Alexander Gross is a full-time streamer, voice actor, and Guilty Gear player (48th at Evo 2021 Online).
You might recognize his voice from various enemies in Person 5 Strikers, Axl Low in Guilty Gear -Strive-, indie games like the dating sim Monster Prom, a VR racing game called Sprint Vector, and most recently, Boyfriend Dungeon. Gross has also been in the news lately over disturbing messages he received after voicing antagonist Alex in the dungeon crawler hybrid.
We got a chance to talk to him about inspirations, fighting himself in Guilty Gear, and the Boyfriend Dungeon drama.
What’s your acting background?
I have a degree in musical theater from Dean College in Massachusetts. Since I was 11, I’ve always wanted to be a voice actor, ever since I saw Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on Nickelodeon and they showed real actors in front of the mics.
How did you get into voice acting for games?
The first game I ever voiced was called Army of Tentacles. It was a jokey visual novel and they wanted me to do the voice for this innkeeper. It was super indie and low budget but a lot of fun. Even though it was a small indie game it was still a paying gig and that was pretty cool. I felt like ‘I can do this.’
Is there a voice actor you look up to?
Jamieson Price (Leo Whitefang in Guilty Gear) is everything. Every performance he gives is so good he just nails it every time.
What’s something non-actors would find surprising about video game voice acting?
A lot of it is doing different types of yells and screams. At a certain point you’ve done all the lines and then it’s ‘OK you’re getting stabbed, OK you’re getting hit with a hammer, now you’re on fire.’ It’s fun. You have to get creative. Sometimes there are no words. It just says “On fire” and you have to get physical in the booth.
You voice Axl in GG but I was surprised to find out you don’t main him. Who’s your main?
I play Potemkin, which is the best matchup for Axl. It's a nightmare to hear myself clown on me while I’m losing. It’s maddening.
Why Potemkin?
I always play grapplers. Why? Because my brain is small and I can’t memorize a lot of combos. Potemkin is a lot of the same move over and over, nothing too tricky. It’s easier and I like doing big damage with command grabs.
Have you ever tried to play Axl?
I tried to learn him when I picked up Guilty Gear XRD seven years ago. I was like ‘eh it’s not for me.” I love the character though. I’m not really a zoner, it's not my playstyle. I think he’s hysterical, it's just not how I play fighting games.
You recently placed 48 at EVO in Guilty Gear. What was that like?
I got to the winners finals of my pool and had to play Lord Knight. I took him to the last round and beat him before but he won. He’s incredible. He made the Top 8. I still think I played pretty well.
Let’s talk about this Boyfriend Dungeon controversy. How did you get the job?
It started four years ago in 2017, someone reached out and said we’d love you to audition. A year goes by. I reached out and they said they might not even use voice acting. It went back and forth like that for a long time.
Out of nowhere last year they said “Are you still down to record? Do you want to be Eric?”
I said sure. In the initial document, he was an NPC Shopkeeper. I read through the script and I said ‘oh this is the bad guy.’
Did you have any thoughts about playing the character initially?
You only get his lines, what he’s responding to in the situation, and your direction. The script will say “Sad,” and if the player picks this option then this is the response. You have to fill in the gaps yourself.
I sent in my work and they had two or three retakes. I didn’t think about anything else except I can’t wait to play it.
Did you know not everyone you meet in Verona Beach is a weapon-person?
— Kitfox Games ? BOYFRIEND DUNGEON OUT NOW (@KitfoxGames) August 8, 2021
Introducing @Octopimp as the voice of Eric the Blacksmith ? pic.twitter.com/1v2C4oRcWB
Did you get any sense that there was an issue when the game came out?
Before any of the harassment, I went on Twitch to watch people play. It’s fun to watch people play something you’re in. Most people enjoyed it but everyone hated that character.
I get it. It's fine he’s not a good person he does bad things. I thought ‘I play a good villain’ and that felt good.
When did the messages start?
I got some a couple of days after the release. Let me just say I didn’t get that many, not hundreds. It was a couple. But to still have to deal with that at all is a bummer.
There was one that was kind of a longer one. They said “playing this character reflects poorly on you. It means you’re OK with things like this being depicted in the media. Which means that you’re ok with these things happening.”
How did you react?
I went ‘huh.’ I just deleted the message. I don’t want to see that, don’t send me that. That’s why I tweeted. It’s completely misguided. It’s misguided aggression.
People have said I shouldn’t have taken the role knowing what he did. First of all I didn’t know what he did. In the game he’s basically a stalker and that’s a very real thing and that’s bad. I can see how it would be upsetting, but the aggression is misplaced on me. I'm just an actor.
The game’s really good and the team at Kitfox just wanted to make a really good game. I’m happy to be just a small part of this project they worked really hard on for years.
Follow Alexander Gross on Twitter, Twitch, and YouTube for the latest from the versatile voice actor.