The Untold Truth Of The Voice Behind Apex Legends' Mirage
Mirage might not be as beloved as some other "Apex Legends" characters, but that doesn't mean he doesn't bring something special to the game. The illusion-based Legend marvels in the arena, with a simple, but powerful backstory to boot. Small details in Mirage's lore indicate that his life has actually been more arduous than most. Most of his friends have died one way or another, and he's the last of his siblings left alive. Tragedy doesn't stop him from being hilarious, though, and Mirage's wit is a huge part of his draw. His larger-than-life personality and showmanship make Mirage a fun character to play, regardless of if gamers vibe with his skillset or not, but players might not know the secret to his charm.
Roger Craig Smith is a veteran voice actor that took on the role of Mirage when the character was first introduced. While voice actors certainly work with writers and directors to bring characters to life, Smith is lovable on and off-screen. It turns out that gamers likely know Smith from one thing or another, whether they've played "Apex Legends" or not, but there's plenty about Smith that fans might not be aware of. Here's the untold truth of Roger Craig Smith, the voice actor behind Mirage and many, many other gaming characters.
Smith has roots in stand-up comedy
Before becoming a voice actor, Smith tried his hand at comedy and performed stand-up while he was in college. In an interview with Backstage, Smith talked about how his experiences in stand-up actually helped him once he decided to turn his attention to voice acting full time. "I very much had a stand-up comedy act, with routines, characters, and voices I would take on to get the audience to laugh at me," Smith explained. "After all these gigs, people would come up to me and say, 'You have a nice speaking voice but also all those characters. Have you ever thought about voiceover?'" It was only then that he actually considered switching career paths.
From there, Smith began researching how to get into voice acting, and made the jump to audition for several parts. Once he finally did make it big in the voice acting world, Smith saw several similarities between stand-up and voice acting. "And so much of voiceover is the exact same thing," he said to Backstage. "You can read a line 50 different ways and it can still work, but sometimes they don't like how it's read and if they don't, I gotta be ready to try something else."
Smith knows a lot about wedding dresses
If players think that Mirage sounds eerily familiar as he waltzes across the arena in "Apex Legends," there's a good chance they've heard Smith in an unexpected place: TLC's long-running reality show "Say Yes to the Dress." That's right, Smith is the narrator on "Say Yes to the Dress," and he's said that he's learned a lot about performing by acting on a show about expensive gowns. Smith spoke to The Washington Post about his experiences on the wedding-themed series, saying that "Truly at the heart of it is what this moment represents for women. You're celebrating what is arguably an occasion for one of life's biggest moments."
Overall, Smith explained that his experiences in narrating "Say Yes to the Dress" were mostly positive. He's not only learned a lot about the differences between an A-line and a fit and flare, but he's also added a rather unusual line to his voice acting resume.
Interestingly, Smith told Washington Post that he rarely even sees the dresses he discusses on the show. He receives context on an episode from the show's producer and records the lines on his own, in his home studio. Maybe he wouldn't be much help picking out a gown after all.
Smith has voiced heroes for Marvel and DC
Few things bridge the divide between Marvel and DC heroes, but Roger Craig Smith has somehow found work on both sides of the big two comic publishers. Smith most famously voiced Batman in the "Arkham" series of video games, as well as in the "Batman Unlimited" animated show. While Smith has always brought his own spin to the caped crusader, his "Dark Knight" role required a bit of retooling. In an interview with GameSpot, Smith said that he watched the Christian Bale film of the same name in order to prepare for the part, mimicking a bit of Bale's gravelly tone in his performance.
Even though he has an extensive history working with DC on Batman, Smith has also worked for Marvel, predominantly voicing Captain America for several animated series, including "Avengers Assemble." In 2013, Smith spoke about the role — which was still relatively new to him at the time — by saying that it's difficult to remember that your voice work will be animated one day. "This is bizarre," Smith said, smiling. "You forget that when you go to a voiceover booth that you're going to pop out of there and they're going to take it and animate it to a character that lots of people have heard of." He added, "I'm geeking out hardcore."
It's clear that Smith enjoys playing hero roles because he has a genuine appreciation for the franchises, and he appears to be just as big of a fan as the viewers who love him.
Smith isn't a gamer
Despite years of work in the industry, Smith doesn't consider himself a gamer in the most literal sense. Though he's lent his voice to a multitude of games, he doesn't often have time to play himself, though he has strong opinions on what he would play if given the chance.
In an interview with "Talking Tech," Smith took a deep breath after a fan asked if he was a gamer. "I have not been diligent. I have not been good about my gaming," Smith said, looking down. "I would like to consider myself a gamer, but I have not gamed in quite some time." Still, Smith says he's "an Xbox guy," and scoffed at the idea that PlayStation could be more popular than Microsoft's flagship console. Though he agreed that players should choose the platform their friends are on, Smith shook his head when he heard the host's son had more friends that played Sony's PS4. "Then they're not your friends," Smith joked. "You'll have to disown your son." Even though Smith doesn't schedule game time, he's still allowed to have opinions on who should win the console wars.
A budding astrophotographer
Even though he doesn't spend much time playing games, Smith does have another playful hobby: astrophotography. Smith considers himself a hobbyist astrophotographer and frequently snaps shots of the night sky. He even has a website dedicated to his work, "My Shots in the Dark."
In an interview with Nightscape Magazine, Smith said that he became interested in the night sky back in junior college, when he took an astronomy class that stood out amongst other requirements. In 2016, he put his passion to a purpose and took a photography class specializing in night sky pictures. From there, Smith began his own experiments with equipment, positioning, and processing in order to capture space beautifully.
Even though Smith loves taking pictures of the night sky, astrophotography limits Smith's work to very specific times of day. In an effort to practice photography during the daylight hours, Smith told Nightscape, he began birding. While birds aren't quite the same as stars, both are beautiful and photogenic, giving Smith a chance to work on his hobbies at any time. Smith frequently shows off his work on his Twitter account, commenting on the process he uses to achieve each shot.
Smith's an ASMR-tist...sort of
Smith has a wonderful sense of humor, and he sometimes entertains fans by offering a different spin on his well-known characters. In a special video on his YouTube channel, Smith engaged in a little ASMR, or certain noises that trigger pleasurable feelings — like tingles — in some listeners. While the ASMR experience is generally relaxing, full of dulcet tones and soft noises, Smith took a different approach by using character voices from throughout his career. Although he described the video as "ASMR heaven" in its caption, the actual video was anything but. That being said, it was a good time for fans all around.
Comments were turned off for the video, likely because Smith didn't want anyone to spoil the surprise that came next. Though Smith began with a heartfelt introduction, thanking fans for supporting him and explaining that the video was a way to pay them back, he immediately turned to comedy by loudly crinkling plastic wrap and yelling, in the voice of Sonic, "Hey! You need to relax!" Moments later, Craig yelled Batman's iconic line, "Swear to me!" following it with "that you'll relax." Though the video might not have elicited any tingles from viewers, it surely earned more than a few chuckles.
Fans petitioned to keep him
There's no denying the thing Smith is most well known for, of course. He's voiced Sonic the Hedgehog for over 10 years, playing the blue blur in a number of video games and television series, including "Sonic Generations" and "Sonic Boom." For many Sonic fans, Smith is the iconic hero. When Smith seemed to be stepping down from the role, gamers immediately took action, petitioning for Smith to stay with the franchise.
In early 2021, Smith tweeted that Sonic may lose his voice, hinting that he'd be departing for other "zones" in his career. Some fans had ideas of who they'd want to take over the role, but for the most part, gamers wanted Smith to keep his job. Fans saved Sonic's voice by expressing their genuine appreciation of Smith's work on the franchise, begging Sega to reconsider Smith's departure. While it's not clear what exactly happened behind the scenes, Smith announced that he'd be rejoining the cast of Sonic, making his departure very brief indeed. Smith announced his return with a tweet, writing, "I hope to honor your support and passion as I'm officially back voicing #SonicTheHedgehog in games. Can't wait for ya to see what we have planned!" It just goes to show that sometimes fans do end up getting what they want.