Jessica Lynn Calvello (born August 8th, 1973 in Webster, Texas) is an American voice actress primarily known for her anime voiceover work, particularly with ADV Films. She currently works with Seraphim Digital Studios (for Sentai Filmworks) and Funimation Entertainment.
She has a BFA in acting from Southwest Texas State University, and was a company member of the Emerging Artists Theatre. She has also performed as a stage actress in several productions, including an Off-Off Broadway production of The Glass Mendacity.
In June 2002, during the recording of the role of Excel from Excel♡Saga, Calvello strained her voice and was replaced by Larissa Wolcott. Calvello was also replaced as the voice actress for Yuri in Dirty Pair by Allison Sumrall. She has since recovered and returned to voice work, although she moved to New York and worked exclusively there for the next 11 years before finally moving back to Texas in 2013. Among her first roles since moving back to Texas were Eclair in Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess, Saori Takebe in the English dub of Girls und Panzer, Hange Zoë in Attack on Titan, and Kanako Miyamae in Maria†Holic.
Calvello's personal website can be found here
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Notable roles:
- Anko Uguisu in Call of the Night
- Black Rabbit in Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't they?
- Celsia Marie Claire in Those Who Hunt Elves (darrin'd by Shelley Calene-Black for Season 2)
- Eclair in Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess (her first Texas-based role since Excel♡Saga 11 years earlier)
- Eimi Ohba in Comic Party (credited as Zoe Fries, darrin'd once again by Larissa Wolcott in Revolution)
- Ekitoku Chouhi in Ikki Tousen
- Eleanor Campbell in Emma: A Victorian Romance
- Excel in Excel♡Saga (first 13 episodes only, due to straining her voice while recording it. Darrin'd by Larissa Wolcott)
- Hajime Ichinose/G-101 in Gatchaman Crowds
- Hange Zoe in Attack on Titan
- Haqua du Lot Herminium in The World God Only Knows: Goddesses Arc (replacing Jessica Boone)
- Honey Kisaragi/Cutie Honey in New Cutie Honey (she was personally picked by Go Nagai himself, since ADV Films couldn't afford Winona Ryder)
- Reprised in both Cutie Honey Universe and Re: Cutie Honey
- Kanako Miyamae in Maria†Holic
- Karin Aoi in DNA²
- Kasumi Tomine in Alien Nine
- Kirihime Natsuno in Dog & Scissors
- Kotori Takatori in Brynhildr in the Darkness
- Minerva in Princess Minerva
- Mink in Dragon Half
- Nanael in Queen's Blade
- Rinne's Mother in Hells
- Rip Van Winkle in Hellsing Ultimate Abridged
- Saori Takebe in Girls und Panzer (first Houston based role since Excel♡Saga)
- Seika in Legend of Himiko
- Shiho Nagaoka in To Heart (credited as Zoe Fries)
- Suigintou in Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen (replacing Karen Strassman)
- Tatenashi Sarashiki in Infinite Stratos 2
- Tiramie in Amagi Brilliant Park
- Utano Tadano in Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan
- Yuri in Dirty Pair (1999 OVA series dub and 2021 TV series dub, darrin'd by Allison Sumrall for the 2003 dub of the movies.)
Tropes associated with Jessica Calvello:
- Career Resurrection: She started out as a V.A. for ADV Films until 2002's Excel♡Saga. After her contract with ADV terminated, she ended up living in New York for nearly a decade, working exclusively there, but her career wasn't as big as used to be. Since late 2013, she has started getting some more Texas based roles, such as Saori Takebe, Kanako Miyame, and Hange Zoe, bringing her back into the anime spotlight.
- Casting Gag: Three of her characters she voiced (Kanako, Excel, and Kirihime) had committed some form of dog abuse for comedic laughs.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: If her YouTube music videos are any indication.
- Genki Girl: Her more notable roles tend to be very energetic characters. Some of these characters include Excel, Saori Takebe, Hange Zoe, Kanako, and Tatenashi.
- Large Ham: As Excel and Kanako.
- Motor Mouth: How she voiced Excel and Kanako. In fact, when she was voicing Excel, she actually damaged her vocal chords, leading her to be replaced by the lesser known Larissa Wolcott for the second half of the series.
- The Other Darrin: Has fallen victim to this with a few of her roles, in addition to also being the replacement voice actress to some other roles played by some voice actresses before.
- In Excel♡Saga, she lost her voice playing Excel in the first 13 episodes, which ended up having Jessica replaced by Larissa Wolcott for the second half of the series.
- Her role as Yuri in Dirty Pair was done by Allison Sumrall for the movies because of damaging her voice while recording Excel♡Saga, and the fact that she didn't live in Texas when the movies were dubbed. She reprised the role in 2021 for the Kickstarter-funded dub of the TV series.
- When the second season of Those Who Hunt Elves was dubbed, her role as Celsia Marie Claire was played by Shelley Calene-Black for Season 2.
- When Sentai Filmworks decided to dub Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen at Seraphim Digital Studios, rather than using Bang Zoom! Entertainment (kind of like what Funimation did when it dubbed Shakugan no Shana), She became the The Other Darrin for Karen Strassman, who originally voiced Suigintou.
- With Jessica Boone committed to Shakespeare acting in Prague, Czech Republic, Calvello took over the role of Haqua du Lot Herminium for The World God Only Knows: Goddesses Arc.
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: Tends to play characters who are either energetic, nutty, or hammy.
- Playing Against Type: As Eclair in Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess, who is a stoic, mature, non-hammy, calmer character.
- Star-Making Role: Excel in Excel♡Saga.
- Since moving back from New York in 2013, she gained more notability as the voice of Saori Takebe from Girls und Panzer, as well as Kanako Miyame in the 2014 re-release of Maria†Holic and Hange in Attack on Titan.
