SMASH PANDA
Albuquerque native lands role in anime hit ‘Jujutsu Kaisen 0’
There are lots of voices in Matthew David Rudd’s arsenal. Though the Albuquerque native can’t be seen on camera, movie lovers can hear his voice in the film, “Jujutsu Kaisen 0.” The anime film is currently playing in theaters and Rudd provides the voice to Panda.
“Yes, a panda,” Rudd says with a laugh. “This role is going to be a big one. This is one of the most fortuitous moments that I have in my career.”
“Jujutsu Kaisen 0” follows Yuta Okkotsu, a nervous high school student, who enrolls in the mysterious Tokyo Jujutsu High School under the guidance of Satoru Gojo after being haunted by the curse of his childhood friend.
The film is based on “Jujutsu Kaisen 0,” a prequel manga to the smash hit supernatural adventure series “Jujutsu Kaisen” from Gege Akutami.
Rudd has been a voice actor for more than a decade. He’s been involved in projects of all sizes.
“I was super lucky to roll into this one,” he says.
Recording for the film was done during the pandemic. This is when Rudd put more work into his home recording studio. He splits his time between Dallas and Los Angeles.
“It was scary during lock down because nothing was happening on the recording fronts,” he says. “We wondered if finding new jobs was in the cards. Because we could record at home, the industry wasn’t too affected.”
Rudd found many commonalties between him and Panda.
“It’s not much of a stretch to play him,” he says. “I add grit to his voice. The show is pretty heavy and Panda is the comedic element. Panda is there as emotional support. He’s making people laugh. Oh, and he’s a talking panda. He’s the only big, talking animal in the show.”
Rudd says Panda is also a cursed corpse spirt.
“That’s the only information they give you about his background,” he says. “They show something in this movie that they hadn’t mentioned about his story. There’s a big fight scene and the way he incurs damage. You see it and it leads to more questions.”
Growing up in New Mexico, Rudd was exposed and influenced by Native American and Mexican culture.
After graduating from Sandia Prep High School, he went to Florida to attend Ringling College of Art and Design.
It was there he explored filmmaking and working with audio recording.
“I started auditioning for audio roles and I was pretty lucky to have a couple video games,” he says. “I’m a huge fan of animation and how things are recorded. It’s still fascinating for me. I have a 7-year-old son and he loves the shows I’m in and we watch them together.”
Rudd still makes trips back to Albuquerque to visit his dad, Tim, a few times a year.
“New Mexico will always have an impact on me,” he says. “I grew up in the art world.”