WARNING: This article includes SPOILERS from Creature Commandos season 1.Despite the debut season of Creature Commandos coming to an end, star Maria Bakalova revealed her anxieties about voice acting in the Max series. She portrayed the morally complex Princess Ilana Rostovic, the acting monarch of Pokolistan who Task Force M is sent to protect, then to kill. Fellow stars include David Harbour, Indira Varma, Alan Tudyk, Sean Gunn, Zoe Chao, and Frank Grillo.
Appearing on Collider Ladies Night, Bakalova gave “kudos to all the voice actors out there” because “it’s such a hard job to do.” She continued that actors are “privileged, to a degree, to be able to use physical appearance, to be able to walk in a different way, to talk in a different way, look at people in a different way with a camera.” Bakalova explained that an actor’s body conveys the emotionality of a scene: “You use your eyes a lot of times, you use your hands a lot of times, you use your smile a lot of times.“
The actress further highlights the differences between the mediums of performing: “With voice acting, you basically only use your voice and your emotions and how you feel in the moment, and what you are trying to achieve by just literally using your voice only.” Bakalova also stated that voice acting for Creature Commandos was “especially” difficult because “James [Gunn] does such a great job” by “challenging, by building characters that are so layered that they pretend they’re one thing, and they’re something more than that.“
She explained that she had to prioritize making her character’s duplicitous actions “believable,” so that later reveals regarding her intentions would land with the audience. However, Bakalova notes that Gunn “is in charge, so [the actors] trust him and know that, at the end, it’s all going to be good.”
What Maria Bakalova’s Creature Commandos Comments Mean
Bakalova has perhaps the most difficult character to play in Creature Commandos. Ilana is introduced as a kind, young princess, and Task Force M is initially tasked with protecting her. Over the course of the series, this facade fades, revealing a power-hungry, narcissistic villain.
Because of this, Bakalova is tasked with portraying both Ilana’s fake personality and her real one. In pulling double duty, her performance makes or breaks whether audiences buy Ilana as a villain.
Our Take On Maria Bakalova’s Creature Commandos Comments
Bakalova is right – voice acting is an incredibly difficult job. That’s why those who truly excel at it, such as Alan Tudyk, Jim Cummings, Tara Strong, Dee Bradley Baker, Jennifer Hale, Frank Welker, and many others, see a steady stream of work, even if they don’t always get the recognition they deserve. It’s natural that Bakalova would be concerned going into a major role, but she seemed to have a grasp on Gunn’s creative vision, as her performance in Creature Commandos demonstrated.
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