MomoCon 2019 was a blistering success!
Mayor K-K had the extreme privilege of sitting in on interviews with some of the voice cast of Steven Universe, including Susan Egan (Rose/Pink Diamond/Tiny Floating Whale), Michaela Dietz (Amethyst), Deedee Magno-Hall (Pearl, and our special guest for 2019) and Zach Callison (Steven).
If you didn’t see the livetweets on Empire City Con’s Twitter at the hashtag #ECCatMomo, here are some of the highlights!
MICHAELA DIETZ
- A lot of why she got interested in acting was being adopted. She relates to Amethyst in a lot that way, and she also uses humor as a defense mechanism.
- Even grandparents reach out to say how much Steven Universe means to them and their families
- She loves how messages of body positivity, family, loss, and consent are folded in naturally to the show.
- Michaela knew how big the show had gotten when she was at the Grand Canyon a few years ago and saw someone wearing a Steven Universe shirt.
- She auditioned for Steven and Sadie, but Amethyst has always felt the most right to her.
- Michaela compares Amethyst’s secret underground wrestling to her road rage. She even has a lavender diffuser in her car to help her calm down!
- Outside of her career, she is passionate about woodwork, dancing, and hiking.
- Well, she doesn’t actually like hiking, but she thinks she should and forces herself to do it anyway.
- Michaela is working on a book about her birth search experience!
- If she could choose one role besides Amethyst, it would be Ronaldo for his funny and zany lines. Or Jasper, because “there’s something appealing about being such a detested character.” She thinks Kimberly Brooks brings a ton to that role!
DEEDEE MAGNO-HALL
- According to her parents, Deedee has “always been a ham.”
- She grew up with music in the house. There was a karaoke machine and her dad self-taught himself piano and guitar.
- Deedee won a singing challenge as a kid, and the prize was to sing as a night club. But she was 11! So she got to sing at Sea World instead.
- She grew up watching Disney princess movies and always dreamed of doing voice over and singing for a cartoon. Her favorite princess is Cinderella.
- When she calls Zach Callison, her contact information shows up as “Bird Mom”
- She was instructed to use her natural voice to audition for Pearl. She listened to a recording of Rebecca Sugar singing the theme song and tried to imitate her inflections.
- Deedee loves meeting fans, and says it means as much to her as it does to us.
- The biggest lesson Deedee has learned from Pearl is that “it’s okay not to be perfect.”
- About the upcoming Steven Universe movie, she says: “you are not ready.”
ZACH CALLISON
- He loves role playing games! He was the kind of kid who played pretend until he was 13 or 14. Playing Dungeons & Dragons returns him to his childhood wonder.
- Compared to Steven, Zach is more of a cynic and a realist.
- He would love to play a super hero someday. He’s auditioned for a few of those roles.
- He loves sharing his music with people. He wrote all of his album, A Picture Perfect Hollywood Outbreak, himself. Going forward, he’d like to continue what he’s doing, but focus more on his music.
- The craziest fan theory that he has seen is that sneeple are real. He also loves Onion = Yellow Diamond.
- Zach and Steven grew up alongside each other. The shared burden of having immense responsibility at a young age is something he found solace in.
- He wants to make sure that every fan interaction he has let’s them know that they matter.
- If he had to pair a wine and cheese with Steven Universe, it would be colby jack after his dog, and of course, rosé!
- Zach has great memories of MomoCon, especially at the raves.
- His favorite episodes of Steven Universe are yet unreleased!
Special thanks again to Peachy Con Princess, the press coordinator of MomoCon and the convention consultant for Empire City Con.
