Kellen Goff is a seasoned voice talent renowned for his work across a wide array of popular anime series and video games. He’s especially celebrated for bringing several beloved characters to life in the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise, such as Freddy Fazbear, Funtime Freddy, Glamrock Freddy, Sun and Moon, and even Foxy in the movie adaptation. In the anime world, fans will recognize his voices behind key figures like Kai Chisaki / Overhaul in My Hero Academia, Diavolo in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Porco Galliard / the Jaw Titan in Attack on Titan, Sasaki in Sasaki and Miyano, and many others. We had a chance to sit down with him to chat about these roles, his fresh portrayal of Carnage in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, and the opportunity to get a collectible figure of himself while supporting The Jonathan Foundation.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: To kick things off, I’d like to dive into Diavolo from JoJo’s Part 5, mainly because I’m always drawn to characters with multiple personalities or identities. How did it feel to portray a character while constantly playing him against another persona voiced by someone else?
Goff: It felt like a real acting exercise. I hadn’t really done much Jekyll‑and‑Hyde type work before, so it was a treat to collaborate with Griffin Burns, who voices Doppio. When you’re playing someone who’s the exact opposite of another character, you have to push yourself to highlight the qualities they lack. So I tried to make Diavolo more scheming and reserved, while Doppio is more upbeat and carefree. That contrast makes the moments when he switches to Diavolo hit harder. I always saw him as someone who’d rather stay quiet, pulling strings from the shadows, and when that safety net is torn away, he becomes a bit childish. He thinks of himself as a king, a ruler, a god, and when that god feels dethroned, it feels like a spoiled kid throwing a tantrum. That’s different from Doppio, who never wanted any of that.
Q: What was your approach to capturing those childish outbursts or intense moments of anger?
Goff: Back then I’d just started recording when the 2020 pandemic hit, and there was a lot of uncertainty and discomfort for everyone. I decided to channel that energy into Diavolo’s own unease, letting it fuel the screams and the desire for things to be different, to go his way. I took whatever nervous energy we had at the time and tried to turn it into those raw screams. I think it worked out pretty well—it became a kind of fuel for me, in a way.
Q: I’m also curious about how you tried to understand his stand.
Goff: (laughs) Everyone told me the meme, “It just works.” I tried to figure it out on my own, how it differed from Dio’s and so on. There was a TikTok I posted with a pickle, sort of slicing out the middle to make a new timeline. I thought that was pretty clever, but over time I kept trying to think more about it. In the end, it makes sense on the surface, but if you get into the science, it’s still tough to navigate today. That’s one of my favorite things to do—take magic or science that doesn’t have an explanation and give it a logical rationale. Time has always been a tough one for me. The only way I could justify it was using alternate timelines: he just hops to another timeline where things go his way, which could be possible. Stands—anything’s possible, right? So that’s the only self‑justification I’ve found. Who knows, maybe someone will put out a video essay that explains it perfectly for me.
Q: You also voiced Overhaul, another intimidating yet somewhat silent character. What aspects of his personality made him such a compelling villain for you to portray?
Goff: Overhaul was my first big anime villain role, so it was an interesting challenge to dive into a psyche like his. Now that I know his backstory—he was an orphan discarded because his quirk was destructive to the people he loved and uncontrollable. He was thrown into the streets and grew up in a brutal, cutthroat environment for many formative years. Growing up in that kind of setting, people have taught me that everything’s a matter of fairness. If nothing’s fair, the only justice you can claim is the one you create yourself—eye for an eye. When the leader of the Shie Hassaikai takes him in and becomes a father figure, Overhaul idolizes him. He sees that figure as the one who rescued him from a terrible life. From then on, every move he makes, no matter the surface motivation, is about repaying “Pops” for that kindness. The ends justify the means for him because he lives by a skewed sense of justice—he doesn’t think twice about hurting a child, for instance. That’s why he belongs in jail; it’s a dangerous mindset where the ends justify the means. It’s not that he’s bad for the sake of being bad—he’s bad when he wants revenge or feels wronged. Take his first meeting with the League of Villains: when both sides lose a soldier, he tells them to calm down and come back, probably because he’s had similar truces on the streets. But when he has a perfect plan to finally repay his father figure and everything seems set for success, he’s stopped by the very things he loathes—heroes, those with quirks, those he calls “sick.” Also, growing up on the streets exposed him to filth and illness, and he probably got really sick himself, which is likely where his germaphobia comes from. When he finally gets beaten by those he deems “sick,” it brings him back to his childhood, to all the times sickness brought him down. That really breaks him inside; life stops him and drags him back to the streets when he tries to repay his father. It shatters him deeply. At that point, all he wants is to start over and apologize to his father figure. When that figure tells him how awful he is, it probably crushes him. I can only hope he finally wakes up, does what his father wanted, apologizes to Eri, and uses his quirk for healing instead of destruction. His quirk is incredible—he can break anything down to a microscopic level, and if it’s reassembled within ten seconds, the person is completely healed. He could cure cancer, anything, but he uses it to destroy. It’s just… sad. I really want to see him get a redemption arc because there’s so much good he could do.
Q: Those two were villains, but you’ve played other archetypes too. Are there any character types you haven’t had many chances to voice that you’d love to take on?
Goff: I would absolutely love to play the classic shonen anime protagonist in my lifetime. I just want to feel what that feels like, you know? It could be an anime that no one watches or a show that nobody watches, but I’m hoping people tune in. Because I grew up idolizing protagonists—Naruto was my favorite character in Naruto for a while, and Goku was my favorite in Dragon Ball for a time. I’d love to be in a position where I’m the underdog or it’s his story. I did get to voice a main character in Sasaki and Miyano, and it was a lot of fun—the romantic anime made my heart sing, but it’s different from the action‑adventure shonen protagonist vibe. There are so many reasons I’ve always wanted to try that, so that’s at the top of my list.
Q: My next question concerns Attack on Titan. I’m curious what it felt like, vibe‑ and energy‑wise, to be part of the series’ conclusion.
Goff: It was such an honor, because the first season aired when I was in high school. So growing up with something and then being able to voice a Titan shifter all those years later—that was involved, albeit off‑camera, but involved in the story I grew up with. It was so cathartic for me. It’s a legendary show in its own right—a legendary piece of writing and storytelling that will go down in history. So to play any role in it, let alone a Titan shifter, that was one of the greatest honors of my life and career. It was so much fun to be part of it. And it was a bit of a light during the lockdown recordings, lifting my spirits at a time I really needed it. Attack on Titan and Porco mean a lot to me. And it’s pretty much the only project I got to work on with a good friend, Mike McFarland, who’s fighting his own medical battle right now. We’re all hoping he pulls through. But he was such a joy to work with, and it was great getting to know him through that and otherwise. All those things are good feelings I associate with being on that show.
Q: This next question is about a pretty random role, but one I’m amused by. You voiced the ball guy in Pokémon Masters. How did that come about, and what was that experience like?
Goff: It was a straightforward audition. I’ve always been a fan of Pokémon. One of my first video games that wasn’t a learning computer game was Pokémon Gold. I bought my friend’s old Game Boy and copy of Pokémon Gold off him for 15 bucks when I was a kid. I kept it from my parents because they didn’t want me playing yet. But since then, I’ve been the biggest Pokémon fan ever. I buy every single game and have played through all of them multiple times. So being able to contribute to that universe is such—lack of a better term—it’s catharsis and an honor. The ball guy in particular. I’d auditioned for Pokémon Masters a few times, but that one came up and he was the meme at the time— this bouncy, big buff ball dude who helps you on your journey in Galar. So auditioning for that and landing the role was such a joy too. It was super fun working on it, both the character and the costume he got later or the update he got later. Because he’s a very punny character, but only with the word “ball.” All he really does is replace syllables in words that sound like “ball” with “ball.” Like, “terri‑ball,” or “I’ll have a ball of a time with you.” It’s goofy, and I adore goofy roles. The funny ones lift my spirits a lot.
Q: Next, I’d love to hear a bit more about Carnage and the Marvel Fighting Souls game. Your experience with that, what was it like booking it and performing that role?
Goff: That happened a couple or a few years ago. It was heavily codenamed, and I didn’t know what it was at first. But you always have that feeling and hope. I knew who was making it, so I was like, “Could it be?” Then you book it and realize, “Yeah, it’s Carnage.” I adore Marvel. Just today, I’m watching every YouTuber’s takes on the Doomsday trailer. It was a ton of fun to start. They showed me the art in the session. I did my best with him, taking aspects of all the previous incarnations and actors’ performances and honoring those who came before, trying to figure out how to make it not perfect Carnage or ultimate Carnage, but just one that satisfies everyone. I really like what we came up with. He has the higher pitches and creature noises of Bradley Baker’s performance, the lows and growls of David Sobolov and Woody Harrelson’s portrayals, and the same craziness as Scott Cleverdon’s. I’m pumped to hear what people think of him. From there, it was just a good bunch of sessions focusing on screaming and guttural stuff, making sure he’s crazy throughout and that people who play against him are going to be so annoyed by being beaten by him and so satisfied by killing him. It’s been such a pleasure. I really, really would love to come back to Carnage again, somehow or another.
Q: Then lastly, I see a familiar figure behind you there. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Goff: Yes, this is Youtooz’s figure of me—a little Kellen Jr., part of the Five Nights at Freddy’s collection. You can see it has a couple of Freddys there, then it has Funtime Freddy’s microphone I’m holding in my hand. This just came about randomly when we were talking about doing voice actor Youtooz to correlate with the three voice actors from the FNAF 2 movie. It evolved into being its own standalone thing, which I’m super, super grateful for. I just always wanted to be a toy. Any proceeds I get from it, I didn’t really want to take for myself. I’m giving them all to The Jonathan Foundation, which is an incredible charity that helps children on the spectrum get the resources they need to make life a bit more accessible for them. For any child with disabilities, they’re doing an incredible job of that. I’m very, very happy that I get to contribute to that in some way or another. The orders for it end on the 28th of July, so y’all still have a chance to get it.
We’d like to thank Kellen Goff for taking the time to speak with us. His YouTooz figure is available to order until the end of the 28th and all proceeds will benefit The Jonathan Foundation.
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