My Voice

I got a really neat request from demonichat to talk about my voice over work. Most people know me as Rin's voice but there has been a ton of other work I've done that you may not know is me. I'll go through my journey with InuYasha, talk about my favourite voice over job and how they have shaped my career.

I was 11 years old when I booked InuYasha. If I remember correctly it was the second voice over job I'd ever done. I couldn't have had it any better because the director, the producers, the entire production and office was incredible and they still are. I'm so fortunate that this was the first group I ever worked with because they made the job fun and relaxing.

A problem that comes up when hiring a kid to do voice work is that their voices change! Luckily for me, as InuYasha progressed they brought the reality of a 7 year old girl maturing into her pre-teens, therefore they worked with it and wrote in the fact that my voice was changing from an 11 year old girl (even though at that time Rin's age was 7) into a teenager. InuYasha was the voice over role that changed my life. It shaped my voice over career completely, I'm so grateful I landed this role so young. The series has finished, started up again and released features. It's the kind of show that just when you think it's going to end it starts back up again for another season. Very very proud to be a part of this show! InuYasha: The Final Act should be released within the next 6 months, unfortunately I don't have any exact dates so that's just a speculation.

InuYasha kick started my drive for voice over. I have gone on to do DragonBall Z, Next Avengers, Gundam 00, Shakugan No Shana, Gundam Seed Destiny, Elemental Gelade, Hamtaro, Quintuplets, Popotan, Paradise Harvest, Star Ocean, Nana and one VERY awesome project I'm not able to talk about yet... just to name a few.

There wouldn't be enough time in the day for you to read about every one of my voice over experiences so I'll go on to talk about one of my favourites (if not my favourite) voice over job I've ever done... Elemental Gelade.

HOLY MAN, Elemental Gelade was a ridiculously fun project. You have to watch this series - it's an absolutely MUST.

A lot of the work I do I just kind of go in there, do the scene, move along; not very often do you land a project that you completely fall in love with. I didn't read the entire series before hand so every day I would walk into the studio with the excitement of what was going to happen next. It was basically a surprise. It's kind of like when you wake up in the morning knowing your favourite tv show is on that night and you're squirming to find out what happens next! I completely fell in love with the storyline, the characters and the entire plot. I watched my character, Reverie Metherlence (Ren) grow from a quiet, humble, timid and somewhat frightened and confused girl who would only speak a couple of breathy words in the first few episodes, to a radiant, beautiful, strong woman who had found love. I had never met any of the actors who were voicing the other characters and yet as a group we were able to create a magnificent connection between each character. There would be a powerful, emotional scene between Ren and Cou that you'd think the actors would have to be in the room together to work off each other. That wasn't the case at all - it was amazing that we all accomplished such a fantastic bond and made the storyline flow without ever physically working together.

This sounds insane (but hey, all actors are a little insane in one way or another) but I would actually get butterflies (as you would imagine Ren would) whenever Ren and Cou would react, I would have tears of happiness in my eyes when something good would happen, I would be sad when things weren't going well in the storyline. I felt like I had truly become Ren! I miss this series so much, I am so thrilled to have been a part of it. It was a very powerful experience and it totally made me realize that voice over isn't just about putting on a head set and making up some voice into the microphone. It's about finding a character, taking on that character's emotions and literally becoming a part of the show itself. I always assumed that on screen performances were the ones you would really "get into character for" but I was completely wrong; voice over is a huge time commitment, it's emotionally and physically draining just as live action work is but it's just as satisfying. I have been so blessed in this area of work, the opportunities I have been given have been phenomenal.

In short: I am absolutely head over heels in love with voice over!