Barbara Julie Dunkelman ALT URL (born July 2, 1989) is a Canadian actress and internet personality. She is known for her work with the former production company Rooster Teeth, where she served as a Creative Director and was formerly the Director of Social and Community Marketing and a Program Director for RTX. She also provides the voice of Yang Xiao Long in the web series RWBY and Nerris in Camp Camp, and was a partial owner of the FCF Wild Aces Indoor Football Team.
Early life Dunkelman was born on July 2, 1989, in Montreal, Quebec, to a Jewish family, and was raised alongside two brothers. She and her family moved to Ottawa, Ontario, when she was 8 years old. She graduated from Concordia University with a degree in Marketing in June 2011. Dunkelman is a permanent resident of the United States, residing in Austin, Texas.
Career
Dunkelman signed up on the Rooster Teeth website in October 2004. In 2005 she attended and assisted at the premiere Toronto Red vs. Blue fan event, RvBTO. Starting in 2008, she helped organize it as co-host and Rooster Teeth liaison. She was a hostess for WatchMojo.com for several months in 2010.
In September 2011, she co-founded the triple award-winning Internet Box podcast hosted by herself, Michael Jones, Ray Narvaez, Jr., Andrew Blanchard, Mike Kroon, and Dylan "Dylon" Saramago, with Lindsay Jones and Kerry Shawcross being added to the cast later on. In December 2011, she was hired by Rooster Teeth as their first Community Manager, in charge of developing community features and the company's social media. At the time of her hiring she was the most-followed member on the Rooster Teeth community site. Since February 2012, she appears regularly on the award-winning Rooster Teeth Podcast.
In May 2013, alongside fellow employee Jack Pattillo, she was interviewed as part of Microsoft's 2013 E3 Xbox One reveal. Despite her numerous appearances on the podcast and at events, she estimates that "only 25 percent" of her job, which entails marketing and management functions within the company, takes place in the public eye. Also in 2013, she began voicing the character of Yang Xiao Long in the Streamy Award-winning series RWBY, which is her most recognizable acting role. She has also lent her voice to Cosmos in Fairy Tail and ORF in X-Ray and Vav.
In the 2019 companion book to the series, Dunkelman said that at the time she was working as the community manager at Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum introduced her to Yang Xiao Long's character, remarking "I'm working on this show and there's this badass Goldilocks character. Do you want to play her?," with Dunkleman saying yes, even though she had never done any voice acting yet, and was listed at the end of the 'Red' trailer for the character Ruby Rose, even though she hadn't even auditioned for the role at the time. Dunkleman also said that Yang is "fun to play" as she is even-keeled in real-life while Yang can become very hot-headed, called it an honor to play "a character who's such a badass" and said it was nice to live vicariously through Yang, who loves motorcycle-riding.
Beginning in September 2016, Dunkelman began hosting Always Open, a lifestyle and sexual health podcast within Rooster Teeth. The podcast went on an "indefinite hiatus" in June 2020, but returned in March 2023, along with a new YouTube channel entitled "All Good No Worries". Also in September 2016, Dunkelman launched an eponymous clothing line at Rooster Teeth. In September 2019, Dunkelman became a Creative Director at Rooster Teeth.
Dunkelman has amassed a number of live-action acting credits, which include roles in Rooster Teeth Shorts, Immersion, Day 5, and Ten Little Roosters, as well as the horror comedy Blood Fest. She is also one of five partial owners of the FCF Wild Aces Indoor Football Team.
Personal life Dunkelman has been in a relationship with producer Trevor Collins since 2018. On November 23, 2023, the couple announced their engagement on Instagram. They were married on April 26, 2025.
In 2021, she revealed in a video on her YouTube channel that she has a severe case of hyperhidrosis, and that she would be seeking surgery to curtail the effects of her condition.
In a March 2023 interview with her friend Arryn Zech, a fellow voice actor on RWBY, Dunkelman said she is "not fully straight", but is "for the most part...fairly straight". comment at 17:47-17:55
Filmography Films Year Title Role Notes2015 Lazer Team Cheerleader Cameo2017 Lazer Team 2 Reporter #2 2018 Blood Fest Ashley2023 Justice League x RWBY: Super Heroes & HuntsmenYang Xiao LongVoice only; Direct-to-Video2024Red vs. Blue: RestorationSecurity Team #2Voice only; Direct-to-video
Web Series Year Title Role Notes 2011–2014, 2016 Internet Box Herself Podcast 2012–2024 Rooster Teeth Podcast Herself Podcast 2013–present RWBY Yang Xiao Long Voice, motion capture 2014 Fairy Tail Cosmos Voice only iBlade Worker of Secrets / Sharon Ten Little Roosters Barbara 2014–2015 X-Ray and Vav ORF Voice only 2014–present Immersion Barbara / Soldier (Blue Moose) 2014–2020 Red vs. Blue Jensen Voice only; Writer of episode "Head Canon" 2015–2021 Death Battle Yang Xiao Long, Mama Boomstick Voice, episode: "Yang VS Tifa", "Macho Man VS Kool-Aid Man" Fanarchy Herself Documentary The Strangerhood Planner Voice Tom & Bill Additional Voices Voice; one episode, uncredited 2016 Crunch Time Beatrice Day 5 Flip 2016–2019 Camp Camp Nerris Voice only; Season 1-4 2016–2020 Always Open Herself Podcast host 2016-2018; 2021 RWBY Chibi Yang Xiao Long / Herself 2017 The Eleven Little Roosters Agent Moose 2018 Nomad of Nowhere Dolores Voice only 2020–present Zelda Hero High Zee2021–presentTales from the Stinky Dragon Bartholomew 'Bart' Finn (Campaign One), Adelyn Bovant (The Chosen ones), Ellga Von Brath (Campaign Two), Muffin (Maze Rat Pack), Dug Boone (Campaign Three)Podcast2021RWBY: Fairy TalesYang Xiao Long Voice only; one episode2022RWBY: Ice Queendom Voice only; English dub2023Stinky Dragon AdventuresBartholomew 'Bart' Finn, Old Hag, Dragon, Various voicesVoice; lead puppeteer 2024 RWBY VTubingYang Xiao LongVoice only; guestRWBY BeyondVoice only; one Episode
Video Games Year Title Role Notes2014 SmiteYang Xiao LongVoice only2016RWBY: Grimm Eclipse2018 BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Paladins: Champions of the Realm2022RWBY: Arrowfell
References
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