So everyone starts somewhere right? For some they are born into it, for others they find it and they pursue it. I was one of the finders obviously... I never thought I wanted to be an actor, not even once...
Let me tell you a story about my acting journey...
Lets jump back 6 years... I was studying music at Liberty University in 2011 and I was determined to become a Worship Pastor. I had a strong desire to go where God wanted me and I felt called to serve through music, so I spent all night and day dreaming about what I thought would be my calling and my purpose. I took classes and always sang as hard as I could, I mean, I even started to get good at it after a while. I found myself wanting to do more, sing more, lead more, I just wanted to be successful! That's what everyone should want right? Isn't that how you become successful?! I WANTED IT! The following year I wasn't going to LU anymore due to not doing well in a class or two. In 2013 I started going to some community college in Portsmouth VA that I knew wouldn't challenge me.
I didn't get it, I just wanted to pursue music. I spent all of High School and my first year of college pursuing music! So I continued trying, then one day I found myself watching TV and noticing that my favorite anime character had a voice. "Hmm, Thats kinda cool" I told myself, At this point it was just about February and I was falling out of love with the idea of pursuing music, so I decided that the best way to make up for it was to get a hobby, something that would just kind of fill the time while I decided what terrible major I wanted to pursue.
During the previous summer I had worked for a camp as a counselor and used my paycheck to buy a microphone bundle, an AT-2020 with two M-Audio speakers, Why? Well I was gonna be a great worship leader and be a cool guy! And cool guys don't record with tape recorders, so I did the next best thing and bought expensive equipment that I didn't know how to use! XLR? Condenser Microphones? Woah,.. sounds neat! I then had the pleasure of keeping it in my closet for months until one day, I decided that I wanted to look up what it took to be a voice actor.... It was mainly out of boredom, and I didn't know the first thing about recording. I used to mimic cartoon characters when I was a kid, It couldn't be THAT different. That's when I discovered voice acting alliance and on February 5th, 2013, I began my Voice Acting Journey. I wasn't great, I recorded in the most echoey room in the world and I also was a terrible actor. But I loved it! Take this gem from back then for example! -
THAT WAS ME TRYING TO BE A SERIOUS ACTOR!
but I low key loved this so dont judge.
Voice Acting was a great way to branch out and make friends from all over and create unique projects that would entertain and inspire others! I started to meet better actors and it inspired me to improve my skills, I started auditioning for little fandubs that would NEVER see the light of day, And a few that actually did! I was determined to be better than my peers, to improve and impress, and score more fandub roles as I went. So I decided to take acting and vocal classes at my college, at the same time. I started learning how to take care of my voice and learning that acting was actually feeling things rather than being loud, I learned about treating a recording space and using walmart mattress foam to reduce echo. This was starting to become more than a hobby... and around now was the time I started trying to do more work like this little clip. -
Still not great, but way better than when I started!
During this time, I was noticing that people online that I had heard of such as Brittany Lauda and Amber Lee Connors were starting to book and cast paying work, something UNHEARD of to a newbie like me, I was amazed by them but stayed silent, I wanted to audition so badly, but I never reached out, besides, I was in Virginia! I was gonna wait til I was perfect. So I stayed in the shadows and kept working on fandubs and ridiculous projects that wouldn't benefit me in anyway. You know, practice. Later on in 2013, I decided to pay for a Voices.com subscription and started trying to audition. And after days of auditioning and recording and never getting enough listens for it to be worth what I was paying, believe it or not I booked something!
I ACTUALLY BOOKED WORK!?
I booked the role of Erik, The Red Warrior. It was my first ever paying gig, and I was ecstatic. I started recording immediately and I was promptly paid. It was an amazing feeling and I didn't want to stop feeling it! I immediately started working harder. I spent more time learning and trying to become more and more committed to making VO an actual career. I wanted to then branch beyond JUST anime, I wanted to do commercials, movies, TV shows, oh, and anime too. So I told myself, I'm going to move to NYC one day. I swear!
THEN I TOOK A YEAR OF A BREAK OF VO D:<
I then probably did a very not smart thing during this unexpected hiatus, and I ended up reaching out to Amber, (one of the people I told myself I wouldn't reach out to til I was ready) and I delivered the worst audition of my life that way. Even now while doing professional work I have yet to hear from her again XD
Then, things took a turn. I got a job as a flight attendant in 2015 and found that I would be JFK based! I was actually moving north to the NYC area. I couldnt believe it! Approximately 3-4 months after I moved, I started doing research into Voice Over again, what did I need to actually pursue this as a career? Do I need training? Who do I train with? Do I get a new mic? Computer? WAHT DO I DO!?!?!! I then decided I was gonna take my VO career seriously... I got a coach in NY and trained every week, I started singing again and I started making actual investments in myself. I started making cold calls, emails, and friends, and I started booking so much work I surprised myself! I didn't waste a single moment and it started to get to the point where people wanted to know who I was! I starting being able to audition for big name things and brands! I was able to book not one, but TWO characters in a Marvel game!!! Oh, yeah, THESE GUYS! ----
THEN I TOOK A YEAR OF A BREAK OF VO D:<
I then probably did a very not smart thing during this unexpected hiatus, and I ended up reaching out to Amber, (one of the people I told myself I wouldn't reach out to til I was ready) and I delivered the worst audition of my life that way. Even now while doing professional work I have yet to hear from her again XD
Then, things took a turn. I got a job as a flight attendant in 2015 and found that I would be JFK based! I was actually moving north to the NYC area. I couldnt believe it! Approximately 3-4 months after I moved, I started doing research into Voice Over again, what did I need to actually pursue this as a career? Do I need training? Who do I train with? Do I get a new mic? Computer? WAHT DO I DO!?!?!! I then decided I was gonna take my VO career seriously... I got a coach in NY and trained every week, I started singing again and I started making actual investments in myself. I started making cold calls, emails, and friends, and I started booking so much work I surprised myself! I didn't waste a single moment and it started to get to the point where people wanted to know who I was! I starting being able to audition for big name things and brands! I was able to book not one, but TWO characters in a Marvel game!!! Oh, yeah, THESE GUYS! ----
Then even bigger things came. Better things came, and now I've learned something INVALUABLE.
Every moment we spend planning and wondering, is time we could spend doing. Every moment that I spend making a call or typing an email is a moment of opportunity, if you ever feel stuck as an actor and you don't know where to go, ask yourself...what am I doing... what is working? What isn't? The only way you can move forward and achieve more success is by aligning your current state with your desired future state. Do you want to be successful? Then do it, move forward, make that call, write that email. Don't be afraid to be ambitious. Don't just want to be successful, do what it takes to be successful. I still have quite a ways to go... but I know that my own achievements are right around the corner.
Every moment we spend planning and wondering, is time we could spend doing. Every moment that I spend making a call or typing an email is a moment of opportunity, if you ever feel stuck as an actor and you don't know where to go, ask yourself...what am I doing... what is working? What isn't? The only way you can move forward and achieve more success is by aligning your current state with your desired future state. Do you want to be successful? Then do it, move forward, make that call, write that email. Don't be afraid to be ambitious. Don't just want to be successful, do what it takes to be successful. I still have quite a ways to go... but I know that my own achievements are right around the corner.
