Whether you’re doing character work, narrating an audiobook, or announcing for a commercial, our job as voice actors is to give an authentic performance. Some of these roles may lend themselves to our personalities right from the start. Commercials may ask for a “real person” type that fits your sound, or an audiobook might just call for your natural speaking voice.
Find your true self in performance.
It’s easier to be authentic when casting is looking for a real human on the other side of the mic; but maybe the audiobook also requires some character voices from you, or you’re playing a role in a podcast, show, or film. Suddenly, it becomes a little harder to be “you” when “you” are supposed to be someone else. So how do we make sure we’re still being authentic, even when we’re playing a role?
Well, the most important piece of advice on how to be authentic in your performance is… stop trying to be someone else!
Although I’ll talk more about how to do this with characters, I don’t mean to discredit the challenge of authenticity even in commercial or first-person narrative scripts you may have. Especially when you’re just starting out in voiceover, it can be helpful practice to listen and learn from the voice-overs we hear around us in the world. I’ve probably heard that Burger King commercial a million times by now, for example. The actor/singer has a powerful voice, his delivery is strong, and he’s being a little silly even in a straightforward script. It’s tempting to want to copy that sort of voice and vocal tone when I’m auditioning for what I might think is a similar commercial, but when it comes to actually getting to work, we need to put what we’ve heard before aside and use your own voice. If they want the sound of the Burger King Whopper guy, they’ll just hire him. There’s an open audition because they want something new – something like you!
Nowadays, almost all the commercial and narrative auditions I see will mention that they want it to sound like “a real person”. It can still be hard to figure out what a client means when they say this. Don’t overthink it! I’m a real person. So are you! This is the perfect space for us to take a script and let our personality shine through. Think about how you would say the words to a friend of yours. Maybe you even pretend that you have that imaginary friend in the booth with you for you to talk to! Don’t overperform on these, just deliver that script exactly how you would if it was coming from your own brain. This is truly what clients want. Something unique, that doesn’t sound like every other commercial out there. If you haven’t voiced in tons of commercials out there on the TV or radio, you’re already a perfect match!
It seems easy enough to be authentic when that’s what the client is looking for, of course. So how do we remain authentic when we’re playing a character?
The two biggest pieces of advice I can give are to be selective about your auditions and to find ways to connect with your characters.
Something I had to learn the hard way as I progressed in my voice-over career is to start being pickier about what I’m auditioning for. When I was getting started, I would audition for anything and everything I saw, even when I knew deep down that the character wasn’t really one I’d sound good playing. Voice-over can be a numbers game and I wanted to win it. In reality, I was auditioning for so many roles that weren’t a good fit for me that my auditions to bookings ratio was pretty dismal. I’ve wised up since then. I have a good grasp on my sound, my personality, and where I’d be able to successfully bring a character to life. When I see a casting call for a villainous older woman with a deep sultry voice, I pass it by. That’s not me! I’m not good at connecting with those characters, and I certainly don’t have the range – but, when I see a call for an adventurous teenage girl with a raspy voice, I’m going to pounce on it! I know that’s in my wheelhouse. And guess what? I’m almost always getting those callbacks.
I am me. I am most successful playing roles that are similar to who I am. Not every client wants me for their character, and that’s ok! I persist in this career to show up for the ones that do.
Most importantly, when I’ve decided I want to audition for a character role, I need to spend a little bit of time studying the script and putting myself in that character’s shoes. It’s going to really help me perform authentically if I can understand and relate to the character. Sometimes, we’re not given all that much information to go off of in a script. What inferences can I make about who this person is? If the couple of lines I am using to audition seem to be from a scene where my character is arguing with someone else about how to read a treasure map, then I’m going to assume this character is feisty, headstrong, and opinionated. I can also be all of those things. I can relate to her! I’ve been in that position where no one’s listening to me even though I know I’m right – maybe that’s what’s happening here in this scene. Now that I’ve thought about it more and have created a vision of the character in my head that’s based off of some of my own qualities, I can approach that audition from a place of honesty. I can empathize with this character, so I’m going to speak those lines from that same place of frustration I’d have if I were her!
Getting to know your characters and understanding why they act the way they do is going to help you relate to them. If you can relate to them, then you can pretend to be them much more easily. That empathy and script analysis is going to lend itself to your authentic performance!
Whether it’s for a radio ad, an audiobook, or a children’s show, find ways to let your personality show. That’s what clients are paying for!
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