Pass the Peppers Artist Bios

Ross Wiley is an illustrator based in Japan. He studied illustration at the University of Connecticut and has worked as a freelance illustrator ever since. He likes to create images that are simple and colorful while remaining scientifically and culturally accurate, so people can be entertained and educated by them. Some of his favorite artists are Peter Spier and Peter de Sève.

One of Ross’s favorite family traditions is gardening, which involves growing kumquats, cucumbers, and clementines and making foods such as marmalade and dill pickles. He also enjoys birdwatching, since finding birds is like collecting Pokémon in the real world.

He likes learning about dinosaurs (his favorite is the feathery Deinonychus) and outer space. He is excited for humans to explore Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons.

Leah enjoyed using her creativity to bring her character to life for this project. She brings a little humor to everything she does. This is why Iron Man is her favorite superhero, with his sarcastic banter.

Leah enjoys music in a variety of forms. She can read sheet music and is currently learning to play guitar. In the future she’d like to continue studying and eventually pick up the bass and cello. Her favorite family tradition is singing karaoke!

The velociraptor is Leah’s favorite dinosaur because she cheers for the Toronto Raptors basketball team. She loves to take walks by the lake and thinks that Earth is the most beautiful planet.

Leslie is an artist and activist who sings and writes about social justice causes. Her younger self would be happy to find out that her dream of becoming a singer has come true. Her primary language is Spanish, but she can also speak English, French, and Portuguese.

Her favorite superhero is Ziggy Stardust, because there is no one like him. In her dream house, she would have a whole room for David Bowie scrapbooks.

On a typical weekend, Leslie can be found boxing, cooking, and gardening if the weather permits. Once a year, she loves to celebrate the traditions of Día de Muertos with her family.

Jerrod Betsey is a voiceover artist who loves both his work and his family. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this project for him was the opportunity to fully immerse himself in the character of Andre. As a father himself, stepping into this role came naturally to Jerrod. His voice talents also include a Scooby-Doo impression and a classic Woody the Woodpecker laugh.

Jerrod is an avid gamer and hopes that his voiceover career someday gives him the opportunity to try motion capture recording for a video game. He has an assortment of gaming systems as well as a PC. His hobbies also include bowling, watching football, and spending quality time with his son and daughter.

When it comes to superheroes, Jerrod has Iron Man at the top of a long list of favorites. As a businessman, Jerrod admires Iron Man and considers his intellect and creativity to be his biggest “superpowers.” Iron Man’s story features a character working hard to become extraordinary, rather than being born with supernatural abilities. For Jerrod, this humanity makes Iron Man more relatable and inspiring.

Juan Carlos stepped into the role of a dad for this project. He speaks Spanish and English, and enjoys playing different parts with his voice.

Juan Carlos says that his favorite superhero is Jesus because He has the power to really love everyone, and true love can change the world. Juan Carlos’s family has a tradition of gathering together for a barbecue breakfast.

Juan Carlos would like to be a pilot and fly an airplane someday. He is a great dancer, and he loves to fall asleep listening to the radio.

Diana has more than twenty years of experience as an actress and voiceover talent in advertising and dubbing, as well as roles in movies, TV, and theater. The best part of her job is doing voices and characters. Her mother language is Spanish, and she also speaks English.

Diana also uses her writing skills to translate, adapt and trans-create scripts from English to Spanish. Someday she would love to be able to publish one of her books.

Her favorite dinosaur is the Pterosaur, and she loves to imagine what it would be like to fly on one. She says that she’s still waiting for a superhero to fly into her life.

Monica is a voice actor who speaks Latin American Spanish, as well as some English. For this project, she had to impersonate a grandma, which was a unique experience.

Monica likes to travel. She also enjoys rock music and goes to concerts to see live performances. She has a special talent for dancing to disco music though.

Monica also likes to be up in the air. Her favorite superhero is Superman because of his ability to fly. She would like to try parachuting someday. And if she could build her dream home, it would have a treehouse to keep her off the ground.