Voice acting is more than just making funny voices: Steve Warky Nunez
Q1. What do you do for a living?
A1. I am a Voice Actor/Voice Director.
Q2. How would you describe what you do?
A2. Voice acting is more than just making funny voices. It’s a form of acting by having to show what’s happening ONLY with your voice. As for Directing, I get to tell people how to emote their voices, or direct them into character, so all of the lines flow correctly.
Q3. What does your work entail?
A3. My work entails creating a character, auditioning, and once picked, reading lines without much preparation.
Q4. What’s a typical work week like?
A4. A typical work week is finding auditions, or submitting to different companies in hopes that they will pick me as their character. Other times a company will hire me to direct the voice actors into the scene that they envisioned for their project, this usually involves me scheduling time for a studio, or Skype sessions if they’re too far away, and directing them and having the engineer record their lines.
Q5. How did you get started?
A5. When I was 18, my mother was blind. The library system was asking for volunteers and I decided to read books on tape for the blind. A director heard me and asked me to be in a video game, and I’ve been doing voice acting ever since.
Q6. What do you like about what you do?
A6. I used to get in trouble for voices, now I get paid for them. I love waking up and wondering who I will be today.
Q7. What do you dislike?
A7. I don’t like having to audition constantly. It’s a full-time job just looking for work.
Q8. What skills are needed to do this?
A8. You need to warm up your voice. It’s very important to have a warm drink to help aid you in the process of creating certain characters. Especially when those characters are at the edge of your vocal range. Green apples are also extremely helpful for crisping up your voice too!
Q9. What is most challenging about what you do?
A9. The most challenging part of what I do is sometimes having to interpret what the director is saying. There was a director I had that told me I was too blue and needed to be more yellow in this scene, and I wasn’t exactly sure what he meant.
Q10. What is the most rewarding?
A10. The most rewarding part of this industry had to be at a convention I was a guest at. Fans. Fans came up to me and started to tell me their stories of inspiration. Things that I had voiced had gotten them through a tough time. The heart of each individual helps me to remember why I do this, and why I love what I do. The fans are what matter.
Q11. What advice would you offer someone considering this career?
A11. If you’re looking to get a job in this career. Don’t. I kid, but seriously, there is a TON of rejection. 100 auditions and you might get ONE of them. You need to have tough skin. Remember to shrug it off and keep trying. Don’t stop believing. It’ll happen. It just takes time.
Q12. How much time off do you get?
A12. Time off is basically when I want it. So that’s nice. If I don’t want to work on a project, I don’t audition for a while. Just remember to always have enough in savings for times of famine!
Q13. What else would you like people to know about your career?
A13. It’s not always easy to do this job. While it IS fun, it’s also sometimes grueling. There are long hours to the job, and deadlines that have to be finished. Sometimes it feels like an impossible job, however, persevering through it, the end result is always so very rewarding.
Q14. What is a common misconception people have about what you do?
A14. I’ve heard that people think voice actors live in big houses and go to these Hollywood parties and soirees. I just want to let people know that this is not the case. While I do make a nice living, it’s certainly nothing fancy or high end. I live comfortably and I’m happy knowing I get to do what I love.
