This upcoming weekend it is time for our annual trip into the world of Asian pop culture. It is time for Heroes Made in Asia. The event will take place in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht. Like always there will be food, merchandise, workshops, KPop dancing, stage perfromances and so much more. Of course there will also be some very cool special guests from the world of (voice) acting and we will tell you all about them now!

Kira Buckland was born on July 16th, 1987 in Anchorage, Alaska (United States). There isn't much to be found about her early childhood and family life, because Kira tends to keep her personal life private. What we do know is that she decided that she wanted to become a performer, when she was a young teenager at West High School in Anchorage. At first, Kira wanted to become a rock singer, but she changed her mind when she started getting into video games and the Japanese (manga) culture. At one point she learned about the craft of voice acting.When a friend told her about the 'online voice acting', Kira became heavily involved in online voice over communities, where she developed her early voice acting skills. During this period, she lend her voice to fan projects and online animation. This helped her build her confidence and gain experience. Soon Kira became some sort of a pioneer for the online voice acting scene and co-founded the Voice Acting Club (VAC) around 2005. The VAC is an online community to create a space for voice actors (and content creators) to connect. It was also around 2005, that Kira (as president of the West High anime club) became the co-founder of the first ever Alaskan anime convention, named: Senshi Con. She did this together with the president of Dimond High's anime club and the first edition was held in the West High School's cafeteria. A year later it moved to the University of Alaska Anchorage and in the years that followed it kept on growing bigger. Eventually it had to move to bigger venues, like convention centers in Anchorage.

Craig John Fairbrass was born on January 15, 1964 in the East End of London, England (UK). He was born the son of seamstress/machinist dress maker Maureen Fairbrass (née Bryan) and dockworker /stevedore Jack Fairbrass. Craig and his younger sister Lindsey were raised in Stepney (a working class neighborhood of London's East End). Young Craig attended Eaglesfield Boys Comprehensive School in Woolwich. He was no straight A student and struggled academically, but it was at school that he discovered a passion for storytelling and performing. Drama classes became a physical and emotional outlet for young Craig. The drama teacher saw something in the troublesome teenager and told Craig that he only seemed to be relaxed, while doing drama. Following this she encouraged him to have a try at the National Youth Theatre auditions. At the age of 15, Craig got expelled from school for disruptive behavior. Not long after being expelled, he successfully auditioned for the National Youth Theatre, which provided him with a structured training in stagecraft and performance...

Through the late 70s and early 80s, Craig began landing some minor roles in British TV shows and movies. His early work include roles in "Shelley" (1980, as Darth) and "Big Deal" (1984, as Nev). By the mid 80s, Craig started to land some bigger roles, leading to his first significant movie role in the crime movie "For Queen and Country" (1988). Craig plays the role of Challoner opposite Denzel Washington. Throughout the 90s, he kept on working steadily in movies and TV shows, like: "The Final Frame" (1990, as Franklin), "London's Burning" (1990-1991, as Technique), "Prime Suspect" (1991, as D.I. Frank Burkin), "Cliffhanger" (1993, as Delmar), "Darklands" (1996, as Frazer Truick), "Killing Time" (1998, as Detective Robert Bryant), "Duck Patrol" (1998, as Hero) and "Weak at Denise" (1999, as Roy). In 1999, Craig lands his mainstream breakthrough role with the role of Dan Sullivan in the British soap opera "Eastenders". With his portrayal of the ruthless nightclub owner Dan, he quickly became the face of one of the most memorable villains of the show. Eventually, Craig played the role in 150 episodes from 1999 until 2001.

His role as Dan Sullivan, cemented Craig's reputation for playing intense and intimidating bad guys. In the years that followed, he played in movies and series, like: "The Long Weekend" (2005, as Frank) and "White Noise 2: The Light" (2007, as Henry Caine). In 2007 Craig also landed his most iconic role as real life criminal Pat Tate in "Rise of the Footsoldier". The movie (based on the Rettendon murders), became a cult success and was the beginning of a succesfull franchise. Craig reprised the role of Tate in: "Rise of the Footsoldier; Part II" (2015), "Rise of the Footsoldier 3" (2017), "Rise of the Footsoldier: The Heist" (2019), "Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins" (2021) and "Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance" (2023). Besides his role in the "Footsoldier" franchise, Craig could count on a steady stream of jobs over the past 2 decades. Among these are roles in : "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" (2007, as voice of Gaz), "The Bank Job" (2008, as Nick Barton), "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" (2009, as the voice of Ghost), "The Shouting" (2010, as Tony), "Devil's Playground" (2010, as Cole), "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" (2011, voice of Walcroft), "St. George's Day" (2012, as Ray Collishaw), "The Outsider" (2014, as Lex), "The Hooligan Factory" (2014, as Mickey), "Breakdown" (2016, as Alfie Jennings), "Call of Duty: Infinity Warfare" (2016, as voice of Tee), "Gunned Down" (2017, as Jack), "Battlefield V (2018, voice of George Mason), "Avengement" (2019, as Lincoln Burgess), "Muscle" (2019, as Terry), "Villain" (2020, as Eddie Franks), "A Violent Man" (2021, as Steve Mackleson) and "Boat Story" (2023, Guy). 

Since 2023, Craig plays the role of Chef Zeff in the live action adaptation of the Japanese manga "One Piece". Most recently he played Lee in the movie "Trapped".

Vincent Regan was born on May 16th, 1965 in Swansea, Wales (UK). His parents (Patrick and Catherine) were Irish immigrants, who came to England to work. Vincent grew up in the East of England (East Anglia), where his father Patrick worked in construction (mostly on military bases). Vincent recalls East Anglia as a great place to grow up. He recalls that when he wasn't in bed or in school, he was out and about (riding his bike, climbing in trees and getting in minor trouble). In the summertime, the Regan family would go back 'home' to Ireland, to spend their summer holidays over there.

In later interviews Vincent mentioned that "Star Wars - Episode IV: A New Hope" was one of the forming movies from his youth. The movie came out in 1977 and the 12 year old Vincent went to watch it in the cinema. He says he had never seen anything like it before and the movie blew his mind. He recalls that he was so excited about the movie, that he drew out the entire movie on paper, when he came home from the cinema. He did this, because he couldn't just go back to the cinema and VHS was still in its early stages. So to avoid forgetting about the details, he drew everything he remembered out on paper, so he could have a look at it whenever he wanted (pretty smart isn't it?).

No matter how much he loved "Star Wars", at that time Vincent never once thought he would ever be a part of movie making himself. This changed when he was 16 years old and saw some documentaries about Shakespeare and the Shakespearean way of performing. They sparked his interest in performing and made him think about the fact that this was something he could do for a living. Other movies, like "Monty Python's: The Life of Brian", made him see that as a movie maker you could use comedy to touch on heavy subjects without being insulting.

When Vincent was 17 years old, he started doing school plays and this was when the acting virus hit and he started hanging at the local theater. When Vincent told his parents, he wanted to become an actor they were very skeptical at first. Vincent came from a hard working family with a peasant background and says his father had hoped for him to get a 'proper' job (like a job in concrete, bricklaying or an electrician). Not long after his final exams (Vincent was 18 years old), his parents decided to move back to Ireland. Vincent, however, decided to stay in England, because at that time there weren't a lot of options for him in Ireland 'rather than going to church or going to the pub'. 

Vincent listened to his agent and started doing some TV work, in some British crime series and when he watched it later he was not happy with what he saw. Vincent says his early TV work was a lot of overacting, because that is what you learn when doing stage work. He realized that he had to dial himself down and the best place to learn is on set. Among his screen work in the 90s are minor roles in movies and TV shows, like: "Between the Lines" (1992, as Thomas McMurray), "Ruth Rendell Mysteries" (1992, as Dr. Jim Moss), "Boon" (1992, as Robert Cady), "A Touch of Frost" (1992, as PC Shelby), "London's Burning" (1992, as Don)., "Peak Practice" (1994, as Peter Doland), "Call Red" (1996, as Ray Sidley), "Hard Men" (1996, as Tone), "Invasion Earth" (1998, as Flt. Lt. Chris Drake) and "Eureka Street" (1999, as Jack). 

In 2001, Vincent played Percival in the Martin Lawrence movie "Black Knight". Some time later (around 2002/2003), Vincent auditioned for a new Wolfgang Petersen movie called "Troy". He says he was very nervous for the audition, because it was a big movie with a great cast During a callback, he met Petersen in a hotel room and they talked about the Trojan Wars and food, instead of doing the scene. At the end of the meeting Petersen said he was looking forward to working with him. In other words, Vincent landed the role of Eudorus in the 2004 spectacle movie "Troy". Part of the filming took place in Malta and Mexico and it took up quite some time. One of the reasons for delays were the many paparazzi boats that suddenly turned up in the background.

Just after he finished "Troy", Vincent got a call and was asked if he would like to meet Zack Snyder to talk about his new project based on Frank Miller's graphic novel "300". He read the graphic novel and met with Snyder, who asked him play the sidekick of the main character. When Vincent saw what Zack wanted to do with it, he was on board immediately and landed the role of Captain in the movie "300". Soon he found himself in an 8 week boot camp with a lot of training and not that many food. Shooting "300" was also pretty tough, but the result was amazing. In 2010, Vincent played the role of Kepheus in yet another mythological movie called "Clash of the Titans". In the decade that followed, Vincent became a household name in the business and he played in movies and series like: "Mistresses" (2010, as Chris Webb), "The Nativity" (2010, as Herod), "Scott and Bailey" (2011-2012, as DCS Dave Murray), "Snow White and the Huntsman" (2012, as Duke Hammond), "Atlantis" (2014, as Dion), "The Royals" (2015-2018, as King Simon), "Undercover" (2016, as Dominic Carter), "The White Princess" (2017 as Jasper Tudor), "Snatch" (2017-2018, as Chief Superintendent Jones), "Poldark" (2019, as Ned Despard) and "Flesh and Blood" (2020, as Tony).

Danny Chung was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (United States). Although his exact birth date is not widely published, a little math brings us to the early to mid 80s (probably 1983-1984). Danny grew up in an American-Korean household (his parents were Korean immigrants). From a young age, he was exposed to music, because his mother loved music. Like many Asian-American children, Danny started taking music lessons at an early age. He struggled to find an instrument and style that peaked his interest. Growing up in Philadelphia, which is known for its strong Hip Hop roots, it was only a matter of time before he discovered it. Besides this, Danny also loved KPop music. When he was 13 years old, he was even scouted by some KPop labels. He was offered to move to Seoul to become a trainee. Danny later said that his mother wanted him to go for it, but he did not feel Korean enough to take that leap. He was afraid he would not fit in. He did, however love to hear and see Kpop bands perform. During his teenage years, Danny developed a passion for rap music and writing lyrics. During this time, he spent quite some time free styling with friends to improve his rhymes. He also took part in rap battles and listened to American rap artists. Pretty soon he started to fill notebooks with storytelling and wordplay.

While he had a lot of fun, performing as Decipher, it was hard to make a living and it did not bring him the American mainstream success he aimed for. Danny gradually stopped performing and began shifting more towards songwriting and behind the scenes work. He even came to considering an entirely different career path away from the music scene. But then a new opportunity arose, when some of his connections encouraged him to look into working in South Korea. At the time (mid 10's) KPop was growing out to become a global phenomenon and Korean music companies were desperately in need of song writers, who could help writing songs with strong English lyrics and Western influences ... Cue: Danny Chung. He was fluent in English, had a Korean background and was a pretty experienced writer of Hip Hop songs. All in all it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and Danny moved to Seoul (South Korea). He started working with The Black Label, which was run by influential producer Teddy Park. Once Danny joined the songwriting teams in Seoul, he began contributing to songs for acts like BLACKPINK (one of the big KPop artists). He worked on well known songs, like: "Lovesick Girls", "You & Me" and "Ice Cream".