Overlord voice actor Christopher Guerrero spoke with News Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese about starring in the anime’s first movie, Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom. Guerrero talked about the new character Neia, what to expect in the film, and more. Crunchyroll will release Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom in theaters on November 8 in the United States and Canada.
“Once prosperous but now on the brink of ruin, The Sacred Kingdom enjoyed years of peace after construction of an enormous wall protecting them from neighboring invasions. But, one day this comes to an end when the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth arrives with an army of villainous demi-humans,” says the film’s synopsis.
“Fearing invasion of their own lands, the neighboring territory of the Slane Theocracy is forced to beg their enemies at the Sorcerer Kingdom for help. Heeding the call, Momonga, now known as the Sorcerer King Ains Ooal Gown (Christopher Guerrero), rallies the Sorcerer Kingdom and its undead army to join the fight alongside the Sacred Kingdom and the Slane Theocracy in hopes to defeat the Demon Emperor.”
Tyler Treese: This is the first proper Overlord movie. The other two were compilations of episodes. This is such an exciting arc, the Sacred Kingdom arc, and fans are really looking forward to this. So what does it mean for you to be starring in this big movie for the franchise, and telling this very epic story that’s well suited for the big screen?
Christopher Guerrero: Being my first lead in a movie? A little nerve-wracking, for sure. But thankfully I’ve been with the character for four seasons and a spin-off series. So, I had to treat it like it’s just another Overlord session, but extended. So definitely some nerves there in the beginning, but I was like, “I know this character. I know where this is going.” So it was just getting back on the horse again.
It’s crazy, you’ve been voicing this character for like eight years.
Honestly, I never thought he’d get this many seasons, but hey. Every season that was announced, I was always surprised and very thankful that I got to come back.
How has that experience been? Because the series has just kept growing in popularity, and the quality has been shockingly consistent. You’ve just gotten to really live with this character for so many years of your professional life now.
Ainz Ooal Gown was my first ever lead role in an anime. So it was like me and him both thrust into this role of responsibility that we weren’t accustomed to. But we just rolled with the punches. I made mistakes, he made mistakes. So as we kept going further through the series, I became more confident in playing this character and also Ainz taking on the confidence, even though he still gets nervous at times, he grows more accustomed to the circumstances that suddenly come outta nowhere for him, be them for the best or for the worst.
Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that evolution of Ainz over time. Because we see that in the movie where rather than just being at the will and being taken for a ride, he’s doing a lot of planning. We we’re seeing a lot of him actually thinking ahead and setting things in motions. So what have you liked most about really getting to see him develop?
Well, he’s definitely become a better role player, that’s for sure. Because he’s still not accustomed to certain things, but it’s always a blast to see like, how does he get out of this one? I’m like, “Your luck stat must be immeasurable,” because … you’ll do nothing, and it all works out for you. You just appear somewhere. It’s like, “Oh, he’s got three plans covered right now.” No, he’s just there to enjoy an event or something. Everybody thinks that he’s there to cause some unholy damage upon the land, but he’s just like, “I’m just here.” Then they come to him and grovel, “Please don’t do anything to us.” Like, “Of course not. You want to join my nation?” “Sure, why not?” “Okay.”
Overlord, as a series, it reminds me of Beetlejuice, where you’re playing the main character, but the focus isn’t always on Ainz. We see a lot of other perspectives. In this movie, we see a lot of Neia. How great is it that this series can focus on other people, but every single time you see Ainz it’s gonna be a blast? It’s an interesting usage of a main character.
I am very happy that the Overlord series and for Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, that we have such a large, diverse cast. Because it’d be great to be with Einz all the time, but come on, we gotta see the people of this world. The world building, I love how it develops and the little snippets we get with each season, especially with this movie because we’ve never seen the Sacred Kingdom until now. We’ve only heard murmurs of it up to this point. Of course it’s called Overlord The Sacred Kingdom, but I would say this is really Neia’s movie because it’s about a young Paladin in training, trying to find her way in the world and what justice means to her versus Remedios or the queen Calca.
Calca is a very compassionate justice. Remedios is a very black and white justice, and Neia is still trying to figure out what justice means to her in this movie. So it’s very nice to get a first-person view from somebody else’s point. Because hen Ainz appears, you’re always watching it from Neia’s eyes. So all those cool action sequences, it’s just as amazing as you would, as an audience member, see it from a human’s eyes. But Einz is like, “Oh, this is just every day for me.”
I wanted to ask you about Einz and Neia, specifically just their interactions because over the course of the movie, she just becomes the biggest supporter of Ainz and it’s really cute to see. What did you like the most about those two characters interacting?
Initially, the awkwardness of it all because I know Ainz when they first meet is like, “Why is she looking like she wants to kill me?” Because she has very intense eyes that she got from her father. So it’s that kind of awkward getting to know each other. She’s a Paladin, so to them all unead are like just the worst things ever. So, her discovering like, “Wait, this undead has humanity to him.” Then as he goes on through this movie, not spoiling too much his deeds that he does in this war that is ongoing with the Holy Kingdom, with some other forces that you’ll find out in the movie, she just grows to admire him more and more and more so, and in a sense becomes almost kind of a religious admiration for him.
A movie is only as good as its villain. You’ve got quite the test in this movie as Ainz is going up against the Demon Emperor. He’s really just painted as a pure scumbag. What what did you like most about that villain for the movie?
Jaldabaoth has always been my favorite. I don’t wanna spoil too much if nobody’s watched Overlord before, but let’s just say Ainz and Jaldabaoth have a history together. So it was interesting to see his other form in this movie because every time you see him is in his humanoid form, but this time you actually see him as the big demon that he is. They do interact, but that’s not the focus of the movie too much. But their interactions are very action-packed, and the quality has just been amazing. So, I feel lucky to be able to see it so early happen in motion, and I hope everyone has a visual feast for their eyes when they see it in theaters.
Oviously the fans that have really stayed with the series the entire time are gonna get the most out of this film, but do you feel like if you’re bringing a friend and you explain the basics of what Overlord is about, do you feel like this is a decent stand-alone entry if somebody’s just kind of curious of what Overlord is?
You could come into it completely blind. Of course, with it being a long-running series, there are things that maybe you won’t catch onto immediately, or you might have to fill in the gaps through your friends, but since it’s kind of a Neia’s point of view this entire time, I think you could go into it without knowing the series beforehand. But hopefully if you do go into it blind, it inspires you to go see what’s going on, how did it get to this point? So you have four seasons to see how all this happened. So, I would say, yeah, if you have an interest and maybe dabble in it, I’d say, yeah, you could go into the movie blind.
It’s so cool that you voice Akuma in Street Fighter now. How crazy was it when you got that call?
I was ecstatic. I am a fighting game player, so I’ve been playing Street Fighter for many years. So, they say you get an audition, you send it off, and you forget it. But when it’s something that prolific, you’re like, “Am I gonna get an email? What’s gonna happen?” So when that did come in, I was like aghast. It was like maybe 2 a.m. in the morning when I got that I was about to go to bed, and then I got that and then I was like, “Well, I can’t go to bed for the rest of the night.”
So, yes, it was a dream role to be able part to be part of a series I’ve been playing for years and a character that I’m very much a fan of. To be a part of that history now is a dream come true.
Is that bizarre hearing your own voice out of the character you’re playing in the game?
It is a bit. I’m just like, “Gosh, I’m coming out of that guy. He needs some lotion.” But yes, it is always a trip hearing myself come out of that character, but I’m also very ecstatic. It’s like, “I can’t believe that’s me. Oh my goodness.”
Thanks to Christopher Guerrero for taking the time to talk about Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, which is in theaters on November 8.
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