In the mid-90s, actor Matthew Sussman tested a variety of roles in a small Japanese anime, where he was eventually thrown like a talking cat. That anime would quickly continue to become the highest large media fanchis in the world pokemon.
“I think if I had any idea that it would be more than just a momentary popular thing with children, I would have been completely out of my mind. It didn't even happen to me, Sussman tells me. “The fact that it has lasted as long as it lasted at the level it has is beyond what I would ever have expected. The only thing I can do at this time is to have gratitude and joy that I get to meet people for whom it has made so much sense. “
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Busy signing cards and took pictures with fans on the last London card show, I took 30 minutes with the actor to discuss how he got the role, how it was like working with such a massive franchise and how he came with Meowth's legendary voice.
The early days of Pokémon and conceptualization of Meowth
“It was great fun,” recalls Sussman. “It's been a long time ago now, so my memories are delighted but maybe not as crystal as they may have been at once. I remember that I started it very well, audition for it and to get involved. The people were big. No one knew at that time that we would be such a great phenomenon, and really not for decades, so we just had a lot of fun with it. “
There is a reason why Sussman remembers the audition phase so well: he audition not just for the role of Meowth, but a number of other characters.
“I read too many different parts,” says Sussman. “I think I read for practically every male voice. And we didn't have video. We had binders full of pictures of the characters and small descriptions of how they did, how they were. So you would try to set your vote for the recording to test for the audition, and it would be different for each image. “
It was during the audition period that Sussman's iconic Meowth was born, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“I'll try something a little crazy. And if you hate it, just tell me, I'll change it to something else.
“I have to take full credit for Meowth's voice,” he tells me. “I see this character, and it is described as part of a group that is the antagonists, but they are harmless. And this character thinks he's a tough guy, but he's just this little cat. He is very disgusting but in a nice way, charming way.
“So I just came up with an idea in my head. I was like, “Okay, he thinks he's tough, so he may be like one of these old gangers characters from the old films.” And then I thought, “okay, but he is also a nerd and easily bullied.” I then thought of the comic actor Jerry Lewis, who always had this infantile voice, and I mixed the two. I had a few lines to work with and I tested it. “
After hashled out ideas in the head, it was Sussman's turn to go into the reading room.
“I went in to read for the producer, and I said, 'I will try something a little crazy. And if you hate it, just tell me, I will change it to something else, ”recalls Sussman. Thankfully they didn't hate it, and Meowth's voice was born.
It was not until after he got the part that Sussman realized that he would express the only talk of Pokémon in the show at that point.
“Really, for a while, I didn't even realize that Meowth was the only Pokémon spoken,” he says. “And then it became clear when we did it, especially when they integrated it into the story. But it's fun because I had to make many crazy lines, and then everyone else just got stuck with making their little sounds. “
Sussman's departure from the show
Matthew Sussman signs autographs at the London Card Show
Although he has been credited to create one of Pokemon's most iconic voices, Sussman was only part of the show for a total of 37 episodes, something he says was “The nature of the business.”
“I was a stage actor and a movie actor,” Sussman tells me. “And then this came about the circumstances. I really liked it, and of course I would have loved to have stayed, but I got some in a game that I couldn't reject. It was a really good stage opportunity. But that meant I had to go to Chicago for three months. “
At the age of today, this would not necessarily have been the death, but things were different in 1998.
“On these days, it would have been a very large budgeted thing to do a remote play session. It wasn't like now with the internet, he says. “So they told me: 'We have to let someone else fill in for you during the months you are outside the city.'
Originally, Sussman only foreseen that his departure would be temporary, but as it is with show business, that was not the case.
“I then came back, and the producers said: 'You know, we love you. We want you to do other things, but we do not want to change back again because now the other person makes the voice. And we do not want to confuse the children, “” he says, “Although the truth is said, the other actor was instructed to follow a template that was kind of based on my creation. So I thought it was a bit of an apology not just to care about changing again. That being said, it is nature to be an actor. “
Sussman returned to the show in a variety of minor roles, including expressing sowing in Pokémon: the movie 2000, but he could never return to express his beloved Meowth.
Sussman's impact on the world
After his role in the Pokemon movie, Sussman left the Pokemon scene behind and returned only for his first congressional look last year. Despite this, the queues for signatures at Sussman's table at the London Card Show spinced regularly throughout the show floor with the actor who signed Pokemon cards for a large number of fans.
“I say this with great sincerity,” he tells me. “When people tell me that this was a big part of their childhood or I brought them so much happiness, I am flattered. I am really grateful for the appreciation. It's a bit of that feeling of “wow, something I did when I was a much younger man has been to other people”. “
If anyone wants an autograph of some kind, I just love to take a photograph with them and send them with some extra souvenir.
It is clear early on that Sussman was humble by his success, and this was enclosed by the fact that he did not charge anyone who came to meet him for a photograph.
“If anyone wants an autograph of some kind, I just love to take a photograph with them and send them with some extra souvenir. It is literally the least I can do to say thank you back. If you come out and spend some money and come to say hello, it is actually humble. “
I ask Sussman if he was ever gifted something memorable from 4kids or Pokemon during his time to work with them. He shares that while he has a few pieces of goods, it was actually a gift from a fan that reasoned with him the most.
“It was the first convention I had done last year. It was a ten-year-old girl who came up to the table with her dad, and she introduced me a meowth drawing she had done. I asked her if she wanted me to sign it, and she said, 'No, it's for you. It's a gift, I did it for you. '
“It was the first paragraph of fank art that someone gave me as a gift, and it came from this adorable child who was obviously part of a new generation of Pokemon fans. She was just so cute, and it was so wonderful. I have it in its own protective sleeve in my office at home, right in front of my desk. I always see it, and it always gives a smile in my face because it was the first. “
