Kenneth W. James
| Kenneth W. James | |
|---|---|
| |
| Full name | Kenneth Wendell James |
| Born | July 14, 1963[1] (age 61) |
| Super Mario–related role(s) | Current voice actor for Bowser and Dry Bowser |
- “When performing Bowser in the studio I tend to make claw hands. Somehow it helps me sound like a monster!”
- —Kenny James
Kenneth W. "Kenny" James is the current voice actor for Bowser, replacing Scott Burns. His debut was in Super Mario Strikers, in which he voiced Bowser and the Super Team, and he has voiced Bowser regularly since Super Mario Galaxy. Despite this, the voice of Scott Burns (James's predecessor) was still sometimes used for Bowser in subsequent games such as Mario Strikers Charged, Mario Party DS, Mario Super Sluggers, and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
In 2009, James returned to voice Bowser in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. In 2010, James continued to voice Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Mario Sports Mix. As of now, he is the only voice actor of Bowser and continues to voice the character, as well as having voiced Dry Bowser (as of Mario Kart Wii), Paper Bowser, Mini Bowser, Dark Bowser, and Dreamy Bowser.
Though he does not voice Bowser in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie by Illumination and Universal Pictures, in which the character is voiced by Jack Black instead, Bowser's grunts heard during his conversation with Kamek and when he breaks free from the ice, as well as one of his roars during the final battle in Brooklyn, are reused voice clips of Kenny James's portrayal of Bowser.
History
Kenneth W. James was born in Nevada, but grew up in Texas. In 1988, James began singing and was later the lead singer in several bands before becoming active in community theater. In 2001, James started doing voiceover work, with Bowser being one of the first roles for which he auditioned and was chosen.
He has been a fan of video games since playing the arcade game Pong. His first Nintendo games were Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt on the NES, and he later played more games on that system. Outside of video games, James has voiced characters in two different online Doctor Who audio series and has done several other audio books. When portraying Bowser, James often makes claw hands to help him sound like a monster.
Portrayals
- Super Mario Strikers – Bowser / Super Team[2]
- Super Mario Galaxy – Bowser
- Mario Kart Wii – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story – Bowser / Dark Bowser
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games – Dry Bowser
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Bowser
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 – Bowser
- Mario Sports Mix – Bowser
- Super Mario 3D Land – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Fortune Street – Bowser
- Mario Kart 7 – Bowser
- Mario Party 9 – Bowser
- Mario Tennis Open – Dry Bowser
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star – Bowser
- New Super Mario Bros. U – Bowser
- New Super Luigi U – Bowser
- Mario & Luigi: Dream Team – Bowser / Dreamy Bowser
- Mario Kart Arcade GP DX – Dry Bowser
- Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games — Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Super Mario 3D World – Bowser / Meowser
- Mario Party: Island Tour – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Yoshi's New Island – Bowser
- Mario Golf: World Tour – Bowser
- Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Bowser / Dry Bowser / Bowser Monument
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – Bowser
- Mario Party 10 – Bowser, Dry Bowser
- Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Super Mario Maker – Bowser
- Skylanders: SuperChargers – Hammer Slam Bowser
- Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam – Bowser / Paper Bowser / Dry Bowser / Shiny RoboBowser
- Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge – Mini Bowser
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Bowser / Dry Bowser
- Paper Mario: Color Splash – Bowser / Black Bowser
- Mario Party: Star Rush – Bowser
- Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS – Bowser (reused from SMM)
- Mario Sports Superstars – Bowser (on all sports except Tennis, which uses voice clips from Scott Burns)
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – Bowser / MegaDragonBowser
- Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions – Bowser / Bowletta
- Super Mario Odyssey – Bowser
- Mario Party: The Top 100 – Bowser
- Mario Tennis Aces – Bowser (shared with Scott Burns) / Dry Bowser
- Super Mario Party – Bowser
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey – Bowser / Dark Bowser
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – Bowser
- Super Mario Maker 2 – Bowser / Meowser
- Mario Kart Tour – Bowser / Dry Bowser / Meowser
- Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 – Bowser
- Paper Mario: The Origami King – Bowser
- Super Mario 3D All-Stars – Bowser (Super Mario Galaxy)
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury – Bowser / Meowser / Fury Bowser
- Super Nintendo World – Bowser / Bowser Monument (Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge)
- Mario Golf: Super Rush – Bowser
- Mario Party Superstars – Bowser
- Mario Strikers: Battle League – Bowser
- Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – Bowser
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie – Bowser (some grunts and roars only)
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Bowser / Castle Bowser
- Super Mario RPG – Bowser
- Super Mario Party Jamboree – Bowser / Impostor Bowser
- Mario & Luigi: Brothership – Bowser
Gallery
Trivia
- Kenny James' favorite game on the Wii is Mario Kart Wii.[3]
- While recording for Meowser, Kenny James strained his voice so bad that he could taste blood as doing Bowser hurts his voice and he had been recording for 2 hours.[4]
External links
References
- ^ Kenny's Instagram post
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2146730/
- ^ As confirmed via email by Kenny James: "My first Nintendo games were Super Mario Bros and Duck Hunt. Then I really liked playing the games on the Super NES. My favorite on the Wii is Mario Kart Wii. I have to admit I haven't played 3D World. I'd love to see how the Cat Bowser turned out. During recording we called him Meowser". (March 20, 2016)
- ^ https://youtu.be/dn4tKNKWgFc
