MANILA -- Like his character in the hit game Genshin Impact, Filipino-American voice actor Christian Banas is an all-rounder.

• How 'Titas of Inazuma' Anne Yatco, Ratana prepared for Genshin Impact

From voicing non-playable characters, he eventually landed the role of shield and spear-wielding pyro character Thoma, Inazuma’s “favorite fixer” and the housekeeper of the Yashiro Commission.

Speaking to his Filipino fans at one of the panels for CONQuest 2022 at the SMX Convention Center, Banas said he landed an audition for Genshin Impact right after he secured a job for a gaming studio.

“As it goes, the session was on my birthday, September 27. And then that’s how I did it. That was when I voiced Ben and a bunch of NPCs (non-playable characters) in the Lantern Rite festival,” Banas said of the game's limited-time event.

After the audition, he became close with voice director Chris Faiella, and Gorou’s voice actor, Cory Yee, and even played the game with them. At the time, Faiella urged him to audition for a five star character which he later on revealed to be the wandering samurai, Kazuha, with Michael Whitten eventually landing the role.

He later landed the audition for Thoma, and bared the process behind voicing the character, which he described as “youthful.”

“We were recording it live and Thoma originally said, ‘with the power of housekeeping' and Chris was so confused. Like, he just threw his spear at guy, why would he say, ‘The power of housekeeping,'” Banas said.

“Hoyoverse, the client said, ‘no, no, no’ you don’t understand. It’s supposed to be endearing. And then I said, ‘Chris, Chris let me handle this. I’ll talk to the client.’ And he [client] goes, ‘can you say this?' …I'm like, ‘Absolutely.' So with the power of housekeeping we could totally make this happen’ and he was like “perfect.”

As a voice actor, Banas landed various roles in Pokémon, Cookie Run, and Rainbow High, among others. As he copped roles, Banas, who is based in the US, wished to advance Asian-American representation in voice acting.

“If you’re familiar with how voice acting works in America, not as much Asian-American representation. And this is around the time we were looking for more representation,” Banas said. “That was an edge I have.”

For the well-rounded Banas, who led the panel about a crash course on voice acting in the weekend-long festival, success doesn’t come overnight.

“There’s no such thing as ‘how do [you like] my demo reel? Please cast me!’ Doesn’t happen, not at all. You think for overnight successes? I wish. It takes so long so it has to be worth it for you,” Banas said.