Welcome to episode 156 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 interview with the multi-faceted Julie Nathanson! Julie has worked on many high profile animated projects such as Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Elena of Avalor, and Avengers Assemble! She’s also worked on major games such as Call of Duty, Far Cry 5, and Lego DC Super-Villains. In addition to her voice acting work, Julie is also a professional screen writer for television and video games! And if that weren’t enough, Julie also has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology! Her broad range of interests and talents all inform and enrich each other and I’m so grateful she’s been willing to spend so much time talking with us.

In the previous episode, Julie explained how she made the transition from on-camera acting work to voice over and how she took an audience member’s criticism of her voice and transformed it into the inspiration to begin a whole new career as a voice actor. She also shared with us her 3 step process for understanding a character. If you haven’t listened to her outline her process in detail in the last episode, I strongly suggest you check it out before proceeding to the final part of our interview.

As we wrap up our discussion, Julie gives her advice to the aspiring voice actor. She explains how important it is to be friendly and pleasant while collaborating on a project so that people in the entertainment industry will look forward to working with you again. A positive attitude can help in other ways too! For example, Julie’s enthusiasm and genuine interest in her peers means that she feels happy for her fellow voice actors when they succeed, rather than feeling jealous of their accomplishments or self-critical for not booking a particular gig herself. By maintaining this spirit of positivity and support, Julie is not only able to feel inspired by the work of her colleagues, but she can learn from what they do as well.

Julie also discusses how her study of psychology has informed her approach to acting. While it’s clear that her insight into the human psyche helps her own artistry, she’s also been generous enough to share her knowledge with others. Recently, Julie gave a very important presentation at the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco on how game developers can use discoveries in psychology and brain wave synchronization to help improve collaboration between voice actors and the people who make video games! It’s a fascinating topic and I’m sure you’ll find it very enlightening!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #156 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 155 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 interview with the multi-faceted Julie Nathanson! Julie has worked on many high profile animated projects such as Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Elena of Avalor, and Avengers Assemble! She’s also worked on major games such as Call of Duty, Far Cry 5, and Lego DC Super-Villains. In addition to her voice acting work, Julie is also a professional screen writer! She was a staff writer and then Executive Story Editor on the NBC TV Series, Just Deal and she’s written and consulted on games such as Guildlings, an RPG currently available on Apple Arcade, and Vader Immortal: a Star Wars VR Series! And if that weren’t enough, Julie also has a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology! Her interests and skills are wide and far ranging and I’m so excited to share her journey with you!

In the previous episode, Julie and I talked about how she got started as an actress. She shared with us some of the most influential experiences from her childhood and how her passion for performing lead her to pursue acting and singing as a career. Our conversation was a deep dive into the psychology of a creator and I highly recommend you listen to it first before moving on to part 2 of our talk together!

In this part of our interview, we explore the details of how Julie transitioned from her on camera acting career into voice acting. Julie was fortunate to be hired as an actress in soap operas and TV shows, but she never felt fully relaxed in front of the camera. Ironically, the catalyst for her shifting her focus to voice acting came from an insult she received online. A viewer criticized the sound of her voice in the comments section of her soap opera’s webpage and said she sounded like a “chipmunk”. Instead of letting that discourage her, Julie took it as inspiration to capitalize on her unique voice. Discovering the world of voice over was like coming home for her and she’s never looked back.

Also in this episode, Julie explains the 3 step process she uses to develop a character and how it helps make her performances grounded and authentic. She even shares with us a recording of her as a little girl trying out different voices while telling Knock-knock jokes! It seems she had a fascination with voice acting from a very young age! I find Julie’s journey completely inspiring and I hope you will too!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #155 Here (MP3)

Welcome to episode 154 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 stunningly multi-faceted Julie Nathanson! You may recognize Julie from her performances as Samantha Maxis in Call of Duty, Silver Banshee and Jewelee in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Jess Black in Far Cry 5, Captain Scarlet Turner in Elena of Avalor, and Crimson Widow in Avengers Assemble. Not only is Julie an accomplished voice actress, but she’s also a professional screen writer as well! She was a staff writer and then Executive Story Editor on the NBC TV Series, Just Deal, where she was nominated for a Writer’s Guild Award for one of her episodes! She’s written and consulted on games such as Guildlings, an RPG currently available on Apple Arcade, and Vader Immortal: a Star Wars VR Series! If that weren’t enough, she also has a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology! Julie’s interests are wide and far ranging which is one of the reasons I was so eager to interview her on the podcast!

In the first part of our discussion, we go all the way back to the beginning, when Julie was only 6 years old, to find out where her fascination with acting comes from! She shares with me the story of her first time on stage, and how the absence of one of her fellow actors in their first grade pageant inspired her to step up and save the show! We also talk about her parents and how their work in psychology influenced her. She absorbed a lot from their study of the emotional life of the human mind. In fact, her father even asked her to edit some of his writings on the subject! Julie’s parents always respected her intelligence, never talked down to her, and made sure to include her in their adult conversations. Her parents were very multi-faceted as well which helped inspire Julie to think outside the box when it came to making her own career decisions!

Not only is Julie a font of energy and enthusiasm, but she’s also put a lot of thought into her journey and you can hear it when she speaks!

Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #154 Here (MP3)