Voice Over Actor

If you have a voice and an interest in acting then voice over acting may be for you. A voice over actor is someone who provides the voice for visual elements in a movie or commercial. Think of the voice of “KIT” in Knight Rider or “Charlie” in Charlie’s Angels or even the distinct “GRRRRRRREAT” from Tony the Tiger who is the mascot for Frosted Flakes. It’s like acting without the makeup and costumes.

There is considerable competition for voice over jobs. Many actors and actresses with distinctive voices are sought after for this type of work but that doesn’t mean it will be impossible to find work. It’s not only Hollywood who is looking for voice over actors, local businesses look for voice over actors to record their commercials to be aired on radio stations. Many websites use voice over actors to add personality to their site. Who knows, you may be the next Toucan Sam for a new and upcoming dot com company. The possibilities are endless. Someone had to provide the voice for books on tape why can’t it be you?

A job may be for a 30 second commercial, a full length movie or anything in between. Sometimes the voice over actor is expected to come up with their own interpretation of how a voice should come across based on the script but often times the director will suggest various ways to present the lines in order to meet the needs of the client.

A voice over actor can spend hours in a recording studio reading and re-reading lines until the director is satisfied with the finished product. You must be patient, flexible and ready for anything because it is not unusual for you to receive the script the day of the recording.

How do you get a sweet gig like this? A professional voice over actor will rely on an agent to find them work. To break into this arena it is really important for you to create a demo tape of various voice styles and submit it to agencies.

If you want to brush up on your skills you could take a course or two at one of the many voice over schools out there. If you type “voice over training” in your browser and hit “search” you will find a plethora of schools online. You could also hire a voice coach to help you develop your voice. Once you feel confident that you have the golden vocal chords to make a pretty penny and you have sent demo tapes to various agencies, it wouldn’t hurt to visit the online networking sites for voice over actors. Voices.com is an online networking arena where businesses connect with voice over actors.