Fans were all excited to watch the first episode of "Sailor Moon" 2014 last July 5 and some even got a chance to meet the woman behind the popular Japanese character Usagi Tsukino. Nope, it isn't Tracey Moore, who did the 14 episodes or Terri Hawkes, who did the following 57 episodes. It's none other than Linda Ballantyne, who took over the Hawkes after she declined to return for the third season.
The Anime Expo 2014 was filled with cosplayers and anime fans who wanted to witness the reunion of the English voice actors of the 90's cult classic. "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" was Naoko Takeuchi's shojo manga series and it was first aired in Japan in 1991. After three years, the anime debuted in North America - invading US and Canada.
The original series ended in 1997, but thankfully they decided to release "Sailor Moon" 2014. In time for its premiere, Linda Ballantyne revealed to the fans how she got casted and how the anime changed her life. BuzzFeed was there to cover the interview with the 50-year old voice actress.
Her nieces don't think she fits the role of Sailor Moon, but she was able to prove them wrong. Ballantyne retold what happened during the day of the audition. She said, "I was sick as a dog. I was so sick. I was losing my voice. I could feel it." The voice actress continued, "And I actually think it played in my favor. Because I think Terri's voice is certainly higher than mine. And she speaks a lot more out of her nose when she does the voice and I don't. So I had this cold. And it was in my nose. And I was like, Well, OK, let's just channel that then. Let's go with it."
The Toronto-born actress also got emotional when she shared her encounter with a fan, whose life has changed because of "Sailor Moon". Ballantyne said, "She had come and said to me, 'I don't have a question for you. I just want to thank you. Because when I was younger, I was at a really terrible place. And I was living in an awful environment. It wasn't good. I was all by myself. And I didn't want to live. I just didn't want to live. The only thing that kept me alive was you. Sailor Moon. If it wasn't for Sailor Moon, I would not be here right now.'"
That's really touching. Do you also want to share how "Sailor Moon" 2014 changed your life?
