Crispin Freeman

Crispin Freeman is an American actor, voice actor, voice director, and screenwriter born in Chicago. The oldest of three children, Freeman has a sister, Cassidy, who is an actress, and a brother, Clark, who is an actor and musician. Their father is Jewish. Freeman completed his secondary education at the Latin School of Chicago in 1990 and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in theater, with a minor in computer science, from Williams College. He subsequently received a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University.

Freeman's stage career took him to several prominent theatrical institutions, including the American Repertory Theater, the Mark Taper Forum, Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park, and the Williamstown Theater Festival. In 1997, he appeared on Broadway in A View From the Bridge.

Freeman is widely recognized for his extensive work voicing characters in English-language dubs of Japanese anime and video games. His interest in the medium dates to childhood, when series such as Speed Racer, Battle of the Planets, Voltron, Star Blazers, and Robotech made a strong impression on him. Casey Kasem's portrayal of Mark in Battle of the Planets was a particular influence; Freeman has noted that he once wanted to change his own name to Mark. He has credited the anime The Vision of Escaflowne as the primary reason he entered the voice-over industry, and his initial path into dubbing came after a friend who had worked on Peacock King encouraged him to contact Central Park Media.

Freeman was not immediately receptive to dubbing work, but reconsidered when he reflected on how English-dubbed versions serve as many viewers' introduction to anime. In 1997, he was cast as Zelgadis Graywords in Slayers alongside Lisa Ortiz, Eric Stuart, and Veronica Taylor, taking over the role after the original voice actor, Daniel Cronin, lost contact with Central Park Media following a year-long production halt. Among his other prominent anime roles are Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Togusa in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, Alucard in Hellsing, Itachi Uchiha in Naruto, Kirei Kotomine in Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Hagi in Blood+, Shizuo Heiwajima in Durarara!!, and Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

His work in American animation has included roles in Marvel Comics-based productions such as The Spectacular Spider-Man, Wolverine and the X-Men, and The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, as well as multiple versions of Roy Harper in Young Justice for DC Comics and Warner Bros. In February 2023, Freeman guest voiced Lieutenant Nolan, an Imperial lieutenant and commanding officer of Crosshair, in Star Wars: The Bad Batch.

Freeman has also accumulated a substantial list of video game credits, including Albedo in Namco's Xenosaga series, Helios in God of War III and God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, the protagonist Baldur in Silicon Knights's Too Human, Breakdown in Transformers: War for Cybertron, the Winter Soldier in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Iron Man in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, and Haji, Joel the 6th, and Van Argeno in Blood+. Beyond performing, Freeman teaches voice acting classes, workshops, and performance lectures in the Los Angeles area and operates a website called Voice Acting Mastery, which offers podcasts and resources on the craft of voice acting.