This months spotlight is on voice actor JB Blanc. JB was born in Paris, France to an English mother and a French father. He moved with his mother to Yorkshire, England at the age of four, where he was raised and attended school, eventually graduating from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1990.
He worked extensively in theatre in Britain for over 15 years, including a three-year stint at London’s Royal National Theatre. His theatre work encompassed everything from avant-garde physical theater companies to world tours of Shakespeare plays and classical Greek tragedy.
His film career was essentially launched by his highly acclaimed role as Luigi Vampa in 2002′s The Count of Monte Cristo, and following that success, he moved to Los Angeles where he now lives. Film and TV roles soon followed on productions such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Cross, Tristan and Isolde, Garfield, Biohazard, NYPD Blue, Prison Break, CSI: NY, The Company and The Unit. In 2006, he made his US theatre debut in iwitness at The Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles.
JB is also a highly accomplished voice actor with projects in film, animation, video games and commercials. He plays several major characters in the forthcoming Marvel/BET production, The Black Panther and is a regular on Naruto and Bleach. Recent video game work includes Alighieri in Dante’s Inferno for EA, Darksiders: Wrath of War, World of Warcraft, Red Faction Guerilla, Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Symphonia, Arcania, Silent Hill, Coraline (in which he voice-matched Ian McShane), Wanted: Weapons of Fate and many others. He has also been a dialect and acting coach for several years, is resident Dialect Coach at The Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles and has worked on productions in the UK and the US , including more recently, The Informers and The History Boys at the Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles.
Theatre: The Blue Room (The Odyssey) Shining City, Coming Home, Photograph 51, Gem of the Ocean, Accomplices, Victory, (Fountain Theatre) The Importance of Being Earnest, Summer And Smoke, Major Barbara (LA Theaterworks), The History Boys, iwitness (Mark Taper Forum, CTG) The Oedipus Plays, Mary Stuart, Chips With Everything, Flight (Royal National Theatre, London), The Duel (Lyric, London), Romeo and Juliet, Love for Love (New End Theatre, London), The Lizzie Play (London and World Tour), The Taming of the Shrew, The Phantom Lady, Julius Caesar, The Love of a Good Man (Arts Threshold, London), A Comedy of Errors (New Victoria, Stoke). Film: Iron Cross, The Informers, The Incredible Hulk, The Count of Monte Cristo, Shadowlands, Tristan & Isolde, 102 Dalmations, Moonlight Serenade, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. Television: CSI: New York, Raising The Bar, The Unit, Crash, The Company, NYPD Blue, Dr Vegas, The Bill, Vanity Fair, London’s Burning.