Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luis Bermudez. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Luis, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I feel like I’ve always known that I wanted to have some hand in the story telling business, but I think the first time was after watching The Matrix. It seems funny now, but I didn’t just want to BE Neo, I wanted to live in that world. I wanted it to be real. Growing up in a household where our lives were less than ideal, where money was tight and the family environment tense, escaping to different realities was my coping mechanism.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m fortunate to say that I’m a full time actor and storyteller! Primarily when it comes to voice acting, motion capture, and performance capture for things like cartoons, anime, and video games. I spent most of my time, before becoming a full time creative, ingesting media anyway I could. Hours and hours spent playing video games, watching TV and going to the movies, reading libraries full of books, graphic novels and comics.

I’m addicted to narrative, I kind of always have been. And so I also became obsessed with my favorite storytellers. People like Matthew Mercer, Troy Baker, Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, Fred Tatasciore and the list goes on and on and on. When I learned who these people were, and what their job was, it was like a wake up call. Here were these people I respected so much, whose work I LOVED and helped form me as a young teen, doing this insanely fun and amazing job. A job I wasn’t even consciously aware was possible. I left high school and my theater program, knowing I wanted to be an actor, but it wasn’t until I was an adult when I really pursued it, after spending years listening to podcasts like Talkin Toons with Rob Paulsen, reading Yuri Lowemthal and Tara Platt’s book, Voice Over, Voice Actor, scouring Dee Bradley Bakers website iwantotobeavoiceactor.com, and finally, watching Critical Role in tandem with my own Pathfinder Campaign.

I worked terrible job, after terrible job, everything from fast food, and night club security, to Alaskan fishing. And it was at one of these jobs, working as a Security Officer in a casino in Las Vegas, that I had my first REAL wake up call, not just a spiritual one. My first day on that job, was One October. It was the day when a shooter, a terrorist, named Stephen Paddock shot down onto the Route 91 festival from his hotel room, for just over 10 minutes.

50 people died that night. My first night at this job, was spent in terror, trying to calm people down and make them feel safe, even when I had no idea how to protect them or myself. It was also, rather unfortunately, my birthday.

After an experience like that, you start to really take everything into perspective. You figure out what matters most, and I figured if I was going to be doing this job that I hated, and risk bodily harm or death in the process, then I might as well pursue my dream as fervently as I could on the side. So I started coaching. I met a teacher, he showed me the ropes, and nearly 3 years later, here I am instead of walking that casino floor. It’s insane to think about.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Working on the boat in Alaska was my first real crucible. I was 19 years old, doing one of the deadliest jobs in America. We worked 16 hour shifts, sometimes with what they would call, “a kicker” shift, which included an additional 8 hours. It was painful, both physically and mentally. Standing there, covered in fish guts and salmon slime, the world beneath you constantly moving so your body is never truly at rest, lifting 50lb tubs of fish onto a 12 rung loading cart for hours and hours. We had breaks, two 30 minute breaks and an hour lunch break, but you hardly felt them. The sun was either never in the sky, or up there for days at a time. Time didn’t feel real, or like it held any weight. You stopped being able to trust the clock. When you finally finished, you had to decide whether you had the stomach for a meal, the energy for a shower, or if you were just going to try and get your full 6 hours lf sleep before the next shift. In the “morning”, someone would throw open your door and the thin curtain on your bed, shine a light in your face and tell you to get dresssed for work. Some nights felt like you just closed your eyes, and opened them again to more of THIS. You’d half crawl your way down to the raingear room, smack your numb and cramped hands along the steel railings to wrench them open again so you could put on your gear before repeating the whole process. And you did that for 30 days straight, no days off. It was grueling, and brutal. It fundamentally changed who I am as a person. That kind of work, it pushes you against a wall, and it either breaks you, or it shows you what you’re capable of surviving. After Alaska, I knew the answer was a hell of a lot. I just kept telling myself, “if you can get through today, you can get through tomorrow.” It helped that everyday was the same flavor of hell. I’d never do it again, but I’m glad to this day that I did. It gives me a sense of pride and strength when things get tough doing even what I love doing now. Giving up doesn’t exist as an option, you just keep going because you know that tomorrow might be one of the good ones, and that’s what you live for.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Kevin Conroy, was my hero. He still is to this day. And it was his work in the Batman Animated series, and later in the Arkham video game series, that finally pushed me over the edge to pursue this dream I had. There was a lot of other people who inspired me, but Kevin’s work was special. I’ll always regret never having gotten the chance to meet him, to thank him for inspiring me to pursue this crazy career. It wasn’t just his work, but his story. He embodied Batman, and everything that he stood for. He was a million times more grand than the character ever could be. He was the real superhero. And it’s because of people like him, and their stories, that I had this dream to begin with. So if  my story could do the same, if I could inspire some kid out there to chase after what they love, regardless of what it may be, that to me would be the pinnacle of my success, and the completion of a mission I promised Kevin I would someday accomplish.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luisbermudezvo.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/luisbermudezvo?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-bermudez-703441185
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LuisBermudezVO?t=RdR0CmLeOjNbtiALPIi4cg&s=09

Image Credits
Blanka SF6, WWE2K23, The Simpsons, Ghosbusters Spirits Unleashed, Final Fantasy; Crisis Core Reunion, Facial Capture for The Lock in WWE2K23