Apollo Smile
Description
Apollo Smile is the professional name of Paula Anne DeMonico, an American voice actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer born on February 16, 1967. She entered the voice acting industry in the mid-1990s, building a career closely tied to the English dubbing of Japanese anime and video games.
Smile's voice acting work from this period includes roles in several original video animations. She provided the voice for Karin Son in the English dub of Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer and voiced the character Tracy in the animated adaptation of Battle Arena Toshinden. Her other anime voice roles from this era include Coco Hearts in the OVA Wild Cardz and providing additional voices for Iria: Zeiram the Animation.
While her anime voice roles were relatively few, Smile is most widely recognized for her portrayal of the reporter Ulala in the Sega video game series Space Channel 5. She voiced the character in the original Dreamcast game, its sequel Space Channel 5: Part 2, and subsequent Sega crossover titles such as Sega Superstars Tennis, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. She also voiced the character Nova in the animated series Megas XLR.
Her career followed a path from music to voice acting and multimedia personality. After an initial career as a pop singer in the early 1990s, she reinvented herself as the "Live Action Anime Girl," a persona through which she made appearances at science fiction and anime conventions, hosted the Sci-Fi Channel's Anime Week in 1998, and self-published a comic book featuring her likeness. Her voice acting work occurred within this broader context of anime and geek culture fandom, though she did not have recurring collaborations with specific directors or voice actor ensembles beyond the common talent pools of the time. Her most significant and enduring achievement in the field remains her vocal performance as Ulala, a character with which she became closely identified.
Smile's voice acting work from this period includes roles in several original video animations. She provided the voice for Karin Son in the English dub of Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer and voiced the character Tracy in the animated adaptation of Battle Arena Toshinden. Her other anime voice roles from this era include Coco Hearts in the OVA Wild Cardz and providing additional voices for Iria: Zeiram the Animation.
While her anime voice roles were relatively few, Smile is most widely recognized for her portrayal of the reporter Ulala in the Sega video game series Space Channel 5. She voiced the character in the original Dreamcast game, its sequel Space Channel 5: Part 2, and subsequent Sega crossover titles such as Sega Superstars Tennis, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. She also voiced the character Nova in the animated series Megas XLR.
Her career followed a path from music to voice acting and multimedia personality. After an initial career as a pop singer in the early 1990s, she reinvented herself as the "Live Action Anime Girl," a persona through which she made appearances at science fiction and anime conventions, hosted the Sci-Fi Channel's Anime Week in 1998, and self-published a comic book featuring her likeness. Her voice acting work occurred within this broader context of anime and geek culture fandom, though she did not have recurring collaborations with specific directors or voice actor ensembles beyond the common talent pools of the time. Her most significant and enduring achievement in the field remains her vocal performance as Ulala, a character with which she became closely identified.
All Characters
- EnglishAnime overview: Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer
- EnglishAnime overview: Battle Arena Toshinden