Adult Swim initially premiered the first season of 12 oz. Mouse back in 2005, an entire decade and a half ago. After two successful seasons, the show went on hiatus and has now finally made its return to the network.
Over the last few weeks, Cartoon Network has been airing the third and newest season of 12 oz. Mouse from Aqua Teen Hunger Force creator Matt Maiellaro (Space Ghost, Sealab). One of the latest additions to the show is the character of Aria, who is voiced by musician Mary Spender.
We chatted with Mary about her foray into the world of voice acting and what she thinks of the adult animation. If you're interested in hearing the audio component of the interview, feel free to click the podcast link below. I chat with Mary at around 03:52.
Literary Joe: I'd like to ask you about the transition from singer to voice actress. I understand this is your first gig in the voice acting world. Was it like second nature to you, or did you have to take a different approach to acting than you do with music?
Mary Spender: Yeah, it is. It was very new to me in terms of acting. Luckily, I run a Youtube channel where I talk a lot, and that was where Matt became quite familiar with my voice.
When we started the remote recording sessions, I was recording here in Brighton. I had Matt on the line guiding me through. It was really fun to use the voice in a different way rather than singing; it was making sure I was still hitting certain emotions, but just talking. It was exciting to learn how to do. It kind of came out of the blue.
Literary Joe: I understand that you had to keep it a secret for a couple of years. Was that tough to do?
Mary Spender: It actually wasn't that tough because it felt quite nice to actually hold on to something because the rest of my career is so public. So it kind of gave me a bit of security that I wasn't just going to be releasing it, and then everyone would know about it and forget about it in five minutes, which is kind of the Youtube way, and then you move on to the next video.
This was going to be a big, grand reveal of years of work on my side, but so much more in terms of Matt and the team. So, it was great to be a part of and great to hold on to and see so many surprised reactions, it's just great.
Literary Joe: So, can you see yourself venturing into more voice acting territory following this?
Mary Spender: I would love to! I would definitely jump at the opportunity to do this again. It's not something I'm going to start pursuing, because I do feel the way this came about is the right way for some of these things to come about. It needs to be organic.
I'm running my own business here, and it would need to be someone who understands that I'm not an actor just like Matt did. But he knew that I had a fun, weird side after seeing certain videos as long. So as it was the right thing.
I get lots of comments on my Youtube channel and my podcast for doing Audiobooks. So I've kind of integrated that into a new series on my Youtube channel that will be coming out soon, which is me reading aloud. But I'd always do a Season 4 of 12 oz. Mouse!
*This interview has been edited for clarity.*
If you missed the return of 12 oz. Mouse on Adult Swim, you can catch up here!