VAM 178 | Interview with Feodor Chin, Part 1
Welcome to episode 178 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 voice actor, film actor, writer, comedian, and all around wonderful guy, Feodor Chin. You may be familiar with Feo’s voice over work as Mudmug in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Harunobu Adachi in Ghosts of Tsushima, Lee Sin in League of Legends, and one of my personal favorites, Zenyatta in Overwatch. In animation he’s worked on Cartoon Network’s Regular Show and on-camera he’s worked on TV shows such as Nash Bridges, The Mindy Project, and Jane the Virigin. As of this episode he’s also narrated or contributed narration to over 100 different audiobooks! Feo has worked as a performer in so many different mediums and he brings a great perspective to the challenges of sustaining a career as a working actor.
In this episode, I begin by asking Feo how he got his start as an actor. When he was in high school, Feo saw Dustin Hoffman’s performance as the character Willie Lowman in the movie adaptation of Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman. Feo was so fascinated by Hoffman’s ability to transform into a different character that he wanted to explore that sort of transformational acting himself. So he decided to pursue acting in any way he could. He started taking drama classes and auditioning for the plays at his school. He also joined his school’s forensics and debate team in order to gain more experience with public speaking.
When it was time for him to apply to college, Feo had to balance his personal desire to pursue acting with his family’s expectations. Feo grew up in San Francisco and his family wanted him to attend college somewhere in his home state of California. They also hoped that Feo would major in a subject that would serve as a good foundation for a financially stable career such as being a doctor or a lawyer. In an attempt to satisfy both his parent’s desires and his own, Feo applied and was accepted to UCLA, initially as a design major. Not long after his matriculation at UCLA, the school dissolved the design department so Feo switched his major to communications. Attending college in Los Angeles allowed him to explore acting possibilities there as well as to build up a network of friends that would be helpful to his career in the future. By majoring in communications instead of acting, he mollified his parents’ concerns, while at the same time giving himself the opportunity to take as many acting classes as possible.
After graduating college, Feo moved home to San Francisco to explore acting opportunities in the bay area. He spent many years there taking the time to build up his skills and his resume until he felt that he could compete in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. I advised my listeners to do the same way back in episode 18 of the podcast where I suggest that it’s wise to exhaust all of the acting opportunities in your local area first before moving to a bigger marketplace! Feo moved to LA in August of 2001 and has been a working actor ever since.
What I love about Feo’s journey is how practically minded it is. Feo was willing to put in the time and effort to do unglamorous things like looking for auditions in trade newspapers, printing and mailing out headshots and resumes, and diligently following up with casting directors to keep them aware of his talents and his marketability. He understood that succeeding as an actor didn’t mean suddenly getting discovered by some casting director or producer. Instead he did his homework consistently until he was able to create an acting career for himself. It’s wonderful to hear from an accomplished journeyman actor like him and I hope you find his insights as practical and useful as I have!
VAM 177 | Interview with Jennifer Hale, Part 2
Welcome to episode 177 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 the Goddess of Video games, Jennifer Hale! I joked with Jennifer about that nickname in the last episode, but all joking aside, it’s true that Jennifer holds the Guinness World Record for being the most prolific voice actress in video games! You may be familiar with her work in games like Mass Effect, Metal Gear Solid, Halo, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and Overwatch! In animation, she’s worked on Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Legend of Korra, Wolverine and the X-men, as well as voice matching Cinderella in numerous Disney animated shows and games.
In the first part of our interview, Jennifer described how she became an actor. If you’ve already listened to the previous episode, you know how much hard work she put in to pursuing her acting career. She made sure to take advantage of every performance opportunity that came her way, even if it meant working behind the scenes! All of that experience was invaluable to her as she pursued her acting goals. While from the outside it may seem like her journey was very serendipitous, it was also a demonstration of the classic aphorism that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Jennifer was constantly striving to improve her skills so that when opportunities came her way, she was able to capitalize on them fully.
As we continue our conversation in this episode, we discuss how to nurture your own internal voice of inspiration. Jennifer faced many difficulties growing up and she didn’t always have someone with more experience to advise or guide her. This meant that she had to nurture in herself the ability to find her own way through life’s challenges. This internal guidance has served her well and in this segment she shares what she does to help her listen to the quiet voice inside that’s always doing its best to lead her to happiness and satisfaction. We also talk extensively about money and finances. It’s always been important to Jennifer to have mastery over her own financial well being. While many actors shy away from learning about economics, Jennifer embraces the subject whole heartedly. It’s admirable how she is able to demonstrate her mastery not only in the discipline of acting, but also in the world of business. She shares with me how she approaches financial literacy and how important it is to smash the false dichotomy that actors can’t be good with money or that business people can’t be creative. We wrap up our discussion with Jennifer’s very clear and specific advice to the aspiring voice actor.
Jennifer definitely has some heartfelt wisdom to impart in this episode and I’m eager to share her insights with you!
As I mention in the episode, Jennifer has two websites that offer more information and assistance.
One is her Patreon page which helps with financial education called the Haven which you can access at the link below:
https://www.patreon.com/jenniferhale
The other is SkillsHub.life, an online community by actors and for actors that allows members to access working creators and entertainment industry professionals who offer short, customized coaching opportunities to help you address a variety of topics, from improving your artistry, to managing your business strategy.
I hope you find those websites useful!
VAM 176 | Interview with Jennifer Hale, Part 1
Welcome to episode 176 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 first part of my interview with a true giant in the world of voice acting, Jennifer Hale! Jennifer has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific video game voice actress! You may be familiar with her work as the Female Commander Shepard a.k.a. FemShep in the Mass Effect game franchise, Naomi Hunter in Metal Gear Solid, Sarah Palmer in Halo, Bastila Shan in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Rivet in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, and one of my personal favorites, Ashe in Overwatch! In animation, she’s played Avatar Kyoshi in Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra, Jean Grey in Wolverine and the X-men, and she also does the voice for Cinderella in numerous Disney animated shows and games.
One of the reasons I was so excited to get Jennifer on the podcast is not only does she have top notch acting skills, but she also has a passion for understanding the business side of the voice over industry. I’ve mentioned this in earlier episodes of the podcast, but if you want to consistently book work as a voice actor, it is vital to not only have professionally competitive acting skills, but also to have a solid understanding of the economic dynamics and business pressures of the industry. Such practical and financial knowledge will help you position yourself better in the voice over marketplace and also help you understand what you need to do to promote yourself as effectively as possible.
In this episode, we begin our discussion with Jennifer telling me how she broke into acting. It turns out she faced many challenges when growing up. She moved around a lot as a kid and was regularly made fun of at school. It didn’t help that her mother was often a single parent who wasn’t very enthusiastic about raising children. Facing such instability in her personal life, Jennifer’s survival technique was to become extremely independent and self-sufficient. She had to grow up quickly and take personal responsibility for her own journey through life. For example, the night before she had to audition at a performing arts high school, her mother went out to spend time with friends at a bar. Since there was no one to watch Jennifer if she stayed home, her mother took her along and had her sit in the parked car outside the bar until about 1 in the morning. Stuck in the car and having nothing else to do, Jennifer proceeded to memorize a monologue that she then performed eight hours later at 9am when she finally did arrive at the auditions for her high school. That’s an incredible amount of pressure to have to manage as a young person, but somehow Jennifer found her way through the difficult and daunting circumstances she faced. Her story is one of amazing resourcefulness and courage.
Jennifer is the first to admit that these hardships took a toll on her psychologically. She also mentions how important it was for her to get therapy in order to find a way to process these experiences in a healthy manner. However, the challenges she faced when she was young also helped sharpen her desire for freedom and independence. Lacking external guidance from her mother, Jennifer began to rely on her own internal compass when trying to figure out how to proceed in life. She speaks often about being taken over by the muse or some other inspiration that guided her in moments of challenge or crisis. That guidance would motivate her to take advantage of any acting opportunity that presented itself to her no matter how small. She always did her best to capitalize on those opportunities to the fullest. This meant that she gained many kinds of creative experiences as she was growing up. She not only worked as an actress, but she also worked behind the scenes as a production assistant helping film crews to make commercials and other content. This wide range of experience in the entertainment industry helped her greatly as she moved forward in her career. It also honed her internal guidance which eventually led her to the world of voice acting.
As I mention in the episode, Jennifer has two websites that offer more information and assistance.
One is her Patreon page which helps with financial education called the Haven which you can access at the link below:
https://www.patreon.com/jenniferhale
The other is SkillsHub.life, an online community by actors and for actors that allows members to access working creators and entertainment industry professionals who offer short, customized coaching opportunities to help you address a variety of topics, from improving your artistry, to managing your business strategy.
I hope you find those websites useful!
VAM 175 | 10th Anniversary Episode, Part 2
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)
VAM 174 | 10th Anniversary Episode, Part 1
Welcome to episode 174 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
In this episode, I’d like to take the time to celebrate an important milestone.
The Voice Acting Mastery podcast is now officially 10 years old! I released my first podcast episode in July of 2011. Back then I had no idea the kind of journey I would go on through producing this podcast. It’s been an amazing endeavor, and over the past decade, I’ve done my very best to share the most useful and practical information I could on what it takes to succeed as a professional voice actor. I’ve shared my own experiences and expertise to the best of my ability, and along the way I’ve also had many opportunities to interview some of the most talented people in the industry. Hearing their stories and insights has been inspirational, and I hope that the content I’ve provided in this podcast has in some way helped each and every one of my listeners.
In addition to producing the main Voice Acting Mastery podcast, I also produced a sister podcast with some very talented people, whom I was grateful to work with. For three years, I was joined by some of my younger voice acting colleagues in creating the Voice Acting Mastery Field Report, which, if you haven’t checked out already, should still be available both at VoiceActingMastery.com and through many online podcast directories including Apple’s. While the Field Report did eventually come to an end, I’m grateful to my correspondents, Tom Bauer, Ashley Huyge, Dan Will McCann, and Maureen Price for their hard work and insightful episodes. I also want to thank my wife and partner, Izobel Freeman, who has helped support me during this entire endeavor. She designed the Voice Acting Mastery Logos for both my website and for the podcast episodes. She’s also helped edit the writing on every single episode of the podcast to make sure that it was as clear, focused, and empowering as possible. Her artistic contributions and emotional encouragement have been invaluable throughout the entire life of the Voice Acting Mastery brand and I could not have done this without her!
For this 10th anniversary episode, 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 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. I have been overwhelmed by people’s appreciation for the podcast and while I don’t have time to share everyone’s heartfelt comments in this episode, I want you all to know that I did listen to every single message and I’m so grateful for and humbled by them all. It was amazing to hear all of your stories, thoughts and thank you’s for the last ten years we’ve spent together and for any impact I, my guests, or the insights we’ve shared may have had in your life. Thank you for all your kind words. They mean so much, and I’m honored that you took the time to send them in.
In this episode, I’d like to share 3 messages from listeners who talk about how the podcast helped their mindset when it came to approaching voice acting. In the next episode, I’ll be sharing 3 more messages from listeners who explain how the podcast affected their practical approach to a voice acting career.
The first message I received from a voice actor who has actually been a student of mine in the past, Kevin Powe from Australia! He wanted to thank me for 2 pieces of advice he learned from the podcast:
First, when it comes to auditions, do them, and then forget them. Leave them in your wake as you move forward.
and Second, don’t think about projects in terms of “I really want to be credited on that.”, “I love that show” or “I love that property, so I want to be a part of it”. Instead think, “What can I bring to that?”, “How can I make that better by being a part of it?”
I expand on both of Kevin’s points and explain how one naturally follows from the other.
The second message I receive is from Sabina in Gothenburg Sweden! An important lesson she learned from the podcast was to value expressing one’s artistic message rather than trying to impress the people around you. It helped her value her own voice and her own identity. I talk about how transitioning from impressing to expressing is a common theme in almost all archetypal hero journeys and is an essential part of becoming an authority for one’s own life! By learning to express rather than impress, you’re following in the footsteps of some of the most famous mythological heroes that have come before you!
The third message is from Matt in Dallas, Texas. He’s grateful to have learned from the podcast that there is no “right” way to perform a character. Even though he studied acting in high school, and continued his studies in college, it wasn’t until he started listening to the podcast early in his college career, that he suddenly realized that there was no “right” way to perform a character. It was far more important to be truthful in one’s performance than to try and perform a character the “right” way.
I suffered from a similar misconception when I was young, so listening to Matt is like listening to a younger version of myself! I explain why the paradigm of right and wrong is such a pervasive mindset in school, but how it does not serve us when approaching an artistic endeavor like voice acting. The paradigm that I use to evaluate a performance is not if it’s right or wrong, but if it’s believable or not believable. I explain how believability activates empathy in an audience and how Matt’s desire to be truthful is one of the best ways to be believable.
In the next episode, I’ll answer some more listener calls, but this time instead of focusing on mindset we’ll focus on calls that address the practical approach one can take to pursue a professional voice acting career. Thanks again to everyone who called in and voiced their sincere appreciation for the podcast. It means the world to me and I’m grateful to all of my listeners. I hope you’ll join me again for the next episode, and until then, I wish you all the best in your voice acting endeavors. Take care.
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #174 Here (MP3)
VAM 173 | Interview with Lisa Ortiz, Part 2
Welcome to episode 173 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 actress and voice director, Lisa Ortiz! Lisa has worked on such seminal anime series as Record of Lodoss War, The Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and the Irresponsible Captain Tylor. She’s also played many characters in Pokemon in addition to voice directing over 150 episodes of the show! Lisa and I started voice acting in anime in the late 1990’s, but whereas I moved to Los Angeles in late 2001, Lisa has only recently moved to LA in late 2019 after having spent the previous years pursuing voice acting and voice directing in New York City! I’ve been eager to get Lisa on the podcast to share her East Coast perspective on voice acting for those of my listeners who may reside closer to the Big Apple than to Southern California!
As we dive deeper into our discussion, I ask what inspired Lisa to become a performer in the first place. It turns out we both got into acting for very similar reasons! Lisa’s primary motivation for pursuing acting was to understand people better. She was shy when she was young and found acting to be a useful way to help her understand other people’s psychologies and motivations. I too was an incredibly shy person who didn’t always understand the emotional physics of how people related to each other. Role playing as different characters in different situations gave me a safe space to explore both my own psyche, as well as the psychology of other people so I could relate to them more effectively.
Another huge influence on Lisa was the public library system. Her family lived on Long Island in NY when she was young and they didn’t have a large budget for entertainment. Lisa’s mother would often take her daughter to the library where Lisa was able to explore not only literature, but all the audio and video resources in the library as well, including recordings of famous Broadway shows! The public library was an invaluable resource to Lisa. It allowed her to learn about storytelling in ways that never would’ve been available to her without it. Access to such a wealth of literature, plays, and music, whetted Lisa’s appetite for more and inspired her to apply her knowledge of story to performing on stage.
As our conversation comes to a close, Lisa shares with me her advice for the aspiring voice actor, including how important it is to develop good vocal technique in order to avoid damaging the very fragile instrument that is your voice! She also stresses the importance of finding a physicality for your character. Rooting your performance in your body will always help your acting sound more authentic and less pre-meditated. Lisa’s got some great insight into the actor’s process in this episode, and I’m eager to share her wisdom with you!
Also, it turns out that the 10th anniversary of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast is rapidly approaching! I released my first episode way back on July 1st, 2011, and 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!