VAM 186 | Interview with Lucien Dodge, Part 1
Welcome to episode 186 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 pleased to share with you the first part of my interview with voice actor and voice director, Lucien Dodge! You may be familiar with Lucien’s voice acting work in anime including Zoisite in the Viz Media dub of Sailor Moon, Amuro Ray in Gundam: The Origin and Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway, Keita in Sword Art Online, Akaza and Kazumi in Demon Slayer, and Waver Velvet in Fate/Zero! In games he’s played Dust, in Dust: An Elysian Tail, Mega Gnar in League of Legends, Buzzard in Mad Max, and Dr. Vanus in Smite. Lucien also voice directed me in the dub of the anime Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon where I played the main antagonist, Kirinmaru. I had such a great time working with Lucien on that dub that I thought it would be a good idea to have him on the podcast to talk about his own voice acting experiences and his approach to the art form.
Lucien and I share a lot of similarities when it comes to our voice acting journeys. We both have a great appreciation for anime, we both were incredibly shy when we were young, and we both became fascinated with what it took to be able to share the most authentic and believable acting performances with our audiences. Lucien grew up in Ithaca, NY where he went to a private school with very small classes. While his school didn’t have an acting program per se, they did encourage all of their students to participate in a play every year. You might think that since Lucien was so shy, he would not have any interest in participating in the school play. It turns out that the opposite was actually the case. Lucien found that playing a character gave him permission to be more courageous and assertive than he would be if he had to perform in public as himself. I had a similar experience when I was young! Acting as a character gave me an opportunity to build up my own courage and confidence without feeling like I was making myself personally vulnerable to criticism.
Fortunately, Lucien’s mother noticed how much acting seemed to be helping him overcome his shyness. She encouraged him to pursue more acting opportunities, and helped him to attend acting classes based on Sanford Meisner’s techniques. She also helped him attend a convention for radio dramas known as the National Audio Theater Festival. But it wasn’t until a family friend gave Lucien the video box set of the anime series, The Slayers, as a birthday present, that Lucien discovered his love for anime. Coincidentally, that was the first anime show that I ever worked on! After Lucien saw it, he was hooked. For his next birthday, his father gave him a microphone and a small 4 track cassette recorder so Lucien could start practicing his voice over skills. Lucien became obsessed with trying out different kinds of voice acting with his new tools. Fun fact: I also had a 4 track recorder when I was young and actually recorded some of my earliest attempts at voice acting on it!
After high school, Lucien decided to pursue voice acting as a career. He spent a year in college, but quickly realized that it didn’t serve his purposes very well, and decided to dive into the voice over industry in New York City. I too began my voice acting career in New York. Lucien and I even got our first New York anime dubbing jobs from the same studio, TAJ Productions where I got my start on The Slayers and he first worked on an episode of Pokemon. Lucien faced many challenges pursuing voice acting in the Big Apple, and during his eventual move out to Los Angeles, but I’ll let him tell you all about his adventures himself!
VAM 179 | Interview with Feodor Chin, Part 2
Welcome to episode 179 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 Feodor Chin. You can hear Feo’s voice over work in games like Overwatch, Ghosts of Tsushima, League of Legends, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. He’s worked on the Regular Show for Cartoon Network, and on-camera he’s worked on TV shows such as Nash Bridges, The Mindy Project, and Jane the Virigin. He’s also narrated or contributed narration to over 100 different audiobooks!
In the previous episode, Feo outlined the steps he took to become a professional actor. There was no single moment when he “broke into show business”. Instead, Feo diligently studied to improve his acting skills and then consistently took the actions necessary to find acting opportunities. This included regularly marketing his skills to producers and casting directors who were hiring actors. This is the unglamorous homework that it takes to book regular work as an actor. No one in the industry suddenly discovers you and then paves a path to success for you. If you want to get paid to voice act, you need to master your art, research your industry, and then market your professionally competitive skills to producers who are looking to hire top notch acting talent for their projects. Feo never shied away from putting in all the behind-the-scenes work that was necessary to help him become a working actor both in voice over and on-camera.
In the final part of our discussion, I ask Feo what inspired him to become a performer in the first place. In the previous episode, Feo had mentioned that in high school, he had seen Dustin Hoffman’s performance as Willy Loman in the movie, Death of a Salesman. Hoffman’s acting had made a huge impression on Feo, so in this episode, I ask Feo to outline in more detail what exactly was so compelling about that performance. Feo explains that after watching Hoffman perform, he became fascinated with diving deep into the emotional life of a character. He talks about the satisfaction he gets from fully embodying a character, especially when a character’s psychology is incredibly rich or nuanced.
After that, we discuss Feo’s background in improv and sketch comedy. He explains to me the differences between full improvisational performances and the sketch comedy writing that he works on most often. We then talk about how we both apply our improv background to the challenges we face as voice actors, especially when we’re given very little information about a character or the story they come from, and yet are still expected to deliver authentic and believable performances. We also discuss the challenges Asian-American actors face in the entertainment industry and how Asian representation in media has changed over the past 20 years or so. We wrap up our discussion with Feo’s advice to the aspiring voice actor, and how important it is to be open to different career opportunities because you never know where you’re going to find success.
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 168 | Interview with Zehra Fazal, Part 1
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Welcome to episode 168 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 so excited to share with you the first part of my interview with the multi-talented, Zehra Fazal! You may know Zehra from her voice acting work as Nadia Rizavi in Voltron: Legendary Defender, Halo in Season 3 of Young Justice, and Mara in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. In games Zehra has played the voice of the Guardian in Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Amara the Siren in Borderlands 3, and the AI Announcer in Apex Legends. Zehra also performs on-camera and has appeared in shows like How to Get Away with Murder and Lucifer. In addition, Zehra is fluent in Japanese and spent part of her college years studying in Japan. Her passion for the Japanese language and for Japanese theater eventually allowed her to intern at the Takarazuka Revue, a very famous all female theatre troupe that had a big influence on Osamu Tezuka, the godfather of anime and manga! As if that weren’t enough, Zehra has also written and performed numerous one woman shows including a musical comedy about her experiences growing up as a Muslim-American of South Asian descent.
In the first part of this interview, Zehra shares with us how she got started as a voice actor. She grew up in Indiana, the youngest of 4 sisters. All of her older siblings were very intelligent, articulate, and self-possessed which meant that Zehra had to be very precocious and sophisticated in order to be able to get a word in edgewise! Her parents emphasized the importance of academic achievement, but they had an appreciation for the arts as well. One branch of her family tree had actually been heavily involved in the Indian movie industry known as Bollywood. Since communication was such an important skill to have in her family, Zehra became fascinated with talking. She got involved in speech and debate contests and also performed in many of her high school plays.
Since she was a fan of animation and comics, Zehra initially thought she would go to college to study drawing with the goal of eventually becoming a graphic artist or animator. However, a visit to an animation convention as a high school graduation present, helped change the direction of her career path. In 2001 she attended the Gathering of the Gargoyles, a convention to celebrate the Disney animated series, Gargoyles which had drawn so many fans to its mature storytelling and sophisticated themes. One of the events at the convention was a staged radio play where fans of the show would audition to play parts in an original script that the show’s producer, Greg Weismann, had written especially for the event. Zehra auditioned and was cast as the NY Detective and lead female character from the Gargoyles series, Elisa Maza. After the radio play, Greg complimented her on her performance and suggested that she seriously consider pursuing voice acting in the future. While she didn’t think much of it at the time, Greg had planted a seed in her mind that would flower many years later!
Zehra’s journey towards a professional acting career is full of interesting twists and turns. At many points along the way, it was not always clear which direction she should go next. However, she always did her best to follow her fascination and inspiration even if it took her down paths that may have seemed tangential or not obviously related to pursuing a career as an actor. But I’ll let Zehra tell you all about her serendipitous and synchronistic adventures!
VAM 167 | Interview with Jon Bailey, Part 2
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.
VAM 166 | Interview with Jon Bailey, Part 1
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!