As a lead up to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. has released yet another direct-to-DVD, DC Universe feature — Batman: Gotham Knight. This one takes The Animatrix approach with six loosely connected anime tales that feature characters from the highly anticipated blockbuster sequel to Batman Begins. Ana Ortiz, who most will know as Hilda Suarez on the hit ABC series Ugly Betty, gives voice to Detective Anna Ramirez of Gotham PD’s Major Crimes Unit. Unbeknownst to voice director Andrea Romano, she had originally auditioned for the same role in in the Nolan’s film, but lost out to Monique Curnen; so it was serendipitous that she should still land the part, in voice only.

Q: What were your impressions of your Gotham Knight segments?

AO: I loved them… and I wanted more! This was one of my first real voiceovers and, to do it for Batman, was quite an honor. My husband and all of his cartoony friends were really into it. They all watched my copy of the movie and dug it. I have to admit that it’s fun being in something that my guy friends could get into. So now I’ve got my macho cred, too.

Q: What did you think of the physical appearance of your character?

AO: I was thrilled. I’ve always wanted curly long locks, so that was so cool. And she’s super cute. I loved she wasn’t too stuffy. Sometimes with lady cops, they try to be too much like guys. She was foxy, she had jeans and a cute little blazer. It was fun to see her when we were doing the voices, but it’s really cool to see the film in its final form.

Q: What were your initial impressions of the script and your role in the story?

AO: It was cool for me because my character is a peacemaker. Usually the roles I get are the in-your-face instigator or fighter, but the nuance with her is as a peacemaker — getting her partner to calm down and understand that Batman just might not be a vigilante. It was fun to play that angle, because usually I’m playing the one screaming and fighting. As a person, I would say I’m sort of a peacemaker, but I think I’ve evolved into that role. When I was younger, I was more of a fighter. L.A. has helped me find that side of myself.

Q: The core theme of your segments, especially the “Crossfire” chapter, deal with trust. Do you trust easily?

AO: I think I trust fairly easily… which is odd for a New Yorker. But I think I do trust because I’ve had pretty good experiences. I think I’m also a good judge of character, so that’s a good combination - it’s worked out well for me so far.

Q: With this being your first full-blown animation experience, was there any nervousness in the recording booth?

AO: I just wanted to do a good job, and Andrea had given me such a great vote of confidence. Batman is such an icon and, for me, it was an honor to even be doing it. You want to be great, you want to bring justice to the characters, and bring these characters to life. It’s a whole different style of acting and the artwork is so impressive that I guess it was a little nerve-racking to try and do that, but it was also fun. I was definitely nervous going it alone at first, but when Gary (Dourdan) came in and we started to do some scenes together, that’s when it really, really came alive. It felt like we had a cool thing going in the studio and, watching the film now, I remember certain moments when our energy together was really working well. He walked in and that really turned the switch for me. The relationship those two characters have on screen — we were able to do that in real-time in the booth. He pushed me to meet his energy. So I really enjoyed the support of Andrea and Gary.

Q: What helped you more in preparing: your experience on the stage or your experience in front of the camera?

AO: Stage acting has helped me in every aspect of my life, not just acting. I think it gives you a confidence and helps to always keep you on your toes. My best friend is a member of an improv comedy theatre, and it’s like she always says: “Anything can happen at any moment.” In theatre, you have to always be prepared. There’s nobody there to save you. You have to figure it out for yourself. It’s a good skill for life and, definitely for any other work that I’ve done, it’s been my saving grace.

Q: Would you like to do more voiceover work?

AO: I want to do as much as I possibly can. I love it, love it, love it. Voiceover is so good, you can do crazy voices and all kinds of characters. Being Latino, it’s hard to get cast for anything that isn’t specific. People expect me to be that larger than life character they’ve already seen, and it’s so specific that it’s hard to get other parts. In voiceover, they don’t judge you on your looks or your past roles — I can be a 90-year-old man or a tiger or whatever. It’s very freeing. So I want to do as much voiceover as I can.

Q: Are you a fan of the comic book or superhero genre?

AO: I’ve always been a comic book fan, but I’m a girl — so I liked Archie and Betty and Veronica, Mad, and Cracked. I liked super heroes, but I was more for live action, like Linda Carter as Wonder Woman. Of the Saturday morning cartoons, I liked Super Friends and Animalympics. Otherwise, I wasn’t a huge cartoon girl.

Q: Are you a Batman fan?

AO: I guess being in New York, you always have a certain affinity for anyone who lives in Gotham. But I was raised as a Superman girl, because my dad is a Superman freak. I mean, he didn’t name his kid Kal-El or anything like that, but he is obsessed with Superman and he loves Smallville. When I got the job on Ugly Betty, and they told us were were going to air on Thursdays at 8 pm. I told my parents and my own father started saying ‘What am I going to do? What am I going to do?’ It’s because we were going to air against Smallville. He kept asking ‘What am I going to do? I can’t miss my Smallville?’ I told him, “Dad, you’re going to watch Ugly Betty.” Ultimately, we had to get him a TIVO. But I couldn’t even believe it was a quandary.

For more information:

Batman: Gotham Knight (official site)

Batman: Gotham Knight (behind the scenes)

Wikipedia: Ana Ortiz