Yuri Lowenthal

Voice-over career Yuri Lowenthal moved to Los Angeles and worked in live-action and theatre roles. To supplement his on-camera work, he and his wife Tara Platt took a voice-over class taught by Rick Zieff.

Lowenthal's first major role in video game voice-overs was as the Prince in Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. In an interview with Critical Gamer, he describes that role as "a very lucky break for me, because it ended up being a super game. We audition all the time for all different kinds of projects, and video games are one part of that, a part that I love." He said that "[he felt] that [he] in a way originated that role". Lowenthal did not return to voice the Prince in Warrior Within, being replaced by Robin Atkin Downes. Lowenthal felt that this was a conscious decision by Ubisoft to fit in with the game's overall tonal shift and thought it was the right decision. For Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, he returned to play the role, as fans had stated their preference for his portrayal of the character. The Prince became one of Lowenthal's favorite roles, and he was pleased to return to the role for The Forgotten Sands. According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future games from both fans and staff, as he needed to remain true to and improve on his original portrayal. This ultimately gave him little creative freedom with the character after The Sands of Time. He also voiced a character in Zatch Bell! which had a notable run on Cartoon Network. He starred in a number of anime shows such as: Girls Bravo where he played Yukinari,

When he auditioned for Naruto, which was being directed by the same person who did Rave Master, he had tried out for multiple roles including Sasuke Uchiha and Iruka, and got a call back for Sasuke. In an interview with Silionera, Lowenthal said that "It certainly allows me to go to some dark places as the series continues. And it makes Sasuke that much more interesting as a character. And that much more fun to play." and its sequel Naruto: Shippuden has also aired on Adult Swim.

In 2007, Lowenthal was cast as Jinnosuke, or "Kuma", a teddy-bear-headed warrior, in the anime feature Afro Samurai which starred Samuel L. Jackson as the title character. In an interview with Eastern Kicks, Lowenthal said that what he liked about Jinno was that he "starts off as one guy and ends up in a very different, very very dark place. Plus I got to kick Sam Jackson's ass. And they keep bringing him back from the dead for me to play again. And he's a twin-sword-wielding insane cyborg death machine with a giant teddy bear head. What's not to like?" He also said that they recorded the voicing for Afro Samurai separately so he did not get to meet Jackson personally until a release party for the related video game years later. Dennis Amith of J-ENT! thought the voice acting was well done. Lowenthal would reprise the role in the 2009 feature Afro Samurai: Resurrection. Steve Fritz of Newsarama wrote "The action sequencing is still top notch, and the vocal performances from Jackson, [Lucy] Liu, Lowenthal and company is on the money."

Other lead roles in anime include Suzaku Kururugi in Code Geass, which ran on Adult Swim, and Simon in Gurren Lagann, which ran on Toonami.

In 2006, Lowenthal landed the role of Superman in the animated series Legion of Super Heroes. In an interview with The Oklahoman, Lowenthal recalled that he read for Lightning Lad and Brainiac 5 in the original audition, and was called back to do Superman. During the callback, he had begun reading for Superman and Brainiac 5 when the producers stopped him. He was later informed that he got the main role, and they did not need to hear more of him on other parts.

In 2008, Lowenthal provided the voice of 15-year-old Ben Tennyson in Ben 10: Alien Force. In portraying Ben, Lowenthal was given guidance by series director Glen Murakami, whom he had worked with on Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo. Early on in the show, Murakami told Lowenthal to portray Ben as less of a wisecrack than his 10-year-old self, and did not want Ben to "veer into the whining, Luke Skywalker". The show was renewed for a second season, which ran from 2012 to 2014. In Ultimate Alien, Ben's age was bumped up to 16 years old. Of these videos, he also served as the screenwriter on Christmas and Royal Family Tale.

Lowenthal voiced Zane in Lego Ninjago: Nindroids in 2014. In the same year, he also voiced Bedman in the English dub of Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-, the first game in the Guilty Gear Xrd subseries. Lowenthal also provided the voice for the protagonist in Persona 3 and Yosuke Hanamura for Persona 4. He also provides the voice of Cecil Harvey in the Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, and again in Dissidia: Final Fantasy on the PSP. In the Dead or Alive series, he voices Hayate / Ein. He voices Matt Miller, the leader of the Decker gang in Saints Row: The Third; and in its sequel. Since 2020, he has voiced Dainsleif in Genshin Impact, narrating nearly all the "Collected Miscellany" videos for new characters. Lowenthal also voiced Lorath Nahr in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo III, and while fans presumed he would reprise his voice acting for the upcoming Diablo IV, actor Ralph Ineson replaced Lowenthal as the voice. Lowenthal voiced and provided the motion-capture performance for Spider-Man/Peter Parker in Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man (2018) for the PS4 and reprised the role in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2020) and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (2023); he had previously voiced Spider-Man in the mobile version of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, and the mobile game Spider-Man Unlimited (2014). He also voices Spider-Man in Marvel Rivals. Kirk McKeand of Eurogamer described Lowenthal as "the man you've killed the most" for his roles in over 200 video games.

In February 2023, Lowenthal guest voiced Benni Baro, a teenage scavenger and ipsium miner, in Star Wars: The Bad Batch. Later in 2023, Lowenthal also voiced Tomas Vrbada / Smoke, a ninja specializing in stealth and smoke-based attacks, in Mortal Kombat 1.

In early 2024, he appeared as the "Default Helldiver Voice 2" voice pack in Helldivers 2. In August 2024, he was cast to voice Viscous, a green gooey sea creature, in Deadlock.

Acting and production career

Lowenthal has been involved in several live-action projects with his company Monkey Kingdom Productions with wife Tara Platt. In 2008, they produced Con Artists, a mockumentary that chronicles some of their convention visits. They produced a psychological thriller film called Tumbling After which garnered an Award of Merit at the Accolade Film Festival. In 2011, Lowenthal and Platt produced Shelf Life, a web series where they act as action figures in a Toy Story-like environment, but with more adult humor. In 2014, they produced a short steampunk-themed film called Topsy McGee vs. the Sky Pirates which was an official selection at the New York City International Film Festival and was a finalist at the Dragon Con Independent Short Film Festival in the steampunk category.

In 2010, Lowenthal starred as the title character in Van Von Hunter, a live-action mockumentary co-directed by Tokyopop founder Stuart Levy, based on the comics of the same name. In the film, he plays a sword-swinging barbarian from a fantasy world who is thrown into Earth and is cast in a sword and sorcery movie. The film was featured in several film festivals, and a special audience award at MockFest 2010. Lowenthal won an award for best character at MockFest as well.

He co-wrote the screenplay for The Arcadian, a film by Dekker Dreyer that was inspired by underground science fiction comics of the 1970s and 1980s. The film received awards and nominations at film festivals. He is slated to participate in an independent film called Any Bullet Will Do which stars Mark Ryan and was filmed in Montana.

Lowenthal and Platt co-authored the book Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It's Like Behind the Mic, released in 2010. He also co-authored the comedy-noir novella Tough City with Keith Ikeda-Barry as part of a 72-hour novel writing contest. It was released in 2013. In 2016, he released the novella as a weekly podcast series.

Personal life

Lowenthal met actress Tara Platt on an NYU grad film where they played opposite each other in a romantic comedy film called Model Chaser. They founded a company called Monkey Kingdom Productions in 2004. Their son was born in 2016.

Lowenthal has described himself as a "Tennessee Jew".

Filmography

Books

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref. 2019 D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Character Marvel's Spider-Man 2024 British Academy Games Awards Performer in a Leading Role Marvel's Spider-Man 2