CANADIAN FAN EXPO: X-MEN: EVOLUTION'S BRAD SWAILE

TORONTO -- X-Men: Evolution's Brad Swaile staged a panel at the Candian Fan Expo Friday night, but it was really more of a chat with old friends.

The Vancouver native has been in Toronto before, and, based on suggestions from previous appearances, he arrived in a Star Wars costume, played the guitar, sang and acted shy toward the girls who all seemed very familiar with his numerous anime projects. More than half of the audience members had seen Swaile in previous convention appearances.

When it came time for questions, the first one pertained to X-Men: Evolution and how he identified with Nightcrawler, the character he voiced through the show's four seasons on Kids' WB!.

"Kurt Wagner," Swaile said, emphasizing the German nature of the name, "he often felt like he had to hide what he really was. I think we can all really identify with that."

Then, breaking into character, Swaile said with a smile, "Chicks dig the fuzzy dude."

Swaile noted that X-Men: Evolution won an Emmy Award. "It wasn't for the acting," he said, "but it's still an Emmy Award-winning show."

Swaile said that as many as two X-Men: Evolution episodes were recorded in a day and they were done with an ensemble present, prior to the animation being done. He noted that is very different than his work in such anime shows Gundam Seed, where the animation is complete and he records on his own in ADR sessions to match the mouth movements of the characters.

Being a Canadian actor, Swaile said he doesn't get free DVDs of the projects he's provided voices for. As a result, he hasn't seen much of his work.

"If I bought all the shows I've been on, I'd need a loan," he said.

Swaile has also acted in front of the camera in such shows as The Outer Limits and CBC's The Odyssey. He worked on the feature film Prozac Nation, but said his scene was cut from movie.

"I love voice acting," Swaile emphasized. "I get to do a lot of things. I get to come to all kinds of different places and pretend I'm a celebrity.

"And the big Hollywood movie actors can't do this, come hang you with you. Those are the celebrity celebrities and you'd have to have security."

During the panel, Swaile played guitar and sang songs by Collective Soul and Otis Redding. He is actually a drummer, though, and his current band, In.ovo, is scheduled to go into the recording studio in October.

"I told myself I wouldn't be a career actor," said Swaile, who says his "real job" is in the graphic design/illustration industry. "But voice acting is so much fun.

"I will continue to do voice acting as long as I can get work."