X-Men ’97 had original voice actors re-audition to replace their roles.

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Several voice performers from X-Men: The Animated Series return for X-Men ’97, however none were able to avoid the audition process. According to sources, cast members from X-Men ’97 explored auditioning for the revived series. Cal Dodd (Wolverine) and Lenore Zann (Rogue) said that they were not offered the same parts they portrayed in the original series and had to go through routine auditions before being formally cast. Dodd spoke about his astonishment at the scenario they had him read for his comeback as Wolverine, while Zann described the moment she learned she was being asked to read for Rogue. “The scene that they picked for the audition was so obscure,” Dodd told me. “I questioned myself, ‘What do you mean? He doesn’t yell at anybody here, scream, be dumb, or be funny—underhandedly funny? The scenario occurs when Wolverine leaves the X-People and men alike are cheering because Wolverine fishes better than anybody else. The Chief turns to him and says, ‘The people are really pleased, and it’s all because of you. Wolverine said, ‘So do I. I am also delighted. I feel, I’m not sure, at ease. But there’s a sequence that they chose me to perform, and it’s so unlike Wolverine’s voice, which he uses all the time. “I found that interesting.”

After that, Zann talked about how she got back, saying, “I was informed Disney was going to do some new show. They’re searching for you, but they’re not really expressing what it is. Can I give them your number because I know how to get you?” Zann went on, “They were the lines from the original show,” alluding to the passages Meredith Layne, the casting director, had requested she read. “And I thought, ‘Oh! Rogue is here! I’ll simply play Rogue. I completed the task and emailed it out. Three weeks or so later, I received a call stating that, “Yeah, the producers want to meet with you on Zoom.” After that, we got on Zoom and they had me read aloud to Meredith there. When it was all over, they said, “Oh my god, Lenore, we just love you.” Please, could you be in the show? since we truly want you to be a part of the event. I said, “Certainly!” You understood me.” Other cast members, such as Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler, Christopher Britton as Mister Sinister, George Buza as Beast, and Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, have returned to voice their respective parts. Ray Chase and Holly Chou, who play Cyclops and Jubilee, respectively, are new additions to the voice cast. Considering that X-Men ’97 is a continuation of the original series, the two performers discussed what it was like to attempt to somewhat emulate the voices of the original series.

“There is a magical YouTube video called ‘Cyclops Says Jean a Lot,'” stated Chase, sharing a method he used to get ready to replace the late actor Norm Spencer in the part. “All I can hear him saying is, ‘Jean! Jean! Jean! JEAN! JEEEEAN!'” Ross Marquand told me at a convention last week that it’s his go-to method for adopting the Professor X voice. Simply stating “Jean.” That moniker has a way of instantly drawing you into the X-Men universe.” “The trap is to lean too heavily into voice match and then you forget about actually acting,” added Chou, who replaces Alyson Court’s Jubilee voice. Thus, even though it was an audition when you’re trying to sound like Alyson, I didn’t want to just mimic her voices. I simply went back and re-recorded to make sure it sounded authentic, but it also seemed like I was speaking from the heart.”