Welcome to episode 195 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 incredible Yuri Lowenthal! You may know his voice acting work in animated shows like Legion of Superheroes, Ben 10, and the 2021 version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. In games, he’s worked on Prince of Persia, Sunset Overdrive, and Marvel’s Spider-man series. In anime, he’s very well known for playing Sasuke in Naruto. Yuri and his wife, Tara Platt, also have their own production company called Monkey Kingdom Productions where they develop and produce their own original shows and projects. They’ve also written the well known book Voice Over Voice Actor, What It’s Like Behind the Mic.

In this episode, Yuri shares with me what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. This may come as a surprise to my listeners, but he’s not really sure! This uncertainty is actually not uncommon among artists. Often what inspires someone to pursue a career in the arts is not an intellectual or rational motivation, but rather a gut feeling that they need to explore a field of expression, like acting, in order to fulfill some need for psychological or spiritual satisfaction that can be difficult to articulate. Yuri does admit that he loved storytelling on a deep level and that drove him to explore it first as a writer, and later as a performer.

One huge influence on him when he was young, was when his father gave him the Dungeons and Dragons basic game set and then sat down and taught Yuri and his friends how to play. Yuri credits playing D&D for contributing to most of the things he likes about himself today. D&D inspired him to read more, to learn about mythology and history, to develop his critical thinking skills, and most importantly, to practice storytelling improvisationally, in real time! While playing D&D, not only did Yuri have to use his imagination to visualize the entire world of the game in his mind, but he also had to play as a character in that world as believably as possible. He found that the skills he developed while world-building and playing characters in D&D were directly applicable to the challenges he faced as an actor.

Yuri is a huge fan of genre storytelling such as Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, etc. His appreciation for these genres also helped contribute to his desire to try pursuing a career in the arts. However, he knew that simply loving storytelling was not enough, and that he also had to develop professionally competitive acting skills in order to have something to contribute artistically to the stories he so admired. In this segment, he and I talk about how he balances his fandom for the projects he’s working on with the need to approach each project as a consummate professional. Since so many of my listeners are often avid fans of the games and animated projects they want to work on, it’s an important topic to explore!

After that, we end our discussion with Yuri’s advice to the aspiring voice actor and how vital he feels it is for someone just starting out to get as much practice acting as they can, even if it’s just reading out loud every day to develop your cold reading skills. He also stresses how important it is to actually finish projects that you may be working on. Bringing a project to completion and moving on to the next one will teach you far more than tinkering with the same project endlessly. It’s a very practical approach to pursuing a career as a voice actor, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with all my listeners!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #195 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 194 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 incredibly prolific Yuri Lowenthal! Yuri’s voice acting work is definitely wide ranging! In animation, some of his most famous roles include Superman in Legion of Superheroes, Ben Tennyson in Ben 10: Alien Force and Omniverse, as well as He-Man in the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe 2021 Animated series. In Games he’s played the Prince in numerous Prince of Persia games, the Male Player Character in Sunset Overdrive, and probably most famously, Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man in Marvel’s Spider-Man series of games. In Anime he’s well known for playing Sasuke in the long running anime series Naruto, where I play his older brother Itachi. There are even multiple news articles about how Yuri has played so many characters in games, that chances are you’ve probably fought and defeated one of his characters if you’ve played any games involving fighting. Yuri and his wife, Tara Platt, have their own production company called Monkey Kingdom Productions where they’ve developed and produced their own original shows including the web series Shelf Life, and Topsy McGee vs. The Sky Pirates! Yuri and Tara have also written a popular book on voice acting, Voice Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic.

Yuri and I have some interesting parallels in our acting journeys. We both spent time in New York City doing theater before we came to LA. We both arrived in Los Angeles within months of each other, and we both started working in anime around the same time. On the surface, Yuri’s journey seems very simple: he and Tara moved out to Los Angeles back in 2002 to become movie stars. When they arrived, Tara suggested they explore voice acting as another means of generating income. They took a class and made friends with the teacher, who later had the opportunity to direct the dub of an anime. Yuri auditioned for the show, got hired, and the rest is history, right? Well, it’s not that simple. What that story doesn’t illuminate is how much time, effort, and focus Yuri had spent developing his acting skills before he took that voice over class in LA. In this episode, we dive deep into what Yuri did to build a solid foundation in acting so that when he took that LA voice over class, he was able to fully capitalize on the opportunity.

Yuri’s path wasn’t completely linear either. He’s always had a passion for Japanese culture and language. He majored in East Asian studies in college and he even spent a couple of years after college working in Japan as an interpreter for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (also known as the JET program) helping place native English speaking teachers into Japanese schools. Yuri’s Japanese language and cultural skills gave him the opportunity to apply for a job with a Japanese Bhuto dance company in New York City, at the same time when he was looking to move there to pursue an acting career. Yuri’s acting journey demonstrates how there is no single recipe for becoming a voice actor, but rather each actor must discover their own alchemical formula for success. Yuri’s formula is wonderfully eclectic and I’m so glad that I get to share it with you! Let’s get started.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #194 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 181 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 Amanda C. Miller! Amanda has worked extensively in animation, video games, and anime including Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal, and the Dangan Ronpa video games. In American animation, she’s worked on Netlix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Kid Cosmic, and DC Super Hero Girls. Amanda also works on-camera as an actor and behind the scenes as a writer and producer of her own web series! Having recently moved to Atlanta, Georgia to pursue acting opportunities there, she brings a unique perspective on how to manage an acting career where she works both in Atlanta and on remote voice acting projects in LA.

In the previous episode, Amanda explained how she broke into voice acting. While she initially intended to pursue a career as a theater actor in New York city after graduating from college, she changed her career trajectory after taking a voice acting class with veteran voice actor and director, Tony Oliver. His feedback encouraged her to pursue voice acting in Los Angeles instead. Amanda moved to LA, interned at Bang Zoom studios, and quickly learned what it took to work professionally as a voice actor. There was no magic “break through” moment where she was suddenly discovered. In fact, she didn’t win the 2009 AX Idol voice acting competition held at Anime Expo, but was only a runner up. That didn’t stop her. She continued to develop her abilities as a voice actress. Her success is due to the fact that she can deliver consistent, believable, and professionally competitive performances over and over again.

In this episode, we dive into what inspired Amanda to become an actor in the first place. Amanda was a very shy and sensitive child who moved around a lot due to her father being in the military. While she couldn’t control her circumstances or her surroundings, she did develop a rich imagination. She would create characters and stories where she could explore different emotions, relationships, and situations. Her fantasy life definitely helped inspire her acting pursuits! We also talk about what it’s been like for her to play a beloved character from her childhood, Sailor Jupiter in the Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal anime series. We then get into a discussion about how you can find satisfaction in the face of the uncertainty and volatility of an acting career. At the end of our talk, Amanda shares with us her advice to the aspiring voice actor including how important it is to find value as a human being regardless of how successful you are in your career! So without further ado, here’s Amanda!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #181 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 180 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 very happy to present the first part of my interview with the multi-talented Amanda C. Miller! Amanda has played many famous characters in animation, video games, and anime including Boruto in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Sailor Jupiter in Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal, and the characters Junko and Toko in the Dangan Ronpa video games. In American animation, she’s played Flutterina in Netlix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Jo in Kid Cosmic, the new animated series from Powerpuff Girls creator, Craig McCracken! Amanda also works on-camera in films and web series, including the comedic web series, Ghosts ’n Stuff, Inc. where she co-produced and wrote many of the episodes! I’m excited to get her perspective on the voice acting industry as well as what it’s been like for her starting her career in Los Angeles and having now moved to continue her career in Atlanta, Georgia.

Amanda had an international upbringing. A self-proclaimed Air Force brat, Amanda was born in Germany and spent much of her childhood traveling back and forth between Germany, Florida, and Maryland, eventually settling down in Maryland after she was in the 7th grade. She started participating in her school’s theater program during middle school and high school and had every intention of graduating college and moving to New York to do Broadway theater. However, while in college at the University of Maryland, she had the opportunity to take a voice over class with Tony Oliver from Bang Zoom recording studios. After the class, Tony told her that she had real potential as a voice actress. She decided that instead of pursuing acting in New York after graduating college, she would move to Los Angeles to pursue voice acting opportunities there. She applied for an internship at Bang Zoom, was accepted, and began to learn about the voice over industry during her time there. This eventually gave her the opportunity to start auditioning for voice over work. As she repeatedly demonstrated her ability to perform characters at a professionally competitive level, she gained access to more voice over opportunities which allowed her to pursue union voice over work and to eventually land an agent.

I enjoy talking with Amanda about her journey because like me, she was a very shy child. She was not gregarious and outgoing as most people expect actors to be. Instead, what drove her to perform was the desire to bring characters and stories to life, not to get attention from others. She understood that in order to achieve continuing success as a professional actor, she had to apply herself diligently to doing the “boring work” as she puts it of being able to give consistently believable performances as well as being reliable and easy to work with. She also did her best to network with fellow actors and reach out to studios to market her skills to them. She even emailed yours truly back in 2009 when she took an acting class with a classmate of mine from Graduate Acting School. My classmate had suggested that Amanda reach out to me directly to ask about the voice over industry in LA! Amanda’s ability to be courageous in connecting with industry professionals coupled with her sustained commitment to honing her acting skills has truly served her well and I’m eager to share her story with you!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #180 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 159 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 third and final part of my interview with the voice of Porky Pig himself, Bob Bergen! While Bob is most famous for playing Porky, he’s also played many other Looney Toons characters including Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester Junior! He’s also done work on Disney animated movies, the Star Wars games, and anime as well. His resume is long and varied and he’s a three time Emmy award nominee! Bob has been teaching voice acting classes since 1987 and is a wealth of information and experience! I’m very grateful he spent so much time talking with us!

In the previous episode, Bob and I discussed what inspired him to become a performer. It turns out that being in front of the microphone is his happy place. He takes so much joy from performing characters that he can’t imagine himself doing anything else! We also talked about his audaciousness and how he always seemed to be able to take strong, decisive action towards his voice acting goals. Bob attributes his courage to being a precocious young boy with supportive parents, and while that’s definitely true, I also think that his deep passion for voice acting helped him overcome any nerves he might have experienced. I especially love how he admitted that when Mel Blanc told him how difficult it was to break into voice acting, that Bob didn’t really care. Bob was far more interested in with what he needed to learn and do in order to succeed at voice acting, and he wasn’t really interested in hearing about the odds of success or failure. As far as Bob was concerned, if becoming a voice actor was going to be a difficult journey, so be it. He would succeed regardless because he cared so much about doing it well.

In this final episode, Bob shares with us his advice for the aspiring voice actor. After more than 30 years of teaching experience, he has some great insights into the craft of acting! Bob stresses how important it is to come up with your own original characters. This may seem ironic for someone who is best known for embodying a classic Loony Toons character, but it’s true. Simply imitating existing characters is not enough to build a robust voice acting career. You need to find what unique insight and artistry you can bring to characters in order to differentiate yourself from your competition. Also in this episode, Bob talks extensively about agents, how to approach them, and how to collaborate with them effectively. He then discusses how to balance one’s artistry with business sense. When Bob is playing a character, whether in a recording session or even an audition, he is solely focused on acting to the best of his ability. He’s not thinking about how much money he might be paid to play that character. However, when he’s finished performing, he has to treat voice acting like the business it is. Not only does his agent appreciate his professional attitude, but producers respect it as well.

Bob has done a great job of combining first-rate voice acting abilities, with a business-savvy professional attitude. It’s something we should all aspire to as voice actors. Listen closely, because you’ll learn a lot about how to present yourself in the industry!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #159 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 158 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 my interview with the voice of Porky Pig himself, Bob Bergen! While Bob is most famous for playing Porky, he’s also played many other Looney Toons characters including Tweety, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester Junior! He’s also done work on Disney animated movies, the Star Wars games, and anime as well. His resume is long and varied and he’s been nominated for an Emmy award 3 times! Bob has been teaching voice acting classes since 1987 and is a wealth of information and experience! I’m very grateful he spent so much time talking with us!

In the first part of our interview, Bob shared the story of how he broke into voice acting. Ever since he was a kid, Bob wanted to play the voice of Porky Pig and he was relentless in the pursuit of his goal! Before the advent of the internet and easy access to information online, Bob was resourceful enough to use whatever means at his disposal to research famous voice actors and to learn about recording studios. His path into the voice acting world is a clear demonstration that almost anything is possible if you truly set your mind to it.

In this episode, Bob and I talk about what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. It turns out, he can’t imagine himself doing anything else. This is a common refrain I hear from actors. It was also the advice I was given by many of my acting teachers, which was: “Don’t pursue acting unless it’s the only career path that will make you happy.” Acting is a challenging profession. It requires not only great effort and persistence, but also an incredible amount of introspection and honesty with oneself. Those who succeed tend to have a deep level of commitment and unwavering determination. Bob’s dedication comes from the fact that he loves the art of voice acting so much. Even in the beginning, he was so passionate about performing that he couldn’t help himself! He just kept pressing forward in his pursuit of a professional career in voice over.

Also in this episode, we discuss Bob’s mindset and how he was able to be so courageous at such a young age! Fortune favors the bold as the old saying goes, and Bob has an amazing ability to take strong, decisive action in achieving his goals, even when he doesn’t have all the answers ahead of time! It’s an admirable quality that I hope will inspire all my listeners!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #158 Here (MP3)