Welcome to episode 218 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!

As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:

http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast

I was inspired by my recent interview with Mara Junot to address a very important topic: the true goal or purpose of acting. If you’ve listened to my interview with Mara, she described her mother having a vision of her speaking to a large crowd of people and affecting them positively with her uplifting message. It was an image that was corroborated by other people in Mara’s life as well, that somehow she would do something powerful with her voice to improve people’s lives. This metaphor became a guiding principle in Mara’s voice acting journey and helped her achieve amazing goals and manifest all kinds of success.

Notice, that the vision wasn’t one of Mara becoming popular, or getting accolades and attention from others. Rather, the focus was always on Mara reaching out to help, uplift or offer a service to others. This notion of being of service as an actor is the subject I’d like to explore in this episode. Too often I get the impression from aspiring voice actors, especially online, that the reason they want to become performers is to receive attention and approval. After all, these days more and more voice actors are compelled to promote their work on social media, which usually results in a slew of likes, comments and positive feedback from their fellow actors and from the public. Many aspiring voice actors will also express how much they’re looking forward to attending conventions as guests, where they will get applauded at panels, and adoring fans will line up to spend time with them, get their autograph, and pose for a selfie, which they can then post online for even more likes! This sort of public affirmation can be very appealing, and I’m seeing more and more people approach voice acting with the specific desire to get some of this attention for themselves.

What is particularly distressing is that this attitude can be exacerbated in the voice acting space, sometimes even more than in other forms of performance like on-camera or theatrical acting. This is due to the mistaken perception that the barriers to entry for voice acting are somehow lower than for on-camera or theatrical acting. It’s almost as if people see voice acting as the shortest path to achieve celebrity with the least amount of effort, and while I’d like to think that over 200 episodes of this podcast are a testament to the fact that voice acting is not necessarily easier than other types of acting, this misconception still persists. So in this episode, I’d like to talk about why the true purpose of being an actor is not to pursue what seems like the easiest path to accolades. The true purpose and noblest goal of an actor is to serve a character, a story, and the audience to the best of your ability. The great irony of this, is that if you succeed in being of great service, then celebrity is almost guaranteed. If audiences find your performances inspiring and meaningful, you won’t have to go out of your way to get their attention and admiration.

However, if you pursue any sort of acting career merely to get attention, not only will you be far less likely to achieve the kind of artistic mastery that will lead to public acclaim, you will be chasing other people’s approval for the rest of your life. That’s not only detrimental to creating great art, it’s also corrosive to your emotional wellbeing. So allow me to explain why being of service is the true purpose of acting.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #218 Here (MP3)