Thoughts from the voiceless actor.....
I remember when I was a kid, sitting there on the living room floor watching Saturday morning cartoons. Not only amazed at the visual wonderment of the moving and speaking art coming to life on my screen, just totally enthralled that there was an actual person speaking for them. That there was actually someone who is acting with only their voice bringing these characters to life. I became fascinated with all forms of voice over. There were two gentlemen in the voice over field who quickly became heroes of mine. They were Mel “The Man of a Thousand Voices” Blanc and Daws Butler. Though there were been others in the field at the time, there was no one as good as these two pioneers of the voice over industry. These two greats were responsible for the voices of most of the most notable cartoon characters of all time. A few (out of many) that Blanc did was Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, & Yosemite Sam. A few (out of many as well) that Butler was known for was Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, & Huckleberry Hound.
Throughout my childhood I loved cartoons so much and I watched them every chance I could. It didn’t matter which ones I watched. Of course I had my favorites, the classic Warner Brothers cartoons, the Tex Avery toons, Terrytoons, Hanna-Barbera. I could go on forever. I would do my best to mimic all of my favorite characters. I had a couple good ones if I must say so myself. I became more and more fascinated with the artists who were behind the characters. I would go to the library and look for books about the voice over artists and try to find out as much information as I could. Information like was a little harder to come by before the internet. Even if I couldn’t find out anything about them, I would still watch in awe and secretly hoping that one day my voice could be heard on television or radio.
Unfortunately, around the age of fifteen, I came to the conclusion that being just a regular guy from a small suburb of Dallas, Texas wouldn’t get me to where I wanted to be. Well that and the lack of confidence I had in myself (But that's an entirely different story). So I just kept all those crazy dreams of being a voice over artist to myself and went on with my life. I still watched cartoons and listened to commercials with a critic’s ear. That was it. The dream of being behind a microphone in a dark recording booth was kept on the proverbial back-burner for so long, it soon became forgotten.
One thing I used to do and still do to this day is to try and get a laugh out of someone at every chance I get. I truly believe that if you can make someone smile and laugh, especially in this day and age, you’ve really accomplished something very special. Over the years people would say to me “You’re Silly” or “You’re Funny, You should be an actor or something”. I usually just brushed it off with a “yea, ok” response. Secretly thinking to myself “I Wish”. So one day I took a look around the internet checking for local schools that offered voice over classes. I found one that was very creditable. I discussed it with my very supportive wife and signed up for some classes. The classes were, for lack of a better word, awesome. I was learning very good techniques and receiving extremely positive comments from the instructor. The description of the class was that you would walk away with a professionally recorded and directed demo, improved voice techniques, & how to get into the voice over field. The main thing I got a demo with no real direction as to what to do with it or what the next steps are.
After searching and searching for possible voice over jobs, I came to the conclusion, if you don’t have representation; you aren’t going to get very far. If that’s not enough, you can’t get work without representation. Unless you’re already established. I had sent out my demo to what had to be two hundred different people. The one or two responses out of the hundreds I sent out were shoot downs. So I decided I need to just get my foot in the door. I had found out about a production company that was in town shooting a film. They were looking for background. Ok, it’s not a speaking role but it’s something. I sent in my info and I got chosen. While I was in line for wardrobe, casting pulled me out for a different role. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot in just the few days that I was on set. So fast forward a little and I get a call for another production. It’s still background but like I said, it’s something. That starts a chain of a series of events. While there, I find out they’re shooting the sequel simultaneously and they wanted me in that as well. While on the set of that I get a call from the casting agent of a television series that is being shot and they wanted to use me in a recurring background role. The same for the next season of that. Then finally to my very first onscreen credit, a reenactment for a medical documentary.
Though none of the on screen work I did had absolutely anything to do with voice over, I was hoping that it would be the foot in the door that I needed to get into it. But alas, it wasn’t. Now I will be the first to admit, it was very fun to do and a great thing to experience. My heart was still in voice over. Every chance I would get I would practice reading out loud. Whether it was the newspaper, a thought I had at the time, or the television screen in the elevator at work, I would practice. So that maybe one day when the time comes I will be ready.
I know one thing though; it’s not going to be an easy task. I personally have met and read about a lot of people who want the same thing. Some of the people to whom I’ve met and spoken with about voice over have the same drive as I do. Most think it’s an easy job to do. That there isn’t really any work you have to put in it. I would beg to differ though. Even though I personally haven’t worked professionally, I’ve taken voice over classes, I’ve seen voice over documentaries, and I’ve spoken with actual voice over professionals about the “business”. I tend to believe my knowledge goes a little deeper than the average person who just wakes up one day and thinks he/she wants to do voice over. There has to be dedication, confidence in your work, & passion.
One obstacle that I’ve noticed I have to overcome is a growing trend that’s been happening over the last few years or so. When a new animated movie or television show comes out, the producers try and get a big name for the title or main characters. Blatantly knocking down the actual voice over artist down a level. Now don’t get me wrong, I understand the reasoning behind the studios wanting a big name on their picture. They (the studios) want to sell every ticket possible. The story doesn’t even have to be good, but as long as Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp (to name a couple) has top billing everything is great. So that makes it harder for the dedicated voice over talent to be considered for lead roles in big budget productions.
Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege of being able to speak with some of my new voice over inspirations on a one on one basis. They’ve given me a lot of guidance and their professional opinions. I also inquired about their opinion on the subject of the “Hollywood” voice actor. I can tell just by their expressions on their faces they feel the same as I do when it comes to the “Hollywood” actor invading the voice over booth. The way I see it is that they (the Hollywood actor/actress) are taking money out of the pockets of the people whose true passion is to do voice over. The artists’ who does it as a full time job, not just another job in between on screen gigs. It makes it a little more difficult to for aspiring voice over enthusiasts (such as myself) to now have double the competition for landing roles. I personally would rather go see the next animated movie with the top billing saying “Starring Tom Kane”, “Starring James Arnold Taylor” or “Starring Michael Bell” (to name a few) rather than seeing a crap movie with a crap story line with the top billing saying “Starring Johnny Depp”, “Starring Brad Pitt”, or “Starring John Travolta”. That’s just me though. What do you think?
