Welcome to episode 190 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

Welcome to the first part of my interview with the extraordinary Courtenay Taylor! Courtenay has a signature sound to her voice that she’s been using to great effect in both commercials and character work since the early 2000’s! You may have heard her performances in games where she’s played Juhani in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Ada Wong in numerous Resident Evil titles, the Female Player Character in Fallout Legacy, and Jack in the Mass Effect series of games. In animation she’s famous for playing Starla in The Regular Show and K.O. in OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes. In addition to her voice acting work, she’s also helps run NerdsVote, a non-partisan organization that encourages nerds of any fandom to register to vote and participate in American democracy! You can find out more information about it at NerdsVote.com.

In this episode, we begin our conversation by discussing how Courtenay got started as a voice actor. Her acting background is a little unconventional. She initially got involved in theater in high school as a makeup artist. She was a fan of the punk band, Siouxsie and the Banshees and would often do her own makeup in the style of the lead singer. A theater teacher at her high school admired her look and asked if she would help do the makeup for a show that he was directing. She agreed. Working on the production made her curious about acting, so she tried an acting class in High School, but she did not find it rewarding.

In college, she decided to try again and enrolled in another acting class, thinking that it would be an easy way for her to get a good grade. She was surprised at how hard the class turned out to be and at how demanding her teacher was. Fortunately, Courtenay tends to excel when she is challenged, or when people think she won’t be able to achieve something. That sort of criticism motivates her to prove the naysayers wrong, so she redoubled her efforts to improve her acting abilities. She was certainly put to the test when she later auditioned for a graduate level acting program. She was told by the man auditioning her that she would never work because her voice sounded too damaged and that the audience in a large theater would never be able to hear her clearly.

When she told her acting teacher about this negative feedback, the teacher suggested that she try taking a voice over class. As soon as Courtenay got behind the microphone, she felt like she was home. Voice over allowed her to explore her emotional life without needing to project her voice to the back of a large theater. She also didn’t have to memorize her lines, a skill she had always struggled with when working on stage.

Once she realized that voice over was her niche, Courtenay had a clear focus to her career. She eventually moved to Los Angeles, where she faced many other challenges while breaking into the business. But I’ll let her tell you that story in her own words!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #190 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 175 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

Welcome to the second part of my 10th anniversary feature! As I mentioned in the last episode, the Voice Acting Mastery podcast is now officially 10 years old! I released my first podcast episode in July of 2011 and I wanted to take these two episodes to celebrate that important milestone. I’ve always tried my best in this podcast to share the most practical and useful information I could on what it takes to succeed as a professional voice actor and I hope the content I’ve provided in this podcast has in some way helped each and every one of my listeners.

For these episodes, I asked my listeners to either call in or e-mail me a voice message letting me know how the Voice Acting Mastery podcast may have influenced their own acting journey or any other part of their lives! I received a flood of messages and I’m grateful for each and every one of them. I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate the occasion if I shared some of the messages I received and responded to them here on the podcast.

In the previous episode, I shared 3 messages from listeners who talked about how the podcast helped their mindset when it came to approaching voice acting. It allowed me to expand on their ideas and share some important mindset goals including how to approach auditions without stressing about them afterwards, the importance of doing your best to express a character rather than impress a casting director, and why there is no such thing as a “right” way to perform a character.

In this episode, I’m going to be sharing 3 calls that focus more on the practical approach one can take to pursue a professional voice acting career. I think it will be a good compliment to the previous episode.

I’d like to start with a message I received from Riley, a young voice actress from Louisville, Kentucky.

When Riley was in the 7th grade, she watched a Netflix documentary about the voice over industry. It so inspired her that she became obsessed with researching what it would take to become a voice actor. One very wise thing she did was to surround herself with other actors and creative artists by attending a local performing arts high school and then continuing her artistic education in college.

I emphasize how valuable it can be to participate with a community of creative artists, even if the only way you can collaborate with them is online! I’ve learned just as much, if not more from my fellow actors as I have from my acting teachers!

Our second call is from Paul in Los Angeles.

Paul feels like the podcast was the friend in the industry that he always wanted, but never had in real life. Paul shares some of his professional acting journey with us and it’s clear that he’s been able to combine both professionally competitive acting skills with an entrepreneurial business spirit. I congratulate him on his ability to manage those two sides of his career and say how much I wish I had had teachers that helped me learn more about the business side of an acting career. I emphasize how much I try to share my business acumen in the podcast and how heartening it is to hear that Paul has found my podcast so helpful in his journey!

Our last call in this episode is from Afaz in Greece!

Afaz wants to thank me for both the detail I pursue in my interviews with industry guests, as well as my commitment to making sure I explain any confusing or esoteric terminology. I thank her for her compliment. It’s always been a high priority of mine to make sure my podcast remains accessible to anyone who is curious about voice acting, regardless of whether they are already familiar with acting jargon. Often teachers will suffer from something called “the curse of expertise” where they will forget what it was like when they were a novice in the industry. I’m glad that Afaz appreciates all the work I have put in to making sure none of my audience is left behind.

There’s a piece of advice that I’ve heard articulated by many different teachers including the famous physicist Richard Feynman that goes like this, “If you want to master something, teach it.” I can testify to the fact that teaching others has improved my own artistry tremendously and I advise my listeners to teach what they know to others if they truly want to achieve Voice Acting Mastery.

I’m grateful to all of my listeners who have diligently listened to this podcast over the last 10 wonderful years, and I look forward to the topics we’ll explore together in the future. Thanks again to those of you who called in and left such wonderful messages. I truly appreciate them all. Until next time, I wish you all the best in your voice acting endeavors. Take care!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #175 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 171 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

Welcome to second and final part of my interview with the fabulously energetic Darin De Paul! You may be familiar with his voice acting work in World of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy 15, Apex Legends, and Overwatch. Darin’s enthusiasm for his characters comes through in all the work he does and even spills over into conventions where he often will host panels and events for the fans!

In the previous episode, Darin told us about his extensive theater career and how it eventually led him to become a voice actor. He spent many years training and working as a theater actor both in Florida and in New York City, but he had always had an interest in voice over work. When the opportunity to get involved in voice acting came about later in his career, he eagerly pursued every voice over opportunity he could while working as a theater actor on the east coast. Eventually, he and his wife Debra who is also an actress, decided to take a risk and move to Los Angeles to see if they could be successful in a larger voice acting marketplace. Within months, Darin had impressed industry leading voice directors with his vocal range and acting skills. They were eager to work with him and news of his abilities soon spread! It didn’t take long before he was working regularly in AAA video games and animation.

As we continue our discussion, Darin tells me what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. He gives me a two word answer: Peter Sellers. At a very young age, Darin was smitten with the transformative acting abilities of Peter Sellers who is probably most famous for his portrayal of the character Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther series of comedy films. Sellers also worked on many other seminal movies including Dr. Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick’s Lolita and Being There. Sellers was notorious for his ability to play many different types of characters, sometimes in the same film! His mercurial skills fascinated Darin who wanted to approach acting with a similar sensibility. Ironically, Darin’s father, who ran an upscale clothing store for men that catered to some on-camera celebrities, once proclaimed that no son of his would become an actor! However, once his young son showed a genuine interest and commitment to acting, he changed his tune and was very supportive of Darin’s desire to become a performer.

After this, Darin and I talk extensively about the different kinds of theater and acting that he was exposed to. It’s fascinating to hear about all the talented performers and inspiring theatrical productions that he saw. Darin and I share a love of the theater and of the special magic that can happen on stage between actors and a live audience. Performing in the theater requires a level of imagination and spontaneity that is incredibly valuable in the world of voice acting! But Darin took this one step further! He actually trained in European Clown technique with David Shiner! This is the kind of clowning you might see in the world famous Cirque du Soleil, where actors adopt a persona, get themselves into some sort of predicament on stage, and then have to improvise their way out of the problem. I found my own European clown training to be some of the most challenging and rewarding acting instruction I ever received and Darin feels the same!

After we discuss our experiences studying European clowning, I then expound on my theory that one of the reasons the performances of the voice actors in the game Overwatch are so compelling is because each of them are in some way embodying their essential internal clowns. This brings an emotional authenticity to their acting that is deeply satisfying to the audience. Afterwards, Darin and I wrap up our discussion with Darin’s advice to the aspiring voice actor. We go very deep into the nuance and joy of performing in front of a live audience and I’m eager for you to absorb all you can from Darin’s amazing journey as an actor!

As I mentioned in the previous episode, I also want to thank Debra Cardona, Darin’s wife, for acting as recording engineer for Darin as we did this interview. I’m so grateful for her assistance!

Also, it turns out that the 10th anniversary of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast is rapidly approaching! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true! I released my first episode way back on July 1st, 2011, and I sincerely hope this podcast has been helpful to you. It has always been my goal to provide the most concise and useful content when it comes to this topic that we all love.

In honor of the podcast’s 10th anniversary, I would so appreciate it if any of my listeners would be willing to call in and leave a message about how Voice Acting Mastery has influenced your own acting journey or any other part of your life. I’d like to feature some of these messages and respond to them in the 10th anniversary episode in July.

You can leave a voicemail by calling 323-696-2655. Please remember to state your first name and what city in the world you’re calling from before leaving your message. Thanks again for listening and as always, I wish you all the best in your voice acting endeavors. Take care!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #171 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 167 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

This is the second and final part of my interview with the epic voice guy himself, Jon Bailey! While Jon has worked in a number of different fields in voice over, including commercials, trailers, games, and animation, he’s probably most famous for doing the voiceover for the hit YouTube series, Honest Trailers. Jon is also a huge Transformers fan and has had the opportunity to play Optimus Prime in Transformers: Combiner Wars, as well as both Shockwave and Soundwave in the Transformers movie, Bumblebee. In addition, Jon voice matches celebrities for trailers and movies including Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth, and many other performers!

In the first part of our talk together, Jon shared with me his unique path for breaking into the world of voice over. Even though he grew up in Memphis, Tennessee where there were few opportunities for voice over work, his fascination with the expressive capabilities of the human voice, his willingness to attack challenges head on, and some encouragement from his wife, helped him get the attention of a studio in his area that was holding open auditions. His passion for voice acting and his prodigious abilities helped him book voice over roles much quicker than other performers at the same studio. With an entrepreneurial mindset and a willingness to think outside the box, Jon was then able to expand into other voice over marketplaces including Los Angeles where he eventually relocated with his family.

In this episode, we talk about what inspired Jon to become a voice actor in the first place. What’s interesting is that Jon doesn’t think about his desire to act in terms of formal inspiration, for him playing pretend as imaginary characters was just fun. When he was young, he often had a lot of time to himself. Being alone so much, he had to find creative ways to entertain himself. He read books, played games, and listened to music, all of which helped inspire his creativity. Often while he was reading books or listening to music, he would visualize the stories or make up images in his mind to go with the melodies he heard. This creative visualization would end up serving him very well when it came time to play pretend in imaginary worlds as a voice actor.

Jon also fell in love with the voice over introduction to the classic 1980’s cartoon, Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Later he discovered that the voice actor who performed the show’s opening narration, Peter Cullen, also played the main hero character Optimus Prime in the Transformers animated series. From then on, Jon was hooked on following voice actors and studying their performances. His ability to combine his appreciation of voice actors with his fertile imagination and creativity became a great foundation on which to build his voice acting career. In our discussion, you can hear his enthusiasm for the vast expressive capabilities of the human voice. I hope his passion inspires you to focus on the aspects of voice acting that you find most fascinating.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #167 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 166 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

Welcome to the first part of my interview with the epic voice guy himself, Jon Bailey! Since 2009, Jon has worked in a number of different fields in voice over, from commercials to trailers, from games to animation, as well as loop groups and celebrity voice matching. Jon’s resume is long and varied! You may be familiar with his work as the Council Spokesman in the XCOM game series franchise, as Optimus Prime in Transformers: Combiner Wars, and as both Shockwave and Soundwave in the Transformers movie, Bumblebee. What you may not be familiar with is the fact that Jon voice matches many celebrities when producers need either scratch tracks or replacement dialogue for trailers or even for the final movie! He’s voice matched Ryan Reynolds, Chris Hemsworth, and many other performers! In addition, Jon is famous for being the epic trailer voice guy in the hit YouTube series, Honest Trailers.

Jon and I begin our discussion by talking about how he broke into voice over. It turns out that this involved quite a bit of serendipity! Jon was born and raised in the Memphis, Tennessee area. Even though he enjoyed experimenting with his voice and mimicking other voice actors, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for professional acting work around Memphis. With the rise of social media websites, Jon’s wife became interested in building him a profile on the then highly popular website, MySpace. She put all of his favorite things on his MySpace profile including his appreciation for cartoons. Jon didn’t think much of it at the time since he didn’t find social media websites very interesting. Little did he know his MySpace profile would change his life! One day, a pop-up ad for a production house called Studio Center showed up on Jon’s screen. The studio was having open auditions for voice talent in the Memphis area. Initially, Jon thought it would probably be a waste of time to go in and audition. Fortunately his wife convinced him otherwise. She asked him what he had to lose if he did go audition for the studio. “After all,” she said, “the worst they can do is say no.” Jon took her advice to heart, went to the open call, and the studio offered to represent him as a voice talent almost immediately. In less than a month, he had booked his first job and was beginning his journey into the world of professional voice over.

I’m really excited to share Jon’s story with you because his path into voice acting was so unique. He didn’t have the advantage of living near a city that had a large voice over industry. There was no easy access to professional acting jobs in his area. In addition, he never had the opportunity to study acting in school. Instead, his fascination, enthusiasm, and tenacity helped him find his own unique way into the voice over world. Jon has a passion for the human voice and is driven to explore all of its expressive capabilities. He’s eager to learn and willing to tackle thorny problems. Whether he’s facing the challenge of how to create a certain type of voice over performance, or how to find voice over opportunities, Jon is relentless! I hope you find inspiration in his journey and his ambition!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #166 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 163 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

This is the second and final part of my interview with voice actor and video game advocate, Sarah Elmaleh! Sarah has worked on many AAA and independent video games including Gone Home, Gears 5, BioWare’s Anthem, Pyre, After Party, and For Honor. In addition to her voice acting work, Sarah also works hard to facilitate communication and collaboration between the people who perform in video games and the ones who develop them, including co-founding and co-hosting GameDev.world, a global game developer conference that strives to help game designers from different linguistic backgrounds communicate with each other in their native tongues. In addition, Sarah and I have both participated in the Interactive Committee at our Actor’s Union, SAG-AFTRA, which helps negotiate video game contracts between the union and game producers. Sarah has been instrumental in helping to create a low-budget video game contract for independent game developers who would like to work with union acting talent. I’m very grateful to Sarah for spending so much time with me on the podcast talking about her experiences in the industry, and her love of games!

In the previous episode, Sarah told us the story of her initial journey as a performer. She began dancing when she was very young, but transitioned to acting after she suffered a leg injury. During that time, she was also an enthusiastic gamer and a huge Star Wars fan. When she discovered that Mark Hamill, the same actor who played Luke Skywalker, also played the voice of Adrian Ripburger in the LucasArts game, Full Throttle, she was amazed. From that moment, she became fascinated with voice acting and began to consider that career path as a possibility. After exploring acting in theater, film and TV, she eventually decided that her true passion was for games and eventually moved out to Los Angeles to pursue voice acting full time.

In this episode, Sarah and I talk about what inspired her to become an actor. Sarah is honest and courageous enough to share with me some of her own personal struggles and how she’s learned to channel her emotional vulnerability into compelling acting performances. Like Sarah, I too was a very sensitive child who found that I could use acting as a way to explore my psyche and learn how to more effectively process my own emotions. It’s a delicate topic and I’m glad we could explore it in more depth here in this section of the interview. After that, Sarah talks about her work as an ambassador of sorts between game developers and game performers, and we end our discussion with Sarah’s advice to the aspiring voice actor. Sarah has an amazing way to speak directly to a topic with incredible thoughtfulness and rigor and I’m so happy to share her insights with you!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #163 Here (MP3)