VAM 202 | Interview with Crispin Freeman, Part 3
Welcome to episode 202 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 part 3 of an interview of me, hosted by my good friend and fellow voice actor, Julie Nathanson! As I mentioned in episode 200, Julie had offered years ago to turn the tables on me and interview me on my own podcast! I thought it was a great idea and I’m so grateful that she agreed to take over as interviewer for this 4 episode series!
In the previous episode, Julie asked me to tell the story of how I got started as a voice actor. While I’ve recounted this story in earlier episodes of the podcast, this time around, Julie wanted to talk more in depth about how my emotional responses to my personal experiences shaped my acting journey. This included how my childhood experiences in Soviet occupied Czechoslovakia helped me relate to the Romanian director of my graduate acting school. Julie and I also talked about how influential J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy literature had been on my psyche and the lessons I took from the values he expressed in his stories about Middle Earth.
In this segment, Julie asks me to describe the next steps that I took to further my voice acting career, and I discuss how I got started working on anime dubs in New York city in the late 1990s. Julie asks about my demos, when I made them, and how they helped me make progress towards my voice acting goals. She then asks me to share my opinions about AI and whether I think artificial intelligence and machine learning can create meaningful storytelling. After that, she continues with more questions from my voice acting colleagues, including one from Steve Blum about whether or not my analytical skills, which have helped me develop a deep knowledge of storytelling, ever get in the way of my spontaneity as an actor. In order to respond to that question, I end up articulating my personal acting process with a level of specificity and nuance that I don’t think I’ve ever done before. Julie has to reframe my explanation twice just to make sure that both she and my audience can understand my thought process as clearly as possible.
Julie is very good at asking me questions that I had not considered in the past, which gives me the opportunity to figure out my responses to these conundrums in real time. I find it very satisfying to tease out my opinions on these topics with her as my sounding board, and I think my listeners will both enjoy and benefit from gaining a deeper understanding of how I approach both acting and storytelling.
VAM 201 | Interview with Crispin Freeman, Part 2
Welcome to episode 201 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 part 2 of an interview of me, hosted by my good friend and fellow voice actor, Julie Nathanson! As I mentioned in the last episode, Julie had offered years ago to turn the tables on me and interview me on my own podcast! I thought it was a great idea and I’m so grateful that she agreed to take over as interviewer for this 4 episode series!
In the previous episode, Julie and I began by discussing my early childhood and how my inherent perfectionism, combined with my parents’ expectation that I excel in school, contributed to my tendency to approach any challenge with an overwhelming desire to get everything right and to make no mistakes. We also spoke about the time when a mentor of mine told me to repress my feelings and to never cry because he was convinced that that’s what it meant to be a man. I adopted his advice and never cried once between the ages of 11 and 16. In the midst of my stoic perfectionism, I was fortunate enough to also have a high school advisor who instead showed me when it was appropriate to break the rules and hack the system from time to time, especially if you were doing it for noble purposes. His insights gave me a psychological “get out jail free” card that really helped me to break out of the stifling “right and wrong” paradigm that I had been in throughout most of my childhood. Then, after a transformative experience at the Cherubs theater training program where I finally allowed myself to cry again, I realized two important things. First: that acting is not about being right or wrong, but instead acting is about whether your performance is more or less believable. And second: that acting is more akin to a mystical experience where you allow the aspects of your psyche that line up with the character you’re portraying to rise up out of you to meet that character. You’re not wearing the character like a mask; instead you are being vulnerable enough to share the most intimate parts of your inner universe so that you can fill the character with your physical and emotional authenticity.
In this episode, Julie asks me to tell the story of how I got started as a voice actor. While I did recount many of the details of my journey way back in episodes 4 and 5 of the podcast, this time around, Julie and I talk more in depth about some of my personal experiences during that time and how they affected my development as an actor. We discuss how my time spent with my family in Soviet Occupied Czechoslovakia helped me navigate my later relationship with the head of my graduate acting program, Andrei Serban, who is Romanian. Then, I explain how Joseph Campbell’s scholarly work on mythology and hero journeys, helped me develop a deeper understanding of my appreciation for Japanese animated storytelling. I also talk about what a massive effect J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy stories had on my psyche and how the animated version of his famous book, The Hobbit, not only helped teach me valuable life lessons about courage and emotional maturity, but also inspired me to regard storytelling as a sacred duty, especially storytelling for children, which has the potential to shape their psyches and their worldview for the rest of their lives.
It’s really satisfying for me to be able to address these subjects with such depth and nuance, and I’m so grateful to Julie for being so prepared and attentive as an interviewer!
VAM 200 | Interview with Crispin Freeman, Part 1
Welcome to episode 200 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
For this episode, we’re going to be doing something a little bit different! Back in episode 154 of the podcast, I interviewed my good friend and fellow voice actor, Julie Nathanson. During that interview, she offered to turn the tables and interview me in return someday! So I thought it would be an interesting experiment to ask Julie to take over as the host of this particular segment, and she graciously agreed! So as a special treat for this 200th episode, Julie will be interviewing me on my own podcast! A word of warning though, this interview was very in-depth, so I’m splitting up our incredible 4-hour conversation into 4 separate episodes! To be honest, we probably could’ve spoken for even longer, but we really did our best to restrain ourselves! And so, in an unprecedented first for Voice Acting Mastery, I’m very pleased to hand over my podcast to the very capable Julie Nathanson.
Julie’s Introduction:
Hi, I’m Julie Nathanson. Welcome to the first part of my interview with the Wondrously Multi Dimensional and multi talented Crispin Freeman. You may recognize him from his performances in Naruto, Hellsing, Ghost in the Shell, Young Justice, Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Demon Slayer, the Cowboy Bebop Movie, Howl’s Moving Castle, and recently The Bad Batch. Unsurprisingly, Crispin has also lent his voice to many of your favorite game franchises, from Kingdom Hearts to Call of Duty to Diablo to Final Fantasy, to judgment to Destiny. And of course, he is the incredible voice behind Winston in Overwatch.
Not only is Crispin a prolific and truly talented voice actor, but he is also an expert in mythology. He teaches classes on mythology and meaning where he brilliantly breaks down storytelling patterns in animation, film, and game. And just in case that is an impressive enough, Crispin is also a well respected voice over coach and teacher, whose passion and curiosity led him to create the beloved podcast Voice Acting Mastery, which has not only inspired countless voice acting students the world over but has inspired his many esteemed guests as well, coaxing stories and profundities from the voice acting community who share a common gratitude for the chance to dive deeper into their own processes.
The 1st 199 episodes are treasure troves of information and inspiration, and I am especially honored to speak with Crispin for this his 200th episode of Voice Acting Mastery.
VAM 199 | Interview with Sara Secora, Part 2
Welcome to episode 199 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’m honored to share with you the second and final part of my interview with the resourceful Sara Secora. You may have heard Sara’s voice acting work in games such as Genshin Impact, Warframe, and Fallout 76. In animation and dubbing she’s worked on Enchantimals, Boonie Bears: Back to Earth, and Rumble Garanndoll. Sara also works as a casting director and voice director on games like Smite, and Paladins. She’s also written a book on voice acting called The Anywhere Voice Actor about what it takes to work as a voice actor no matter where you live. You can find her book on Amazon, and you can even get private coaching sessions with Sara by going to Jennifer Hale’s amazing website, skillshub.life.
In the previous episode, Sara shared with me how she got started as a voice actor. Her journey was quite unique since she has a disability that keeps her homebound. She was gracious and courageous enough to talk about her agoraphobia in detail and explain how it prohibits her from traveling to a recording studio in order to work. Despite this challenge, she has been able to develop both her acting abilities and her business skills to a professionally competitive level. Sara got her start in the world of independent video games and has expanded into commercials, American Animation, Anime and AAA video games. I’m very impressed by her bravery and tenacity in the face of such difficulties.
In this episode, we begin by discussing what inspired Sara to become a performer in the first place. In fact, I ask Sara to go back to the time before she decided to pursue voice acting, and to explore why she originally wanted to become a YouTuber. She explains that her love for games and her wanting to share this enthusiasm with others helped motivate her to create a YouTube channel. The more she and I discuss this, the more she begins to realize that she has always had a deep desire to entertain other people. Even prior to becoming a YouTuber, Sara would share silly videos with her friends just to make them laugh or smile.
I then ask Sara how she began working as both a casting director and a voice director and to share some of the challenges she faces in both of those pursuits. Then, we wrap up our discussion with Sara’s advice to the aspiring voice actor. She always begins any of her coaching sessions by asking her students what they want to accomplish as a voice actor and even more importantly, why they want to do it. If her students express the desire to pursue voice acting professionally, Sara has a lot of practical advice to share with them from her own time “in the trenches” so to speak. She always wants to make sure her students have realistic and actionable plans that can make their voice acting goals practically achievable and not just dreams that never come to fruition. I love Sara’s no-nonsense approach to voice acting and I think my listeners will really benefit from hearing more of her journey and insights.
VAM 198 | Interview with Sara Secora, Part 1
Welcome to episode 198 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 resourceful and multi-talented Sara Secora. You may be familiar with Sara’s voice acting work in games, where she voices Dunyarzad in Genshin Impact, Mathila in Warframe, and Pat Myers in Fallout 76. In animation and dubbing she’s played Radia Rainbowfish in Enchantimals, Avi in Boonie Bears: Back to Earth, and Hayate in Rumble Garanndoll. Sara has also worked as a casting director on games like Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Smite, and Paladins, and she’s voice directed the games Smite, Paladins, and Overload. In addition to all of that, Sara has somehow found the time to write a book on voice acting called The Anywhere Voice Actor about what it takes to work as a voice actor no matter where you live. You can find it on Amazon. Sara has been so successful that she was invited to be a coach on Jennifer Hale’s amazing website, skillshub.life where she’s available for private coaching sessions.
One of the reasons I was so eager to get Sara on the podcast is because she has built her entire voice over career without leaving her home studio. Sara has a disability that keeps her homebound which we discuss in detail in this episode. Despite this challenge, Sara has not only been able to book voice over work that would normally be possible to do from home, such as commercials, independent games, and narration work, but she’s also been able to break into areas of voice acting that have traditionally required performers to move to the city where such work was being done, such as animation, dubbing, and AAA video games. Sara’s ability to achieve so much while negotiating her limitations is a testament to her ingenuity, her determination, and frankly her courage in the face of adversity. What she’s accomplished is truly admirable and I hope my listeners can gain some inspiration from her journey.
Sara and I begin our discussion by talking about how she got started as a voice actor. She was initially a YouTuber who enjoyed playing horror games and decided to create a YouTube channel where others could watch her play. Many of these horror games would have letters or notes that the characters had written, revealing information about the world of the game. Usually these important pieces of text did not have any voice acting associated with them, so in order to keep things interesting, Sara would read the letters aloud to entertain her audience. Her impromptu performances became very popular with her fans and many of them encouraged her to pursue voice acting. After receiving enough of these supportive comments, Sara eventually decided to reach out on twitter to a voice actor whose work she had admired. He was kind enough to respond and to give her suggestions, including some advice on getting training as an actor.
Sara took these suggestions to heart and started applying herself diligently to creating a voice acting career. While her success speaks for itself, I’m very eager to let her share her story with you in her own words!
VAM 197 | Interview with Josh Petersdorf, Part 2
Welcome to episode 197 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 and final part of my interview with voice actor and theme park voice performer, Josh Petersdorf! You may know Josh from his work in games like League of Legends, Fire Emblem: Engage, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and Overwatch. He’s worked on the English language dubs of anime shows like Aggretsuko and on live action shows like Project “Gemini”. He’s also the voices of both Megatron and Optimus Prime at the Universal Studios Theme Park during the live action show that takes place before the Transformers 3D ride.
That last time we spoke, Josh shared with me how he became a voice actor. He was inspired to pursue performing at a young age after watching his sisters perform in dance recitals. However, during high school, he focused more on athletics, and it wasn’t until after he was living on his own that he realized that he wanted to pursue voice acting as a career. He moved to LA, started taking classes, and was fortunate enough to be able to book work at the Universal Studios Theme Park and to also get agent representation. He started booking voice over work, but when he landed the role of Roadhog in Overwatch, it definitely took his career to a new level.
In this episode, I ask what inspired Josh to become a performer in the first place. He shares with me how much the artists from his childhood influenced him to try to create things himself, and how his love of pro wrestling and his nostalgia for 80’s cartoons still inform his artistry today! The characters from the entertainment he consumed often served as role models for him and helped shape not only his creative sensibilities but his personal development as well. He and I also talk about how the most successful voice actors are always looking to expand their capabilities and grow into different areas or niches of the industry. And finally, Josh gives me his advice for the aspiring voice actor, which at its core seems to contain a paradox: He suggests that actors both be ready to work hard and also be easy on themselves. He thinks they should both be demanding when it comes to their own skills, but forgiving as well. It’s a fascinating contradiction that I actually think you’ll find very insightful as we explore it in this episode.