Arielle DeLisle of Phoenix, Az., provides the voice of quirky blogger Romana Teague in the swamp noir adventure Knee Deep. She shared with us some answers to questions about her career and her experiences working on the project.

Getting started in voice acting.

I'd always enjoyed doing voices and performing to make people laugh when I was younger, and by the time I was 18 I had found my way into radio broadcasting. I was a radio DJ through college and ultimately found my happy place in the production studio, where all the creative magic happens. After working in the industry for 13 years, I left commercial production to run my voiceover business full time about 4 and a half years ago.

Favorite VO project, aside from Knee Deep?

In general, I'd have to say some of the work I'm most proud of is my long-form work in audiobook narration. I've narrated about 80 titles and each presents a unique set of characters and interactions to manage, like directing and performing all the roles in a play. It's the marathon work of voice over and I love the challenge of bringing the author's intention in print to life in audio. My favorite project I was part of was an audiobook I recorded last year, "Restless Waters" by Jessica Park, the sequel to another of my favorite projects, "Left Drowning." I collaborated with a fantastic singer-songwriter, Troy, whose lyrics were used in the book, and produced a unique experience for listeners. The collaboration between author, musician and narrator was very special to me; it was such a pleasure to work on that project!

Most important thing for an aspiring voice actor to remember?

I always stress the importance of being mindful of the business aspects of being a voice actor. If you're coming into voiceover and want this to work as a career, you need to be organized, reliable, thorough, customer-focused, consistent, clear in your communication and thoughtful. You should underpromise and overdeliver and strive to be a valuable member of your client's team by making the voiceover part of their projects headache-free. Work to build relationships with clients with long-term potential rather than putting all your energy into lining up a few one-time projects. The reward for managing all the business aspects of your voiceover endeavor is being able to get into the booth to record every day! If you set yourself up well in the beginning and keep a long-term view, a career with longevity is possible.

What made Knee Deep different?

I felt like I was part of the Prologue Games team from day one. Knee Deep wasn't just some project they were producing, it was their baby, and I felt like my work was very personal to them, which raised the stakes for me.

What appealed to you about Romana Teague?

Oh, how I loved Romana Teague and the quirky things she'd say! More often than not, I found myself cracking up when looking through her lines. I embraced Romana's attitude and posturing. She was written to have this smack-talking online persona, but below the surface she had a lot of complex emotions she was dealing with, especially with new information revealed to her over the course of the game. Find out what happens to Romana when the final act of Knee Deep launches on March 8.

[ 2016-03-03 18:46:39 CET ] [ Original post ]