If you’ve heard of anime, you’ve definitely heard of the sci-fi legend, Ghost in the Shell. From the acclaimed manga to iconic film and shows, the cyberpunk IP showcased a level of storytelling rarely seen that still holds strong. Luckily, despite a vastly different visual style thanks to Science SARU, the newest version keeps the charm and boldness fans love. 

Furthermore, its English dub is stacked with some of the best and brightest in the industry. One name in particular may ring some bells: Nick Apostolides. Known for his legendary take as Leon Kennedy in the Resident Evil remake franchise, Ghost in the Shell is his first foray into anime, playing the human rookie officer Togusa. I got the chance to talk with him about his role, his connection to the iconic franchise, voice acting, and his feelings on Resident Evil Veronica.

What was your familiarity for Ghost in the Shell before being cast in the new show?

Nick Apostolides: Well, it was one of the first animes I ever saw. The first one I saw was Akira. Ghost in the Shell was always just around, right? It’s one of those like household names. So even people that don’t watch anime per se, they’ve heard of Ghost in the Shell. It’s just one of those like legacy IPs. And so, yeah, I was familiar. I’d seen the original, the one that came out in the nineties and I got this audition that came through my computer there and I was like “I got to kick ass in this because this would be cool to be a part of another legacy IP.” It feels really good.

Ghost in the Shell is one of the most recognizable and most iconic anime/manga franchises of all time. How does it feel to be a part of that?

Nick: It’s my first anime, but it’s not the first time I dove into a legacy IP that’s existed almost as long as I’ve been alive with a character that’s almost three decades old [Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil]. So, I’m familiar with what that is like, the good and the bad. The good, obviously it’s like,”Holy shit. Okay, cool. This is awesome. I’m very honored.” And then, the tough/bad part is the pressure behind that. People, especially long-time fans, have their expectations, so you got some shoes to fill. I don’t let that trip me out anymore. I go into it as a professional, as an actor and I do my job, take my direction and try to do the character justice. That’s all.

How was the audition for Togusa?

Nick: It was really no different than any other audition that I approach. You got a few scenes, you got some lines. I think I gave them two variations because I really, really, I wanted this. And I consulted a few friends and got some tips and pointers because I’d never auditioned for anime. I’ve taken a lot of anime dubbing classes as it’s a bit of a different beast because you are matching lip flaps. It’s like a time thing and you never know what kind of character that’s looking for. So I gave him a few variations and was able to book the role.

As mentioned before, this is your first big role in an anime. What would you say make doing VA for anime different than doing games and movies?

Nick: At the core, it’s all acting, right? Whether you’re doing on camera, video games, anime dub, it’s all acting. You got to kind of drum up those emotions when necessary. With games, the characters that I tend to attract and have traction with are a bit more on the stoic side. A lot of video games nowadays, depending on the genre, they want really grounded performance, very realistic. So, things need to sound motivated. What I love about anime and anime dub is the art form is just a little different. You’ve got these animes that are sometimes over the top and they have really, really fun animations, and you see the character, you see the original Japanese, the performance, and it’s big, fun, and whimsical.

There are plenty of moments in Ghost in the Shell in this version based off the manga that are just a bit more fun. And so I’ve got these big, fun moments with expressions that I don’t normally have or get to express in a video game. It was just really fun, freeing, liberating. That’s the biggest difference that I see with anime dub. It’s also a timed thing. You are dubbing an original performance whereas when I do video games, the original performance is mine. And so you have a little bit more liberty there.

Togusa, compared to your portrayal of Leon Kennedy, is much more innocent and, at times, lacking confidence. How was it switching from that type of role (Leon with his one-liners and charisma) to Togusa?

Nick: Well, I’d say it’s less about transitioning over and more about revisiting something I’ve already done. So there was a lot of similarities to Togusa and young Leon from RE2 remake. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tap into a little bit of that facet of my own personality. I always want to come off as a professional and that I know what I’m doing all the time, but sometimes I just don’t (laughs). I tap into my naivety and innocence sometimes. Togusa is fun and kind of lighthearted and doesn’t take the world so seriously. Sometimes, it’s nice to portray, as an actor, a character like that, because it’s a little lighter. It’s not so heavy all the time.

How did you approach Togusa in terms of coming up with the voice?

Nick: The voice director was the one who chose which voice we settled on for the voice of Togusa for the dub. We tried a few different things and they felt, with the direction of the production team, that the current voice, is what Togusa needs to sound like. I presented a few different registers because even though he’s a little bit on the younger side, sometimes they have a twenties-something character with a little bit of deeper voice and register. I gave them the current version and I gave them something a little deeper, a little more gravely, and a little slower. However, they came up with the younger version with a little bit more heightened emotion.

You have a big background in doing motion capture for your roles, as well as doing live-action for movies and shows. Does any of that physicality come through when you do voice acting (like moving around in the studio or getting into the scene).

Nick: It always does. Everyone has a different process. I’m only going to speak for myself but I’m very, very physical in the booth. If your character is in a running scene or he’s chasing somebody, I can’t just like sit still and deliver my line. I got to move around a little bit and make sure your mouth is right there and then yell the line because it will sound different for me. Fighting in games, especially when you’re doing a lot of like efforts like punches, taking hits, kicking someone, melee kills and all that stuff, I’m extremely physical.

The challenge is, yes, you’ve got your microphone right here and you’ve kind of got to stick six to eight inches away from it, but I do all that. I mind the movements. So if I’m doing like a melee kill, for instance, imagine the mic’s right here [points at screen] , but I’ll be like, [imitates punch], it really changes the delivery. Maybe people have found tricks where they don’t have to do that, but not me. I do.

Any memorable moments from doing the VA work for Togusa when recording for Ghost in the Shell?

Nick: I’ll just say that there’s some really fun, like nonverbal stuff that I got to do and sound effects and reactions. Those are the funnest for me. A line is a line and you get to play with it, but when you see a really funny animation for the character, like his face or a weird body position? He just gets hit or something?  Those are fun in anime because again, they’re not necessarily so grounded in reality. They’re a little bit dialed up to 11 and there were some times we’d record like a reaction or a hit or something, and we would just start laughing and it works and they would put it there and it works. And they’d be like, that’s it, that’s your take. So we had a lot of fun with the nonverbal stuff. 

Now that you’ve done Ghost in the Shell, are there any other anime franchises you’d like to be a part of?

Nick: Well, I don’t know what’s really coming out that’s not already out, but, because Akira was my first anime, that was my first exposure to what anime was, if they ever did something with that, that would be cool. I also really, really enjoyed DanDaDan. That would be cool. At this point, I’m friends with a lot of people in the English dub arena for actors. It would just be fun to work with a lot of them who are in JJK (Jujutsu Kaisen) and all those shows.

What can fans expect from Togusa in the coming episodes of Ghost in the Shell?

Nick: Again, without spoiling, I’ll just say that as you watch it, I think you’re going to like the character. I really lucked out that I got the audition for him specifically because I have so much in common with him. Not that everybody likes me, but he’s got good morals and good intentions. He’s got a heart of gold and he’s always trying to do the right thing. And so I think people are just going to really enjoy the character and, and we’ll see, you know, about two months from now, we’ll have all the episodes out.

If they were to bring Ghost in the Shell to like a video game or to a movie, either live-action or animated, would you be down to return as Togusa for it?

Nick: Yeah. That would be fun. Either live action or yeah, video game. I mean, imagine that. So cool. Let’s manifest that (laughs).

Do you think Leon Kennedy would fit in in the world of Ghost in the Shell?

Nick: I don’t think there’s anything he hasn’t seen yet. I don’t think anything would surprise him is what I mean by that. Would he fit in? Yeah. And he would, you know, he would find a way to save the day and that’s, that’s basically what he does. That’s who he is. And so I think he’d fare well in almost any fantastical world. Yeah.

Alternatively, how do you think Togusa would fare in the world of Resident Evil?

I think he’d have a pretty hard time (laughs). I was going to say, you know, cybernetic organisms and enhanced humans are one thing, but zombies and the undead, that’s a whole different ballgame. Tough with his little revolver.

How does it feel that your RE2 co-star, Claire Redfield, is coming back as the lead for the Veronica remake?

Nick: I played Code Veronica, geez, a long time ago. And I’ve always thought that if they were ever going to remake more games, I always thought that Code Veronica was really deserving of that because the story is so wild that it was quirky and campy back then. If you put that into modern day AAA engines and rewrite the story for modern storytelling, I just thought that would be a fantastic game. It’s always good to see these characters come back because I grew up with them. I’ve been following these protags since 1998. I’m selfishly wanting all of the protags to come back, you know? Having Claire return is going to be pretty badass. It had such a cool reveal! Like they know what they’re doing. They just like they tease and they tease and they tease and then they let you know what it is. 

Ghost in the Shell is streaming now on Prime Video.