Adelaide
November 2-3, 2024
Adelaide Showground
When Supa-Star Shannon McCormick (RWBY, Red vs Blue, GetBackers) was cast as the voice of Agent Washington in the four-episode Red vs Blue mini-series Recovery One, he thought it was a “one and done” situation, especially when Washington appeared to be dead at the series’ end. Imagine his surprise to then have the show (and his role) go on to be a 17-season hit!
“To have that turn into 12 years of working with this company was pretty wild,” McCormick tells Supanova.
Surprisingly, though, the actor’s favourite voice role is not Agent Washington, but the hook-handed Quartermaster he plays in Camp Camp.
“I just love doing that voice. It’s deep, it’s not an artistically sophisticated role, but I have a blast playing that character. I really love the times when I get to go in and voice him,” he says.
“I basically just stay in character until the end of the recording session. Partly because it’s a lot of fun, but partly because I may come up with something they wanna use, so I just kind of stay in character and try to crack up the guys that are doing the recording.”
One thing that’s clear throughout all of his roles is McCormick’s appreciation for the opportunities he’s had, both as a voice actor and on camera, although he’s quick to point out the differences between the two.
“When you’re doing on-camera acting, it’s very demanding on a bunch of levels; you’re on set for 12 hours, it can take a lot out of you physically,” he tells. “Whereas voice acting is… it’s hard to do well, but easy from a commitment point of view. It’s very enticing, it’s a very fun way to do acting, as it doesn’t take quite the toll on you that physical acting does.”
“I’m happy I’ve had chances in my career to do both because they’re both really exciting and bring a lot of rewards.”
His luck has also presented him with a variety of roles, with series like RWBY providing endless opportunities to show the world his versatility.
“I’m grateful to just be able to do all kinds of work. I don’t mind doing serious because I come from a varied background, I’m not just a comedy performer. I like doing a bit of both.”
In the long term, though, he has yet another goal in his sights.
“I’m slowly trying to work my way into something of a writing career. I’ve got a TV series that I wrote the pilot for myself that’s in a contest here in the United States, that’s doing pretty well,” he reveals.
“My longer-term goals are to work more on production and the writing side. I mean, I love performing, but it’s not something I can always count on being there. I think the more variety of ways I can be involved in the production of entertainment, the better. And you know, it’s such a great time to be making content, you know streaming platforms in the States and different avenues for getting your content seen, I’m really excited to give it a go myself.”
“It was unheard of, watching entertainment on your computer. Now, it’s people watching entire movies on their phones. It’s just amazing.”
Shannon McCormick will appear at Supanova Comic Con & Gaming Sydney (21–23 June) and Perth (29-30 June).
