Every year in May AAPI Heritage History Month is celebrated across the United States. Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month is a time to recognize and celebrate the many contributions, diverse cultures, and extensive histories of the AAPI community.
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and in recognition of the incredible work AAPI voice actors have contributed over the years, we wanted to share a sampling of influential, established, and up-and-coming AAPI Voice Actors, with highlights of their work. This list includes a range of actors from film, tv, and video games!
Are there any other actors you'd like to see? Let us know!
Anjali Bhimani is well known in the gaming community as the voice of Symmetra, the light bending architect in Overwatch, as well as Rampart in Apex Legends, Head Cleric in The Legend of Vox Machina, Nisha in Fallout:4 Nuka World, Kala in Indivisible, the strong-headed sniper Stingray in We’re Alive: Frontier on Geek and Sundry, and the feisty Miriam on UnDeadwood and Fy’ra Rai on Exandria Unlimited by Critical Role Studios.
In 2017, she created the positivity and life-hacking web series I Am Fun Size on YouTube, a series in which she shares her experiences and interviews other well-known performers in order to help people looking to live fuller, bigger lives. In 2022, she published the companion book, I Am Fun Size and So Are YOU! which became a bestseller on the Wall Street Journal & USA Today, and hit #1 on Barnes and Noble and in multiple categories on Amazon.
Zehra Fazal is a Pakistani-American actor and voice artist with credits including Young Justice Outsiders, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Bojack Horseman, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Big Hero 6: The Series, Craig of the Creek, Adam Ruins Everything, and the voice of the spaceship in the live-action Netflix original series Lost in Space.
She has also lent her voice to several interactive titles and video games, including the smash hit battle-royale game Apex Legends, Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Destiny 2, League of Legends and the upcoming Batman: A Death in the Family where she will voice DC villain Talia Al Ghul.
Notable animation credits include Halo in Young Justice, Talia al Ghul in Batman: A Death in the Family, Bojack Horseman, Voltron: Legendary Defender, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Big Hero 6: The Series, Craig of the Creek, Amphibia, Glitch Techs and more.
Dante Basco is a Filipino American film, television, and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys in Steven Spielberg's Hook, for voicing the titular character of American Dragon: Jake Long, and for voicing Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Other notable roles he voiced are Julian Lee in Fakin' da Funk, Zuko's grandson: Iroh II, in The Legend of Korra, Shingo in EA's Skate, Fukushima in Kim Possible, Kwok Wong in The Proud Family, Jingmei in The Boondocks, Kenny Rodgers in Firebreather, Tuck in Generator Rex, Scorpion in Ultimate Spider-Man, Jai Kell in Star Wars Rebels, Cheddar in We Bare Bears, Javier in Victor and Valentino, Dolph in But I'm a Cheerleader and Spin Kick from Carmen Sandiego.
Brent Mukai is a Japanese American Voice Actor who works primarily in video games, anime, animation, and commercials. He's been voice acting full time since 2017 and has 15 years of experience in acting, stand up, and improv comedy. In 2021 he won the Society of Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Anime Character - Best Male Voiceover for Ginji in the Funimation anime Full Dive.
Erika Ishii is is an actress and producer, known for Apex Legends, Destiny 2, and Deathloop. They played Dusk in Campaign Three: Bells Hells, Hanako Hayashi in Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace, and Sasha Murasaki in Cinderbrush: A Monsterhearts Story.
Erika starred as Selina in Sagas of Sundry with Taliesin Jaffe, Matthew Mercer, Liam O'Brien, Marisha Ray, and Darin De Paul. They also played in World of Darkness's LA By Night. Their video game voice acting credits include Loki in Fire Emblem: Heroes, Fallout 76, Amanda in Dream Daddy, Anastasia "Ana" Bray in Destiny 2, and Valkyrie in Apex Legends.
Stephanie Sheh is a Chinese-American voice actress, ADR director, writer and producer who has worked for companies including Cartoon Network and Sony. Under the moniker of Jennifer Sekiguchi, Sheh made her voice acting debut as Silky in I'm Gonna Be An Angel! in 2001. She is often involved with work in English dubs of anime, cartoons, video games and films.
Notable voice roles include Hinata Hyuga in the Naruto franchise, Orihime Inoue in Bleach, Usagi Tsukino/the title protagonist in the Viz Media redub of Sailor Moon, Yui Hirasawa in K-On!, Eureka in Eureka Seven, Katana in DC Super Hero Girls, Mikuru Asahina in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Mona and Kat in WarioWare Gold, Yui in Sword Art Online, Illyasviel von Einzbern in Fate/stay night, Mamimi Samejima in FLCL, Blanca in White Snake and its 2021 sequel: Green Snake and Mitsuha Miyamizu in Your Name.
Kumail Nanjiani is a Pakistani actor, writer, and producer. He voiced Prismo on the animated series Adventure Time and starred in the TNT series Franklin & Bash and the Adult Swim series Newsreaders. He voiced Reggie in the video game The Walking Dead: Season Two and provided his voice for the character of Mshak Moradi in the Hunt the Truth audio drama, part of the marketing campaign for Halo 5: Guardians, in addition to guest voices on Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.
Voiceover highlights include Prismo in the animated TV series Adventure Time, Neilando Patel in Ugly Americans, Dick Genie in TripTank, Farooq Ashkani in Archer, and Vik in The Boys. In film, Nanjiani voiced the alien Pawny in Men in Black International, Jay in The Lego Ninjago Movie, Dave the Demon in Hell and Back, and Plimpton the Ostrich in the adventure comedy film Dolittle. As far as video games, he voiced Jarun Tann in Mass Effect: Andromeda and The Agonizer in Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
Charlet Takahashi Chung is a Japanese/Korean-American television and film actor who is the voice of D.Va from Blizzard Entertainment's Overwatch and has reprised the role for the crossover game Heroes of the Storm. She also voiced Seraph in the shooter video game Call of Duty: Black Ops III. She also voices Ally "Hoops" Nguyen in the 2022 game Grounded. In television, Charlet also joined the casts of Carmen Sandiego as the voice of Julia Argent and the cast of Fast & Furious Spy Racers as Margaret "Echo" Pearl.
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