s eyes.
“Phoebe Buffay. Phoebe is a singer/songwriter, a masseuse, can speak fluent French and some Italian, and has shown a keen interest in animal rights, environmental rights, spirituality, and has displayed all sorts of other unusual talents that you will discover as the show goes on. She basically has an uncanny ability to craft engaging stories, and what do you know Phoebe has told some of the most imaginative and at times outrageous stories on the show,” Patricia listened to the whole explanation with her full focus.
“And, for last we have Monica Geller, twin-sister of Ross. Monica Geller is pretty interesting. She is extroverted, sensing, feeling, and judging. Monica basically loves spending time with others, often obsesses over details, makes decisions based on feelings and personal values, and must have everything organized and planned out. She is someone who obsesses over seemingly insignificant details, like which way the tag on the duvet is facing. That must explain a lot, right?” Will said and chuckled.
“Rachel Green, basically a rich girl. She is another interesting being. Monica and Rachel are much more alike than they may seem at first glance. Like her friend and roommate, Rachel too enjoys spending time with others. She prefers to rely on facts and makes decisions based on feelings and values rather than logic. In the first season, she's just trying to learn more about being independent.” Will finished explaining about everyone and the actors could not help but think they were two different characters.
In the end, he tried to explain what the soul of the show was.
“[Friends] is like real life, but a little bit better. What you guys feel now, is what the fans want to feel once they get to the core of the characters; who have relatable problems with dating, looking for work, and struggling with their parents, but everything is fine and everything works out. The best part is how it's not just Americans who can relate. All-in-all, YOU. Whoever your character is, you need to be them throughout the entire series.” Will completed his explanation giving them the core advice of how they should do a fair play for the role they take part.
After all, the characters of [Friends] were not just characters. Will needed them to understand that.