Vanessa Marshall is a prolific voice actress. Most notably, she brought life to the character of Hera Syndulla, the Rebel Twi’lek pilot, in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Highlighting her ongoing engagement with fans, Marshall recently spoke at Comic Con Revolution, the Inland Empire’s largest comic and pop culture event. The event, which took place this past weekend, featured a variety of attractions for fans, including exclusive guest appearances, reunions with beloved casts, legendary comic book creators, iconic voice actors, and world-class photo opportunities.
Vanessa Marshall has voiced a lot of Star Wars Characters
Hera remained a main character throughout the show’s run, and Marshall reprised the role as a recurring character in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Expanding her Star Wars repertoire, she later voiced Rook Kast for the seventh season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Marshall’s contributions to the Star Wars universe extend beyond animation. She lent her voice to Rebel pilot Wona Goban in the 2016 film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Beyond Star Wars: Rebels, Marshall’s voice acting credits are extensive. She provided the voice for Jan Ors in Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, as well as additional voices for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
Q&A with Vanessa Marshall at Comic Con Revolution
Temple of Geek (Nick Williams): What is it like for you to be here at Comic-Con Revolution and be here with the fans?
Vanessa Marshall: It is a dream come true. I live in Los Angeles, and it’s very rare that I find other Star Wars fans in the greater Los Angeles area. So for me, this is kind of a homecoming, you know, in the place where I live. So it’s very special to me. I end up usually traveling all over. So this was just a welcome addition to my fun memories with Star Wars fans.
Temple of Geek (Nick Williams): Hera is both a mother figure to everybody, but also a rebel leader. How do you go about finding a voice for somebody like that?
Vanessa Marshall: I start with the intentions and the acting stakes at hand. Meaning if I think about a voice, I can’t produce anything. But if I come from someone’s heart and mind, the voice finds itself. And Hera is very much like I am, I don’t know if it’s being Italian because I’m fiercely loyal. And I want to feed everybody. Not that Hera feeds people, but I find that, you know, these characters very much mirror who we are as people. Taylor is very much like Ezra. Freddie’s very much like Kanan, and so on and on and on and Harris is very much like myself. So I didn’t think much about her voice, but more about her heart.
Temple of Geek (Nick Williams): So is Dave a lot like Chopper?
Vanessa Marshall: Oh, he’s so like Chopper.
Storytelling in Star Wars
Temple of Geek (Nick Williams): In Star Wars, Hera and Kanan is probably one of the greatest love stories in Star Wars. How is that for you? It wasn’t an easy ending.
Vanessa Marshall: yes, It wasn’t an easy ending. And what’s interesting about Lucasfilm and Disney, and how incredibly talented they are, is that we could read something on the page and we could never conceive of the poetic imagery, colors, and sound that ultimately created that moment.
In animation, that I was not only there reading it and experiencing it in the making of, but in the watching it. I was just as delighted as every Star Wars fan, and also just as devastated and able to still experience the narrative as a fan. And to me, that speaks of their absolute genius.
So, I’m grateful that I could still fangirl out on that moment. And then I have to remind myself, oh wait, I was in that! Wow. But that’s how incredible they are, that you that it becomes so… …involving, that I had amnesia about ever recording it. It’s so much better than anything I could have ever conceived of that. It just blew my mind watching it.
For more information about Comic Con Revolution check out their website at comicconrevolution.com
