Matt Lanter is the kind of actor who seems to appear in one hit TV show after another. He's played brief but memorable roles in Big Love, Commander in Chief, Shark, Monk, C.S.I and Grey's Anatomy. In Heroes, he broke Claire Bennett's heart and more than a few bones, as her crush-turned-killer Brody Mitchum. Lanter then showed off his comedy chops in Disaster Movie. Now fans can catch Lanter in The Clone Wars series voicing none other than Anakin Skywalker. StarWars.com chats with Lanter about his work on the new TV series, his preparation for the role, and why he loves working with director Dave Filoni.
How did the role of Anakin Skywalker come to you for The Clone Wars?
The role started out as an everyday audition. My voiceover agent sent me over to the studio where they told me I was auditioning for a new Star Wars cartoon. My character was Deak Starkiller. I tried to do all this research on Deak Starkiller and couldn't find anything. At the audition director Dave Filoni and producer Catherine Winder were there. I got in the booth and they asked for a mix between Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. I gave them what came to me. A couple days later they called and said I got the job as one of the leads in The Clone Wars series as Anakin Skywalker. It was amazing to hear. At first I was so excited and nervous to fill those shoes of the most iconic character in Star Wars.
As a voice actor, how do you prepare for the role of Anakin Skywalker? Did you pay close attention to actor Hayden Christensen's voice from the films, or did you have your own ideas on how Anakin should sound?
I do a combination of both. This Anakin has my own flavor and spin. You can tell that by the way Anakin is acting in the series. He's very positive, fun-loving, heroic, brave, witty and almost comedic sometimes, kind of reminiscent of Han Solo. We haven't seen Anakin like that yet. We're not changing Anakin, we're just adding to him in this point of his life. I know George Lucas and Dave Filoni wanted to tell that story of Anakin before he started that downward spiral. Now that being said, I definitely watched all the Star Wars films and took notes on Hayden's performance. He did something great with that, and he had to for the films. Those films were the story of Anakin sliding to the dark side and it needed to be done. I also watched The Clone Wars micro-series and anything else during my research that I could possibly reference to prepare. So it was a good mix of both. Now after recording episodes from the end of Season 2 I feel as though I have a firm grasp on this Anakin and where we're going with him.
As a voice actor do you feel like you have more freedom than you do with on-camera acting, or is it like comparing oranges and apples?
Voice acting still has the core of acting to it. You are still becoming a character, even if you're not on camera. You have to understand the motivation for saying certain lines and where the character is coming from at that point emotionally. At the same time, it is kind of like apples and oranges. When you do voice-over work, you don't have the pressure about landing on your mark or having your hair fixed or worry about how your body looks at a certain angle. However, sometimes what's nice with on-camera acting is that you have your body to work with. Your body language and facial expressions can help express a character's emotional state. And you don't have that in voice-over acting, so these things have to come through in your voice.
When you're recording your lines with other cast members in the same room, do you often act off of each other so it adds to the flow of the scene?
It's really great to be able to play off the other characters when the other voice actors are there. You have the feeling right in front of you so you don't have to just go off the script alone. Dave always comes in at the beginning and breaks down the script so we know what kind of emotions the characters are going through at that point. Dave is very hands-on with the actors so if we have an idea about how a line should be said, or want to swap around the dialog, he's collaborative with us about our performances.
What is your favorite part of voicing Anakin?
One of my favorite parts of recording Anakin is his witty, sarcastic banter that he has with both Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I really enjoy those witty quips going back and forth between both of them. And it's fun to bounce off of James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan) and Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka).
When you see the finished episodes, how do you feel seeing your voice come out of an animated Anakin?
I am absolutely blown away! We started this process almost two years ago, and every time we got to see a little snippet of a drawing, even if it was something that wasn't colored yet, we were begging to see more. Now that it's out, it's really incredible. This type of animation is so groundbreaking. Even the colors are incredible. And to have it be Star Wars, you can't go wrong.
Have you started collecting the figures of animated Anakin yet?
I do have the very first Anakin figure from this series, and a few from the films.
Now that you're part of the Lucasfilm family, how does it feel to have Star Wars fans come up to you?
That's one of the greatest things about Star Wars is its fan base. To be a part of this whole community that likes to talk about it and have ideas of their own is just fun.
Are there any actors from the Star Wars films that you're anxious to meet?
Actually, I'm flying to Pittsburg soon to shoot the movie Sorority Row, a remake of a horror film from the '80. I'm going to be working with Carrie Fisher who is in the movie as well, so all the Star Wars fans should be looking out for that in '09. I don't know if I have any scenes directly with her, but I hope I do get to see her.
You'll have to let her know that you're related now.
Yes, I can go up to her and say, "I'm your father." [laughs]
