Yuri Lowenthal (born March 5, 1971)Birthday references: * * * is an American voice actor, producer and screenwriter known chiefly for his work in cartoons, anime and video games. Some of his prominent roles in animations and anime include

Sasuke Uchiha () is a fictional character in the ''Naruto'' manga and anime franchise created by Masashi Kishimoto. Sasuke belongs to the Uchiha clan, a notorious ninja family, and one of the most powerful, allied with . Most of its members were massacred ...

in ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'', teenage Ben Tennyson in ''

Ben 10 ''Ben 10'' is an American media franchise created by Man of Action Studios, produced by Cartoon Network Studios and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The series centers on a boy named Ben Tennyson who acquires the Omnitrix, an alien device resem ...

'', Jinnosuke in '' Afro Samurai'', Simon in ''

Gurren Lagann ''Gurren Lagann'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese mecha anime television series animated by Gainax and co-produced by Aniplex and Konami. It ran for 27 episodes on TV Tokyo between April and September 2007. It was directed by Hiroyu ...

'' and Suzaku Kururugi in ''

Code Geass , often referred to simply as ''Code Geass'', is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It was directed by Gorō Taniguchi and written by Ichirō Ōkouchi, with original character designs by Clamp. Set ...

''. In video games, he voices

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', ...

's '' Prince of Persia'', Hayate/Ein in '' Dead or Alive'', Matt Miller in '' Saints Row: The Third'' and '' Saints Row IV'', and Peter Parker / Spider-Man in various video games associated with the character, notably the incarnation featured in the '' Marvel's Spider-Man'' series by

Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is m ...

. He has a production company, Monkey Kingdom Productions, with his wife,

Tara Platt Tara Platt (born June 18, 1978) is an American actress and author who has provided voices for dozens of English-language versions of Japanese anime films, television series and video games. Her notable roles in anime include Temari in ''Naruto' ...

, where they have produced several feature films and a live-action web series called ''Shelf Life''. He co-authored the book ''Voice-Over Voice Actor''.

Early life and education

Lowenthal was born in Alliance, Ohio and raised in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, later moving to

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

. His father worked for the

United States Agency for International Development The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. With a budget of over $27 b ...

and he spent two years in

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languages He did not do much acting until the end of high school when he tried out for drama class in his senior year, but it was enough to get him interested in acting. His early exposure to anime was from shows such as ''

Speed Racer ''Speed Racer'', also known as , is a Japanese media franchise about Auto racing, automobile racing. ''Mach GoGoGo'' was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 ''Shōnen Book''. It was released in tankōbon book form by Sun W ...

'', '' Star Blazers'', and '' Battle of the Planets''. At

The College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William I ...

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

, he took classes in theatre but majored in East Asian studies where in his third year, he studied abroad in

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...

, Japan. He also participated in the school's gymnastics program and ROTC. After graduating in 1993, he joined the

Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme The , or , is a Japanese government initiative that brings college (university) graduates—mostly native speakers of English—to Japan as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) and Sports Education Advisors (SEAs) in Japanese kindergartens, elemen ...

(JET) where he served as a Coordinator of International Relations, helping out foreign English teachers in

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the north ...

. While at JET, he continued to participate in theatre and acting. After two years there, he still wanted to try acting full-time, and moved to New York City and participated in theatre in shows that were off-off-Broadway. He spent six years in New York doing theatre and indie films.

Voice-over career

Lowenthal moved to Los Angeles and worked in live-action and theatre roles. To supplement his on-camera work, he and his wife

took a voice-over class that was taught by Rick Zieff. Zieff later happened to be directing the English dub for an anime show called ''

SD Gundam Force , is a 2003 Japanese-American anime television series produced by Sunrise. The series was released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Gundam media franchise, and was the first Gundam series to be entirely animated in cel-shaded 3D computer ...

''; he got his first ever anime dub role there and soon tried out for other anime roles as well as other voice-over work in animation, commercials, and video games. Lowenthal recalled that his first voice appearance in a video game might have also been for ''SD Gundam Force''. Lowenthal's first major role in video game voice-overs was as

the Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

's '' Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time''. In an interview with ''Critical Gamer'', he describes that role as "a very lucky break for me, because it ended up being a super game. We audition all the time for all different kinds of projects, and video games are one part of that, a part that I love." He said that " e feltthat ein a way originated that role". Lowenthal did not return to voice the Prince in ''Warrior Within'', being replaced by Robin Atkin Downes. Lowenthal felt that this was a conscious decision by Ubisoft to fit in with the game's overall tonal shift and thought it was the right decision. For ''The Two Thrones'', he returned to play the role, as fans had stated their preference for his portrayal of the character. The Prince became one of Lowenthal's favorite roles, and he was pleased to return to the role for ''The Forgotten Sands''. According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future games from both fans and staff, as he needed to remain true to and improve on his original portrayal. This ultimately gave him little creative freedom with the character after ''The Sands of Time''. For the reboots following the live-action films, the staff wanted a different portrayal of the Prince to Lowenthal's, and so recast the role. Lowenthal continued voicing in other anime shows, including the lead character Haru Glory in ''

Rave Master ''Rave Master'', titled just ''Rave'' and, alternatively, ''The Groove Adventure Rave'' in Japan, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The series follows Haru Glory, a teenager on a quest to find the five fra ...

'', which had a run on Cartoon Network's

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

line up. He also voiced a character in '' Zatch Bell!'' which had a notable run on Cartoon Network. He starred in a number of anime shows such as: ''

Girls Bravo is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mario Kaneda and serialized from 2000 to 2005 in '' Shōnen Ace'' by Kadokawa Shoten. The story focuses on a high school boy who is allergic to girls who is transported to a mysterious w ...

'' where he played Yukinari, ''

Scrapped Princess is a Japanese light novel series by Ichiro Sakaki and illustrated by Yukinobu Azumi, also known as the popular adult dōjin artist Nakayohi Mogudan. In 2003, it was adapted into an anime series produced by Bones. ''Scrapped Princess'' i ...

'' where he voiced Leo Skorpus, ''

Kyo Kara Maoh is a series of Japanese light novels written by Tomo Takabayashi and illustrated by Temari Matsumoto. The story follows the adventures of Yuri Shibuya, an average 15-year-old Japanese high school student, who is suddenly transported to ...

'', where he voiced Yuuri Shibuya, and '' Saiyuki Reload'' where he voiced Son Goku. When he auditioned for ''

'', which was being directed by the same person who did ''Rave Master'', he had tried out for multiple roles including

and Iruka, and got a call back for Sasuke. In an interview with Silionera, Lowenthal said that "It certainly allows me to go to some dark places as the series continues. And it makes Sasuke that much more interesting as a character. And that much more fun to play." The ''Naruto'' anime became one of the more popular anime shows in the U.S., and its sequel ''Naruto Shippuden'' has also aired on Adult Swim. Yuri Lowenthal by Gage Skidmore

In 2007, Lowenthal was cast as Jinnosuke, aka "Kuma", a teddy-bear-headed warrior, in the anime feature '' Afro Samurai'' which starred

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

as the title character. In an interview with Eastern Kicks, Lowenthal said that what he liked about Jinno was that he "starts off as one guy and ends up in a very different, very very dark place. Plus I got to kick Sam Jackson's ass. And they keep bringing him back from the dead for me to play again. And he's a twin-sword-wielding insane cyborg death machine with a giant teddy bear head. What's not to like?" He also said that they recorded the voicing for ''Afro Samurai'' separately so he did not get to meet Jackson personally until a release party for the related video game years later. Luke Carroll of Anime News Network described Lowenthal's voicing as a "good performance" but "not enough to make it more than an average dub at best". Dennis Amith of J-ENT! thought the voice acting was well done. Lowenthal would reprise the role in the 2009 feature '' Afro Samurai: Resurrection''. Steve Fritz of

Newsarama Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews, and essays about the American comic book industry. It is owned by Future US. In June 2020, Newsarama was merged with the website GamesRadar+, also owned by FutureUS. History ...

wrote "The action sequencing is still top notch, and the vocal performances from Jackson, ucyLiu, Lowenthal and company is on the money." Other lead roles in anime include Suzaku Kururugi in ''

'', which ran on Adult Swim, and

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

in ''

'', which ran on Toonami. In 2006, Lowenthal landed the role of Superman in the cartoon series '' Legion of Superheroes''. In the show, Superman travels to the 31st century to help superheroes battle against the Fatal Five villains. In an interview with ''

The Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th large ...

'', Lowenthal recalled that he read for Lightning Lad and Brainiac 5 in the original audition, and was called back to do Superman. During the callback, he had begun reading for Superman and Brainiac 5 when the producers stopped him. He was later informed that he got the main role, and they did not need to hear more of him on other parts. In 2008, Lowenthal provided the voice of 15-year-old Ben Tennyson in '' Ben 10: Alien Force''. Set five years after the

original series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

, the premiere of ''Alien Force'' set ratings records for Cartoon Network in its key demographics. In portraying Ben, Lowenthal was given guidance by series director

Glen Murakami Glen Murakami is an American animator, director and producer best known for his work on '' Batman Beyond'', ''Teen Titans'', '' Teen Titans Go!'', '' Ben 10: Alien Force'' and '' Ben 10: Ultimate Alien''. Murakami co-created, produced, and develop ...

who he had worked with on '' Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo''. Early on in the show, Murakami told Lowenthal to portray Ben as less of a wisecrack than his 10-year-old persona, and did not want Ben to "veer into the whining, Luke Skywalker". The show was renewed for a second season, and would be followed by '' Ben 10: Ultimate Alien'' which ran from 2010–2012, and '' Ben 10: Omniverse'' which ran from 2012–2014. In ''Omniverse'', Ben's age was bumped up to 16 years old. Lowenthal said that he did not realize how popular the show was outside North America until he went to Australia, England and Ireland, and saw kids wearing ''Ben 10'' merchandise. He also said that at comic conventions, he was able to walk the halls unbothered until the ''Ben 10'' panel, after which he was "outed". Lowenthal has also been involved in ''

The Swan Princess ''The Swan Princess'' is a 1994 American animated fantasy film based on the ballet ''Swan Lake''. Featuring Michelle Nicastro, Howard McGillin, Jack Palance, John Cleese, Steven Wright, Sandy Duncan, and Steve Vinovich, the film is directed by ...

'' direct-to-video series starting in 2012 with '' The Swan Princess Christmas'' where he was the voice of Prince Derek, and then in 2014 with '' The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale'' and in 2016 for '' The Swan Princess: Princess Tomorrow, Pirate Today'' where he reprised the main role. Of these videos, he also served as the screenwriter on ''Christmas'' and ''Royal Family Tale''. Lowenthal provided the voice for the protagonist in ''

Persona 3 released outside Japan as ''Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3'', is a 2006 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Persona'' series, which is part of the larger ''Megami Tensei'' franchise. Atlus orig ...

'' and Yosuke Hanamura for '' Persona 4''. He also provides the voice of Cecil Harvey in the Nintendo DS remake of ''

Final Fantasy IV known as ''Final Fantasy II'' for its initial North American release, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1991, it is the fourth main insta ...

'', and again in '' Dissidia: Final Fantasy'' on the PSP. In the '' Dead or Alive'' series, he voices Hayate / Ein. He voices Matt Miller, the leader of the Decker gang in '' Saints Row: The Third''; and in its sequel. He voiced and provided the motion-capture performance for Spider-Man/Peter Parker in Sony's'' Spider-Man'' (2018) for the PS4 and reprised the role in '' Spider-Man: Miles Morales'' (2020), he had previously voiced Spider-Man in the mobile version of '' The Amazing Spider-Man 2'' video game. Kirk McKeand of

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EG ...

described Lowenthal as "the man you've killed the most" for his participation in over 200 video games.

Acting and production career

Lowenthal has been involved in several live-action projects with his company Monkey Kingdom Productions with wife Tara Platt. In 2008, they produced ''Con Artists'', a

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

that chronicles some of their convention visits. They produced a psychological thriller film called ''Tumbling After'' which garnered an Award of Merit at the Accolade Film Festival. In 2011, Lowenthal and Platt produced ''Shelf Life'', a web series where they act as action figures in a ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''-like environment, but with more adult humor. Lowenthal said in an interview that he wanted to make a show for nerds: "I wanted to make the kind of thing that my friends and I would watch. It's got the four S's: Sex, Social commentary, Slapstick and Superheroes." In 2014, they produced a short steampunk-themed film called ''Topsy McGee vs. the Sky Pirates'' which was an official selection at the New York City International Film Festival. and was a finalist at the Dragon Con Independent Short Film Festival in the steampunk category. In 2010, Lowenthal starred as the title character in '' Van Von Hunter'', a live-action mockumentary co-directed by

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed ...

founder Stuart Levy, based on the comics of the same name. In the film, he plays a sword-swinging barbarian from a fantasy world who is thrown into Earth and is cast in a sword and sorcery movie. The film was featured in several

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending upo ...

s, and was an official selection at Fantasia Film Festival and a special audience award at MockFest 2010. Lowenthal won an award for best character at MockFest as well. He co-wrote the screenplay for '' The Arcadian'', a film by Dekker Dreyer that was inspired by underground science fiction comics of the 1970s and 1980s. In 2015, he joined

Wil Wheaton Richard William Wheaton III (born July 29, 1972) is an American actor. He portrayed Wesley Crusher on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'', Gordie Lachance in the film '' Stand by Me'', Joey Trotta in '' Toy Soldiers'', ...

's web series ''Titansgrave'' as a starring cast member which he role-plays a character named S'Lethkk. The series is broadcast by Geek & Sundry. In 2016, he starred as Glenn Lauder in the Keith Arem-produced film ''

The Phoenix Incident ''The Phoenix Incident'' is a 2015 American science fiction horror film written and directed by first time director Keith Arem, and starring Yuri Lowenthal, Troy Baker, Liam O'Brien, Michael Adamthwaite, Jamie Tisdale and Brian Bloom. Present ...

'', about four guys who were trying to follow the Phoenix lights UFO sighting and end up being attacked by the aliens. The film received awards and nominations at film festivals. He is slated to participate in an independent film called ''Any Bullet Will Do'' which stars Mark Ryan and was filmed in Montana. He and Platt co-authored the book ''Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic'', released in 2010. He also co-authored the comedy-noir novella ''Tough City'' with Keith Ikeda-Barry as part of a 72-hour novel writing contest. It was released in 2013. In 2016, he released the novella as a weekly podcast series.

Personal life

Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt (29406492152)

Lowenthal met actress

on an NYU grad film where they played opposite each other in a romantic comedy film called ''Model Chaser''. Six months into their relationship, Lowenthal helped Platt do a cross-country move to Los Angeles so that Platt could participate in auditions there for new TV shows. He had originally planned to fly back after the move, but midway through the trip he proposed to her in

Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, Ohio, United States, located southwest of Toledo. The population was 30,028 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Toledo Metropolitan Area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan ...

, and they married in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in 2001. They founded a company called Monkey Kingdom Productions in 2004. Their son was born in 2016. When asked about his ethnic background, Lowenthal has tweeted that he is a "Tennessee Jew", and has mentioned being

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

on various media.

Filmography

Books

* ** *

Notes

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowenthal, Yuri 1971 births Living people American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American male web series actors College of William & Mary alumni Foreign educators in Japan Jewish American male actors Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from Nashville, Tennessee Male actors from Ohio People from Alliance, Ohio Screenwriters from California Web series producers 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors