Voice acting in anime is a weird, fickle beast. Sometimes it’s clunky. Sometimes it feels like people are just reading lines in a booth while staring at a clock. But then you have the FMA Brotherhood English cast, a group of actors who didn’t just record a script—they basically lived in those characters for years.
Honestly, it’s rare. You’ve got the 2003 series, and then Brotherhood came along in 2009 to do the "faithful" adaptation. Usually, when a show gets rebooted, the cast shifts. People move on. Unions change. But Funimation (now Crunchyroll) managed to pull back the heavy hitters. Vic Mignogna and Maxey Whitehead stepped into the roles of the Elric brothers, and the chemistry was instant. It felt like they never left.
The Alchemist at the Heart of It All
Edward Elric is a loudmouth. He’s short-tempered, literally short, and carries the weight of a dead mother and a hollowed-out brother on his prosthetic shoulders. Bringing that to life in English isn't just about yelling. It’s about the cracks in the voice.
Vic Mignogna’s performance as Ed is arguably one of the most recognizable in the history of the medium. Whether you love or hate the drama surrounding his later career, you can’t talk about the FMA Brotherhood English cast without acknowledging that he was Ed for a generation. He captured that specific teenage arrogance that masks a deep, soul-crushing guilt.
Then there’s Maxey Whitehead. She had the impossible task of replacing Aaron Dismuke, who had voiced Alphonse in the original series but had literally hit puberty and couldn't do the voice anymore. Maxey stepped in and somehow made Al sound exactly like Al—innocent, gentle, but capable of terrifying strength. It wasn't just an imitation; it was an evolution.
Why the Support Staff Matters
The show isn't just the brothers. It’s a massive political thriller disguised as a shonen anime. You need gravitas.
Enter Travis Willingham as Colonel Roy Mustang.
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Mustang could have been a generic "cool guy." Instead, Travis gave him this simmering, dangerous edge. When he fights Envy—and if you’ve seen it, you know exactly which scene I’m talking about—the sheer venom in his delivery is chilling. It’s not just "acting." It’s a masterclass in controlled rage.
And we have to talk about Laura Bailey as Lust. Before she was a household name in The Last of Us or Critical Role, she was the voice of the ultimate femme fatale. She brought a sophisticated, weary evil to the role. It wasn't cartoonish. It was seductive and terrifying all at once.
The Villains and the Victims
- Colleen Clinkenbeard as Riza Hawkeye: She’s the glue. Colleen plays Riza with such restraint. There’s a scene where she breaks down, and because she’s been so stoic for fifty episodes, it hits you like a freight train.
- Monica Rial as May Chang: Bringing high-energy optimism without being annoying is a tightrope walk. Monica nailed it.
- J. Michael Tatum as Scar: He sounds like shifting gravel. It’s perfect for a man who has lost everything and turned his body into a weapon of God.
A Legacy of Consistency
Most dubs from the late 2000s feel a bit dated now. The audio quality is "off" or the localization is stiff. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood escapes this trap. Mike McFarland, who served as the ADR Director, ran a tight ship. He understood that the FMA Brotherhood English cast needed to sound like they were in a war-torn, early 20th-century Europe-analogue, not a high school in Tokyo.
The dialogue was localized to feel natural. "Equivalent Exchange" became a mantra because the actors delivered it with religious fervor.
Even the minor roles were stacked. You had Rick Keeling as King Bradley. His voice is smooth, like a grandfather telling a story, which makes it all the more horrifying when he starts hacking through tanks with a saber. That juxtaposition is why the dub works. It understands the tone of Hiromu Arakawa’s manga better than almost any other adaptation.
The Weird Details Fans Miss
Did you know that many of the actors in the FMA Brotherhood English cast actually returned after a six-year gap from the first series? It’s almost unheard of in the industry for a cast to remain that stable across two different versions of the same story.
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It wasn't just about the main stars, either. The casting of the Homunculi was a stroke of genius.
- Todd Haberkorn as Ling Yao/Greed: He managed to play two distinct personalities sharing one body. You could hear the switch in his voice without him even saying a name.
- Wendy Powell as Envy: Envy is gender-neutral in the original Japanese, and Wendy’s rasp provided that perfect, ambiguous, hateful energy that the character required.
- Christopher Sabat as Alex Louis Armstrong: He’s the muscle. He’s the comic relief. But Sabat gave him a heart. He didn't just shout about his muscles; he sounded like a man who was genuinely moved by the "sparkle" of life.
The Impact on the Industry
Before Brotherhood, there was a massive "Subs vs Dubs" war. It was brutal. If you watched dubs, you weren't a "real" fan.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood changed that narrative. It was one of the first shows where even the elitists had to admit, "Yeah, okay, the English version is actually incredible." It paved the way for modern dubbing standards where the goal isn't just to translate, but to perform.
When you listen to the FMA Brotherhood English cast, you aren't hearing people struggle with lip-flaps. You’re hearing a cohesive unit. They recorded in Dallas, mostly at the old Funimation studios, and that community feel bled into the show. They were friends. They worked together on dozens of projects. That familiarity allowed them to take risks with the script that a cold cast wouldn't have dared.
Technical Brilliance in the Booth
Recording a 64-episode series is a marathon. The emotional peak of the series—the "Brotherhood" finale—requires the actors to be at 100% for hours on end.
Think about the scene where Ed speaks to Al’s body at the Gate of Truth. Vic Mignogna reportedly pushed his voice to the limit for that "I’m coming back for you!" scream. It’s raw. It’s ugly. It’s perfect.
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That’s the secret sauce. The FMA Brotherhood English cast didn't try to sound "pretty." They tried to sound human. In a show about what it means to be human—about the cost of a soul and the weight of a limb—that authenticity is everything.
Understanding the Cultural Footprint
If you're looking to dive back into the series or perhaps experience it for the first time, pay close attention to the nuances in the supporting cast. The English voice of Winry Rockbell, Caitlin Glass, provides a grounded perspective that keeps the Elric brothers from drifting too far into their own heads.
The casting wasn't just about finding big names; it was about finding the right "texture" for each role. From the deep, booming authority of Ken Lally as Sloth to the frantic, high-pitched energy of the various chimera, the world feels lived-in.
Actionable Steps for Fans and Aspiring VAs
If you want to truly appreciate the work of the FMA Brotherhood English cast, there are a few ways to engage with the material beyond just binge-watching:
- Compare the 2003 and 2009 performances: Listen to how Travis Willingham and Colleen Clinkenbeard evolved their characters. Their 2009 performances are often more nuanced because they had lived with the characters for years.
- Watch the "Behind the Scenes" features: The Blu-ray releases often contain commentaries where the actors discuss the technical difficulties of specific scenes. It's an eye-opener for anyone interested in the craft.
- Check out the "Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos" movie: It’s a side story, but it features the same core cast and gives them a chance to play with different emotional beats outside the main canon.
- Follow the actors' current work: Many of these performers are now industry veterans. Seeing where they went after FMA—from Critical Role to major AAA video games—shows just how much talent was concentrated in this one project.
The FMA Brotherhood English cast remains a gold standard because they respected the source material. They didn't treat it like a "kids' cartoon." They treated it like the epic tragedy and triumph that it is. That respect is why we’re still talking about it over a decade later.
If you're building a collection or introducing someone to anime, the English dub of Brotherhood isn't just an alternative to the Japanese original—it's a definitive experience in its own right. The performances are timeless, the direction is sharp, and the emotional payoff is unmatched.