Voicing memorable roles such as Yu Narukami in Persona 4, Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Vash in Trigun, and recently Dante in Devil May Cry, Johnny Yong Bosch has made quite an impact on the voice acting community ever since he began his initially unlikely career.
Bosch was born to a Korean mother and an American father on January 6, 1976. Surprisingly, at first, he wasn’t interested in acting at all. Instead, Bosch found his joy in martial arts, fascinated by icons such as Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. Since he was being bullied due to his Asian heritage, he began to learn martial arts, specifically kung fu, and derived confidence from his new strength.
He first began to look into acting in 1994 when his kung fu teacher mentioned the auditions for Power Rangers, after which he tried out and subsequently became Adam Park, the Black Power Ranger.
However, his first major voice acting role came about when he helped work on a film that had issues with audio production. Consequently, he had to dub over the movie using his own voice, and when the producer heard it, he told Bosch that he had a good “hero voice” and should consider auditioning for an animation. A few weeks later, Bosch landed the role of Vash in Trigun.
From that role onward, Bosch began to develop a passion for voice acting, going on to become a multitude of beloved characters and winning over fans’ hearts with his charming voice. From video games to animated TV series, Bosch has appeared in over 470 productions, forever making his mark upon the voice acting community.
With his numerous distinguished roles and swift rise to fame, it’s almost impossible to tell that he might not have even become a voice actor, had his instructor not informed him of the auditions. Thus, the world is truly lucky to have such a talented Korean-American voice actor to give life to countless characters and inspire young Asian-Americans to take pride in their heritage, despite the discrimination they may face.
Happy AAPI month to all!
