Men's Lifestyle May 30, 2026 0 Comments

Discover the Unexpected Journey That Turned Johnny Yong Bosch Into Anime’s Ultimate Leading Man—And What It Means for Your Passion and Persistence!

Have you ever stopped to wonder how a voice can become more iconic than the face behind it? Johnny Yong Bosch is the perfect example—chances are, you might’ve never seen him, but you’ve definitely heard his voice echoing through some of the most legendary anime and pop culture franchises out there. From the adrenaline-pumping action sequences of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to embodying the ultra-cool, silver-haired Dante in Netflix’s Devil May Cry, Johnny’s journey isn’t just about vocal cords; it’s about resilience, identity, and breaking barriers in Hollywood and anime worlds alike. At 50, this baritone titan has not only conquered the convention circuits with his memorable roles in Trigun, Bleach, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure but has also witnessed the explosive rise of anime from niche VHS swaps in back-alley Chinatown shops to a mainstream box office powerhouse. But behind the mic? A harrowing past of kidnapping, bullying, and personal growth forged the man who now shapes so many of our animated heroes. Curious how all these experiences blend into one voice that can command an audience without ever showing a face? Buckle up—this ain’t your average origin story. LEARN MORE

10 min read

You’ve maybe seen Johnny Yong Bosch before, but chances are greater you’ve heard his voice.

After starting his career with TV’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers in 1994, Bosch has cultivated a mile-long resume as an English-language voice actor for Japanese anime. With baritone pipes that suit anime’s hot-blooded heroes, the 50-year-old Bosch has been a staple at conventions for his lead roles in franchises like Trigun, Bleach, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and the 2001 dub of the seminal 1988 sci-fi Akira. Now, Bosch is the ultra-cool Dante, the silver-haired badass of Netflix’s Devil May Cry. Its second season debuted on May 12.

“I wanted to do action on camera,” Bosch tells Esquire about his dreams in showbusiness. “That transformed towards the end of my time on Power Rangers. I was concerned I wasn’t going to keep acting [after that].” Despite starring in a popular children’s show for years—and its theatrical films in 1995 and 1997—there were limited opportunities in Hollywood for mixed-race Asian talent. Had Bosch tried starting his career now, perhaps he would have reaped the “Wasian” wave. His mother is Korean, while his father, who passed in 2022, was white.

As Bosch considered leaving acting, an anime producer heard him record automated dialogue replacement (ADR) for an independent film. “They thought I had a decent ‘hero voice.’ I was like, I can keep acting and it doesn’t matter what I look like? I can play all these characters? I stumbled into voiceover. There’s a whole lot of freedom.”

Netflix

Johnny Yong Bosch reprises his role of Dante in Netflix’s Devil May Cry, which released its second season on May 12.

Bosch, who grew up in Texas, has seen anime in America evolve from a niche thing sold at the back of video stores to a pop culture powerhouse. Superfans include Oscar-winner Michael B. Jordan, Olympic gold medalists Noah Lyles and Alyssa Liu, NFL draft picks like Jeremiyah Love, and pop stars like Meghan Thee Stallion. Last year, Bosch lent his voice for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle, a spin-off film from the Demon Slayer franchise that broke American box office records with a $70 million opening weekend. It ended 2025 as the seventh highest-grossing movie in the U.S, above F1 and Superman.

But Bosch’s road to anime royalty–his tables at anime conventions often draw big crowds–isn’t all paved with gold. It’s built on hardship and heartbreak, a tale of toppling dominoes that starts with horrific childhood trauma.

“I was kidnapped when I was very young,” Bosch says.

Bosch doesn’t unpack too many details of his kidnapping—only the emotional fallout that led to isolation and withdrawal. After his ransom was paid and Bosch returned home, he endured bullying by his schoolyard peers. “I tried to say what happened, and it felt like nobody believed me. I felt like I couldn’t open up, couldn’t talk. As a result of that shyness, I got beat up a lot.”

Influenced by heroes like Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Bruce Lee, Bosch convinced his parents to sign him up for martial arts. He passed on the squeaky clean taekwondo gyms. “At a lot of the schools, there was one student that was amazing. The rest were not,” he says. He found a Chinese kung fu school with busted lights and actual holes in the walls. “But every student looked amazing. From the white belts to the higher belts, they all seemed good. So I started kung fu.”

Imbued with newfound power, Bosch went from a bullying victim to a bully himself. “When I started martial arts, I was like, I could use this. If somebody gave me a dirty look or said something rude, I would stand up and face the guy, see what happens.” One day, Bosch stopped a heated argument between his family. “I almost punched my dad. I felt like, What the hell’s wrong with me? I went to apologize. He was on his bed, and I remember him saying, ‘I’m afraid of you.’”

It spooked him. “I continued to train and gain more discipline, understanding now there’s responsibility. If you know how to do things, you don’t necessarily need to use it. Only when you have no choice. That took a while. It was growth and discovery.”

For Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Esquire talked to Johnny Yong Bosch about Devil May Cry, his career highs and lows, and what the future might hold for anime in America… if there is one.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

ESQUIRE: You started your career on Power Rangers at the zenith of its popularity for ’90s kids. How did that happen?

JOHNNY YONG BOSCH: They were looking for somebody who looked Asian. My instructor saw [an ad] in the newspaper that said, “Looking for New Rangers,” and he knew I wanted to do action on camera. It did say that you had to be a martial artist, gymnast, or dancer. I was a martial artist but I could also do acrobatics. So I showed up.

I was nervous. I remember talking to friends, they were like, “Don’t waste your time. Guys like us in Texas don’t get to do these things.” But I wanted to do it. It was a cattle call. There’s thousands of people, they’d bring us in like twenty at a time, and they’d go, You, you, you can come, the rest of you can go. They gave us this piece of paper that had a monologue. I ended up getting a callback.

You accomplished your dream of doing action on camera with your first job. How did that feel?

It did click for me, but things happened so fast. Once I got the role, it was fittings and shooting. I do remember the exact moment [it hit]. We were at this park. I had these rollerblades on, and I’d never rollerbladed before. I’m by myself trying to figure out how to rollerblade. I see from a distance the crew setting up lights and doing stuff, and I’m like, This is it. My friends who were like, We don’t make it, I’m actually doing it. It gave me hope. Impossible things can happen.

After Power Rangers, how hard was it finding work as an Asian actor in Hollywood?

I realized after Power Rangers that I was lucky to be cast on a show. I was sent many roles like “Asian Guy” or whatever. I would come in, and because I’m half Asian, I wouldn’t fit the look. Also, my acting wasn’t quite there. The roles I was going for was a type, and I didn’t fit that type. I grew up in Texas. I didn’t grow up “Asian.” I felt my career was done. I remember going through a depression, just not sure what to do.

Did it occur to you that you were the second Asian male superhero on American television, following Bruce Lee as Kato in The Green Hornet?

I wasn’t aware. I grew up in a mixed household, so it wasn’t like, “Hey, you’re Asian!” I was just, I am what I am. It wasn’t until a few years ago that people have been coming up like, “Man, you were the Asian guy!” I was like, really? It wasn’t something I thought about then, at all, until later. People have pointed it out to me. I guess it’s kind of important.

You started working in anime after Power Rangers. What was the anime industry like at the time in the late 1990s and early 2000s?

Nobody knew what it was. It was like bootleg Jackie Chan stuff in Chinatown. You had to know somebody who knew somebody who can get you a VHS tape. It was slowly starting to become something [when I joined]. There were conventions. Anime actors were sent off in the dark corner. Like, “You’re just one of the anime guys.” I heard that from other actors doing popular cartoons. But I was working on these things, and I thought, This stuff is cool. It was so much fun to be in anime. It wasn’t great pay, but it was fun, and I got to keep acting. I was like, “I’m gonna keep doing this until it turns into something else.” Years later, we’re breaking records.

How did you adapt to voice acting after being on TV?

The role of Vash in Trigun was my first one. I had some experience behind the microphone doing Power Rangers. That gave me practice, knowing distance from the mic and whatnot. But it wasn’t something I thought about until I was really doing it that I was like, Oh, this is a thing? I wasn’t getting role after role. But I would get an audition, or some director heard me. I was lucky. I was in the right place at the right time. I didn’t have an agent. I was just going with the flow, didn’t know what was going to happen, and where things would lead.

You’ve now voiced so many anime lead protagonists, most recently Dante in Devil May Cry. What about your voice do you think lends itself to main character energy?

I don’t know. [Laughs.] Even when the producer said that, I was like, “I don’t know what you mean, but I guess I’m a hero.” I just try to find who the character is. Where am I from? Where am I going? It takes a lot. You go through a lot of stuff to get to that place. Sometimes it’s not even in the first episode. It takes time to discover who the character is. With Ichigo [in Bleach], we’ve got new stuff coming. That’s a character I’ve done so many episodes, I can be this character instantly. There’s few characters like that.

You have history with the Devil May Cry franchise. You voiced Nero in Devil May Cry 4, and now you play Dante in the Netflix series. How does he stand out from other anime protagonists you’ve portrayed?

Before I started working on the games, I played DMC. I remember it had the same feeling of why I liked The Crow; this dark, gothic thing. I auditioned for Dante for Devil May Cry 3 and didn’t get it. But I got to play Nero, because they’d reached a point with Dante and they needed a different character. So to be Dante and taking this fresh stab to explore him becoming who we know in the games, I have this hopeful passion. It feels heavier. I’m familiar with the series as Nero, so trying to find Dante, trying to create [him] not necessarily into someone new but not imitating either. How can we bring fresh ideas? It informs my decisions.

I’ve got to give my props to Robbie Damond, as Virgil [in season 2]. He’s amazing. I got to listen to his stuff last night. He sounds so good, it makes me feel like I need to bring it up a bit. It’s not one-upping, but you feel the progression. You’re like, Let’s take it a step further.

Is there talk of season 3?

We want to do more. Adi’s thinking about what the future will look like. I know where we may potentially go, and if we get the chance to do it, I’m excited. We’re barely scratching the surface.

Anime actors were sent off in the dark corner. Like, “You’re just one of the anime guys” … Years later, we’re breaking records.

Since Toy Story and Shrek, most Hollywood animated features star A-listers doing voiceovers. But there’s a wealth of talent like yourself who specialize in animation. What are your feelings? How does Hollywood still overlook the talent in anime?

There are some, I guess you can call them face celebrities, that are really good when they get into voiceover. It just clicks, and they understand. On the flip side, on camera you can add subtlety as you say a line. How you twitched your eye or squint—you don’t get that in voiceover. But you still have to do that [as voice actors]. Sometimes face actors don’t know that. So it [their performance] feels flat. Their expressions are changing, but we’re not hearing it in the voice.

There are times I’ve watched an anime done by a named actor and I’m like, “It probably would have been better if they hired an anime voice actor.” But it is what it is. They’re bankable. Johnny Yong Bosch isn’t gonna have that reach. But I do think they should bring in anime voice actors, at least to see the differences. There are things voice actors understand. Not all cartoons are cartoony.

You returned to on-camera acting with the movie Hellfire this year. Are you considering doing live-action action again?

Yes, I do plan on doing more. But to participate in the outcome is important. With Hellfire, I got to edit a little, choreograph a fight. I have my own film coming, Spades, on YouTube on August 8. I wrote, directed, and produced. I’m not going out auditioning for on-camera stuff. But independently, I want to do more.

You were once involved with Legend of the White Dragon when it was on Kickstarter. The movie opens in August. What happened?

It’s a long story. I was asked by Jason Frank to write the script. It was this new idea that Jason wanted to do. It was gonna kinda be like Power Rangers, but a new world. We did a Kickstarter, and we didn’t make that goal. Jason wanted to shoot something else, another film I had called Click Boom. Jason changed his mind when I had already put my money into this new idea. I couldn’t leave when he went to do a new Kickstarter for White Dragon. At that point, they didn’t use my script. They are doing their thing, and I was busy doing mine.

You’ve seen the anime industry grow in the 25-plus years since you started voice acting. What do you think the next 25 might look like?

If there were no AI, I could see people creating new things, maybe based on anime they grew up on. But I don’t know what that’s gonna look like now. I don’t know if I’ll still do voiceover. You hear studios supporting AI. Although they say they’re supporting creatives and actors, they’re paying billions to have AI. I remember playing with it once. Like, Make Johnny Yong Bosch in the Black Ranger suit, and it was an Asian guy in this messed-up thing. Now it could do it no problem. People have posted and tagged me [with AI] on Instagram and I’m like, I’m not sure if I should repost this. Like, that’s my likeness! It feels weird. That’s why I’m really trying to create my own stuff.