Rising Latin American voice actor Sean-Ryan Petersen doesn’t waste his time! From working with Children’s Hospital and No Kid Hungry to being a full time student, the budding star opened up to Celeb Secrets about differences between acting and voice acting, significance of being bilingual in the entertainment industry and opportunities he has taken to give back to communities around him.
Best known for being Valentino on Cartoon Network’s Victor and Valentino, Petersen started his voice acting career at the age of 8, booking some of his roles on BlackBox TV and Dive Olly Dive! Some of his other credits include voicing guest/co-star roles on Game Shakers, Clique Wars and Should I Do It.
Sean-Ryan will also be heard in upcoming roles in Final Fantasy 7RR as Chadley and other projects for Apple TV that will be coming out in 2021 and 2022.
We sat down with Sean-Ryan (virtually) to talk all about his career path, dream collaboration and upcoming projects. Check out the full Q&A below and let us know what’s your favorite movie directed by Paul by leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
You can keep up with Paul by following him @seanryanpetersen.
Celeb Secrets: Voice-overing is so cool, and a much different path from acting! Can you tell us a little bit about how you started?
Sean-Ryan Petersen: “Actually voice-acting is not different, it is acting, at least that is how you have to approach your voice over job. I have done both on camera and voice over and they both provide their own challenges. When you do voice over all you have is your voice.
You have to let your voice create the character’s identity, because you don’t have the advantages to use a facial or hand gesture to create aspects of your character. The animators are counting on you and your ability to act out what they envision for the character. There is more of an emphasis on what we bring to the booth to bring the characters to life. Being in front of a camera does not determine what is and isn’t acting. I got started when I was 8 because growing up I mostly watched animated content. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Digimon were the shows I watched the most. The actors on these shows were so expressive, so animated in the way they voiced them.
Their acting entertained and inspired me. I told my mom one fateful Saturday morning that I wanted to be a voice on TV and the rest is history.””
CS: Your most notable role is Cartoon Network’s “Victor and Valentino.” For audiences who aren’t familiar, can you tell us a little bit about the show?
SP: “The show follows two half-brothers staying with their grandmother in the town of Monte Macabre. Valentino “Val” played by yours truly, is the book smart older half-brother who loves rules, his coin collection, and studying languages and cultures. Victor “Vic” is the prankster, daredevil, younger brother pushing Val into all sorts of adventures. As the brothers learn more about the town they come into contact with many beings and creatures of myth and Legend and learn a couple lessons about family along the way. It really is one of the first nationally televised children shows that focuses on Latin myths, folklore, and culture. Diego Molano really created a show that can be enjoyed by all and I am extremely grateful to be a part of it. Currently season 3 is airing. In the third season, there’s something sinister unfolding in Monte Macabre, and Victor and Valentino plan to sniff it out before it’s too late. Along the way, the boys will return to the Underworld for Dia de Muertos, hang out with the Reynas de Los Angeles for a Mariachi musical, and mark Halloween with a harrowing two-part spooktacular special. You definitely do not want to miss it.”
CS: You’ve highlighted the importance of bilingual shows such as “Victor and Valentino” in previous interviews specifically because of their Latinx representation. Can you speak to us a little bit about this and iterate what it’s like working on such an important series?
SP: “To have bilingualism in a show simply highlights the importance of representation in media and also is a reflection of our current society. The United States has many different peoples within it and with them they bring their languages and cultures. To normalize bilingualism in the media is an important goal for everyone and it is something I am happy to have participated in and contributed to through “Victor and Valentino”.
CS: As the king of cartoons, did you have a favorite cartoon growing up?
SP: “I really enjoyed Digimon as a kid. I suppose evolution was a really cool concept and the idea of an adventure inside of a world that exists within our devices was extremely interesting to me. Kid me hoped it was real and that one day I’d go on my own adventure. Digimon Tamers was my favorite series specifically.”
CS: From whom do you draw most of your inspiration? Are there voice-over actors you look up to?
SP: “I draw my inspiration from many different actors and to say that one holds my attention more than others would be impossible. Three that I do hold high respect for and aspire to achieve certain aspects of are people like Fred Tatasciore, Tom Kenny, and Dee Bradley Baker based entirely on their ability to be versatile and have a huge arsenal of voices to draw from.”
CS: What kind of characters do you wish cartoons had more of? What stories deserve to be animated?
SP: “I think we are beginning to see a lot of Latin American representation told in cartoons and I think that there are so many stories there worth telling. Within the Latin American umbrella there are many different cultures with their own myths, folklores, and traditions to share with the world. Even just having Latin American characters accurately represented in stories that don’t even focus on the culture is equally important.”
CS: If you could work with any celeb, who would it be?
SP: “Working with Matt Mercer has been a consistent pick for me due to the massive amount of work he has contributed to many games and series I have enjoyed. Although I would also like to work with Keanu Reeves because besides having awesome acting chops I respect him to the highest degree.”
CS: You have worked with organizations such as Children’s Hospital and No Kid Hungry; What kind of takeaways have you garnered through spending time with them?
SP: “We need to help each other out. When COVID-19 hit we saw a huge amount of positive outreach and common humanity coming together to help each other when the world was brought to its knees. I believed in that even before then, but it’s nice to see that even more people have come to realize that there is no reason to only live for yourself and that if you can you should help those who need it.”
CS: What can fans expect next from Sean-Ryan Petersen?
SP: “I recently completed a project and as it goes in the industry that is all I can say about it right now. A more recent release you can check out right now is The Beautiful Liar narrative podcast and album by the X Ambassadors which has been released on Spotify. Or anywhere you hear your favorite podcasts.”
CS: Since we’re Celeb Secrets, what is a secret (fun fact) that people don’t know about you? It could be about yourself, or projects you have worked on!
SP: “I may talk a lot about gaming, but I cannot play horror games, they absolutely terrify me. I start screaming in a falsetto voice when anything happens.. Like when playing this one ghost hunting game I would instigate my friends to play but in the end I was the first one to chicken out and stop playing. Shhh! Please don’t tell anyone.”
