Welcome to episode 96 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 fourth part of my interview with the amazing Phil LaMarr.

Phil has played major roles in such animated shows as Futurama, Justice League, Star Wars: Clone Wars and Samurai Jack.

In the last episode, Phil shared with us the experience from his childhood that inspired him to become an actor. That fascination has fueled his pursuit of an acting career ever since.

In this episode Phil talks with me about his experiences working as an African-American actor in Hollywood. There are unique challenges that any minority actor has to face when trying to build a career in the entertainment industry. In order to give this topic the attention it deserves, I’ve decided to dedicate this entire episode to the subject.

No matter what your ethnic background may be, exploring issues of minority casting and producer expectations can be incredibly helpful in charting your own acting career.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #96 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 95 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 part of my interview with the amazing Phil LaMarr.

Phil has played major roles in such animated shows as Futurama, Justice League, Star Wars: Clone Wars and Samurai Jack.

In the last episode, Phil and I discussed how his passion for improvisational acting helped shape the trajectory of his early acting career. We also discussed how the difficulties he faced during that time helped him face and eventually let go of the judgements that were holding back his progress towards becoming a professional actor.

In this episode I ask Phil what inspired him to become an actor in the first place. This is a very important question to ask, especially of one’s self. Often people have a vague notion that they’d like to try acting because it looks like fun, or maybe they’re interested in getting attention or in becoming famous. However, pursuing acting as a career can be a very challenging road to travel, and during times of adversity, one’s conviction can really be tested. I have found that when the going gets tough, when the hardships increase, when it’s not clear what can help you continue on in the face of difficulties or discouragement, it is very important to have solid reasons for what you are doing so you can remind yourself why acting is so important to you.

In this section of our interview, Phil is generous enough to share with us the single, fascinating experience he had which drove him to pursue an acting career. I think you’ll find that hearing what inspired Phil to pursue acting will help you discover your own inspiration as well.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #95 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 94 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 part of my interview with the amazing Phil LaMarr.

Phil’s roles in animation include Hermes Conrad in Futurama, the John Stewart Green Lantern in Justice League, Kit Fisto in Star Wars: Clone Wars and the title character in Samurai Jack. I’m incredibly grateful to Phil for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to my listeners.

In the previous episode, Phil discussed some of the challenges he faced during the first year he decided to pursue acting as a full-time career. Those experiences made him really take stock of his situation and decide if acting was something he truly wanted to do. He realized that he actually had some personal judgements about how one should pursue acting and those limiting beliefs were keeping him from progressing. Once he let go of those judgements, he started to see things change.

In this episode we discuss the details of how those changes began to take shape. Phil’s enthusiasm for improvisational acting had a profound affect on the trajectory of his career. It was the opportunities that his improvisational skills opened up for him that eventually gave him a chance to start working as a voice actor. We begin this segment of our chat with me asking him to give a quick recap of how his acting career began.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #94 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 93 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

Today, I have a very special treat for my listeners!

Welcome to the first part of my interview with the amazingly versatile voice actor Phil LaMarr.

Phil’s roles in animation run the gamut from Hermes Conrad in Futurama, to the John Stewart Green Lantern in Justice League, to Kit Fisto in Star Wars: Clone Wars to the title character in Samurai Jack. I’m so grateful to Phil for taking the time to share with us his unique perspective on voice acting.

In this first episode, we focus on his very early career. Phil talks with me about some of the challenges he faced after college when he made his first serious attempts to break into the entertainment business as an actor. While he did not feel like he made much progress initially, it turns out the challenges and frustrations he faced ended up helping him focus his attention on what he truly wanted to achieve and on what it would take to accomplish his goals.

But I’ll let Phil tell you about that.

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #93 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 89 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 talk about a skill that is crucial to becoming a better voice actor: Critical Listening.

I touched on this topic briefly in my interview with Edward Bosco and Kimlinh Tran back in episodes 33, 34 and 35 of the podcast. When I asked Kimlinh what advice she would give to aspiring voice actors, she explained that the best thing they could do is to develop their Critical Listening Skills. I agreed.

If you’re going to pursue voice acting professionally you need to be able to listen to an actor’s performance, understand what acting choices they made, and then decide whether or not those acting decisions are the best ones to serve the character and the story. Until you develop the ability to listen to performances critically in both other actor’s work and in your own acting, you won’t know what you need to do to improve your performances. So let’s spend this episode talking about what it takes to develop your critical listening skills.

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #89 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 83 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 the last episode, I talked at length about agents and managers. Specifically, I explained how to build a fruitful relationship with an agent by understanding what is their responsibility as your representative and what is your responsibility as their client. I also discussed the differences between agents and managers to ensure that there was no confusion among my listeners about the different jurisdictions and approaches of these two kinds of professionals.

In this episode, I’d like to talk about how best to interact with Producers and Casting Directors. I want to help you understand the mindset of producers since they are the ones who usually have the final say about who does and does not get hired to play a voice acting role. This may come as a surprise to some aspiring voice actors who might think that this decision gets made by a show’s voice director. While a voice director’s creative input is definitely considered during the initial casting stage, it is almost always the producer who finally decides which actors will play which characters.

Sometimes, producers will hire an industry professional known as a casting director to help with this process. A casting director can save a lot of the producer’s time by helping them narrow down the number of auditions submitted by actors. The casting director serves as a filter, listening to hundreds of submissions and bringing the producer only a final few to be considered for each available role. Even though it has become more common recently for producers to approach actors’ agents directly in order to solicit auditions, a good casting director can still play an important role in bringing actors and producers together.

Both producers and casting directors have a problem, one that only you can solve! Check out the episode to learn how best to help them!

Thanks for listening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #83 Here (MP3)