We speak with Josh Keaton and Neil Kaplan about becoming Shiro and Zarkon in Voltron Legendary Defender.

DreamWorksVoltron Legendary Defenderhas no problem playing with the mythology ofVoltron.

Sven, the oddly Norwegian pilot, famous for being sent to the medical planet, has become Shiro.

We spoke with the actors behind these lead characters, Josh Keaton and Neil Kaplan.

Shiro is basically the leader of the team.

He pilots the Black Lion and hes a natural leader.

He was a star at the Galaxy Garrison academy.

Everybody respected him, he was really good pilot.

He was captured on a mission and taken prison by the Galra and he shows up a year later.

No idea what happened to him.

Hes got a big shock of white hair and a cybernetic hand, which obviously wasnt there before.

Sometimes it comes back to him in opportune times, sometimes not.

Probably because of what hes been through hes got this wisdom beyond his years.

The safety of his team and accomplishing his goals are the most important things to him.

Out of everyone in the group hes probably the most zen one.

It takes a lot to get anything out of Shiro, except for butt kicking.

You mentioned the PTSD angle, how much will we be seeing of that?

Oh yeah, he has to try and put that information together.

That is information that can directly help him.

Hes gotta figure out what it all means.

That goes without saying.

He is the leader.

So for sure he has a huge sense of responsibility.

Shiro will definitely put himself in harms way to save any member of the team.

And they all will as well.

This is what were doing.

We need to figure this out.

Can you talk about the casting process for this show?

From what Ive read it seemed pretty intense.

It was pretty crazy.

I think everybody had a little different experience.

With my particular experience, I think I was the second Shiro.

They call back the people they want to see in person.

So I got a callback.

At the callbacks they actually gave me sides for a couple different characters.

They gave me sides for Keith and Lance as well but I was originally called back for Shiro.

That I wasnt going to get the part, essentially.

I was like Well, that sucks.

But what are you gonna do?

This happens all the time.

Ive not gotten more things then Ive gotten.

There was a little sting to it cause man, itsVoltron!

I really wanted to be part of that.

And my initial impression was that it was a mistake.

That it was like an e-mail that got accidentally forwarded to me from the past.

I was almost not even gonna go because I didnt think it was a real thing.

They were like, No.

Theyre calling you back in.

And I was like, Wha?

Theres a bunch of people and a microphone and so I performed the sides.

So at this point, Im like, So… Did I get it?

And I didnt really get a clear answer.

Until we started doing press I didnt believe that I wasnt gonna be replaced.

But Im still here!

It was pretty crazy.

And Im so thankful to be a part of that final Voltron team.

What were your memories of the originalVoltronwhen you were a kid?

Keep in mind I was a very young kid at the time.

It was almost certainly in reruns.

I have some vague memories of that.

But I loved it.

The imagery was incredible.

The freakin five lions forming this massive multi lion structure was awesome.

Really a lot of it was the fights.

Honestly, the character dynamic I didnt really capture a lot of.

When youre a kid you want to see big robots fighting.

I actually still, somewhere in my parents garage, have a Gladiator Voltron toy.

That one of my fathers students gave him to give to me.

He teaches English as a second language to adults.

It was Voltron II.

And Im like, No, its real.

Its Voltron, it just didnt come out here.

In the original series the character of Sven, whos now Shiro, spoke in a heavy Norwegian accent.

How would you feel if you had to do that the whole show?

But hey, Im up for anything.

Im up for anything.

Hahaha, I guess I should probably find some Shiro lines to practice with.

What do you as an actor bring to the role of Shiro?

Well, Im a new Dad.

Hes totally, totally 100% committed to looking out for his team and making sure theyre okay.

Ive grown a lot in patience.

I do a lot of Yoga, I meditate.

Thats all stuff I can completely see Shiro doing.

I expect Shiro does it in times where youre not seeing him on screen.

Ive also played a pilot before.

Ive played heroic roles before.

Theres some knowledge to that.

I would say mostly my life stuff, being the leader of my own family.

That makes you approach leadership from a different way.

Its not so much a brute force and forcing people to do what you want.

Its about working with them and is this the best way to get this done?

What was it like going to that Voltron art show?

That was incredible, man.

I saw some stuff there that I didnt expect.

Who would have thought to carve Lion heads into crayons?

How cool is that?

I could totally see that being part of the world!

There was a lot of art that was art for arts sake.

I look at those and think, those would totally be there.

It was really really cool to see.

Favorite Lion and why?

My favorite lion is the Black Lion cause its the only one that I had growing up.

Its the one toy that I had to play with.

I didnt have any of the other toys, but I did have the black lion.

Im beyond stoked that I get to pilot the Black Lion that I grew up playing with.

Check out the next page for our chat with Neil Kaplan, who plays the role of Emperor Zarkon.

Neil Kaplan is no stranger to the voice acting industry, especially for fans of anime and adaptions.

Kaplan has voiced roles in such shows asDigimon,Naruto,Transformers, andPower Rangers.

Is that to reflect a more powerful hold he has over the galaxy?

Storytelling has changed since the 1980s.

They want a character with shades of gray and more question marks, shall we say?

And just more depth.

Personally, I like the title Emperor a lot better.

I certainly feel a lot more comfortable.

King is like, a king of a planet.

Emperor kinda lets you know were talking galaxies here.

Were talking a grand scale, an empire.

I think just the word empire conjures up something different.

Kind of a power that is spreading as it were as opposed to a kingdom.

Kingdom feels stationary when you think about it.

By the very nature of the word, emperor just is a lot more foreboding.

A lot more imposing.

So, I appreciate the raise.

You say expanding and emperor.

Do you think that makes Zarkon more of an ancient Roman kind of figure with that long reaching power?

Thats an interesting comparison.

The empire was always thinking to expand.

So in that way very much it would be along those lines.

Is Zarkon a totally sinister emperor, or do some of his subjects really like the guy?

Theyd have to, otherwise how does an empire proceed forward?

An emperor has to be charismatic.

You cant rule strictly from fear and intimidation.

The empire spreads too far to be effective.

Unless of course you build the proper structure of evil.

Evil management as it were.

A quote unquote evil leader is essentially just somebody who we the outside viewer have a disagreement with.

I mean, one stories destructive rebel is another stories hero.

Whats the difference between those two voices in your mind?

So every now and then youre gonna have some characters that sound the same.

But the main difference is in how I play them and their energy.

Their immediate goals and what theyre after.

Theres still a subservience at a certain level to the power structure.

Theres an uneasiness in how the character feels.

He fits within that structure, versus Zarkon whos at the top.

He doesnt doubt, he doesnt worry, and he doesnt fear.

With characters like that a lot of times they dont have to get loud because they know theyre right.

Zarkon doesnt have to worry much about kissing anyones boots to get to stay alive.

Your insight is so delightful!

Heres an obscure fun question for you.

Will we be seeing Emperor Zarkon shilling Sprite in the new series?

Well theres our one spoiler.

Well, I said I dont see it happening.

I did make the addendum, there is always ADR.

I dont think thats gonna happen though.

What is your favorite Lion or Robeast and why?

Well I dont have a favorite Robeast yet, because I need to see them in action!

I havent seen it yet!

(NOTE: At the time of this interview.)

As far as a favorite Lion?

Im a San Francisco Giants fan so I gotta go with the Black Lion.

But Im just glad you didnt ask for a favorite Paladin.

Cause that would be way too tough.

And how well their voices compliment each other.

How theyre almost like the gears of a clock.

They sync up so well.

Thanks for not asking me my favorite Paladin.

How about our chat with the voice actress for Allura and Pidge?

Thanks to Nerdist for their photos from the Voltron Art show at Hero Complex Galaxy.

DreamWorksVoltron Legendary Defenderis streaming now on Netflix.