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Michaela Jill Murphy

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Michaela Jill Murphy
Murphy in 2024
Born (1994-08-18) August 18, 1994 (age 30)
Southern Indiana, U.S.
Other namesJessie Flower
Alma materYale University (BA)
Occupation
  • Voice actress
Years active2003–present
Websitewww.michaelajillmurphy.com

Michaela Jill Murphy (born August 18, 1994), also known by her stage name Jessie Flower, is an American voice actress. She is best known for voicing Toph Beifong in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Chaca in Kronk's New Groove and The Emperor's New School.

Early life

Murphy was born in Southern Indiana and is of Irish descent.[1][2] She became interested in acting at the age of four, and her mother, Evette, moved them to Los Angeles to begin her career,[2] where she appeared in commercials for Barbie and Mitsubishi. She starred as an orphan in Oliver! when she was five.[3]

Career

Murphy at Anime North in 2009

At the age of 7, Murphy began auditioning for voice over roles and parts, in which she provides automated dialogue replacement (ADR) and additional voices. Her first voice role was in the Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, where she played one of the school fishes and baby turtles.[4] Murphy played the role of Chaca in Kronk's New Groove,[5] and reprised the role in the spin-off series The Emperor's New School. She later called it the "most fun" voice acting she has ever done.[3]

In 2005, Murphy voiced Meng in an episode of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.[6] Her performance convinced creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino to cast her as main cast member Toph Beifong because of the "energy" she brought to the role. Murphy later told The Tab that she continued voicing Toph until her first year in high school and called the role her favorite voice acting experience[3] and said she felt "pretty connected" to Toph's character,[4] although she was only eleven years old when she was cast.[7] She would also describe the second-season episode "The Library" as one of her favorite episodes in the series.[8]

Murphy later admitted that she is rarely recognized in public, even when cosplaying as Toph at San Diego Comic-Con without any recognizing her as the voice actor of Toph.[4] She later appeared as a guest on the official companion podcast for the series, Avatar: Braving the Elements, hosted by Dante Basco and Janet Varney, where she would talk about Toph and what the character "meant to her," with Basco describing Murphy as a "dear friend" and praising Toph's character.[9][10] In a 2023, Murphy said that while she would "love to come back and do stuff" for the franchise, she supported the vision of the show's creators, including possible recasting.[11][12]

She would voice other characters in animated films and series after Avatar: The Last Airbender. This included the character Peggy in Random! Cartoons (2008-2009), young Franny in the film Meet the Robinsons (2007), and other characters in the film Curious George (2006),[6] along with Chaca in The Emperor's New School (2006) and The Emperor's New Groove 2: Kronk's New Groove (2005).[13]

In 2014, Murphy guest-starred in The Legend of Korra as Toph's daughter Suyin Beifong.[6][5] It was later described as helping lay the groundwork of Suyin's "personality while also paying tribute to her original role."[14]

Murphy became an assistant theater manager at Yale University in fall 2014, but did not perform until the next year, joining the university's theater scene, working on a production of Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play and performing in the musical Hello Again, among other productions.[3][15] She graduated from Yale University in 2017, where she majored in a dual B.A. in Theater and Film Studies with concentrations in Playwrighting and Screenwriting.[16][17] Before that, she voiced the English dubbed voice of Eiko Carol in the World of Final Fantasy video game.[6]

In 2021, Murphy provided the voice of Nasse in the English dub of Platinum End.[18][19] The next year, she provided the voice of a minor character in the English dubbed version of Super Cub.[6]

Personal life

Murphy resides in Los Angeles. Murphy is openly bisexual.[citation needed] In June 2021, she celebrated Pride Month in an Instagram post, writing, "Pride is forever...Be kind to those around you, love is love is love!...There have been many who don’t swing my way, on multiple gender fronts, and that’s okay!"[20] She broke up with her boyfriend before she began attending Yale University in 2014, and dyed her hair purple.[3]

In September 2020, Murphy founded Bandit Basics, an e-commerce platform that sells merchandise inspired by Toph Beifong and the Avatar: The Last Airbender universe.[21]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Finding Nemo Additional voices Credited as Jessie Flower
2004 Spider-Man 2 ADR cast Uncredited
2005 Kronk's New Groove Chaca Credited as Jessie Flower
2006 Curious George Kid #4[6]
Akeelah and the Bee ADR cast
Over the Hedge Additional voices
The Ant Bully Uncredited
Brother Bear 2 Young Nita, additional voices Credited as Jessie Flower
Night at the Museum ADR cast
2007 Meet the Robinsons Young Franny[6]
2008 An American Affair Additional voices
2011 Justin Bieber: Never Say Never ADR cast Uncredited
That's What I Am Additional voices Credited as Jessie Flower

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2005–2008 Avatar: The Last Airbender Meng, Toph Beifong Credited as Jessie Flower[6]
2006 The X's Girl, Ghost 2 episodes; credited as Jessie Flower
2006–2008 The Emperor's New School Chaca Credited as Jessie Flower
2008 Random! Cartoons Peggy Episode: "Tiffany"

Credited as Jessie Flower[6]

2014 The Legend of Korra Young Suyin Beifong Episode: "Old Wounds"

Credited as Jessie Flower[6]

2021 Super Cub Clerk English dub

Episode: "Reiko"[6]

Platinum End Nasse English dub

Credited as Michaela Murphy

2022 Camp WWE Bianca Belair Episode: "Sicked Slaughter"

Shorts

Year Title Role Notes
2009 ATLA: Deformed Super Shorts Toph Beifong Credited as Jessie Flower[6]
2015 Recording Cassidy Credited as Michaela Murphy
2016 The Profit Diane Credited as Jessie Flower
Happy Endings Lily
2018 The Flickering Forest Forest Sprite Credited as Michaela Murphy
2021 Stalgia Kate Also director
The Letter Ellie

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Burning Earth Toph Beifong[6] Credited as Jessie Flower
2008 Avatar: The Last Airbender – Into the Inferno
2011 Nicktoons MLB
2016 World of Final Fantasy Eiko Carol[6] English dub, uncredited
2024 Goddess of Victory: Nikke Mirror, Red Shoes[22] English dub, uncredited

References

  1. ^ Glover, Dominic. "Michaela Jill Murphy". Dominic Glover. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2023. Michaela was born on August 18, 1994 in southern Indiana. At the age of four she moved to Los Angeles and began her acting career appearing in advertisements for Barbie and Mitsubishi.
  2. ^ a b Janet Varney; Dante Basco (April 11, 2023). "Michaela Jill Murphy on Playing Toph Beifong". Avatar: Braving the Elements (Podcast). Omny Studio. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2023. Yeah, so I am from the Midwest. Anybody from Indiana, Hello, Hello. So my whole family is out there and very much like eight or nine generations of Irish people...I'm four years old, and she kept trying to go out to LA
  3. ^ a b c d e Murphy, Michaela Jill (October 6, 2015). "Junior actress Michaela Murphy was a star in Avatar: The Last Airbender". The Tab (Interview). Online: Tab Media, Ltd. Archived from the original on July 11, 2021. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Murphy, Michaela Jill (March 30, 2021). "Junior actress Michaela Murphy was a star in Avatar: The Last Airbender". The Daily Illini (Interview). Interviewed by Aliza Majid. Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Archived from the original on June 30, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Fuentes, Terry (May 21, 2020). "Meet the Cast and Characters of "Avatar: The Last Airbender"". Seventeen. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Michaela Murphy (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 27, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  7. ^ Khan, Aina J. (September 1, 2020). "'I've seen grown men cry' – why Avatar: The Last Airbender still touches millions". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Murphy, Michaela Jill (November 2022). "Kicking Rocks with Toph! Avatar Voice Actress Michaela Jill Murphy aka Jessie Flower Interview with Jazzy Mag!". Jazzy Magazine (Interview). Interviewed by Sloan Varunok. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Varney, Janet; Basco, Dante (May 9, 2022). "INTERVIEW: Janet Varney teases "fresh new energy" for second season of AVATAR: BRAVING THE ELEMENTS podcast". Comics Beat (Interview). Interviewed by Taimur Dur. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  10. ^ Basco, Dante (August 9, 2022). "INTERVIEW: Dante Basco travels to the Earth Kingdom for new season of AVATAR: BRAVING THE ELEMENTS podcast". Comics Beat (Interview). Interviewed by Taimur Dur. Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
  11. ^ Peters, Megan (May 29, 2023). "Avatar: The Last Airbender Isn't Bringing Back the Original Cast for Its Movie". ComicBook.comk. Archived from the original on May 30, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  12. ^ "New 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' Film Will Be Re-Cast, Says Voice of Toph". Animation Magazine. May 30, 2023. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  13. ^ "Jessie Flower / Michaela Murphy". Lionsbane Booking. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  14. ^ Edwards, Belen (December 11, 2020). "Every Avatar Actor Who Returned In Legend Of Korra (And Who They Played)". Screenrant. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  15. ^ "Michaela Murphy". Yale College Arts. Yale University. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  16. ^ "Michaela Murphy". Backstage.com. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  17. ^ "Michaela Jill Murphy". The Ozymandias Project. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  18. ^ Mateo, Alex (October 28, 2021). "Crunchyroll Announces Dubs, Casts for Platinum End, ODDTAXI, Don't Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, Sakugan, More Anime". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Michaela Jill Murphy (aka Jessie Flower) is our new Special Guest!". Heroes Made in Asia. February 7, 2024. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  20. ^ Michaela Jill Murphy (June 29, 2021). "I was indeed the DD, shook hands with Lance Bass, and danced my tush off. Pride is forever (along with this fur coat) ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜. Happy June and happy love and happy happy! Be kind to those around you, love is love is love!..." Instagram. Archived from the original on February 21, 2024. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  21. ^ Michaela Jill Murphy (September 28, 2020). "Bandit Basics is live!!! Grab the first piece of our first bundle now!! This is a LIMITED EDITION shirt, as the wholesale provider is no longer making this style! Excited for what happens next 💚🌳🌱". Instagram. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  22. ^ Black, Bill [@The_Bill_Black] (November 13, 2024). "Mirror was voiced by Michaela Jill Murphy who also voices Red Shoes" (Tweet). Retrieved November 15, 2024 – via Twitter.
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