J. Michael Tatum
American voice actor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Michael Tatum is an American voice actor, ADR director and script writer who provides voices for a number of English versions of Japanese anime series and video games.
- Voice actor
- ADR director
- ADR script writer
J. Michael Tatum | |
|---|---|
Tatum in 2026 | |
| Born | John Michael Tatum |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse | Brandon McInnis[1] |
Biography
In 2005, Tatum ran into Funimation ADR director Christopher Bevins, who cast him as Rikichi in Samurai 7. Tatum has been cast in several notable roles, including Kyoya Ootori in Ouran High School Host Club, Sebastian Michaelis in Black Butler, Tomoe in Kamisama Kiss, France in Hetalia: Axis Powers, Erwin Smith in Attack on Titan, Okabe Rintaro in Steins;Gate, Eneru in One Piece, Tenya Iida in My Hero Academia and Rei Ryuugazaki in Free! – Eternal Summer.
From January 2010 to January 2014, he hosted That Anime Show podcasts with friend and co-worker Terri Doty and ADR Engineer Stephen Hoff.[2]
At the Florida Supercon 2015 panel, when he was asked what was his inspiration to go into voice acting, Tatum said that when he was young he had a speech impediment and his speech coach had him get involved in theater. As he was reciting and memorizing scripts, they noticed that his stuttering started to gradually disappear. He then got into drama and theater acting, and that voice acting is great in that it enables him to play more characters than on camera.[3]
In 2017, Tatum was cast for the English voice of Hideki Akasaka in Shin Godzilla.
Since October 2018, he and Jamie Marchi co-host the ghost story podcast Ghoul Intentions.[4]
Personal life
Tatum is openly gay.[3] During a panel at Ichibancon 2014, he had said that he came out to his family during his college years, with his father having already known about his sexuality for some time. On October 16, 2018, he became engaged to his long-time partner and fellow voice actor Brandon McInnis in Paris. He resides in Los Angeles, California as of 2020.[1]
Filmography
Anime
Animation
| Year | Title | Role | Crew role, notes | Source[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017; 2020–present | RWBY | Klein Sieben | Volumes 4, 8 | [103] |
| 2018; 2021 | RWBY Chibi | Season 3–4 | ||
| 2025 | The Mighty Nein | Various voices | [7] | |
| TBA | Far-Fetched | Quinn | [104] | |
Films
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Crew role, Notes | Source[5] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–present | Dragon Ball series | Zarbon, Mira, Upa, Bora | Zarbon from 2010-2011 | [7] |
| 2012 | Borderlands 2 | Hodunk Bandit, Sir Hammerlock | [7] | |
| Tales of Xillia 2 | Julius Will Kresnik | [116] | ||
| 2014 | Smite | Hercules, Stargazer Anubis, Lord Slashington the III Fenrir | [7] | |
| Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel! | Sir Hammerlock, Lost Legion Infantry No. 4, Powersuit Pro | [117] | ||
| 2015 | Paladins | Fernando | ||
| 2016 | Killing Floor 2 | Mr. Foster | [7] | |
| 2019 | Borderlands 3 | Sir Hammerlock | [7] | |
| 2021 | Tales of Luminaria | August Wallenstein | [118] | |
| 2022 | Genshin Impact | Pantalone | [119] | |
| Pokémon Masters EX | Emmet | [120] | ||
| 2023 | Fire Emblem Engage | Louis | [7] | |
| Star Wars Jedi: Survivor | Moran | [121] | ||
| Starfield | Henry Filburn, Marcel Duris | [7] | ||
| Disgaea 7: Vows of the Virtueless | Joe Doe | |||
| 2024 | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Cid Highwind | [122] | |
| 2025 | Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma | Kurama | [7] | |
| Date Everything! | Mitchell Linn | [123] | ||
| Deadpool VR | Golden Age Deadpool | [7] | ||
| 2026 | Code Vein II | Protagonist | ||
| 2027 | Final Fantasy VII Revelation | Cid Highwind | [124] |