Interview with Jacob Gomez, Voice of Scooby in Jordan Farrell's Backstage Rage Fan Film

In the same vein as the fan spotlights I've been doing all this week (and will continue to do up until Scooby's 51st anniversary), I have another very cool person to introduce you all to that is not part of the fan spotlights technically. Jacob Gomez, who is an aspiring voice actor, is here today with us to do an interview! Jacob Gomez provided the voice of Scooby in Jordan Farrell's fan film, Scooby-Doo! The Backstage Rage, which turns one year old today. Without further ado, I'm excited to introduce you to Jacob!

1. How did you originally get into Scooby-Doo?
It was "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?", I was 5 at that time and when I first watched it, I thought it was funny and exciting for me as a kid. 

2. Was this your first role voice acting for a character? If not, what other voice roles have you had?
Well, funny enough, this film was actually my first role or roles per say, I also voiced other random characters and some of the puppets including one of the side villains, Mixey. I've done acting in the past before. 

3. Do you have a favorite episode and film of Scooby? Why are those your favorites?
My favorite Scooby film would have to be "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed", mainly due to all the classic monsters turning real. As for a favorite episode, my favorite episode is the very first episode of "Scooby-Doo, Where are You?" with the Black Knight Ghost, it was funny and I liked the chase scenes in the parts of the museum, it was exciting. 

4. Do you have a favorite part of Jordan’s film?
My favorite part of the film was the final battle with The Puppet Phantom especially when Shaggy saves Thorn. Because I like seeing my Shaggy happy lol. Also, At first in Shaggy's arc, he messed up by being a jerk to Sally and fixed his mistakes by saving and apologizing to her too. In other words Shaggy is proving to be a hero and a redeemable person. I love Shaggy's arc in the film. 

5. In your opinion, what is the best series (or era) of Scooby-Doo?
I'd say the old classic era, nothing beats an old classic. 

6. What direction would you like to see the franchise go in the future?
Probably make better gnarly monsters and more surprises, like newer different versions and more real monsters more often. 

7. If you could voice a character on any show or movie in the world, who would it be?
Maybe Gollum from Lord of the Rings, I like voicing creepy characters like The Chamberlain from The Dark Crystal. Which is why I'm excited about coming back as Mixey in the new special "Revenge of Mixey". 

8. Do you have a favorite Scooby-Doo villain and why?
 The Cat Creatures from "Zombie Island", they were menacing and were a real threat. 

9. How did you start working with Jordan and get involved with the film?
I've been friends with Jordan since high school and I remember him approaching me to work on his senior year live action short film "Smokey Bear BANNED", a horror parody if you will and I played three different characters that wound up being killed. When it came to this project, "The Backstage Rage", he originally was going to get Scott Iines for the voice of Scooby, then things went nowhere and I remember him asking me to do an impression of scooby, I did it, and he got so impressed with my voice, he immediately was like "you got the job!" And I've also provided other voices for other characters and I've been his frequent collaborator on his future films ever since. 

10. What do you think has made the franchise so popular that it’s still going strong after 50 years? 
The ageless adventures of mystery solving and the amount of cool monsters. 

11. What was your favorite part of voicing Scooby? What was the most difficult part of providing such an iconic voice?
Just pulling off his iconic laugh and I actually looked at dog noises and previous incarnations of the voice for research, getting the tone right, while also making it my own thing. The difficult part was trying to keep it where it sounds like Scooby-Doo, to a perfect tee. There were times where I had to redo a line or three over and over and over again. Because either I messed up or someone else did lol. As for worries, I felt confident in voicing such an icon like Scooby and I hope I did my predecessors justice. It's an honor to be a part of this and I'm so happy to hear that fans love my take on the character. 

12. Do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to go into the world of voice acting?
Keep practicing and never give up. Thank you for this opportunity to interview me, you can see me, or hear me in future films from Jordan like the Regular Show fan film, "Muscle Man's Christmas Drive", and of course our upcoming sequel "Scooby-Doo! Waters of Atlantis" and the 2 OVA specials.

Thanks so much to Jacob for answering my questions, and I hope you enjoyed getting to know him a little better.