CHARLES COUNTY, Md. -- Javiarn “Jay” Hatton, a 13-year-old Charles County native, was recently announced as the voice actor for Casey on Nickelodeon’s hit animated series
The Casagrandes.
The Casagrandes is a comedic animated television series that is a spinoff of
The Loud House, following the adventures of Ronnie Anne and her family as they live in the fictional Great Lakes City.
Jay’s character, Casey, is a young dark-skinned Cuban-American who is a part of a group of friends with Sameer and Nikki. His character is also friends with Ronnie Anne and Lincoln.
Jay made his debut as the voice of Casey in the episode "Strife Coach/Gossipy Girl", taking over the role from Christian Simon.
Ironically, Jay’s path to stardom as a voiceover actor came as a surprise to his family since he never really expressed interest in performing arts until his older sister started it and sparked his interest.
“His older sister was in it first, and he was just there to support her. Sashi is the owner of Kid Industry Prep, and she heard his voice,” Ariana Hatton, Jay’s mother, told
The Baynet. "She asked him if he wanted to get into the performing arts, and he said that he wants to do voiceovers for cartoons.”
Since then, he was hooked. He officially started his voice acting around the age of 10. Jay’s mom believes that his journey as a voice actor has helped him gain the confidence to put himself out there.
“He never was really around a bunch of people because he was a shy kid,” Hatton said. “His accomplishment is that he is opening up. He’s doing a whole lot of different things and going a lot of different places.”
Additionally, he would attribute some of his success to his parents believing in him and allowing him to explore his wide range of interests.
“Growing up in Charles County we came from the bottom, so I always told myself that I do not want my kids to grow up like I did,” his mother said. “I let them try whatever they wanted to do until they found what they really wanted to do.”
He also gives a lot of credit to his manager for training him to use all the different techniques for voice acting, so he could be prepared when the opportunity came. However, after venturing into TV, Jay hopes to do some voiceover acting for animated video games.
In addition to voicing Casey in The Casagrandes, Jay's voice can be heard as Max in Netflix's Mighty Express, and he'll also be playing Marquis Taylor in the upcoming Responders.
