VAM 097 | Interview with Phil LaMarr, Part 5
Welcome to episode 97 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 fifth 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 outlined the unique challenges that any minority actor has to face when trying to build a career in the entertainment industry. It can be difficult to know how to present oneself as a minority actor in a primarily caucasian storytelling environment like animation. Phil has learned to succeed in this environment with skill and grace, and I can’t thank him enough for sharing his experiences and insight with all my listeners.
In this, our final episode together, Phil actually describes the thought process he went through when making decisions about how to portray the voice of the Jon Stewart version of Green Lantern for the Justice League animated series. This is a rare look inside the head of a talented voice actor as he determines how best to bring a character to life. I personally find it fascinating and enlightening to hear what character traits Phil blended in order to get the voice of Jon Stewart just right.
Get ready for some priceless words of wisdom, ’cause here they come!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #97 Here (MP3)
Hey Mr freeman would u mind if a voice actor like me try to voice act as you or alucard
You can try, but unless you’re a classically trained opera singer with a lyric baritone voice, I doubt you’ll be able to voice match me very well.
Oh and thanks to you and my hero kaggy and my love of anime I want to be a voice actor
Yes, you said that already. If you are serious about becoming a professional voice actor, I suggest you listen to the podcast from the beginning with an attentive ear.
A great wrap up to the interview. I particularly enjoyed how Phil came up with the voice for John Stewart and his advice to put forth your best effort and play to your strengths as an actor. Thank you both very much for this enlightening interview.
Nice man
Thanks.
You’re very welcome! Thanks for listening!
That’s amazing. Combining what the character needed to sound like combining with what he wanted the character to sound like is so enlightening to hear.
The entire interview was amazing. Thanks to you and Phil LaMarr for your time and wisdom.
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
This was a wonderful interview and I’m very glad Phil LaMarr was able to share his experiences and give advice. Very enlightening and interesting!
I also recently signed up for your online workshop. Can’t wait for April to come around. I definitely look forward to learning even more!
Excellent! I look forward to working with you as well!
Amazing story and interview ^_^ I totally agree with Phil- ‘work on the acting and skills,etc.’ My acting skills so far; I know I took couple of your classes in 2014. However, I decided to go through Speech Therapy to get improve my communication skills, word emphasis, idioms, and voice inflections,etc. On late-Jan 2015- I decide to take the online bi-weekly acting classes with Ms Cathryn Hartt from ‘Hartt & Soul Studio’. I did a wonderful job at my first online acting class with her – We were doing about ‘Imagination’ during the whole hour. The first take I did I almost sound like that I was ‘impressing myself’, but I learned a lesson. I know I’m still improving express myself more, especially when I was in my Speech Therapy. during my second try, I got myself more time with relax and use ‘imagination’ – I did it! I really nailed myself by using my own imagination to created a reality, believably and creativity. I’ve always kept thinking myself about your important words- ‘Play a Character Believable’ and ‘Need to Express yourself more than Impress’. I couldn’t have done without you and my Speech Therapist. I know you’re very proud of me 😉 On whole month of Feb 2015, I was doing the next assignment -‘scene for Character voice’ and make myself a video on YouTube as well. She really loved it and She was so impressed that I did good by doing extra hard. During this type of class, Ms Cathryn really loved my voice about how I sounded and looked like a sweet young pixie. She also wants me to do another video though with different voices and different expression tones as possible- and so, I did it. Yesterday, we were doing a topic- ‘What’s Pushing Your Buttons?’ I did everything to raise my level from my soft voice, such as anger- it was quite challenge. Although, I don’t like to get scream loud through my microphone headset- I know it’ll damage it. after that, I did raise my level a bit. She said I did well 🙂 Thanks again Crispin and Phil for wonderful job as always-Take care
You’re very welcome Meghan. I’m glad you found the interview helpful.
I’m also glad that you’re finding the assistance you need to improve your speech skills.
Don’t worry about damaging your microphone from screaming too loud though. It’s almost impossible to damage a microphone by being too loud. Dropping it is a different story!
The Justice League cartoons were my introduction to not only other Green Lanterns but all the other Lanterns. So this whole interview and a peek in Mr. LaMarr’s head when understanding John Stewart has been a real treat.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Really enjoyed the interview! Lots of insights and lots of valuable advice and food for thought.
Looking forward to more!
Thanks for listening!
hi, Crispin and everyone
thanks for doing that interview with Phil LaMarr. It gave me real great advise but, more importantly it gave me a crystal clear picture of what voice acting.(I admit that I really had no idea how voice acting was an actual career choice until i actually started researching it for myself.)
I recently found myself becoming interested in voice acting. You see I’m writing a book, a fantasy novel and I like to act out scenes so i can come up with believable dialogue for characters and I found that I have a pretty good voice. So as an experiment I tried acting random dialogue from like other books but, I find that my voice keeps jumping from one kind of tone to another and I’m looking for advice on improving.
Anyone is welcome to give me some awesome tips. Thanks and oh yes…….. Crispin I’m a huge fan of yours and Phil LaMarr’s work. You guys truly are the masters.
Hi there Michael. I’m glad you enjoyed my interview with Phil.
It’s very difficult to give acting tips over text. It would be like giving you advice on your baseball game via e-mail.
If you really want to improve your acting skills, you’re going to have to take some acting classes with teachers whose work you admire. There’s no “trick” to acting just like there’s no “trick” to playing the piano well. It just takes practice.
Greatly appreciate the time and effort of both you and Phil! Thank you.
You’re very welcome!
Hey Crispin, I have some questions about taking care of your vocal cords. Back in 2012-2013, I used to be able to try and do many impersonations and talk/yell at intense levels without any difficulties for videos on YouTube and Instagram. I would even practice them to try and get better by talking into a recorder on my phone to hear what I sound like. But in 2014 I started to notice that some voices/impersonations began getting harder to do and hurting my vocal cords. I wasn’t able to do yell or perform as intensely as before like in 2013 in my videos. So I began to just try and rest my vocal cords for a day or two a time. But it wasn’t very effective and I decided to stop doing voices like that. And it hit me that my vocal cords are not exactly invincible and can’t be overused. But would still do them for projects and other stuff on occasions. So I started to get tips on taking care of vocal cords from voice actors Christopher Patton and Rachael Messer on facebook since I was friends with them. Some of them helped such as drinking honey water and peppermints. Was more effective than just not talking for a day or 2. But still vocals aren’t as strong as they used to be. Do you know anyways I can help maybe strengthen my vocal cords so they don’t hurt as much? Such as exercises or warm ups? Also if it’s a result from vocal damage are there ways I can reverse it or treat it? I did try asking my doctor if they could see if I had damaged vocal cords or something wrong with my throat or tonsillitis. They said it could be a result of drainage and gave me nasal spray. But they didn’t exactly see my vocal cords just my throat. They recommended if the nasal spray didn’t help, to see someone who could take a look at my vocal cords. If there’s any information you can give me on vocal recovery I’d appreciate any tips or feedback you can give me.
Hi there Nathan. I’m sorry that you seem to be having vocal distress.
There is no “trick” to being able to using your voice well, just as their is no “trick” to being able to play a piano well. It takes learning the proper techniques and practicing them diligently until they become second nature. Honey and peppermints can only give relief to symptoms you may be having. They don’t solve the underlying problem which may be that you don’t have the proper vocal technique to support the kind of voices you are trying to do.
Personally, given your description, I doubt that you’ve done any permanent damage to your vocal cords. If you’ve rested them after straining them, chances are that you have not done enough repeated damage to them to make a permanent change. What may be happening is that your voice is simply maturing and you don’t yet know the proper vocal technique to be able to control your voice the way you would like to.
The best advice I have for learning how to control your voice well is classical singing training. This is the kind of singing that is done in Opera and in what are called legit Broadway musicals (e.g. Showboat, Brigadoon, Guys & Dolls, Oklahoma, West Side Story, etc.) My classical singing training has been the single best investment in my vocal health. It has taught me proper vocal techniques and has kept me from damaging my voice over my many years of both stage and voice acting.
You could also try actor’s speech classes. Kristin Linklater is a pioneer in this area with her book called Freeing the Natural Voice. Her aim is to help actors vocalize freely, without stress, so they can act more effectively. She’s not a singer, but she does do her best to help actors speak without strain.
I would avoid any sprays, decongestants or other remedies. They will simple mask any bad vocal habits you may have picked up. Such remedies are okay to use if you’re under the weather or are in distress, but they cannot replace solid vocal technique.
I hope you find that helpful.
Hey Crispin! I haven’t commented on the blog posts before but after the abundance of wisdom and entertainment provided in these 5 episodes I felt I really had to.
Thank you so much to you and Phil for such an amazing interview. I thoroughly enjoyed every episode and am deeply appreciative for them!
You’re so welcome! Thank you for your lovely comment!
I can’t believe how awesome Phil LaMarr is. There are some very important lessons to be learned here. This may be your best interview yet!
Yup! He’s pretty awesome! That’s why I’m so grateful he came on the podcast!
Hi Crispin. I found your podcast February 2016 and have been hooked from the first episode; and have listened to every episode, up to this one. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience and guests with us.
This interview with Phil LaMarr was outstanding! He was detailed and through, especially explaining his experiences as a minority actor and this mentality to keep move forward and never forget the desire to act. He was so giving and professional in his explanations. This interview with Phil, is one of my top favorite interviews, Jack Angel is my next favorite. I have learned a great deal from each guest.
Again, I must really say thank you! Your podcasts are full of so much wonderful information on acting and being professional. It’s obvious you are an excellent teacher from the podcast. I can only imagine how much better taking classes with you would be. I hope to take classes with you one day.
All the best,
Kaylia
Excellent! So glad you’re enjoying the podcast! Thanks for listening!
I’m very grateful to Phil for sharing so much of his time and wisdom. I think topics of minority casting are very important and deserve a lot more attention in public discourse.
I hope to work with you in class one day! Take care!