J. B. Blanc

Jean-Benoît "JB" Blanc is a French actor who has worked on animations and video games in Los Angeles, coming from a drama education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and with an extensive background in British theatre. He is most recognised for his recurring role on Breaking Bad and its spinoff, Better Call Saul as Gus Fring's Mexican cartel doctor, nicknamed unofficially "Dr. Barry Goodman", as well as for lending his voice to Caustic in the long-running video game franchise, Apex Legends and Vander/Warwick in the highly-acclaimed Netflix animated series, Arcane where both the production team and cast have garnered positive attention.

He made his voice directing debut on the English dub for L/R: Licensed by Royalty in the television series sequel to the OVA, R.O.D the TV, Blanc is also a voice director in video games and directs both live action performance capture and voiceover.

Early life Blanc was born in Paris, the son of an English mother and a French father.

Although his parents would send him away to "a bit of a [boys only] posh private boarding school" when he was seven, When his mother acquired a small inheritance, she was able to afford his schooling staying there until he turned 18. "When you're a kid, you're just, 'Get me out of here, please'," he said. "And when I looked at my seven-year-old kid, I was just — I cannot imagine sending her away. But it was a different time."

For The Live Life video game/voice artist U.K. publication in 2021, he remembered: "Being a little overweight gave me a lot of shit [too]." becoming Head Chorister in his school's choir, learning to play instruments and training in opera. The drama institution was where he first met Victoria Harwood and he graduated in 1990. Howard Davies and Peter Hall at the Royal National Theatre. As an inexperienced actor in London, he has credited Judi Dench with mentoring him during his stint with the Royal National Theatre. and "the Watcher" in the U.K productions and world tour of The Lizzie Play, based on Angela Carter's short story, "The Fall River Axe Murders". Written by Deirdre Strath, an American student of RADA, it was first produced in late 1992 to early 1993 by the Arts Threshold at the Gloucester Terrace in London as well as Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and directed by Rufus Norris, also a RADA alum. Actress Emma Thompson reported to the West Briton and Royal Cornwall Gazette that the play was "really gripping stuff" when she sat in the audience of one of the tour's Cornwall venues. In a review for the South China Morning Post, theatre critic Zelda Cawthorne praised the production staged at Hong Kong's Fringe Club Theatre during its world tour, writing that Blanc and lead actress Nicola Blackwell (as Lizzie Borden) performed "in a near-faultless display of ensemble acting. Director Rufus Norris ensures that [the play is] not for the squeamish." and "a modern dress" interpretation of Romeo and Juliet at the New End Theatre in Hampstead which was performed in winter 1996. Directed by Simon Parry, Blanc portrayed the minor supporting role and friend to Romeo, Mercutio. Rejecting period set dressings, video monitors stood in place of a traditional Chorus, which displayed "sound bites and television news flashes of civil strife." John Thaxter, writing for The Stage, noted that the modern dressings were distracting and the casting was uneven, though the play still managed to offer "some sharp characterisations." Matthew Lewis and Joanne Mitchell were praised as the title leads while Blanc had "some of the best comic business" in his version of "a sophisticated bawd." Kate Basset for The Times was also displeased by the modern interpretation as well as the inclusion of mugging on housing estates. Though she added: "Some of this young company show real promise. Jean-Benoit Blanc's albeit beefy Mercutio has unflagging boisterous drive. He just needs a decent director to check his hyperactivity." Blanc recalled decades later: "I love that role [Mercutio]. Who doesn't like being killed at half-time? He's just really, really fun to play. Also, this was a role people didn't expect me to play, which was nice because often you don't get that challenge." Blanc also appeared in Love for Love, directed by Jon Harris at the New End Theatre in August 1995. Critic Paul Taylor of The Independent was unimpressed with the small stage placed closely to the audience's seats, the casting, which he felt was uneven and lacking chemistry between scenes, or the quality of line deliveries, which he described as "screamingly high pitch[ed]." However, he was partial to some of the performances, namely the leads and Blanc, writing: "here are some extremely enjoyable characterisations, particularly that of Jean-Benoit Blanc as Valentine's blunt sailor brother, a nautical image-addict. [...] Arriving in Act 3, he comes as a tonic after all the mincing landlubbers."

In late 1996, he joined the Royal National Theatre company of Sir Peter Hall's self-prescribed "first thriller" Oedipus the King, called "the most influential play ever" by the Lincolnshire Echo, which premiered in Greece's Epidaurus Theatre before transferring to the Olivier Theatre. Re-adapted and translated by Ranjit Bolt, Hall's version had the cast wear masks and opted for "20th-century colloquialisms and irony [...] a very rich translation," quoted Hall, "which encourages the actors' intensity." The production was well-received and promoted nationally where it was revived with the original cast for Radio 4 in March 1997. He would also feature in an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Duel at the Lyric Studio in May 1997, starring Paul McEwan as Layevsky who raged "virtually against everyone" in the ensemble, "even the wonderfully jolly and philanthropic Doctor Samolyenko" interpreted by Blanc. The Times' James Christopher thought Blanc had "bluff appeal [as] a big-hearted army doctor who lets his alcoholic friend abuse his bar tab." In autumn 1997, he would go on to work with Howard Davies in his National Theatre revival of Arnold Wesker's Chips with Everything as the Second Corporal and showcased his musical talents by alternating in the orchestra, performing guitars and vocals. Variety, in a positive assessment, identified the cast as "a crackerjack [which] charge ahead [...] even when the writing doesn't rise to the production," concluding: "Not since Noises Off has a cast's physical dexterity elicited such applause."

For over a decade, he almost exclusively worked in theatre before he dropped acting temporarily. He mentioned that on stage work "is the 'real stuff' because it's the best job in town, but I could barely pay my bills." which he has named fondly as "the movie that brought me to America." Roger Moore of Desert Dispatch felt that Blanc's performance was "droll in the extreme," calling his line deliveries "classic."

2002–2013: Anime dubs, Western animation and American theatre Taliesin Jaffe (ADR director), Rachel Hirschfeld (Anita), Jessica D. Stone (Junior), Siobhan Flynn (Wendy) and JB Blanc (Joker) at the R.O.D the TV panel at Anime Expo in Anaheim, California (3 July 2005).

Since relocating to the United States in 2001, he entered voice acting through connections with his friend from RADA, Victoria Harwood. " met [Victoria] twenty years ago [at RADA]," said Blanc in a 2006 interview included with the DVD extras of Hellsing Ultimate. "And I think I was genuinely eighteen — sweet and eighteen and very naïve," he continued. "And then she just took me under her wing and she was my greatest friend. [...] And then when I moved to L.A., she was the only person I knew here. [...] She's introduced me to the world of anime." According to ADR director and script adapter Taliesin Jaffe, Blanc was cast on the spot. He happened to be present at the studio for an entirely separate reason when the first session recordings were well underway. Blanc was immediately called into the room by Jaffe for a phone audition with the production team in Japan (a screening process that was agreed upon by both the Japanese and American productions in order to select the best fit for the characters' voices). "[It] was very strange," remembered Blanc. "And then, I just did [all of my scenes] in a day or two." He has said that the anime dubbing industry is "where I got to know Crispin Freeman, Taliesin Jaffe, Liam O'Brien, Sam Riegel and all those people from early anime gigs. It was a very fond time in my life." Zack Bertschy of Anime News Network said favourably of the English dub for L/R: "New Generation elected to find a completely British cast for this show and the results are astounding and refreshing." Blanc won two Anime Dub Recognition (ADR) Awards for his work on the show, including Actor of the Month (May 2004) and Performance of the Year by a Voice Actor (2004). Behind the scenes, Blanc juggled his skills as an actor and teacher, working closely as an accent coach with some of the non-British cast, namely Jessica D. Stone who played Joker's youngest field agent, Junior, in order to perfect their dialects. Blanc would interpret his character, Joker beyond an archetype for which he was given an Anime Dub Recognition (ADR) Award for the December 2004 release of Volume 4, He added that Blanc exhibited "one of the most appealing performances [of the show]. It's soft but carries a subtle edge" that wasn't afraid to delve into bitterness, explaining that his "sinister side provides the most enjoyable moments." By the finale, Jeng believed that "Joker's calm focus and unwavering vision [whenever his] obsession bubbles to the surface [...] have made him an extremely compelling villain" that avoided the trap of feeling "overplayed [...] which grounds the character." Anime Insider expressed similar sentiments. "Joker [has a] vision of a future free from crime and suffering [...] at the cost of all other culture and even all individual thought, and [he] does not hesitate to kill, lie, steal, cheat and even burn books to get there... all with a smile on his lips." Additionally, he was set to appear in the film, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, though his scenes were ultimately cut.

He returned to the stage in L.A., appearing in the ensemble of the World War II drama, iWitness, presented by Center Theatre Group and directed by Barry Edelstein at the Mark Taper Forum in April 2006, which is set in 1943 within the confines of a single set — a Berlin prison — and was based on the final days and execution of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who was arrested and killed for refusing to support the Nazi Party; one "incriminating" act that he was accused of involved his defiance for not putting on their uniform. Joshua Sobol, the playwright, composed the play in his native Israel during the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine, drawing parallels to Jägerstätter and his comrades who wanted no part in the military occupation of Palestine. The Hollywood Reporter lauded the production, naming Blanc's performance as Sgt. Bastian "first-rate." Theatre critic Jeff Favre felt the opposite, writing that the acting was melodramatic and the tone too bleak for its nearly two-hour runtime, especially Blanc's prison guard stories of the guillotine told to the protagonist to dissuade him from his inevitable sentence.

In November 2007, due to his background living in North Yorkshire, he was brought on as a dialect coach for the American premiere of the English play, The History Boys, directed by Paul Miller at the Ahmanson Theatre, which the Yorkshire Post noted would be "interesting to judge how successful he has been" once the play opened in the States, acknowledging Blanc's Yorkshire upbringing, though arguing that Yorkshire has a wide range of accents spread across a few miles, from Sheffiled to Holme Valley. Blanc commented that the origin of an accent was the core to authenticity, not the sounds alone, which he instilled in the young American cast — all deriving from various backgrounds and U.S. states — in an intense rehearsal that lasted five weeks, plus a full reading that was scheduled at the Music Center in early October. As homework, Blanc produced a CD for the cast to practice vocal exercises when not in the rehearsal space as well as assigned viewings of such films as The Full Monty. Reportedly, some of his choices in exercises were less appropriate with a single goal in mind: "ith a little practice you'll be able to say any word that rhymes with 'luck' like a dyed-in-the-wool Sheffielder," which the cast treated with humour, even when criticized profanely when blundering through their dialects repeatedly. Although he had originally signed onto the production for two weeks, his role as a coach was extended all the way through dress rehearsals. The play opened on 14 November and ran until early December. Later that month, he co-starred in the L.A. Theatre Works' production, Major Barbara, directed by Dakin Matthews at the Skirball Cultural Center. He worked as a dialect coach once again for The Fountain Theatre's production of Victory, directed by Stephen Sachs, which transferred to Los Angeles after well-received stagings in South Africa and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, respectively in 2007.

In 2009, an English dub licensed by Viz Media of mangaka Naoki Urasawa's critically-acclaimed Monster was set to air on Syfy's Ani-Mondays Block as well as the Chiller television network. Later in the season, Blanc was featured as Roberto, The themes and characters have been widely praised. Carl Kimlinger of Anime News Network positively received the "veracity" of the Japanese voice cast as well Viz's English version. "Viz goes for a similar level of anal fidelity," he said. "Their English adaptation is one of their most carefully cast and deliberately accurate in recent memory. [...] The performances range from good [...] to superb." Writing for CBR, Daniella Fois interpreted of the series finale that "Roberto's sole anchor that keeps him from completely drowning in nihilism [is his childhood memory of hot cocoa]," thus, adding layers to his role as a secondary villain. However, she noted, Roberto's memory "is also the same reason that Johan deems him unworthy to see the scenery for a doomsday. Because Roberto, unlike Johan, is not truly empty. He only claims to be." Blanc was also featured as the hero's deceased father, Alighiero in Visceral Games' Dante's Inferno, released by Electronic Arts in early 2010, and joined the American production of The Train Driver, a play by South African writer Athol Fugard, as a dialect coach for the Africaans dialects, which was directed by Stephen Sachs at the Fountain Theatre from October through December 2010.

In 2012, he starred as Al Capone in the 1920s short film, The Lift, directed by Lyndon Barrois. At the 14th Annual Independent Filmmakers Showcase Film Festival held in Santa Monica, Blanc was awarded Best Actor for his performance. He also joined the creative team of The Fountain Theatre, working as a dialect coach for the Los Angeles premiere of the play, In the Red and Brown Water. The same year, he lent his voice to the English dub of the French animated film, A Cat in Paris, playing a low-time criminal, Victor Costa who is responsible for leaving the heroine fatherless. Writing for ScreenAnarchy, critic Jim Tudor called Blanc a "fiend [who] is an intrinsically watchable loon." He praised his take on a gangster, saying his performance "at least in spirit [hails] from the Joe Pesci/Goodfellas school of psycho mob nut with his own crazed obsession." Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times was notably mixed in her review, believing the film struggled in finding its tone, not knowing when to "be serious or silly," though went on to single out the animation and characterizations, which were boasted by recognizable performances. Gil Mansergh, on the other hand, was left confused by Blanc's depiction, pointing out that Costa is, obviously, meant to be French — "albeit with a Cockney accent."

He would return to the world of Hellsing with the release of the OVA, Hellsing Ultimate which aimed to readapt the manga faithfully (compared to the thirteen-episode television series), reprising his dual roles as the Cheddar Priest and Enrico Maxwell, respectively. The majority of the original cast and crew reunited for the Japanese production as well as the American team heading the translation. New Generation Pictures was again responsible for the English dub with Taliesin Jaffe serving as ADR director and Jonathan Klein producing. "It was the first voice gig I did in the U.S.," said Blanc on the DVD extras. "[Enrico is] slightly Italian, dangerous, fantastically fun to play, ingratiating while he's killing you, he's just a great character." Commenting on his return to the franchise, Blanc was quoted: "[Hellsing Ultimate is] bigger and camper [sic] and there's more of Enrico Maxwell which, you know, I'm always happy with. [...] It's good to come back to something that feels familiar, and yet it's having its boundaries pushed further and further." Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network felt that the OVA was "pretty incredible." However, he criticized the quality of the English dub, saying: "ans were psyched that some of the British characters were recorded using British voice actors [in the original TV series] but that wasn't done across the board," emphasizing the weakness of K.T. Gray's South London dialect. A British reviewer held a similar perception, commenting: "It doesn't matter when the majority of the main cast are of British origin when the voices are still filtered through a Hollywood mindset of what UK accents should be." Despite the criticisms, Behind the Voice Actors would award the English dub with a Best Vocal Ensemble nod as well as individual nominations for some of the cast, including a Best Male Supporting Vocal Performance for Blanc in 2012.

He would later portray Alfred Pennyworth in the Cartoon Network series, Beware the Batman, which was promoted at San Diego Comic-Con along with the game, Saints Row IV, and aired from 2013 to 2014. The show was praised for its "predictably solid" vocal performances as well as the individual personalities the cast embedded in their characters, recognised by the Pennsylvania publication, Reading Eagle. As Deacon Frost in the anime adaptation of the Marvel Comics property Blade, Wichita Anime Examiner thought that Blanc "did a great job voicing him as he has this low growl of a voice." While the majority of the performances for Marvel Anime's Iron Man title received criticism from the Chicago Geek Culture Examiner for the lack of believability, John Eric Bentley was noted for being "spot on" as Nick Fury as well as Blanc as Ezekiel Stane, who's performance was "properly creepy." He had also aided the development of a sci-fi/action web series project, Subject 5 through the promotional "Subject Five Con," created by artist LaQuita Cleare.

2014–present: Hollywood, Breaking Bad, Video games and Arcane Blanc was cast in the Colombian-American joint produced indie film, Bastards y Diablos, directed by A.D. Freese, which was screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2015. While Blanc never makes an appearance onscreen, he portrays the main characters' deceased father Gabriel, speaking to his sons through voiceover in fluent Spanish. Though the film was received favourably by Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter, she noted less enthusiastically: "The somewhat heavy-handed poeticism of Gabriel's voiceover commentary, delivered in the rich baritone of J.B. Blanc, takes some getting used to." In March 2015, it was confirmed that Blanc had joined the cast of War Dogs (originally titled Arms and the Dudes), directed by Todd Phillips, playing an Albanian driver named Bashkim opposite Jonah Hill and Miles Teller. In summer 2016, he lent his voice to the Academy Film Archive, under the aide of Audio Mechanics engineer, John Polito with the purpose of restoring damaged or missing sound reels recorded for classic pre-Code films, notably the Howard Hughes feature, Cock of the Air. Other actors of the preservationist project involved Martin Hinkle and Hamish Linklater.

He has since appeared in television series such as Barry, which has earned praise, Masters of Sex, Shameless, Nikita, Cold Case, CSI: New York, Raising the Bar, The Unit, Crash, Prison Break, Dr. Vegas and The Company.

Blanc has appeared in films, including The Incredible Hulk, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Moonlight Serenade. He has done voice-work for video games such as Minecraft: Story Mode, Dante's Inferno, Darksiders, Wildstar and James Bond 007: From Russia with Love, in which he played Turkish agent Kerim Bey. In 2013, he voiced Zinyak and Phillipe Loren in Saints Row IV. In 2014, he voiced Commander Kuben Blisk in Titanfall.

He made his debut in Breaking Bad as Gus Fring's Mexican cartel doctor in the third half of Season 4 and reprised his role in the spin-off, Better Call Saul, marking his debut in Episode 3 of Season 3. While the character was written into the show to serve as a plot device for Walter White's climax with Gus, thus functioning as a minor supporting role, Collider stated that Gus' Doctor was one of many underrated characters in Vince Gilligan's franchise. "Although Barry may be a convenient plot device on the surface, his rounded performance and dry humor give him and Gus' cartel overall a believability worthy of the world." He also voiced Caustic in Apex Legends in 2019.

In 2021, it was announced that Blanc had joined the voice cast of Arcane, based on the characters and lore of the popular game, League of Legends. He was one of a few cast members who were asked to return from the original game, though as a different character, filling the role of Vi and Powder's adoptive father, Vander, the "peacemaker" of the Lanes who meets a horrific end early in the series as he is betrayed by his "brother," Silco. Co-creator Christian Linke commented of the casting: "There is definitely a family of voice acting talent that has been part of the League of Legends world who were happy to find ways to bring them back in Arcane." Cameryn Barnett of Collider praised the writing and animation of Vander/Warwick, noting that his "beastly return [in Season 2] marks a tragic end for his character." Likewise, The Quinnipiac Chronicle argued that the voice acting for Season 2 was so realistic that viewers would be hard pressed to forget that the characters were only drawings, yet still manage to be believable and relatable. a relationship in which his friend, Victoria Harwood had encouraged. "She's responsible for most of the misery in my life," joked Blanc in a 2006 interview. When the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami caused massive devastation in Japan, veterans of the anime voiceover industry, Blanc included among them, organised the "We Heart Japan" fundraiser in downtown Sunset Boulevard at Meltdown Comics, sending all donations to the Japan NGO Earthquake Relief and Recovery Fund for the victims. "Like everyone, you know, around the world, we've all been very deeply affected by events in Japan over the last week," Blanc commented in a radio interview on 91.8 The Fan.

In October 2016, Blanc, along with several voice actors under SAG-AFTRA, went on strike, protesting poor working conditions and inadequate pay. Blanc said: "They led off undervaluing what we provide to the video game industry." He was further quoted: "My performance is an indelible print on the game. It's my gestures, my features. The intellectual property I'm putting into the game is the same as an actor on camera."

In July 2024, Blanc stood his ground with a second actors' strike over the lack of protections against the rise of artificial intelligence in the industry, saying: "[AI] is the biggest existential threat I think we've ever faced as actors."

Filmography Theatre

Voice over roles Anime

Video games

Live action roles Film

Television

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2004 Anime Dub Recognition (ADR) Awards Actor of the Month (May) L/R: Licensed by Royalty 2007 Anime Dub Recognition (ADR) Awards Dub of the Month (June) Hellsing Ultimate (Vol. 2) 2012 14th Annual Independent Filmmakers Showcase Film Festival Best Actor The Lift 2012 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Anime Dub Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in an Anime Television Series/OVA Hellsing Ultimate 2013 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Voice Acting Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game Batman: Arkham Origins 2013 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Voice Acting Awards Voice Actor of the Year Batman: Arkham Origins, Beware the Batman, Dragon's Crown, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, Saints Row IV, The Wonderful 101, Killer Is Dead, Skylanders: SWAP Force, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Ben 10 Omniverse 2, Knack, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII 2014 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Anime Dub Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in an Anime Movie/Special Berserk: The Golden Age Arc III – The Advent 2014 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Voice Acting Awards Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role – Action/Drama (Titus) Ultimate Spider-Man 2014 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Voice Acting Awards Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series – Children's/Educational (Ansel Ambrose) Transformers: Rescue Bots 2017 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Voice Acting Awards Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game Batman: The Enemy Within 2023 Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS): Voice Arts Awards Outstanding Video Game Character (Rubeus Hagrid) – Best Voiceover Harry Potter: Magic Awakened