Zech was born in Rota, Spain.[5][4] She began acting in a New Braunfels theater in A Bug's Life production and working in local theater. She attended North East School of Arts in San Antonio, Texas, a musical theater school.[6][7] She revealed, in a 2023 interview, that she considered going to law school, but decided to become an actress instead.[6]
She later graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, concentrating in copy editing and design. While there she worked at the student-run television station, TSTV, as a writer, host, and actress.[5][8]
Career
RWBY
In 2013, she began voicing Blake Belladonna in RWBY.[9][10][11] In the 2019 companion book to the series, Zech said that she was still in college when she learn of Monty Oum's pitch to voice Blake Belladonna, saying that Oum gave her the role, although "he hadn't fully fleshed out what he wanted from Blake" and told her, "you and Blake will have to figure each other out."[12]
In August 2014, in an interview with Collider, she talked about fan response to the character, what people could expect in season 2, and voiced her support for the ship of Blake and Yang Xiao Long, known as "Bumbleby".[9] She would later, in a companion book to the series, describe Blake as "very secretive and introverted" at first and Blake's "erstwhile suitors," including ex-boyfriend Adam Taurus, Sun Wukong, and Ilia Amitola, add, "personally, I'm hoping for Yang in the future". She would also describe Ilia's love for Blake as "something a lot of gay kids go through, pining after their straight friend" and describe Sun and Blake as "adorable together, with cute chemistry."[13] The ship with Yang would become canon in the show's ninth season, when both characters kissed on screen.[14]
In October 2018, in an interview with Supanova Expo, Zech stated that she was proud of the show's cast and character development. She also described how Monty Oum chose her for the role and noted that each of the four main actresses, including her, chose hairstyles, clothing, and design, which were used in the final character designs of the four protagonists.[21]
In March 2022, Zech expressed discomfort with being involved in RWBY: Ice Queendom upon being made aware of the 2015 domestic abuse allegations concerning series writer Tow Ubukata, which prompted Ubukata to tweet in response to Zech.[22] Zech later tweeted to confirm that she would be reprising her voice role of Blake Belladonna in the English dub of Ice Queendom, stating that she had internal discussions with the staff and that she would be donating her payment for her work to an undisclosed charity.[23] Her voice role in the English dubbed version of the series was confirmed by later press releases, and articles, which described the project as an anime based on the original RWBY series.[24][25][26]
In October 2022, Zech stated that Rooster Teeth threatened her with recasting Blake if she didn't accept the wage offered to her.[27]
Zech voice acts as Dr. Emily Grey in Red vs. Blue in 2013.[6][31] In 2016, she said that when she voices Dr. Grey, she has "bubbly hands, almost Disney Princess hands".[32]
Zech portrayed a character in an episode of the Lethal Weapon TV series in 2017.[6]
In February 2023, she noted that she had begun writing her first EP, and described it as "incredibly fun".[6] In a March 2023, she stated that she was getting a songwriter certification with online classes and was "pretty excited" about her EP.[14][a] Her official website also stated that in fall 2023, she would be attending the Berklee School of Music to further her study of music[38] and assist with producing her EP "in the near future."[39]
In 2024, GameSpot noted that she was the English dubbed voice of Black Swan in the video game Honkai: Star Rail.[40]
Convention appearances
In June 2022, Zech told LGBT magazine Diva that RWBY had "changed her life" and said that going to its conventions have allowed her to "come out of her shell" and be honest about her experiences with abusive relationships, mental health, and eating disorders.[7]
In May 2018, she and Lindsay Jones cancelled their appearances at FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention after criticism of the convention for its "insensitive response" to accusations of sexual harassment.[50]
In May 2020, Zech appeared at the Anime Frontier convention, which was sponsored by Crunchyroll, at the Fort Worth Convention Center.[51][52] She also appeared at the conference in later years.[5] Zech previously appeared at Wizard World Virtual Experience with RWBY cast members in April 2020,[53] and in the same convention in 2018.[54]
Zech is bisexual.[14][b] In a February 2023 interview with Naluda Magazine, Zech said that she loves playing video games, gardening, and supporting civil rights and animal rights, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ issues, and women's rights. She also described leaving Twitter as a "game changer" for her mental health.[6] In another interview, in March 2023, by her friend Barbara Dunkelman on the "Always Open" YouTube series, Zech said that physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation would be important in any romantic relationship.[14][c] In the same interview, she also said she would "never go back" to Twitter because it is harder for people to "access her" in a "negative way", and told Dunkleman that issues with dating as a bisexual woman is a "universal bisexual problem".[d]
