Catwoman Hunteds Zehra Fazal Brings Savage Fun to DC Supervillains

Catwoman: Hunted’s Zehra Fazal Brings Savage Fun to DC Supervillains

Profile actor Zehra Fazal shares how she brought Talia al Ghul and Nosteferata to villainous life in the new anime film Catwoman: Hunted.

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Catwoman Hunteds Zehra Fazal Brings Savage Fun to DC Supervillains

If you’ve been watching popular animated television and film projects or played AAA video games, there’s a strong chance that you’ve heard one of Zehra Fazal’s vocal performances. Fazal’s latest project is voicing both Talia al Ghul and the vampiric supervillain Nosferata in the new DC anime film Catwoman: Hunted. In the DC animated film, Catwoman and Batwoman embark on an international caper that pits them against the DC Universe’s most nefarious figures. For the Young Justice star, Catwoman: Hunted gave her the chance to revisit Talia while adding another fan-favorite DC character to her prolific resume.

In an exclusive interview with CBR, Fazal explained how she approached her distinctly different roles in Catwoman: Hunted, compared her performance as Talia in this project to her past portrayal of the character, and shared the best aspects about working in animation.

Catwoman Hunteds Zehra Fazal Brings Savage Fun to DC Supervillains

This isn’t the first time you’ve portrayed Talia al Ghul — considering Batman: Death in the Family — but this is a more unique project, right down to the animation style. What did you want to retain and what did you want to readjust in your performance for Catwoman: Hunted?

Zehra Fazal: It’s so interesting when you play a legacy character that a lot of different folks will have the opportunity to play. I always ask myself where is the truth in this for me, and what do I want to bring to this? What is the truth? It’s so cool when you get to play legacy characters in different iterations and stories. You get to really zero in on the motivations of that character in this particular story. Initially, my thoughts on what I wanted to retain were I thought that Talia is very calculating and measured. If you asked her, I think she would say her weakness is her affection for Bruce Wayne but she might also think that’s one of her strengths [laughs].

Emotionally and psychologically, there are a lot of carryovers, but in this particular movie, in the instances that we see Talia, it’s so fascinating. She’s a figure shrouded in mystery. There’s a lot going on that we’re not necessarily privy to in the story as viewers. From a story motivation and emotional and psychological standpoint, those were the things that were going through my head. From the actual physicality in how she sounded, in talking with [voice director] Jamie Thomason, we established that, previously in Batman: Death in Family, Talia had a British accent based on the performance of the actor who played her father in that. If she were educated abroad in British schools, this is one way she would sound.

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In this, we went for a more Middle Eastern sound to fill out the world of the characters. In Catwoman: Hunted, you get this global view with the locations. It’s a globe-trotting experience. I think we wanted to make her a little less of the British vein in this particular iteration of her. A lot of thought goes into even the smallest amount of screen time [laughs]!

You get to pull double duty in this project. How was it embracing your inner vampire as Nosferata?

So much fun! To play a legacy character is one thing and to play the first appearance of a character in animation was so fun. She’s so physical and her fights with Catwoman and Batwoman are so brutal and it was really to get into the guttural, impulsive, savage nature of a character like that.

You mentioned Jamie Thomason earlier and you’ve been working with him before, all through Young Justice. How is creative shorthand with him and what was it like working with him on Catwoman: Hunted?

I love working with Jamie! What I really appreciate about him is he will get the performance from you in many different ways. He gives you many different options and he works very efficiently and quickly. At the same time, he gives you the freedom to do what your instincts are telling you to do. He gives you the space to do that as well as being specific. I love the way Jamie works and I feel really grateful to have had several years of experience working with him. He always makes you feel, by the end of the session, really good about your choices so it’s great [laughs].

Congratulations are in order, with Craig of the Creek getting renewed for a fifth season, spinoff series ordered, and a movie in production. How is it working on that show as the Squashinator and Faraday?

It is like a party every time I go to record for Craig of the Creek. It’s been home recordings on Zoom since the pandemic but it doesn’t matter. It’s still so much fun. I love the crew of that show, so many of them have become good friends in real life because you work together for so many years and you form these connections and bonds. There’s a lot of joy in it which makes sense because the show is all about what are the joys of childhood and how do you bring that out. Our showrunners Matt Burnett and Ben Levin are so good about bringing that out of everybody involved so it doesn’t surprise me that the show is having the success that it’s having.

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As someone that’s done plenty of live-action and voiceover roles, what is the appeal of getting in the booth and using your voice as your only tool in your performance?

It’s such a unique way of working that it’s hard to explain sometimes what it feels like, but what I love about acting with my voice — if you were to watch me in the booth, I’m fully doing things with my body but all you hear is my voice — you’re thinking of how to give a visually compelling performance, something that will inspire the artists to create. That, to me, is the most satisfying and interesting of exploring voice work for animation and video games. How do I take this thing that people can see using just my voice?

That’s the biggest challenge but also the biggest satisfaction. The biggest compliment is when a storyboard artist tells me I gave them so much stuff to draw to, then I’m doing my job in the collaborative nature of animation [laughs].

This has been a big year for you, between Blade Runner: Black Lotus, Halo Infinite and Lost in Space. Is there anything you can tease as we head into 2022?

I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve been able to work on these projects — especially in this terrible time of a global pandemic. I feel really grateful I’ve been able to work and work from home but all I can say is there’s more to come but expect a lot of news from me this year and next year.

Directed by Shinsuke Terasawa, Catwoman: Hunted will be available Feb. 8 on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD.

Link Source : https://www.cbr.com/catwoman-hunted-zehra-fazal-interview/

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