Travis Willingham is an American voice actor known for his character portrayals in video games and English anime dubs. His notable roles include Roy Mustang in the '' Fullmetal Alchemist'' franchise, Cleo in '' Glass Fleet'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Portgas D. Ace in ''

One Piece ''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew, the Straw Hat Pirates, as he explores the Grand Line in search of the myt ...

'', Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka in '' Ouran High School Host Club'', Yu Kanda in '' D. Gray-man'', and Cameron Campbell in '' Camp Camp''. Willingham's video game roles include Guile in the ''

Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...

'' franchise, Knuckles the Echidna in the ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...

'' franchise,

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

in various

Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...

games, and Isaac Frost in Fight Night Champion. He has been a cast member of the web series '' Critical Role'' since 2015, in which he and other voice actors play ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''. He co-founded the production company Critical Role Productions for which he has been

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) since 2019.

Early life

Travis Willingham was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. He has a brother named Carson. He became interested in acting in fifth grade. After sixth grade, he moved from a private school to J.L. Long Middle School. He later graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School, and studied at Texas Christian University.

Career

Willingham learned that the English dub of ''Dragon Ball Z'' was being recorded in Dallas, and asked Laura Bailey, who he knew through their talent agency, to "put in a good word for him". A director there asked him to audition for the part of Roy Mustang in '' Fullmetal Alchemist'', and he received the role. While he described it as "the most intensive, spirit-crushing time ever in voiceover”, it ultimately led to his rise to prominence in the industry. He later reprised the role in '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood''. After moving to Los Angeles, Willingham attempted to pursue a career in acting but fared poorly due to his tall height (6ft 4in). He returned to voice acting at the suggestion of his agent; Willingham had been unaware that so much voice work was recorded in the city. He went on to perform in a number of notable roles including Yu Kanda in '' D.Gray-man'', Cleo in '' Glass Fleet'', Ginko in '' Mushishi'', Portgas D. Ace in the

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

re-dub of ''

'' and Takashi Morinozuka in '' Ouran High School Host Club''. He also voices

in several

projects and King Roland II in Disney Junior's ''

Sofia the First ''Sofia the First'' is an American animated fantasy children's television series created and developed by Craig Gerber (creator), Craig Gerber for Disney Television Animation and Disney Jr. The series follows a young peasant girl named Sofia, ...

''. From 2010 to 2018, he was the voice of Knuckles the Echidna in the ''

'' series. Willingham is also a main cast member of the popular ''

'' web series '' Critical Role'', where he played Grog in the first campaign, Fjord in the second campaign, and a dual role as Sir Bertrand Bell and Chetney Pock O'Pea in the third campaign. ''Critical Role'' was both the Webby Winner and the People's Voice Winner in the "Games (Video Series & Channels)" category at the 2019

Webby Awards The Webby Awards (colloquially referred to as the Webbys) are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over three thousand industry experts a ...

; the show was also both a Finalist and the Audience Honor Winner at the 2019 Shorty Awards. After becoming hugely successful, the ''Critical Role'' cast left the Geek & Sundry network in early 2019 and set up their own production company called Critical Role Productions, for which Willingham is CEO. Soon after, they aimed to raise $750,000 on

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

to create an animated series of their first campaign, but ended up raising over $11 million. In November 2019,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

announced that they had acquired the streaming rights to this animated series, now titled '' The Legend of Vox Machina;'' Willingham reprised his role as Grog.

Personal life

On September 25, 2011, Willingham married voice actress Laura Bailey in Camarillo, California. They currently reside in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and have a son named Ronin (b. 2018). Willingham is a lifelong fan of the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. Noted by some fans for his height of and athletic build, he has participated in some

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

s. Willingham has

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation that are excessive and pervasive, impairing in multiple ...

Filmography

Voice acting

Anime

Animation

Film

Video games

Audio books

Live-action

Film

Television

Web series

References

External links

* * * *
Travis Willingham
at CrystalAcids Voice Actor Database * * – 2018 video interview by '' Critical Role'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Willingham, Travis 1981 births Living people 21st-century American male actors Actual play performers American actors with disabilities American male film actors American male television actors American male video game actors American male voice actors American male web series actors People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Place of birth missing (living people) Texas Christian University alumni Woodrow Wilson High School (Dallas) alumni