Cal Dodd he was the voice actor of Wolverine in the X-Men Animated Series that ran from 1992-1997. I was able to interview him at this years Los Angeles Comic Con and Dodd goes into some of the details of his personal experiences with the character and how playing this role forever changed his life.
When he had first came to audition for the character he and his collages had little to no clue on who the X-Men where at all. Going into the audition blind they asked him to read a simple line that being “You like picking on people smaller than you? Well I’m smaller then you pick on me!” Codd then goes on to say it didn’t take long for the studio to realize that he was the one they needed. And finding someone to be Wolverine wasn’t easy because they knew it had to be someone special.
Dodd didn’t really feel the need to read any of the comic books regarding Wolverine at all. Even though his wife had bought some for him he wanted to do his own take on him because of the connection he felt with him. “I discovered this wonderful character Wolverine I feel in love with him and he was like my brother for five years.” said Dodd. He then goes on to explain about not reading the comics. “I never read them. No I was doing them. I was doing his voice and the animated series.” He knew the character was in good hands because he trusted the team around him on where to take wolverine.
Dodd can never get enough of is the love he gets from all the fans. Voicing such an iconic character set the bar pretty high on how he should sound like. And one thing he gets more than often is how they hear his voice when reading anything Wolverine says. “Whenever they read the comic they hear my voice in their heads.” He then goes on to say “It’s a great compliment.” He’s even aware of how many of the newer voice actors that have gone after him try their best to come as close to his wolverine as they possibly can.
Dodd tells us about his interactions with Hugh Jackman when they had met in Canada while shooting the first X-men film. They had met at a function and Jackman told Dodd. “It’s nice to meet ya mate. But I got to tell ya I’m sick and tired of listening to ya voice.” Dodd goes on to explain he said that jokingly because they used his voice all the time as a reference. He then goes on to say that he couldn’t watch the film because of the height gap between Hugh and the actual Wolverine height. But still feels like he did his character justice.
He then goes into explaining how different the work environment was when he was working on a video game as opposed to the show. “Totally different it’s very dry.” He further explains how awkward it was to just do battle cries, as opposed to actually having something to say in a game.
Even till this day he’s still in shock that he was able to voice wolverine. “I’ve purchased all 5 years on DVD and blows me away still it was such a great animated series.” He goes on to say he finds it hard to call it a cartoon because it sells the show short because of all the heavy topics they dealt with. And prefers it as the animated series. Because of the serious topics that were dealt with.
Dodd goes on to share one of the most memorable events he had ever had with a fan. A father and daughter had approached them and they both were autistic. They had talked about their love for the show and how it helped them get through life. At the end of the father had shook his hand and walked away. His wife had went to approach Dodd and explained that the he had not touch another person since they’ve been married. And explained how much Dodd meant to her husband. “That kind of stuff happens all the time and it makes my heart huge.” said Dodd.
He wants the fans to know that he loves them and misses voicing wolverine.
