Masters of the Universe: Revelation boasts an impressive all-star voice cast, with names like Mark Hamill, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Lena Headey lending their talents to continue the story from the original 1980s animated series. Part 1 of the new Netflix series from Kevin Smith reintroduces fans to Prince Adam, He-Man, Skeletor, Teela, and other Eternian heroes and villains, but also includes lesser-known favorites like Andra, voiced by Tiffany Smith.
While Smith is a prolific host, she's also expanded her resume to take on more voice-acting roles, including LEGO DC Super-Villains and non-playable characters in Gears of War. In Netflix's Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Andra is one of Teela's closest allies and adds some much-needed diversity to the He-Man franchise. In an interview with CBR, Smith discussed how she landed the role of Andra, the off-screen adventures of Andra and Teela, growing up a He-Man and She-Ra fan, and fans' reactions to Part 1's cliffhanger ending.
CBR: Obviously, you're no stranger to collaborating with Kevin Smith, but can you discuss how you got involved with Masters of the Universe: Revelation?
Tiffany Smith: I had been doing some voiceover work here and there prior to Revelation. I did a voice on the DC LEGO villains game and some NPC characters for Gears of War. And I kind of fell in love with that space and was like, "Okay, how can I continue to do more of this?" So, I started working with my agents over the ESB and they started submitting me for more stuff. And this opportunity came up. And for me, I grew up watching the ['80s] cartoons and loved them so much. Then I saw who was doing it, and one of the things for me that has always been ingrained in me is that I want to do something to the best of my ability and book it on my talent.
So I auditioned and I didn't really say anything to Kevin. I’ve hosted stuff with him in the past, but I wanted to wait and kind of have my audition speak for itself. Fortunately, it did. I remember going into one of our first sessions, and Kevin was just like, "Hey, I just want to let you know that Mattel loved you." And when they asked, I said, "Oh yeah, Tiffany, I love her," which was really super awesome and encouraging because once I saw the list of all the other talent involved, I kind of had that moment of pinching myself and asking how did I end up on this show? There’s some legendary, incredible talent that's on this show. I feel really, really lucky that I get to be a part of it and am just super grateful.
Was the decision to make Andra the Masters of the Universe’s first Black character made before you came on, or is that something you found out after the fact?
Well, I think it was kind of a mixture of things... But, also there was Clamp Champ. There have been some characters of color, but this is the first one where it's a leading character, really fully developed. I know that when they were testing, I think they had the idea that they wanted to put some more diversity into the world of Eternia. I happen to be multiracial. It was just such a great thing, because for me, like I said, I grew up watching the show. And when I was little watching cartoons I always did the thing, which I think a lot of kids did, but you watch a cartoon and say, "I'm him. I'm her. I'm this person." But it was rare to see anybody on shows that really looked anything like me.
So now getting to actually watch the show and say I'm her, and have the realization that there's going to be other kids -- and even other adults that are kids at heart -- that get to watch the show now and can see themselves even more in this world... It's so awesome and incredible. It just warms my heart.
I think that's very important, especially nowadays with so much current content. Especially when you can diversify a franchise that has been going as long as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
I’ve been lucky enough to work in the geek space for a while. I was doing stuff for DC and doing film stuff for Fandango. Some of my favorite moments are when I'm at a convention and a family comes up to me with their daughter, or a younger girl comes up to me, or someone who is diverse or a person of color, and they're like, "Hey, I just love the fact that watching you do this stuff made my daughter feel more comfortable talking about what she loves." Or being able to see yourself somewhere, realizing that, "Oh, I can do that, too."
So every time that happens, it feels really amazing. It's like a dream come true for me to get to work in this space. I grew up reading comics and loving all of this stuff. And then to get to be that person that somebody looks at and says, "Oh, my gosh, if she can do it, so can I." That's awesome.
My son just turned three, so he's a little too young for the show right now. But when he gets maybe five, I'll be able to hopefully show it to him and he can get into it. I'm trying to get him into all the geeky stuff that I like, as well.
I love that. With my family, I watched X-Men: The Animated Series. I loved Storm because she was the closest thing I'd ever seen to a character like me in that world. My dad was like, "So you can watch the cartoon once a week. But also, you could read comics!” [laughs] That was kind of my gateway into the comic book space. And honestly, that's been something so cool for me to see too. Because the show obviously came out this past weekend, and I've gotten a lot of messages from friends who have kids now. And they were like, "What's so awesome is I was obsessed with this show when I was a kid. And now I'm sitting down with my son or daughter and we’re watching it together."
Even Sarah Michelle Gellar talked about watching the show with her kids and stuff. I think that you have a show that speaks to nostalgia and really walks that line of it being able to be relatable for adults and relatable for not baby kids, but like younger, younger kids.
Andra is the viewers' eyes into this fantastical world. If you were to swap places with Andra and had no prior history with any of these characters, what do you think would be your reaction to this adventure that you're about to go on?
First, I'd have to say if I'm stepping into Andra's shoes like I'm being her in the world, am I an awesome, brainy, badass engineer like she is? Yes, that's the first question. If the answer is yes, then honestly, my reactions would be very similar to hers. I think it helps because Kevin does know me from the hosting world. He was like, "Andra is you. She's the fan. Use the excitement that you have." That really helped with creating who she was. So I genuinely do think if I lived in that world, I would do the same thing. I would probably even freak out a little bit more about certain stuff because there's one moment where she meets someone in the heat of something else going on. I geek out every time he even looks over at her and talks to her. It would be maybe a little bit bigger of a geek-out reaction.
Did you have any favorites in the Universe growing up?
I have four or five of the She-Ra action figures still. I took a photo a class photo, which I posted on my Instagram. I think it's from first grade. I was holding Peekablue in my class photo, and now I don't have any idea of how I got away with that. I don't know if it was like, "Tiffany won't take her photo unless she's holding her action figure." So, Peekablue was definitely one of my favorites. I liked any of the ones that you could push a button and they did something cool. Those are my favorite ones. But I obviously loved any time when we got to see He-Man and She-Ra together.
Teela and Andra are already a team when we meet her in Revelation. Something I kept thinking about was how did the two come together, and how long were they a team before fans are introduced to Andra. Does a series bible exist that fleshes out each character's backstory? That seems ripe for spinoffs and tie-ins, similar to the prequel comic that's being published by Dark Horse.
Oh, my gosh. I would love to find out more stuff about the adventures that Andra and Teela have been on before we meet them in Revelation. I don't know what they are. Lord of the Rings is one of my favorite book/movie series of all time. And the relationship between Frodo and Sam is something that I always loved so much because it's really rare that you see two best friends that are willing to go to bat for whatever is going on together. When I got to have the stuff with Andra and Teela, that was really always in the back of my mind for them. Sarah and I never got to record together. The first time we met was over Zoom during the Comic-Con. So I would love to get to do more stuff and explore their adventures together and more.
The internet has been abuzz with He-Man chatter since the series dropped on Netflix, with Kevin Smith even telling fans to "Grow the F-- Up" in a recent interview. What's been your take regarding both the positive and negative reactions?
I think there's always going to be people [saying] it's not exactly what they wanted it to be. For me, it's one of those things where you have such a passion for a genre, franchise, property, or character. It's always hard when someone takes something out of your imagination and creates it in a different way. But I told people that if you're a fan, or if you haven't really been in this world of Eternia at all, go in with an open mind. Outside of the universe being so massive, I'm so proud of the show and the stories we're telling. I hope that people will just go in with that mindset.
The other part of it is that every single person put 100% into this show. That comes across on the show as well, whether it's Kevin, Mattel, Netflix, or Bear McCreary... The soundtrack is incredible. Powerhouse Animation is incredible. Every time I would go in to do VR stuff, I would be even more impressed. There were moments where I would be doing voiceover, and I would move my hands in a certain way on a line. They had animatics at the beginning for what the character was going to be doing in there. It was exactly how I was standing. I was like, "Have they've been watching me do voiceover enough that they know how I move?" Either way, it was very surreal and awesome. We weren't doing performance capture. I think if people can go in with an open mind and just say this is something fun and awesome, then they're gonna walk away happy. I've watched the show, embarrassingly, probably four or five times this weekend all the way through.
What would your elevator pitch be to entice fans and non-fans into sticking around for Part 2?
I think the biggest pitch for Part 2 is -- if you want to see where the world of Eternia goes after that all the cliffhangers, you've got to come back. If you want to see where Andra's journey goes, you've got to come back. If you have a hope that magic might fully come back to Eternia, then come back.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation Part 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
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