JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Comes Under Scrutiny Over an Actor's Discriminated Audition

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a hugely popular anime series, and its latest season elevated the show to all-star status. As you can imagine, a great many voice actors wanted to try their hand at voicing the heroes of Golden Wind, and one of the most desired roles was that of Narancia. The JoJo character is a popular one, for sure, but a recent report about the anime's dub has made fans scrutinize Narancia and the whole voice acting industry as a whole.

The situation came to light after voice actor Casey Mongillo told a fan they weren't "allowed to audition for [JoJo] part 5" because they are LGBTQ. The actor was asked to clarify their comment, and Mongillo shared the following about their unheard audition for Narancia.

"I wanted to audition for Narancia but the casting director didn't let me since she didn't believe an LGBT actor could sound non-LGBT. I've discussed this with her since, though. Hopefully things will change in the future," the actor shared.

I wanted to audition for Narancia but the casting director didn't let me since she didn't believe an LGBT actor could sound non-LGBT. I've discussed this with her since, though. Hopefully things will change in the future.

— Casey Mongillo - ケイシ・モンジロ (@CaseyTheVA) September 7, 2020

As you can imagine, the comment rippled through the fandom, and JoJo fans were the first to share their outrages. Given the content of JoJo, netizens did not understand why an actor being LGBTQ would impact their ability to voice a character from the show. Mongillo went on to share more details about the event, and the actor said they don't want any negative energy to obscure the love fans have for JoJo.

"I need to reiterate that I've discussed this with the casting director since. While it does hurt to not have been able to audition for this show and others because of my orientation, it also hurts to see people throwing hate around towards the director," they shared. "Nothing gets solved with hatred. It's negative energy, and doesn't help anyone. It's better to help educate people with outdated views than hate and shun. I still have faith the studio will change for the better. Support VAs from marginalized groups. That is all."

Given Mongillo's body of work, the actor would have done an amazing performance of Narancia, but the role went to Kyle McCarley in the end. The latter has been praised for his work with the character and every compliment has been well deserved. But in the face of this disturbing anecdote, JoJo star Sean Chiplock (Guido Mista) has come forward to comment on Mongillo's experience.

"I can't begin to describe the awkwardness of coming into this knowledge, knowing that I voice big roles in this & other productions, but also understanding that speaking out against it risks being left off the table for future auditions," he shared.

"The reason you don't see talent speaking up about this more often is because there HAVE been cases where folks who complained about casting prejudice were subsequently (and often silently) "removed" from studio audition rosters. Truth be told, I'm terrified of this too."

What do you make of this story? Do you believe Mongillo would have crushed the role of Narancia? Let us know in the comments below!