Gavin Hammon (voice of Kenny) AMA on Telltale Fan-Hosted Discord (AMA Over)

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

Mod edit:

The (unofficial) Discord AMA is over. Down below in the thread replies, IronWoodLover has transcribed the whole AMA for your benefit! Make sure to give them a word of thanks! - Blind Sniper

Original Post:

The voice of our favorite commercial fisherman, Gavin Hammon, will be joining the Telltale Community Discord tomorrow at 2pm PDT (5pm EST) to host an approximately 1 hour long AMA!

The AMA will be moderated by @4k60fpsHDR, @Blind Sniper and other notable people.

Feel free join us to ask Gavin Hammon ANYTHING!*

Not everything, be respectful by complying with our AMA rules. A good rule of thumb is to not ask about future projects or things that could damage his relationship with Telltale.

Join here - https://discord.gg/ZmQN6Pc

Proof can be found in the announcements channel in the server

MetallicaRules · July 2018

Gavin Hammon (voice of Kenny) will be joining the Telltale Community Discord for an AMA tomorrow!

TJ3046 · July 2018

We are a blessed people

Sharples65 · July 2018

That link goes straight to the NSFW section. I like.

kikyouchanx · July 2018

Need a new Discord link, please. I am all in.

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

It’s fixed now, one of my mods played a practical joke on me lol

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

Link works now

AChicken · July 2018

Clearly, this means the Discord is the better branch of the community.

We have AMA's hint hint, nudge nudge

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

Stop sneak dissing Caroline ?

Kennyshouladiedins1 · July 2018

Oh I am sorry @AChicken maybe you missed the 1 a couple of weeks back....well I am sure they will drop everything like making the game to do an AMA....damn entitled foul thinking they are people. Also I seem to remember some talk of an AMA perhaps after Ep 1 drops.

Sheol- · July 2018

There's only two things you can prepare for this AMA

Poems about Boats
and #TeamJane Flags.

Choose wisely.

Davarishch · July 2018

go for it kenny

Davarishch · July 2018

off course boats mate

Hillbilly_Dave · July 2018

Is this AMA gonna feature anyone on the dev team or is it just the voice actor?

Clemmy1 · July 2018

Kenny RETURN CONFIRMED!!!! so hyped, i mean seriously why would he be doing a AMA NOW?

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

Just the voice actor

Hillbilly_Dave · July 2018

123

thewalkingclementine · July 2018

I just joined Discord to see I was banned as soon as I entered, stupid moderator, all I did was look at the Telltale chat. Do your job right, dumbass. So I can’t even ask any questions to Gavin

gardner82 · July 2018

yeah me to

BetterToSleep · July 2018

Join in now!

enzeruanimefan · July 2018

Can someone please ask him how tall Kenny is?

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

I can unban, whats your discord

BetterToSleep · July 2018

So, originally, [Kenny] was just supposed to get super crazy, walk into a lake singing a song I had to make up a melody for and die. I think the idea was to wrap up the loose ends, which is what I was hypothesizing all along when folks would bug me about it!

—Gavin Hammon

thewalkingclementine · July 2018

thewalkingclementine

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

The ban was a mistake, a mod thought you were an alt. You're unbanned and free to join

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

Can someone transcribe the AMA and post it on the forums?
I'm too lazy to do it.

Also you'd get tons of likes,

IronWoodLover · July 2018

TWD-related questions.

Q: If Kenny had a preference for his favorite flavor of ice cream what would that be? This is a vital question.
A: Kenny's favorite ice cream would be Pecan Praline, because he's from the South and it's my favorite, too.

S1

Q: Hey Gavin, Was it hard to act during the duck scene?
A: I dunno that it was hard, but it was emotional. As I liked to say to Julian Kwasneski in sessions, I can turn that on and off like a faucet. Acting!

.

Q: was kenny's fate in the alleyway intentionally left open to interpretation at the time of recording? i recall hearing that you re-recorded the lines from a less ambiguous version originally, but the scene still seems relatively definitive as presented in S1
A: It was definitely reworked to be more ambiguous before it's release. I recorded death audio for Kenny for 105. Lots of it!

S2

Q: When did you find out you were officially coming back in season 2?
A: I was told over the summer before it came out. Kirsten Kennedy, whose brother I went to HS with and hung out a lot over at her mom's house, told me what the plan was gonna be and how I'd show up. It changed over time, though Sarita was always part of the plan.

.

Q: Hey Gavin, can you tell us anything about the original season 2 story where Kenny was the bad guy??
A: It wasn't fleshed out, but I believe the idea was that Kenny would end up being Carver but it felt too far out there for him to get that awful. I really wasn't involved in the production, so I'm just guessing

.

Q: Can you explain any of the things that Kenny was going to do in Season Two, back when he was originally going to be the Carver character?
A: Nah, because they really weren't fleshed out. I think he was just supposed to run the group at the Ol' Buy N' Large or SwellMart or whatever it was

.

Q: How did Kenny and Sarita make it up to the moonstar lodge in season 2? Did they have any struggles along the way?
A: Beats me! I don't writes them, I just sez them

.

Q: What do you think about Sarita, Matthew & Walter?
A: I gotta be honest, I have no idea who Matthew and Walter are!

.

Q: Was Kenny and Saritas relationship splitting apart/distanting towards the end?
A: Again, I don't write them, but it seemed like they weren't a good match to me? I really don't know.

.

Q: Do you know what happened to the Church Town, that was mentioned several times in S2 Ep4, and never brought up again afterwards?
A: Uh, who shot who in the what now?

.

Q: Hey Gavin! Thank you for all your roles in Telltale Games. Which ending of the second season of The Walking Dead would you choose if you did not performance the role of Kenny?
A: Hey thanks! If I had not worked on it, I never would've sat there and watch Kenny kill Jane.

.

Q: Did Kenny do anything wrong?
A: Kenny makes mistakes like anybody else

.

Q: What is your favorite Kenny moment?/What's your favorite line that's come out of Kenny's mouth?
A: I'll get you all here. I couldn't pick just one, but I was really pleased with how the wall scene came out at the end of S2. I think Pierre Shorette did a masterful job writing that scene and just reading it, just thinking about it right now, made me tear up. That's probably the highlight of my game work for anybody.

.

Q: In the S2 ending where Clem and Kenny get to Wellington but Kenny leaves in order to let Clem stay, do you have any theories or ideas as to what the next chapter of his story looks like?
A: Cold and hungry. Maybe something like the end of the Shining!

.
S3

Q: Do you have any idea about what the dev team was going for when writing Kenny's definitive death scene in Season 3? Did they tell you anything about what the scene's meaning was supposed to be? ( By yours truly ;-) )
A: So, originally, he was just supposed to get super crazy, walk into a lake singing a song I had to make up a melody for and die. I think the idea was to wrap up the loose ends, which is what I was hypothesizing all along when folks would bug me about it!

.

Q: Are you satisfied with the way your character's story ended in Season 3? Do you wish Telltale had more of Kenny in Season 3? Do you think that a Kenny mini-series game with Kenny as a main character which shows what happened to him between Season 1 and 2 is a good idea?
A: Here's the thing about S3. Sure, I'd have liked for there to be more of a finalizing arc, but he was already dead in maybe half of the playthroughs, so it's not realistic. I think a miniseries woulda been fun, and Bruner kept hinting about it, but he never really had any intention of doing it, I don't think.

.

Q: What do you think about Kennys death in A New Frontier?
A: I understand that they tooled it, as they often do, several times to get it the way it playtested best, so I get why things play out the way they do

.

Q: What are your thoughts on the "stay with Kenny" ending? He ultimately dies from walker's after the car crash, but he did spend 2 to 3 years with Clem and AJ. Do you think this was a worthwhile ending? How do you feel at the end of the day knowing this was the end of the line for Kenny, a character we have known for several years and seasons?
A: Well, I mentioned earlier that it's not up to me to make decisions or judgements about how a character I play is portrayed. Sure, I'd have liked a meatier ending, but at least his loose end (and it was a loose end of a determinant character) was settled saving Clem and AJ. Mostly...

S4

Q: Hey Gavin, huge fan here and moderator of the r/TeamKenny subreddit. Thank you for giving us amazing and memorable performances as Kenny.
My question is this: if Kenny could give Clementine any advice going into the final season, what do you think it would be? What should her priorities be and to what degree should she rely on and trust others?
Thanks for being here, if means a lot to many people!
A: PROTECT AJ

.

Q: What do you think of Clementine becames a teenager at S4?
A: Girl gotta grow up sometime

.

Q: Without any um, confirmation ( Lawyers and NDAs and such ). If you were given the opportunity would you play as Kenny again?
A: Absolutely. I'd play Kenny again until he had died 15 or 16 more times.

.

Q: Would you like Kenny to return in The Final Season?
A: Sure, I'd love for Kenny's ghost to show up in Clem's dreams and urge her to find a boat

Voice acting related questions.

Telltale

Q: Were you familiar with Telltale's work before you auditioned for Kenny
A: Yep, I'd worked for TTG on CSI and Law & Order, and I wanted BADLY to work on Sam & Max, so I knew who they were and what they were about. But, nobody really knew were Jake and Sean were taking them with TWDG.

.

Q: Is your Kenny voice the first voice you tried when auditioning for Kenny? Or were there prior variations?
A: Only that one audition for Kenny. Far as I remember, many other characters came back for recasting (TTG was notorious for doing that over and over. I was almost cast for a lead role in another game of theirs and had more than 10 callbacks). But, Kenny never came back.

.

Q: Hey Gavin, my question is what was it like voicing Kenny in Telltale’s The Walking Dead?
A: It was great, a lucrative game gig of many many sessions that ended up being rewritten over and over again at a very good rate! Plus, it was nice to play a real person, rather than Thug27B

.

Q: Hey Gavin! Did you have any memorable bloopers while voicing Kenny or even any other character? Thanks for doing this!
A: My pleasure! There was a session or two during season 2 where I'd say F^&K after pretty much every line. I'm not sure why, it just kept on going. "Eff you Bonnie" "Eff you Luke" "Eff you Russian Guy"

.

Q: Do you ever find yourself talking with the voice of Kenny with no reason? Is it fun to do?
A: His voice, no, not so much. I'll do accents, I have since I was a kid, but I don't actively do character voices I was did for work. I'm not sure why... I'm much more likely to impersonate someone else.

.

Q: Kenny has some really funny lines. Was there any line that you found particularly funny when you were reading them?
A: Oh yeah, a lot of Kenny's lines were very funny. I think "urban?" was among the funniest, but honorable mention to "Vanilla Ice"

.

Q: What other character would you like to be as recognized as you are for doing Kenny?
A: I gotta be honest, the Kenny recognition is more than enough for me.

.

Q: Which Wolf Among Us character was the most fun to play?
A: Dee and Dum were the most fun by far. Villains are always fun to play because they actually have motivations, usually. Heroes are often just doing the right thing...because...reasons?

Non-Telltale

Dead Space

Q: Hey Gavin, How was your experience voicing the scavenger bot in Dead Space 3?
A: Like anybody wants to here about Dead Space 3... But it was super fun. Originally I did a voice really really ripping off Soos from Gravity Falls. "Dood!" But they had me back in to make it british and sort of C3PO-ish. I guess some nice folk on YouTube said it was a terrible Steven Merchant rip off. My Steven Merchant is waaaaaay more terrible than that.

Oxenfree

Q: how were you cast as Jonas in Oxenfree
A: Jonas I got like every other gig, I auditioned. It didn't hurt that I had already worked with Adam Hines and that I had a production-level studio in my house!

.

Q: Okay, kinda out of left field here, but can you talk a bit about your experience voicing Jonas in Oxenfree? Just like Kenny, did you go through many different voices before finding one that stuck?
A: Of course not. We can never really talk about behind the scenes stuff and ultimately, the decision they made on the casting was the way I preferred it would go. A very close friend of mine was the actor chosen and it meant the world to him. I was knee-deep in an ongoing toy gig back then and it would've meant 60hr weeks for me, especially the way the game was being recorded.

Furby

Q: What would you say is the most enjoyable NON-TELLTALE role that you've voiced? Why?
A: It's probably bizarre to hear, but I'm extremely proud of the work I did for Furby over the last 8ish years. I did something like 20 different characters in 13 languages with lots of singing, foley, improv and humor. It's irritating as hell, but we had a blast making it. Mostly. Still, it's probably the hardest I'll ever work for the least recognition and that is fine by me.

.

Q: Oh my god you were a Furby!? That’s super cool actually. Have you done any other toy work? Unless you mean a different kind of furby I don’t know
A: Yeah, I'm pretty much any Furby to be released internationally since 2010. The little ones (Furblings) are other people and Melissa did some of the localized voices to help me cover the volume of work when we recorded in other languages. I've also done tons of work for Leapfrog (I'm the voice of the Tag reading system) and lots of one off toys for them, Mattel, Spinmaster, Hallmark, Hasbro, and many more. Toys are my bread and butter. I even teach classes on Toy VO!

His VAing in general

Q: Hey Gavin! Do you have a particular moment while (voice) acting in a role that you found hard to conquer?
A: Re: hard to conquer sessions. I've certainly had a few rough ones, but I try to be very prepared and audition in a way that I can reproduce without much effort, so if the session is going South hard, it's usually not just my fault, often times it's the director or the writer or something else. In those cases, you just have to strap in and get through it. Or recognize that they're going to can you and pack up quickly. It's such a collaborative thing, this VO that if it feels like you're own your own, it's because someone else is leaving you there. And that doesn't create anything worth listening to.

.

Q: was there anything you voiced you disagreed fit the character? given the chance, is there anything of the character you'd have changed?
A: So, little background about me. If I voice a character for you (or anybody) it's YOUR character, not mine. You tell me what they do or say and I make it believable as best I can. I'm just trying to get it off the page. So, no, I never got all "Kenny would NEVER say that". More likely, I'd just give you ad libbed options for you to that I thought might sound more like him. You're writing him after all, not I.

.

Q: Has a fan ever approached you in real life? Was it a weird experience?
A: It happens every once in a while, but very rarely. It's much more likely someone would recognize me from Dance Hall Crashers. And that's fine by me, I'm not interested in being recognized or being perceived as "famous". I just love what I get to do and that's plenty.

.

Q: If you could do or could've done voice work in any one game series of your choice, what would it be?
A: I'd have loved to work on Breath of the Wild, God of War, Destiny, Diablo, Warcraft, basically anything I sunk a ton of hours into. It would mean I'd have to hear myself, which would suck, though.

Future voice acting

Q: Would you like doing Voiceacting in a Fallout game? I think the Kenny voice would go really well in that universe
A: I've auditioned for Fallouts since 3. I've played virtually every single Fallout game since it was a turn-based forced 3rd person perspective RPG and I'd absolutely LOVE to work on any of them. Maybe some day...

.

Q: Are you going to continue voice acting or do you plan on doing something else later on?
A: Until they stop paying me to talk, I'm gonna talk for a living

Gaming

Q: Which platform do you prefer, PS4, Xbox, or PC?
A: Consoles for sure, I don't play anything on PC anymore. I'm mostly on PS4 when I play something these days

Telltale Related

Q: Gavin, have you ever played 400 days?
A: Nope, never played 400 Days

.

Q: Are you going to play the last season, or like, are you done with the series since you're no longer working on it?
A: I dunno that I'll play S4, honestly. I don't have much of a frame of ref for the rest of the series and I know next to nothing about S3.

.

Q: have you played Tales from the borderlands or batman telltale
A: Nope, never played Tales from the Borderlands. There's some bad mojo surrounding that game. Didn't play Batman either.

.

Q: About the "bad mojo" of tales - It's considered by many to be the 3rd best Telltale Game. Are you referring to something relating to the treatment of it's voice actors
A: Re: Borderlands. Something like that, yeah.

.

Q: In one of your answers, you said there was "bad mojo" when it comes to TFTBL. What exactly do you mean by that? Was it something in relation to its production that caused you to feel this way?
A: Also re: TFTBL, that's as much as I can say about it

.

Q: What are your thoughts on Minecraft: Story Mode by Telltale?
A: My kids loved MCSM, personally I didn't play it.

Personal stuff/Others.

Q: Will you remember this?
A: Doubtful!

.

Q: Hey Gavin, are friends with the the VA of Lee? Do do you ever talk?
A: Yep, I'd call Dave a friend!

.

Q: Any chance you message Melissa about this discord?
A: I could message her, but she does AMAs in different circumstances, as far as I know

.

Q: What's your relation with Jane's VA?
A: Zilch, never met Jane's VA

.

Q: I've made something terrible featuring Kenny, what do you think about it ? https://bit.ly/2IPneU3
A: Send me that another time, I'm a little busy ATM ;D

.

Q: Do you, or have you watched The Walking Dead Show?
A: Yep, I was a loyal viewer up until this current season which I have a really hard time caring about even a little bit

.

Q: What do you think about Andrew Lincoln leaving in season 9?
A: I get it. He's a much better actor than he gets to be on the shows these days. He's also very charming and rather gorgeous in person. At a party at SDCC I met him and told him he was delightful in Love Actually. Because he was. Everybody knows this.

.

Q: Gavin, do you own a boat?
A: I own a kayak! That's kiiiiiiind of a boat

.

Q: What’s your favorite film?
A: I am very fond of old Samurai films and action movies from the 80s. Some movies I will not turn off if they show up on cable include: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Yojimbo, Raising Arizona and The Empire Strikes Back. I loved the Incredibles 2, also. Go see that jam.

.

Q: Gavin, are you a sports fan? If so, which are your favourite sports to play/spectate?
A: Re: sports. Yes! I am a huge sports fan, especially of teams in my beloved SF Bay Area home--The Oakland Athletics, the GS Warriors, the Raiders, the 49ers and the Sharks. The Giants I wouldn't kick out of bed for eating crackers, I guess...

.

Q: Handlebar moustache or glorious beard for Kenny?
A: A beard is just a lazy moustache. Why choose?

.

Q: Hey Gavin do you like birds??
A: I do like birds, we have a parakeet and 8 hens here at the house.

.

Q: Do you think you'd survive if a real zombie apocalypse happened? Where would you go first?
A: In a real Trumpacoly--I mean Zompacalypse, I think we'd do fine. I've got plywood, tools and a really sweet axe.

.

Q: What about doggos? C:
A: Here's the pet count in my house, since we're gonna go there eventually... 3 dogs, 6 cats, 8 chickens, 1 gecko, 1 saltwater fish, 12 freshwater fish (clown loach, various tetras), 1 parakeet. I might be forgetting somebody

Gavin: Thanks so much, everybody! I love you all and appreciate you taking the time to ask me thoughtful questions! Feel free to follow me on any of the social mediums @gavinhammon I'll do my best to answer any questions I may have missed here. Thanks again!

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

That went perfectly everyone! Thanks for being courteous and asking great questions!

But fear not! This is not the end of AMA's on the fanmade Discord! We are working on more as I type this comment!

Cocoa2736 · July 2018

Y E S S S

Blind Sniper · July 2018

On behalf of the Telltale Community Moderation team, I salute you for your service to our Country forum by transcribing the Discord AMA.

Sheol- · July 2018

Oh dude, I was already compiling everything to post it:(

MetallicaRules · July 2018

I think a miniseries woulda been fun, and Bruner kept hinting about it, but he never really had any intention of doing it, I don't think.

Damn it Bruner.

DabigRG · July 2018

Ya'll have fun with Mr. Hammon? Oh and the AMA?

4k60fpsHDR · July 2018

You were banned by accident. What is your discord name? We hope we can have you in our future AMA's.

bravepancake · July 2018

Q: Would you like Kenny to return in The Final Season?
A: Sure, I'd love for Kenny's ghost to show up in Clem's dreams and urge her to find a boat

Gavin's response to this question gave me a good chuckle. xD Thank you for doing this AMA.

Kennyshouladiedins1 · July 2018

Gavin is such a class act.

Escope12 · July 2018

That AMA was fun. I feel good about it.

eRock92 · July 2018

I really want to know what this "bad mojo" is with Borderlands/TFTBL...

MetallicaRules · July 2018

As would I, but unfortunately, Gavin wasn't able to elaborate more on it outside of it had something to do with the treatment of the VA's.

Ghetsis · July 2018

This doesn't make sense to me. You guys can make it so that only telltale staff can read the telltale chat.

eRock92 · July 2018

Man... It seems like TFTBL had one heck of a behind-the-scenes operation. One of TTG's best seasons seems to have had the roughest development rides.

Gavin Hammon (voice of Kenny) AMA on Telltale Fan-Hosted Discord (AMA Over)

Mod edit:

Comments

—Gavin Hammon

TWD-related questions.

Voice acting related questions.

Gaming

Personal stuff/Others.

Quick Links