Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
We often get asked about voice-over and our work as voice actors, having worked regularly for the last twenty years in video games, animation, commercials and more. “What do I need to know, and what can I do right now to get my own career launched?” Well, it’s a long journey, but we came up with five things we think are essential, so when the opportunity arises, you’re ready to turn your preparation into “luck.” 1. Love the craft and business of acting. Voice ACTING is ACTING first and foremost. It doesn’t matter the medium: screen, stage, or behind a microphone, a good performance shines because an actor understands the script, has crafted a character, and made interesting choices about how that character sets about getting what they want. So, if you’re interested in getting into voice-over work, start with the acting. Take a class, get on stage in a play or improv group, make your own movies with friends, but you must fall in love with acting. Inspire your imagination: an actor’s greatest tool. 2. Throw self-consciousness out the window. Just because it’s VOICE-over doesn’t mean you should be a talking head. Use your body! It will inform your performance even though the director and engineer are the only ones who’ll ever see it. But the audience will feel it. A fighting video game session can be as grueling as hitting the gym, and we often break a sweat. Let your body do what it feels (as long as you don’t hit the microphone!) and let your face make even the strangest expressions: those will be the added spice to make your performance come alive. 3. Devour life. To quote Ian Holm in BIG NIGHT, “You must bite your teeth into the ass of life!” What we mean is, interesting people make interesting choices because they’ve lived life. Don’t just take acting classes. Fill up your human cup with things that excite or intrigue you and they will imbue your work with more depth and give it its own distinct feel. 4. Be a good human. Ok, this might seem basic, but you’d be surprised how far it will carry you in this industry. Being someone who is kind and good to work with, who understands that it takes a lot of people to create a project and it’s not all just about you, will make it so much easier to want to hire you again and again. 5. Become an Olympic medalist at reading. Sometimes you get fortunate enough to be on a stage and work with a cast doing performance capture for your character, but most of your job is in a booth reading scripts and bringing them to life. So read a little something out loud every day. In fact, get so good at reading that it doesn’t sound like you are reading, even if it’s the first time you’re seeing those words on the page in that order. So join us in the booth. And take heart in that you have no real competition, because your voice is unique if you let it out. Get out there and Raise Your Voice, Tara & Yuri
