James Arnold Taylor has been one of Hollywood’s most prolific and versatile voice actors for the last three decades, providing the voice for iconic roles such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Fred Flintstone, The Flash, Spider-man, Leornardo The Ninja Turtle, and countless others. He plays several roles in Angel Studios’ new animated film ‘The King of Kings’ including Young Jesus, Melchoir, Matthew, Thomas and Phillip.
So, can you tell me about The King of Kings Film?
“Angel Studios has brought The King of Kings out, and I am so thrilled that they have! It is the greatest story ever told, but it’s told in a different way. Charles Dickens, who was a strong believer and loved teaching his children about the life of our Lord, is telling the greatest story ever told – of the life of Jesus – to his young son, Walter… It’s beautifully acted, and I’m blessed to be one of the actors in it. I get to play about eight different parts in this so you can do Where’s Waldo with James Arnold Taylor!”
What do you think of using Charles Dickens to tell the story of The King of Kings?
“I think what’s really cool about using Charles Dickens telling this story to his young son, Walter, is that we get to kind of be the fly on the wall, but we also get to experience it through a child’s eyes. And we’ve been talking about that a lot, that we should have that childlike faith with Christ. And so it’s really cool that it’s not just another story about Jesus told in another setting that we’ve seen before. It is pulling it out of perspective, through the life of Charles Dickens in the 1800s and then going back 2000 years. Dickens and Walter are there experiencing the Gospels happening before their eyes, and we are experiencing it through their eyes. And I think that that’s really unique, but I also think it makes it very palatable for all ages. And then even people that are not believers, people you want to bring to the movie. And that’s what we encourage, people, of course, especially around Easter time, come see a movie about Jesus. It’s a great way to kind of introduce the gospel to people, because it’s a gentle way of telling it. And I think that’s the beauty of what they’ve accomplished with this film.”
On a more personal note, how have you found it as a voice actor working on something that you believe in, and how does that compare with other projects you’ve done in the past?
“That’s a great question. Yeah, it is one of those things that I’ve prayed about for a long time. I’ve asked God, you know, open doors for me to work in Christian films and such. And he kind of kept that door shut for the majority of my career, you know, thirty plus years where I was working in secular Hollywood. But I was always very open about my faith, with friends and my audience, my fan base, on my YouTube or my podcast. And so it’s great now to get to walk the red carpet at the premiere of the movie and talk about Jesus. As an actor in Hollywood, you don’t get to do that that often, and so it’s very exciting for me to be able to blend that. It’s exciting to talk to you today and to spend this time talking about this movie, and being able to say that, you know, as a as a voice actor in Hollywood, it’s safe and it’s okay to say that you love Jesus and that he is the saviour of your life, and he’s the reason we have breath in our lungs, and I am blessed beyond belief because of him. And so that’s been the coolest part for me, sharing this journey and talking about all these projects that I’m getting to work on. God has opened the doors for me to work on a ton of new projects that are faith based, and several of them with Angel Studios, which is really cool.”
How have you found the process of this film coming together?
“The filmmakers have been working on this movie for ten years, and I’ve been involved for the last six years of it. So back in 2019, I was brought into the recording studio, and I recorded what they call the scratch vocals. Before they do all of the full animations, and they cast all of the big celebrity names like Oscar Isaac or Sir Kenneth Branagh and the like, they bring in voice actors like myself… to voice the whole film. So I actually provided the voice of Jesus and Charles Dickens and many characters in the first recordings of this movie six years ago, and that was great fun for me, and a wonderful pleasure. I knew eventually I would likely be replaced by bigger names, but I was blessed that Jamie Thomason, the wonderful casting director and voice director in the film, managed to keep me in the movie and so many different places. I think I play about eight different characters. I’m credited as at least six characters, from three of the apostles, Matthew, Philip and Thomas to Melchior, the the one that brings frankincense to the baby Jesus, one of the three wise men. To Malchus, who gets his ear chopped off by Peter, to the man that gets lowered through the roof by his friends and healed by Jesus. To, of course, young Jesus, as well as Herod’s scribe, which was fun… I mean, pretty much every scene, you’ll hear my voice somewhere in the background!”
How did you find getting into all those different characters?
“Yeah, how do you go from Melchior, who brings frankincense to the baby Jesus, to doing the voice of young Jesus? It’s a challenge, but I’ve been very blessed. God blessed me with a strange vocal ability to be everything from Fred Flintstone to Johnny Test, or Leonardo the Ninja Turtle. So I’ve been wonderfully blessed with the ability to change my voice and manipulate it. And if I see a character, I can kind of picture what they might look and sound like. And sometimes I picture it in my head and it comes out my mouth. I don’t really know how; it is the grace of God. You know, he’s given me this gift, and he’s blessed me with the ability to do it, and I’m grateful every single day of my life that He has blessed me that way. And so, I just love being a part of it.”
Which character was your favourite to voice?
“I would have to say the fact that they kept me in as young Jesus was a great honour. And that story is one of my favourite stories as well. You know, Joseph and Mary are searching frantically for Jesus, and then they come and they find him preaching, and teaching the scripture to the old scribes and teachers. And so we had a wonderful time doing that. When we recorded the scenes, they said, Okay, Jesus is teaching them. And so they said, James, what do you think? And they knew I was a Christian. They knew I’m someone of faith, and that I would have some ideas. And I said, Well, he should be reading the Scriptures, And He should be reading from Isaiah, and he should be reading about the coming of the Messiah. And so if you listen carefully, when Joseph and Mary are running up to find him, you’ll hear him teaching in the background. And that was me reading the scriptures of the coming of the Messiah. And so it’s a nice little Easter egg on an Easter movie, which was great fun.”
Any final thoughts you want to share on the film?
“I would encourage people to go see it! Use this as a tool to share the gospel with other people and bring a friend who is on the fence, a friend who doesn’t know the story of Jesus. Again, we take for granted that we know the story of Jesus, and some of our friends, even though they know the Bible is there and they know who Jesus is, may not know it. This is a great introduction for them, and so I would just encourage people to use this film as a guide for them and to help them be bold in their faith.”
