KHARY PAYTON TALKS TEEN TITANS

SAN DIEGO -- Khary Payton, who does the voice of Cyborg in Cartoon Network's Teen Titans animated series, was part of the network's panel at the Comic-Con International.

Here's a rundown of a question-and-answer session:

QUESTION: How did you get the role?

PAYTON: This was actually my first voiceover audition. I had been in L.A. for about a year-and-a-half when this started. And had jumped into my first voiceover audition.

David (Stack, story editor for Teen Titans) was a good friend of mine and told me about it. I said, "Cyborg? Teen Titans?" And then I thought back about 15 years ago and I had this comic with these seven super-heroes and there was this girl in black. And there was a guy who was half metal and half black. And I was like, "The New Teen Titans? Where were the old Teen Titans?"

And if you were like me, most of you were looking for the guy you could maybe play sometime. And that was the guy.

And I remember buying the comic book, and I don't know how many years later, and I'm playing this guy.

QUESTION: You're the one jumping up and down in the studio?

PAYTON: I tend to grab the script stand and jump and up and down and blow out mikes.

QUESTION: You've blown out mikes?

PAYTON: Yeah, I've blown out mikes yelling "Boo-yah!"

QUESTION: Normally when people apply for a voice cast, they just don't get it…

PAYTON: The entire voice cast (gets it). The guy who plays Beast Boy, he's a vegetarian. It's that kind of thing.

Scott Menville (Robin), he's been doing this as a kid. And he really is kind of the leader of the group.

And Hynden (Walch), who plays Starfire, is this girl whose the sweetest little thing and you'd never know she's an absolute genius. There's a piano outside and we're dinking around on it. And she says, "Oh, I used to play as a kid." And then she's knocking out arias. And she's just like Starfire, this little innocent thing who can kick some serious butt.