Weird: Of strange or extraordinary character, odd, fantastic.
Quirky: Peculiar or unexpected traits, original.
Remember back in high school when kids voted for the “Best Dressed”, “Best Hair” or “Most Likely to Succeed” for the yearbook?
There were lots of categories that judged how well you fit in with everyone else – but there was never a voting category for how well you didn’t fit in. That personality trait wasn’t celebrated – “Different” didn’t go over very well.
That’s why many voice actors were loners in school. We saw the world differently and had interests most people thought were weird. Can you relate?
While other girls were trying out for cheerleading, I was fantasizing about being a DJ. I thought seeing the inside of a frog in biology was a waste of time (and frogs) – I wanted to see the inside of a radio station.
Howard Stern was an outcast, and Liam Hemsworth and Christian Bale were beat up in school. Lady Gaga was thrown in a trash can, and Jennifer Lawrence was so geeky she was asked to pass out invitations to a party she wasn’t invited to.
Societal pressure to conform starts early. It’s hard for us to appreciate how different we may be when we are younger, but it’s imperative to cultivate our “weirdness” as we pursue our acting careers.
Seeing the world differently is our greatest asset.
If you are getting into voice acting you are probably “quirky” to most folks – there are over 350 million people in the United States, but only about 500,000 of them are voice actors!
When I first meet with students for their demo prep, they are understandably nervous. Often their spontaneity is suppressed in a ball of nerves. They worry about how they sound and if they are going to make a mistake.
The secret to being a great voice actor is to do the opposite: don’t worry about how you sound, and don’t worry about making a mistake.
It helps to set the rules aside and try some crazy choices with our scripts that aren’t “by the book.”
The goal is to tear down the walls and have fun with the same lack of inhibition as when we were kids!
Of course we must first know the rules before we can break them – Eddie Van Halen had to learn the chords before he could play the guitar in a way that no one had ever heard before.
There aren’t many other jobs where it is your responsibility to take risks. You wouldn’t want your accountant or your doctor to take many risks, but voice acting is an art form, and as such you must always strive to not be ordinary. I heard a leading casting director recently say, “Risk pissing us off.”
When it comes to acting, the last thing we want to give is a predictable, uninspired performance, in lock step with everyone else. Casting is looking for something fresh, original, and unexpected!
This is why taking acting and improv workshops is so important. Deep inside, you can be a moving narrator, or dynamic anime character. Sometimes we need a coach to help us fully release what’s already inside of us.
It can be counterintuitive to color outside the lines – we’ve been rewarded in every other aspect of our lives for getting things right. But the best performances come in unplanned moments, when we surprise even ourselves.
Check out our free PDF with pro-tips from real working voice-over actors here!
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