Who is Greg Ayres?
Greg Ayres was born in Richmond, Virginia USA, on 7 December 1968 – his zodiac sign is Sagittarius, and he holds American nationality. He’s a voice actor and a singer, who has voiced characters in over 300 animated movies and TV series, while he’s perhaps still known best for his voicing of the lead character Tomoki Sakurai, in the English version of the Japanese 2011 action comedy film “Heaven’s Lost Property the Movie: The Angeloid of Clockwork”. It was directed by Tetsuya Yanagisawa, also starred Tia Lynn Ballard and Shelley Calene-Black, and follows the shy girl Hiyori who’s in love with Tomoki; the movie won one of the five awards for which it was nominated.
Early life, family and education
Greg was raised in Richmond alongside his brother Christopher, by their parents about whom nothing’s known, as Greg respects their privacy; it’s said that his father was a businessman, and that his mother was a school teacher. Christopher is also an actor, and has played and voiced characters in more than 200 movies and TV series.
Greg watched a lot of TV while he was growing up, and was four years old when his parents noticed that he was good at impersonating the voices of people whom he’d seen on TV. They thus took him to an audition, and Greg was only five when he launched his career, by voicing Seiji in the 1973 episode “Yomigaere Goddo Fenikkusu” of the English version of the Japanese action adventure series “Gatchaman” (original “Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman”).
He then spent the following decade focused on his education, and didn’t work on his career at all.
Greg resumed voice acting upon enrolling at a local high school in 1983; he matriculated in 1987, and didn’t attend college, wanting to work on his way up in the film industry.
Roles in animated series
Greg had only a couple of other voice roles in the ‘80s, in series such as the action adventure “Aura Battler Dunbine”, and the action drama “Knights of the Zodiac”.
In 1996, he was cast to voice Felix, Jacob and several other characters, in the English version of the hit crime comedy “Detective Conan”, created by Gosho Aoyama, and which starred Minami Takayama, Wakana Yamazaki and Hoang Khuyet. The series follows a detective who has been turned into a teenager by a strange chemical, but has kept all of his memory and knowledge; it was nominated for a single award. By the end of the ‘90s, Greg had voiced characters in a couple of other popular animated series, including the adventure comedy “Those Who Hunt Elves”, the comedy drama “Kodocha”, and the action comedy “Legend of the Mystical Ninja”.
In 2001, he voiced Bomb, the main character in the English version of the romantic action drama “BASToF Syndrome”; the series also starred Cynthia Martinez and Chris Patton, and follows three teenagers who are trying to fix a problem which includes the collision of the real world and a video game’s world. The year 2004 heard Greg star as Chrono in the action adventure “Chrono Crusade”, and in 2006, he voiced Forte in the romantic drama “Mamotte! Lollipop”. Some of his other notable performances in the 2000s were in the romantic comedy “Ouran High School Host Club”, the adventure drama “Innocent Venus”, and the science fiction adventure “Glass Fleet: La Legende du Vent de l’Univers”.
Between 2014 and 2016, Greg voiced the lead character Yu Nishinoya in the English version of the critically acclaimed comedy drama “Haikyuu!!”, created by Haruichi Furudate, and which starred Ayumu Murase, Kaito Ishikawa and Yu Hayashi.
The series follows a short boy who’s joined his school’s volleyball club, and it won one of the four awards for which it was nominated.
Three of Greg’s most recent roles have been in eight episodes of the hit action adventure “My Hero Academia” between 2017 and 2020, 11 episodes of the action adventure “Black Clover” between 2018 and 2020, and the 2021 pilot of the action drama “Getter Robo Ark”.
Roles in animated movies
Greg made his movie voicing debut in the 1985 action adventure “Megazone 23”, while a couple of his following roles were in the 1991 adventure comedy “Dragon Knight”, the 1993 short action “Yu Yu Hakusho: The Movie”, and the 1997 crime adventure “Detective Conan: The Time Bombed Skyscraper”.
In 2001, he voiced the main character Kenta Nakamura, in the English version of the romantic action drama “Initial D: Third Stage”, directed by Shin Misawa and Noritsugu Yamaguchi, and which also starred his brother Christopher; the movie follows the life of the drift racer Takumi Fujiwara.
Greg voiced Junichi in the 2003 adventure “Aquarian Age Saga II: Don’t Forget Me”, and a couple of his other notable performances in the 2000s were in the 2004 action fantasy “Lady Death”, the 2006 adventure drama “Origin: Spirits of the Past” and the 2009 action drama “Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance”.
In 2013, Greg was cast to voice the main character Heisuke Todo, in the action drama “Gekijouban Hakuouki: Daiisshou Kyouto Ranbu”, written and directed by Osamu Yamasaki, and which also starred his brother Christopher and Leraldo Anzaldua. The movie follows Chizuru Yukimura who has come to Kyoto in search of her missing father.
Three of his most recent movie roles have been in the 2018 comedy drama “Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions the Movie: Take on Me”, the 2019 action adventure “One Piece: Stampede” and the 2021 action comedy “Gintama: The Final”.
Other credits
Greg received special thanks for the 2008 episode “Sailor Cycle vs. Crushing Weight” of the comedy series “The Chibi Project”, and for a 2010 episode of the series “AnimeCons TV”.
He sang several songs in the animated series “Dragon Ball Z Kai” in 2010.
Greg has voiced numerous characters in many video games, such as the 2002 “Unlimited Saga”, the 2007 “One Piece: Unlimited Adventure” and the 2014 “Smite”; most recently, in 2020, he voiced Guldo in the game “Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot”.
Awards and nominations
Greg has been nominated for 14 Behind the Voice Actors (BTVA) Awards, winning one in 2014, for Best Male Lead Vocal Performance in an Anime Feature Film/Special, for “Gekijouban Sora no Otoshimono: Tokei Jikake no Enjeroido”.
Love life and wife
Greg is highly secretive when it comes to his love life, and hasn’t mentioned any women (or men) whom he has perhaps been with; this is mostly why there are various rumors circulating the internet, concerning both his past and present relationships, and his sexual orientation.
Some of Greg’s fans believe that the popular actor is today a married man, but that he prefers to keep his wife, and maybe children, away from the media’s attention, however, no evidence has been provided to support these claims, nor has Greg commented on these rumors.
There are also those who believe that he’s gay, and this to be the reason behind him not speaking of the women whom he has dated; this hasn’t been confirmed either.
As of November 2021, Greg appears to be single, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Hobbies and other interests
Greg’s main hobby is travelling, and his career has taken him all around the world; he has attended many anime conventions organized around the US, as well as around Asia. Greg’s dream travel destination is Kyoto in Japan.
He has been working as a DJ for around two decades now, and has also been invited to perform at a couple of events related to anime.
Greg enjoys watching Hollywood movies in his spare time, and his favorite actors are Russell Crowe and Bruce Willis, while some of his favorite films include “The Gladiator”, “Pulp Fiction” and “The Fifth Element”.
He’s a huge fan of animated movies made by Studio Ghibli, and a couple of his favorites include “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “Ponyo”, and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”.
Age, height and net worth
Greg is 52 years old. He has long brown hair which he dyes various colors, including blue, green and pink; his eyes are green, and his height is 5ft 7ins (1.7m), while he weighs around 175lbs (80kgs).
As of November 2021, his net worth has been estimated at over $6 million.
