Almost Famous
They're stars of TV and screen. Yet they don't jet around the world. They don't sip champagne in the backs of limousines. They don't only eat the yellow M&Ms. They don't sniff cocaine off whores' asses. They're paid a reasonable amount if they're any good and their voices are oddly familiar.
And you've never heard of them. Welcome to the world of voice-over artists.
"We prefer voice-over actors," says Joe Bevilacqua, one of the most successful and sought after of his trade in the U.S. "After all, voice acting is real acting."
The status of voice acting certainly seems to be caught up in a flux at the moment. After hitting a high point in the fifties, the form has steadily slipped to its current role as a poor second to getting up in front of a camera or up on stage in front of a camera; what most people would deem to be worthy of the tag "real acting". Bevilacqua is indignant.
"For most voice-over actors, going into voice-over is an active choice, a preference, not just something to do because they can't get regular acting work."
What then of the fact that a sizeable minority that seemingly do want to find regular work? Or the fact that many voice-over artists have a small string of tiny "regular" acting parts?
"We're talking two separate spheres here, even though they require many of the same talents. It's good to do something different, to branch out a little."
It is, ironically enough, the branching out of a whole different group that's been causing the voice-over community a whole lot of grief recently. That of mainstream Hollywood actors moving into voice-over for major animated pictures. Not only do they demand huge salaries that voice-over actors could only dream of, but they take away some of the most high profile work.
"They gravitate towards celebrities so that they have actors who have already developed a persona they can draw from to fill out the character, whereas a multi-voiced person is waiting for their idea to produce the particular voice," says Corey Burton.
"That's not bad, but it's completely insulting when they completely ignore the regular voice people."
Add to the mix the fact that many studios now employ children to do voice-over, and you have further causes for discomfort; less professional work available and yet another reduction in the critical gravitas most voice-over actors are crying out for. Many slave away far from the cartoons that provide staple work - providing voices for little known computer games and talking teddy bears.
Given the fact that most voice-over actors consider their vocation "real acting", why is the proportion of voice-over actors to make the transition into regular acting so small?
"In a word," says agent Jack Browne, "Looks. As an agent, whenever I'm helping one of my clients sound out a demo tape, I always try to discourage them from including a photo of themselves. Anyhow, part of the beauty of the form is that one voice can suggest such a wildly different array of physical appearances. Including a photo shatters that vital illusion."
Despite that, things may be looking up for the voice-over community. With a few expensive animated flops hitting the cinemas recently, many studios have gone back to their traditional workforce if for no other reason than to cut costs. As Jack Browne says: "Studios got wise to the fact that casting celebrities, which was only ever a box-office draw to adults, was far too expensive given that the main target demographic was young kids who'd drag their parents along anyway!"
The irresistibly named Debi Derryberry, who landed the lead in recent animated feature Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius perhaps sums up the note of defiance common to many in the industry:
"Voice-over is not over!"
8th May 2003