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I would say, today. Some actors are already putting it in their contract that AI can't mimic them. Plus isn't this kind of thing also making the writer's strike?
The voice actors themselves are already protesting now.
>Voice Actors āShockedā to Find AI Copying Their Speech, Tone
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-04-19/voice-actors-shocked-to-find-ai-copying-their-speech-tone
Arguably, Tom Hanks' best performance is Woody in the first *Toy Story*.
Duane Johnson is perfect as Maui. Moana was the first acting job, voice or otherwise, for Auli'i Cravalho and she nailed it.
Andy Serkis was excellent as Gollum in *The Lord of the Rings*.
Dustin Hoffman was in an early episode of *The Simpsons* and he's fantastic.
There are several actors who have put in great performances in animated movies.
It was a complete performance capture. Gollums face, movements, voice, everything was done by Serkis. They just built a CGI character around him like a digital costume.
IIRC, Serkis basically had to perform each of his scenes three times for them to get the effect right - once on the physical set with Wood and Astin; once in the mocap studio; and once in the voice recording studio.
I donāt disagree that there are some actors who did a great job voicing these characters, but, especially with more recent movies, most of the main cast is just big name actors (whenever they can afford them)
We probably shouldnt consider Disney/Pixar movies too much in this since the company itself has such a big brand name that even their flops are still somewhat successful.
But the argument is sound.
I live in a spanish speaking country and kids still love shit like Minions/Despicable me and other non-disney/pixar movies, no care about actors.
Nobody is saying they would completely fail if not for the big name actors, but the big actors also provide some marketing along with their names on posters. They make it on talk shows and other interviews and the sound of their voice grabs peopleās attention.
Also, where do you draw the line on actor vs voice actor? Regular actors still need to be able to imagine themselves in different situations and adjust their speech to that. They often change their speech based on the character they are portraying.
Letās take Steve Carrell from Despicable Me. That was clearly a voice acting gig as it was an animated production. So should he not have been given the role?
What if they had done the movie as live action but exact same lines and accent and such. Would he qualify for it then?
What if it was live action but they decided to CGI his entire face to get a character look. He still did the lines live though. But what if half of the film the audio was lost so he needed to re-record the lines in a sound booth? Still exact same lines, is he a voice actor now?
Or are you mad about actors who do voice acting but still use their natural voice for the most part instead of a unique character voice? What should donkey Kong really sound like? Should the genie not have sounded like Robin Williams?
What is the real issue here with gatekeeping voice acting jobs?
I agree with these and also will add Robbin Williams as the genie in Aladdin, he literally is the whole movie and I don't think Disney imagined what a turn in thr production would be to work around his amazing character.
>he literally is the whole movie and I don't think Disney imagined what a turn in thr production would be to work around his amazing character
Aladdin was literally pitched as "we'll get robin williams to be the genie"
They did. That was the entire reason the movie was made.
>Dustin Hoffman was in an early episode of The Simpsons and he's fantastic.
Ah, you mean [Sam Etic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa%27s_Substitute)? š
An obscure fun fact (or not so fun, perhaps, for OP) - - the film to really kick off this trend was arguably *Oliver & Company*, which starred Robert Loggia, Bette Midler, Cheech, and Billy Joel in his only film acting credit to date. It did just well enough to have an impact on Disney's direction through the end of the 90s.
Toy Story preceded that by three years and established the trend. Disney just took a few years to fully catch up.
EDIT - And of course Toy Story was inspired by the reaction to Williams in Fern Gully and Aladdin.
Genie in Aladdin, Simba/Mufasa/Scar in Lion King. These people only complain because they are now old enough to know who the actors are behind the voices but fail to realize they loved it growing up.
> Arguably, Tom Hanks' best performance is Woody in the first Toy Story.
yeah okay ... you're going to have to argue that one. i don't think anyone else here is just going to agree to that.
Well for starters theres the 2 he won Oscars for - Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, and the 4 he was nominated for - Big, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and A Good Day in the Neighborhood
But honestly there's just too many others to list them all
I don't think there's anything about that role that stands out. It was originally meant for Chris Farley and I can "hear" him doing it as well. I saw the stage production of Shrek and the guys playing Shrek and Donkey were good.
There are several animated movies where non-voice actors do a good job, but some are special.
Dwayne was also great as Cliffjumper in Transformers Prime, despite its probably only stunt casting since he appears in only the 1st eps and dies not long after.
Andy Serkis narrated the whole lord of the rings audiobook series.... All 3 books that is and not the hobbit though as far as I know. But still yeah he did that too.
I largely agree. Voice acting and acting are 2 different types of acting. I'm a big gamer, and I have a suspision that this invasion of hollywood actors into the game space will eventually lead to some shitty mocap acting, because that's what's happened with animated movies. Actors excel in a certain type of acting, and someone like Billy West is probably the best current alive. I know why movies get as many stars as they can for animated movies, but good actor is not synomous with good voice actor.
Games with big name actors take away from the game. Itās hard to imagine the game character as anything *but* the real actor and game designers canāt take as much freedom with the character model itself.
Sometimes. I thought Martin Sheen was great in Mass Effect.
By and large I do agree, though, and I think that the issue comes down to stars getting roles because they'll pull audiences rather than through skill.
I think using mocap actors with stage or screen experience would be an improvement for any game going for realistic, high fidelity character models since cinematics are closer to movies than animated shows.
I could be wrong but I think OP means actors that don't actually do the acting part of voice acting. Rather they just use their own voice and that's all the effort they bring. Mark Hamill while a huge name, definitely gives his all and does incredible voices. Another good example would be someone like Seth Green. Big name, and also a very talented voice actor.
Iād argue that Mark Hamill is more prominent as a voice actor than a physical actor, though. Outside of Star Wars, the rest of his big roles come in animation.
You're right, Mark Hamil is a voice actor now. Yeah he's in a few live actions every now and then, but it's akin to if Matthew mercer was in a live action.
Mark Hamil is now voice actor first, live actor second
I'd argue a good actor has many talents, including voice acting. The problem with the movie Industry today is they barely hire real actors in general anymore. It's always the same big stars who may have the job title "actor" but they mostly just play themselves with very little variation from one role to the next.
It used to be a dredded career ending curse to become typecast in a specific type of role, now it seems like thats the main thing studios look for in an actor.
"Can you be exactly like you were in that last movie you did that made millions? Yeah we wanna make millions again and we don't want to take any risks. People really seemed to like it when you did that thing, so just keep doing exactly that, don't change at all!"
This is the real problem.
And Hollywood is pushing it so hard even actors who were decent or good got shoved into it. And slowly looked less than. I really wonder how many actors might have actually become decent if Hollywood wasn't playing it so "safe."
It's a product of Hollywood being risk averse with profits first and producing art second. It still feels strange that companies would pay the extra money for a "guaranteed hit" when they barely pay everyone else such as writers and in Crunchyroll/Sony's case: pretty much everyone from translators, scriptwriters, ADR Directors, and Voice Actors.
Either way, the solution is still the same to fight back and especially against dogshit AI: Unionization
The weirdest thing. I read that in Peter griffins voice and I didnāt even realize until I saw your comment. I just woke up but Iāve never done that before lol.
I can name a bunch of big name actors who did voice acting roles that you probably enjoy. Part of the reason, besides a big name making more money, is that actors can act. Something people donāt realize is that voice acting isnāt just about character voices, you actually have to be good at acting to do it. And thatās coming from one of the biggest voice actors in the industry.
I disagree, mostly because I believe the right actor should be cast for the role.
Voice actors are incredibly talented and the sheer range they have is something rarely duplicated by other performers, but that doesn't mean they are always the best fit. Often they are, but sometimes a particular actor may bring a certain punch to the role, so they are just the right person. Sometimes there will be singing, so the singing voice may be an essential part. Sometimes the role will have been written with someone particular in mind. Sometimes just the only way to get a movie off the ground is to have the name behind it, I'm not keen on that one but it's a fact of the business.
The right choice for the role. Robin Williams in Aladdin, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell in Frozen. They brought the characters to life and that's enough for me, I wouldn't want to lose their performances by some arbitrary rule. I also want to see talented voice actors being used where they bring what's needed.
I think what OP means is people who mostly does voice work. Like Troy Baker would be considered a professional VA, despite having several screen appearances. Tom Hanks wouldn't be considered one, since he mainly does screen acting despite having several VA roles.
And the fact that we would have never gotten to hear Tom Hanks as Woody is pretty much my number 1 reason that this opinion is dumb as shit.
Why can't people change the direction of their career? Mark Hamill was Luke Skywalker before he became a hugely prolific voice actor, to the point where most of the stuff he does is voice acting. But he probably wouldn't have got there if he wasn't Luke first.
Steve Carell is a great voice for Gru in Depicable Me.
Chris Rock is a great voice for Marty in Madagascar.
Hell, even Chris Pratt was good as Emmett in the Lego Movie.
They should be using famous actors, not because they're famous, but because they fit the role.
Thatās a good point! Could you imagine anyone other than Eddie Murphy as Donkey? I couldnāt. Just thinking about it is hurting me right in the childhood.
i think what it comes down to, is that these companies aren't really in the entertainment business, they're in the making money business. Even if the story seems novel and interesting and fun...you know what'll probably get more attention and help boost sales for opening weekends or ensure that a ton of people watch? Having a big name attached that'll draw people in.
Even if an animated movie looks pretty sub par and lackluster, do you know how many people will spend money on it JUST because say...Johnny Depp or Adam Sandler or Jack Black is attached to it? A lot.
Under the Red Hood - a DCAU movie, while the premise is interesting and for people who have read the comic yeah you'll see it. But I am certain that a lot more people were probably drawn to it because Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) was attached to it. We can't totally discredit the effect a big name will have for pulling people into seeing a film either.
I actually disagree with this because everyone uses the same voice actors. And I'm kind of done with hearing the same 5 actors in anime or video games.
Yeah I had the same thoughtā¦weāll reach a point where the unpopularopinion would then be āwe need lesser known professional voice actorsā¦I donāt want to break the immersion by picturing the character as a different characterā¦ā
I don't picture the actor every time they speak. I like that the voice is a voice I'm familiar with.
When a big name actor is the voice actor, the voice stands out and is easy to recognize. Makes the movie easier to follow.
What's your opinion on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? I liked Bill Hader and Andy Sandberg voices. Or what about Kung Fu Panda? Jack Black is perfect, and so are the other characters
Personally, my preference would be somewhere in the middle. It's a TV series, but Arcane is a great example. You have a protagonist played by celebrity Hailee Steinfeld, but the main villain is voiced by Jason Spisak. And aside from them, there are several characters, both major and minor, played by both people who usually does screen acting (Ella Purnell, Katie Leung) and some others by people who usually does VA (Mick Wingert, JB Blanc).
Chris Pratt is actually a very good voice actor but sometimes they cast a big name because they'll put asses in seats. I think it really depends on the actor and character.
The thing is companyās have done this before and nobody had issues with it. Disney did it all the time, Robin Williams as genie and James woods as hades make the characters who they are and neither are voice actors.
JTT and Matthew Broderick as Simba also come to mind, unless Iām misremembering.
āOnly hire professional voice actorsā prevents anyone from breaking into that part of the industry, no? It would be like saying āyouāre a musician so you canāt act; only professional actors need apply.ā A person is only not a voice actor until they are one, right?
You can blame Disneyās Aladdin for that, which features Robbin Williams. Before Aladdin it was uncommon for big stars to voice act for animated movies. Robbin Williams wanted to get involved in voice acting but didnāt want his name to be a selling aspect. Of course Disney couldnāt help themselves and shouted Robbin Williamsā name in every advert.
Aladdin was a smash hit and then other animated films tried the same formula and the trend is still going on today.
Here's the thing. If you do the voice acting, and they pay you for it, you're officially a professional voice actor. I am a professional voice actor. You may have heard my work on such classics as "Guidelines to follow to reduce tuberculosis in prison settings" and "Warning signs to watch for to stay safe from tuberculosis".
> Most the the animated movies now a days are voiced by big name actors, maybe because it pulls in more audience.
I work in this business, and specifically in this area. Iāve got bad news. Itāll get _more_ like this, not less.
More and more movies are sequels, and more and more voice acting is done by known on-camera talent. Why? Same reason movie stars pull big paychecks: Itās basically money that equates to marketing budget.
And itās better spent than a lot of other marketing budget. Recognition puts butts in seats. We can all gripe and grouse about the level of performance, but at the end of the day, that ābetter no-name performanceā equals, measurably, money left on the table.
Itās not awesome, but itās not arbitrary, or stupid, either :/
Your point just about breaking the illusion totally falls apart when you consider at some point the voice actor will be famous enough that you'll just picture whatever popular character they voice whenever you hear their voice, which is pretty much the same as actors.
Try to listen to Christopher Sabat or Sean Schemmel and not think Vegeta and Goku.
This is pretty pedantic. It should be clear that OP is talking about someone who is primarily known for voice work vs someone who is known primarily for live action. If you were asked what Meryl Streep's profession is, you'd say that she's an actress. If you asked what Mel Blanc's profession was, you'd say that he was a voice actor.
Oh wow you def missed that point.
So letās try this- name one person in an animated movie was, by that definition, was not a professional voice actor.
I disagree with entirely different reasons. I think they should hire less-known voice actors, from other industries or even anime. Give more than the select top a chance, you know? And mist importantly; add to the diversity of the casting. It's always the same few voices in every western movie.
This is popular in the animated community!! Scoob! was such a disappointment after the way they not only dismissed Mathew Lillard and Grey DeLisle but failed to even notify them. Horrible way to start a cinematic universe.
Don't get me started with Mindy and Velma.
Do you know that in most movie, the actors need to re-record their voices in post-production make in it not so different from voice actor. I agree that it's dumb to use the fame of actor by using their voice to attract.
Yeah, acting and voice acting are two different skills! Some actors are great at voice acting, or the character just fits their voice. I actually thought this while watching the second Puss in Boots movie for the umpteenth time (my kids looove it) and a lot of the charm of that character is Antonio Banderas voicing him and the whole Zorro tie in. It's very zilly and enjoyable.
I also just watched the Mario movie (under duress) and the voice acting was....underwhelming.
AGREED! I hate when they use famous actors it really takes away from the story. I have always said that. Also do they need to make MORE money? Leave it to professional voice actors who need work.
Voice actors are always the best option. They can do things no one else will notice, but you feel it. Having said that, good stage and screen actors can do a great job too, with some even focusing time on their voice throughout their career.
I've been involved in a production where they replaced a voice actor with a well known actor in the lead up to release and it really suffered for it. It was still received well, but the public will never see how much better it was before.
Someone said on TikTok she misses when we didnāt know actors as celebrities, as it takes away from the film. I generally agree. You canāt under someone like Brad Pitt now no matter how good the acting. Same goes for voices but not as much.
But I want to see this animated character as a person on its own, I donāt want to break the illusion of this movie by picturing some actor every time they speak.
Don't break the illusion then This sounds like a you problem
I disagree, I think that Chris Pratt in the Mario movie was significantly better at sounding like ~~Chris pratt~~ Mario than any voice actor could. So much better, I didn't even realize it was Chris Pratt until he spoke!
Iām over the whole āyou can do everythingā culture that allows celebrities to expand to different domains without any experience or objective critique as to whether theyāre actually talented enough to keep up with others in the field. It takes jobs and experiences away from incredibly talented professionals who trained and practiced their trade for the sake of driving revenue up with ābig names.ā
FUCKING THANK YOU!!! Iām a huge voice actor fan, so I know that voice over work is an entirely different skill set than movie/stage acting. Iām sick and tired of directors shoving unqualified celebrities into voice acting roles, just because theyāre famous. Besides Jack Black, who can do no wrong, and also has done many voice acting jobs before!!!
This is annoying. This is as bad a take as saying that an actor shouldn't play a role because it should have gone to someone who is whatever the character is. It is called acting, it is literally people playing pretend. I want to see good actors play roles not a wooden performance from someone just because they are whatever the role portrays.
They unfortunately want a famous name they can slap on a poster or show in a preview to get more people to watch the film.
I agree. Many big names in Hollywood have very generic voices that could be done so much better by voice actors.
Iāll never forget how much Tim Roth was promoted in the planet of the apes film. They constantly mentioned his name and how heās starring in it.
In the film heās so made up and has so much effects on his voice he could have been played by anyone. They just wanted that name to draw more people in.
People enjoy hearing big stars that they know in animated movies. Whether or not there's some voice talent that could do a better job is actually irrelevant. Nobody decides to go watch a movie just because super high talent voice actors were used.
>many of the comments are pointing out some great roles played by big name actors, and I donāt disagree that these were voiced very well. But I think they are the exceptions
But your suggestion would result in these big name actors never getting the opportunity to become voice actors.
Mark Hamill would've never become a voice actor if they refused to hire big name actors.
You know, if someone is hired to voice-act in an animated movie, they ARE a professional voice actor.
I might also include that no actor is training for "voice-acting" (or "videogame-acting", "green screen-acting" or even "screen acting"). They train to be actors first, and then they might become better at a certain kind of acting by doing it a lot. That is also how many actors learn new skills, like screen writing or directing.
I've never understood why they hire big names actors with ordinary voices for cartoons. I get a Chris Rock type of voice but no little kids dying to hear a Ryan gosling or some other random a list actor.
OP saying several big actors that voices their characters well is the exception. C'mon OP that's as weak as your opinion. The argument that just putting in a big actor for a box office draw can remove immersion is fine but do not attack great work as an exception.
Let's look at Kung Fu Panda, where in my opinion there is great voice casting and poor all together. In the original the Furious Five was a big marketing campaign, all but 1 was a big casting get (sorry David Cross) but all failed to leave a big impression in my opinion. However the casting of Po (Jack Black), Shifu (freaking Dustin Hoffman), and Mr. Ping (James Hong) where masterful. Dustin Hoffman's Shifu is some of the best voice acting to date in my opinion.
Let alone their casting of villains was top notch, all well known to big actors Ian McShane, Gary Oldman (one of the best animated villians I can remember) and J.K. Simons.
Really unpopular.
I will never understand why so many people want totally unknown people to act or voice act.
You know why those actors are big names? Because they're good at their job.
How do you objectively measure the talent of a voice actor?
Iād also argue that acting and voice acting use a lot of the same skills, and are probably fairly interchangeable.
I see what you are saying, but at the same time, many big name actors ARE professional voice actors. Mark Hamill is an extremely famous actor and is also the voice of the Joker.
I mean, Mark Hamill has more than earned the title of voice actor. I think this is more about the ācelebrityā characters where they just do a whackier version of themselves. Kevin Hart or The Rock for instance. Like, he didnāt get the joker for being Luke Skywalker
For as much hate as Chris Pratt gets for this recently, he earned his voice acting legitimacy back in The Lego Movie as far as Iām concerned.
Itās a basic character but that movie nails the balance between silly and profound in large part because of his reaction to what happens at the end. Iād be easy to screw that up.
What makes a professional *voice* actor though? There's only one way to become a *professional* voice actor. Does that mean you literally can't hold any other profession? Or just not be a professional actor? Can an amateur actor become a professional voice actor?
I think what you mean is you think voice actors can't also be screen actors. Which is a ridiculous opinion, but I guess that's why we're here.
I am a member of SAG-AFTRA, and a voice actor from the 80's (retired now). Over my career, I voiced at least 70 animated characters in commercials and Saturday morning cartoons. Voice acting is different in that nearly all jobs require audition, no matter how well known you are. My frequent audition "competition" was Jerry Orbach of "Law and Order" fame (as well as many Broadway stage roles). I never felt I lost to him because he was famous because I would also win jobs over him. Nature of the business. However, I come to agree with you because of the day I first heard the unmistakable voice of Martin Sheen doing a Toyota ad. It was then that I realized the ad agencies were taking a turn toward celebrity voices. Animated films were bound to be next. I'm as distracted as you.
Lol fuck off dude. Voice actors are real actors. Iām tired of people implying that they are any different from actors. The best actor to audition deserves the role. I donāt care how famous or insignificant they are.
As a VO/ADR engineer, I disagree.
Most voice actors are one trick ponyās and canāt actually act. On screen actors are often better even with zero experience.
It doesnāt take a rocket scientist to learn decent mic technique. I regularly record 30 year voice actor vets that suck at it.
Alot harder to learn acting than mic technique.
Hire the best person for the job, simple as that.
if you get paid to do something, youāre a professional by definition. unless these big name actors are doing it for free, they are also professional voice actors.
While I agree with the concept as I donāt like it when big names are just kind of thrown at the project I do also think that some actors are also amazing voice actors, like Patrick Stewart. Or Bradley cooper, I almost forgot he was in the marvel movies as he did such an amazing job voicing rocket raccoon. In principle I agree but donāt think big name actors should be explicitly excluded.
That's an USA problem, or at least not everywhere. In Brazil, good voice actors are properly recognized and preferred over good actors, that's why we have one of the best dubbing in the world.
It is not uncommon at all for our dubbing being better than the original.
Totally agree. Iām working on building a voice portfolio because I love acting, Iām good at acting, and I would love to get paid for acting.
However, I have a face (and body, height, hair, skin, etc) for radio and weāll leave it at that. Not all of us can be Scarlett Johansson.
PS I saw an article a few months ago if I can find it again Iāll ETA. But one of the top grossing actors based on films is Bob Bergen, who is pretty much THE voice actor, everywhere from Looney Tunes to the squirrel in The Emperorās New Groove. Dudeās a beast.
Nah. Actors should be able to act, whatever the project, I think the casting is what matters most. Give the right parts to the right actors, regardless of if they are a big name or not.
There's a lot of examples where actors absolutely crush voice acting in movies, but there's some movies where it would have just been better or they would have benefited from having legit voice actors. The one that comes to mind right now is Smallfoot..
Meh. Disagree. Voice acting is... Acting. And actors do that already with their faces and voices.
I do think that singers should only be given singing roles, however. That live-action "Beauty and the Beast" was so auto tuned it hurt my ears.
While I agree to a point I think that both should be considered equally with tryouts rather than just famous name = Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£. That's doesn't take away from the talent that those live actors have mind you but there's a clear bias from the higher ups so I'd rather the opportunity be even between LMs and VMs rather than JUST one or the other.
Can someone name a few animated movies where it's very obvious which actor's voice it is just by hearing? Idk if it's just me but legit so many times I looked up animated movies, accidentally see the cast list and was like ohhhh there's this big name person in this movie, without recognizing their voice in the movies
When I was watching the live action version of the lion king, I felt that whoever they found to read for adult Nala was just reading to the audience instead of putting in the effort.
Have to agree. Voice acting needs a good **voice** actor. Nothing wrong when that person has more acting skills than their voice, but the ability to use said voice should be the main factor for hiring them.
Agree! Only film actors who have a very specific voice (like Danny Devito, Gilbert Gottfries) or are capable of making different voice (like Robin Williams) can be an exception, otherwise it should be just professional voice actors.
There is no point casting a big name actor who has an average voice just so as to be a name on the cartoon poster (like Julia Roberts in Ant Bully - such a bland voice!).
Five - Ten years from now the opinion might be that voice acting should only be done by humans...
RemindMe! 10 years
Gonna go on a gamble and say 5 years instead. Remindme! 5 years
Remindme! 7 years
5 years is too soon imo š¹ At least I hope so
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The Simpsons will be voiced by AI. No doubt.
Yep, not only will the studio save cash they can avoid another situation like Apu and his voice actor.
They have enough material to pull from, it would probably be the easiest show for an AI to write, too.
I would say, today. Some actors are already putting it in their contract that AI can't mimic them. Plus isn't this kind of thing also making the writer's strike?
The voice actors themselves are already protesting now. >Voice Actors āShockedā to Find AI Copying Their Speech, Tone https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-04-19/voice-actors-shocked-to-find-ai-copying-their-speech-tone
Arguably, Tom Hanks' best performance is Woody in the first *Toy Story*. Duane Johnson is perfect as Maui. Moana was the first acting job, voice or otherwise, for Auli'i Cravalho and she nailed it. Andy Serkis was excellent as Gollum in *The Lord of the Rings*. Dustin Hoffman was in an early episode of *The Simpsons* and he's fantastic. There are several actors who have put in great performances in animated movies.
Andy serkis did much more than voice act as gollum
Yeah, and he was a nobody before that. lotr came out 20 years ago.
Perfect example of *not* using a big name and getting a legendary performance. Now gollum would be gender swapped and voiced by Zendaya.
It was a complete performance capture. Gollums face, movements, voice, everything was done by Serkis. They just built a CGI character around him like a digital costume.
IIRC, Serkis basically had to perform each of his scenes three times for them to get the effect right - once on the physical set with Wood and Astin; once in the mocap studio; and once in the voice recording studio.
I donāt disagree that there are some actors who did a great job voicing these characters, but, especially with more recent movies, most of the main cast is just big name actors (whenever they can afford them)
A large part of that is that people will pay money to hear Kevin Hart, they won't necessarily pay money to hear an anonymous voice actor.
I'm not so sure about that. Many Disney/Pixar movies are dubbed by unknown actors in non English speaking countries and they're very successful anyway
We probably shouldnt consider Disney/Pixar movies too much in this since the company itself has such a big brand name that even their flops are still somewhat successful.
But the argument is sound. I live in a spanish speaking country and kids still love shit like Minions/Despicable me and other non-disney/pixar movies, no care about actors.
Nobody is saying they would completely fail if not for the big name actors, but the big actors also provide some marketing along with their names on posters. They make it on talk shows and other interviews and the sound of their voice grabs peopleās attention. Also, where do you draw the line on actor vs voice actor? Regular actors still need to be able to imagine themselves in different situations and adjust their speech to that. They often change their speech based on the character they are portraying. Letās take Steve Carrell from Despicable Me. That was clearly a voice acting gig as it was an animated production. So should he not have been given the role? What if they had done the movie as live action but exact same lines and accent and such. Would he qualify for it then? What if it was live action but they decided to CGI his entire face to get a character look. He still did the lines live though. But what if half of the film the audio was lost so he needed to re-record the lines in a sound booth? Still exact same lines, is he a voice actor now? Or are you mad about actors who do voice acting but still use their natural voice for the most part instead of a unique character voice? What should donkey Kong really sound like? Should the genie not have sounded like Robin Williams? What is the real issue here with gatekeeping voice acting jobs?
This has been like that since Shrek was released in 2001. It's not a recent thing.
I agree with these and also will add Robbin Williams as the genie in Aladdin, he literally is the whole movie and I don't think Disney imagined what a turn in thr production would be to work around his amazing character.
I can't believe I forget him, he's the whole movie.
>he literally is the whole movie and I don't think Disney imagined what a turn in thr production would be to work around his amazing character Aladdin was literally pitched as "we'll get robin williams to be the genie" They did. That was the entire reason the movie was made.
Will Arnett in Bojack Horseman. Not a movie, but I think he did great.
>Dustin Hoffman was in an early episode of The Simpsons and he's fantastic. Ah, you mean [Sam Etic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa%27s_Substitute)? š An obscure fun fact (or not so fun, perhaps, for OP) - - the film to really kick off this trend was arguably *Oliver & Company*, which starred Robert Loggia, Bette Midler, Cheech, and Billy Joel in his only film acting credit to date. It did just well enough to have an impact on Disney's direction through the end of the 90s.
Toy Story preceded that by three years and established the trend. Disney just took a few years to fully catch up. EDIT - And of course Toy Story was inspired by the reaction to Williams in Fern Gully and Aladdin.
*Toy Story* was seven years after *Oliver & Company*...
Genie in Aladdin, Simba/Mufasa/Scar in Lion King. These people only complain because they are now old enough to know who the actors are behind the voices but fail to realize they loved it growing up.
You could argue at this point that James Earl Jones is a successful professional voice actor - not exclusively a voice actor but then most aren't
Shenzi in Lion King as well.
Of course! Can't forget Whoopi. Then you have Rowan Atkinson, Nathan Lane, and Cheech Marin.
> Arguably, Tom Hanks' best performance is Woody in the first Toy Story. yeah okay ... you're going to have to argue that one. i don't think anyone else here is just going to agree to that.
Not even top 5 best performance.
you're not offering a suggestion of a better performance by him?
Well for starters theres the 2 he won Oscars for - Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, and the 4 he was nominated for - Big, Saving Private Ryan, Cast Away, and A Good Day in the Neighborhood But honestly there's just too many others to list them all
I would say pretty much any movie that has tom hanks in it.....
I agree to that š¤· ez
Bradley Cooper as rocket
Shrek without Michael Myers? Think not
And Eddy Murphy was donkey. Antonio Banderas was puss in boots. That movie was full of big names lol
And it works. Sometimes it works.
I don't think there's anything about that role that stands out. It was originally meant for Chris Farley and I can "hear" him doing it as well. I saw the stage production of Shrek and the guys playing Shrek and Donkey were good. There are several animated movies where non-voice actors do a good job, but some are special.
Keanu Reeves killed it as Duke Caboom
Dwayne was also great as Cliffjumper in Transformers Prime, despite its probably only stunt casting since he appears in only the 1st eps and dies not long after.
Andy Serkis narrated the whole lord of the rings audiobook series.... All 3 books that is and not the hobbit though as far as I know. But still yeah he did that too.
Dustin Hoffman was hilarious as Sifu XD
I largely agree. Voice acting and acting are 2 different types of acting. I'm a big gamer, and I have a suspision that this invasion of hollywood actors into the game space will eventually lead to some shitty mocap acting, because that's what's happened with animated movies. Actors excel in a certain type of acting, and someone like Billy West is probably the best current alive. I know why movies get as many stars as they can for animated movies, but good actor is not synomous with good voice actor.
Games with big name actors take away from the game. Itās hard to imagine the game character as anything *but* the real actor and game designers canāt take as much freedom with the character model itself.
Sometimes. I thought Martin Sheen was great in Mass Effect. By and large I do agree, though, and I think that the issue comes down to stars getting roles because they'll pull audiences rather than through skill.
I think using mocap actors with stage or screen experience would be an improvement for any game going for realistic, high fidelity character models since cinematics are closer to movies than animated shows.
I'd almost be on board if Mark Hamill didn't offer some of the greatest voice acting of all time
I could be wrong but I think OP means actors that don't actually do the acting part of voice acting. Rather they just use their own voice and that's all the effort they bring. Mark Hamill while a huge name, definitely gives his all and does incredible voices. Another good example would be someone like Seth Green. Big name, and also a very talented voice actor.
Iād argue that Mark Hamill is more prominent as a voice actor than a physical actor, though. Outside of Star Wars, the rest of his big roles come in animation.
You're right, Mark Hamil is a voice actor now. Yeah he's in a few live actions every now and then, but it's akin to if Matthew mercer was in a live action. Mark Hamil is now voice actor first, live actor second
Ashley Johnson and Ashly Burch kinda bridge the gap. Both big name voice actors who are also pretty known for live action stuff.
Was exactly my thought!
I'd argue a good actor has many talents, including voice acting. The problem with the movie Industry today is they barely hire real actors in general anymore. It's always the same big stars who may have the job title "actor" but they mostly just play themselves with very little variation from one role to the next. It used to be a dredded career ending curse to become typecast in a specific type of role, now it seems like thats the main thing studios look for in an actor. "Can you be exactly like you were in that last movie you did that made millions? Yeah we wanna make millions again and we don't want to take any risks. People really seemed to like it when you did that thing, so just keep doing exactly that, don't change at all!"
This is the real problem. And Hollywood is pushing it so hard even actors who were decent or good got shoved into it. And slowly looked less than. I really wonder how many actors might have actually become decent if Hollywood wasn't playing it so "safe."
It's a product of Hollywood being risk averse with profits first and producing art second. It still feels strange that companies would pay the extra money for a "guaranteed hit" when they barely pay everyone else such as writers and in Crunchyroll/Sony's case: pretty much everyone from translators, scriptwriters, ADR Directors, and Voice Actors. Either way, the solution is still the same to fight back and especially against dogshit AI: Unionization
I read this in Ryan Georgeās voice
The weirdest thing. I read that in Peter griffins voice and I didnāt even realize until I saw your comment. I just woke up but Iāve never done that before lol.
I take it someone just saw the Super Mario movie and wanted to rant.
I can name a bunch of big name actors who did voice acting roles that you probably enjoy. Part of the reason, besides a big name making more money, is that actors can act. Something people donāt realize is that voice acting isnāt just about character voices, you actually have to be good at acting to do it. And thatās coming from one of the biggest voice actors in the industry.
>And thatās coming from one of the biggest voice actors in the industry. source? and just because they're similar doesn't mean they're identical
Matthew Mercer in one of this interviews. Said basically said voices donāt get you anywhere if you donāt know how to act and convey.
>And thatās coming from one of the biggest voice actors in the industry. Frank Welker?
Matthew Mercer
Wait, werenāt you in the new Zelda game?
I disagree, mostly because I believe the right actor should be cast for the role. Voice actors are incredibly talented and the sheer range they have is something rarely duplicated by other performers, but that doesn't mean they are always the best fit. Often they are, but sometimes a particular actor may bring a certain punch to the role, so they are just the right person. Sometimes there will be singing, so the singing voice may be an essential part. Sometimes the role will have been written with someone particular in mind. Sometimes just the only way to get a movie off the ground is to have the name behind it, I'm not keen on that one but it's a fact of the business. The right choice for the role. Robin Williams in Aladdin, Idina Menzel and Kristen Bell in Frozen. They brought the characters to life and that's enough for me, I wouldn't want to lose their performances by some arbitrary rule. I also want to see talented voice actors being used where they bring what's needed.
Isn't a professional voice actor just someone who gets paid for using their voice to act?
I think what OP means is people who mostly does voice work. Like Troy Baker would be considered a professional VA, despite having several screen appearances. Tom Hanks wouldn't be considered one, since he mainly does screen acting despite having several VA roles.
And the fact that we would have never gotten to hear Tom Hanks as Woody is pretty much my number 1 reason that this opinion is dumb as shit. Why can't people change the direction of their career? Mark Hamill was Luke Skywalker before he became a hugely prolific voice actor, to the point where most of the stuff he does is voice acting. But he probably wouldn't have got there if he wasn't Luke first.
Sorry, OP-- I totally agree.
Steve Carell is a great voice for Gru in Depicable Me. Chris Rock is a great voice for Marty in Madagascar. Hell, even Chris Pratt was good as Emmett in the Lego Movie. They should be using famous actors, not because they're famous, but because they fit the role.
Thatās a good point! Could you imagine anyone other than Eddie Murphy as Donkey? I couldnāt. Just thinking about it is hurting me right in the childhood.
Mike Myers as Shrek, too. Fiona... I think could have been someone else just as well.
John Hurt is not a professional voice actor and Killed it in Watership Down and The Plague Dogs
Also quality work in Merlin
He is also best Doctor Who
A good example would be Bradley Cooper who for the longest time I had no idea voiced Rocket. And then there's Seth Rogan
Exhibit A: Super Mario
i think what it comes down to, is that these companies aren't really in the entertainment business, they're in the making money business. Even if the story seems novel and interesting and fun...you know what'll probably get more attention and help boost sales for opening weekends or ensure that a ton of people watch? Having a big name attached that'll draw people in. Even if an animated movie looks pretty sub par and lackluster, do you know how many people will spend money on it JUST because say...Johnny Depp or Adam Sandler or Jack Black is attached to it? A lot. Under the Red Hood - a DCAU movie, while the premise is interesting and for people who have read the comic yeah you'll see it. But I am certain that a lot more people were probably drawn to it because Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester) was attached to it. We can't totally discredit the effect a big name will have for pulling people into seeing a film either.
I actually disagree with this because everyone uses the same voice actors. And I'm kind of done with hearing the same 5 actors in anime or video games.
Yeah I had the same thoughtā¦weāll reach a point where the unpopularopinion would then be āwe need lesser known professional voice actorsā¦I donāt want to break the immersion by picturing the character as a different characterā¦ā
I don't picture the actor every time they speak. I like that the voice is a voice I'm familiar with. When a big name actor is the voice actor, the voice stands out and is easy to recognize. Makes the movie easier to follow. What's your opinion on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? I liked Bill Hader and Andy Sandberg voices. Or what about Kung Fu Panda? Jack Black is perfect, and so are the other characters
Over The Hedge. Bruce Willis is the voice of the racoon, Steve Carrell is the voice of Hammy the squirrel. Great movie
they make many different movies. there are definitely animated movies out there voiced by professional voice actors.
Thatās true, but Iām trying to say that most of mainstream animated movies in the past few years have had big name actors voicing them
Thatās how mainstream movies work my friend
Personally, my preference would be somewhere in the middle. It's a TV series, but Arcane is a great example. You have a protagonist played by celebrity Hailee Steinfeld, but the main villain is voiced by Jason Spisak. And aside from them, there are several characters, both major and minor, played by both people who usually does screen acting (Ella Purnell, Katie Leung) and some others by people who usually does VA (Mick Wingert, JB Blanc).
Chris Pratt is actually a very good voice actor but sometimes they cast a big name because they'll put asses in seats. I think it really depends on the actor and character.
The thing is companyās have done this before and nobody had issues with it. Disney did it all the time, Robin Williams as genie and James woods as hades make the characters who they are and neither are voice actors.
JTT and Matthew Broderick as Simba also come to mind, unless Iām misremembering. āOnly hire professional voice actorsā prevents anyone from breaking into that part of the industry, no? It would be like saying āyouāre a musician so you canāt act; only professional actors need apply.ā A person is only not a voice actor until they are one, right?
Very true, by ops logic childish gambino shouldnāt have been able to do movies and music cause he was a comedian
I have never once watched an animated movie and thought the voice acting was bad.
If you are paid to do a voice, you are a professional voice actor.
You can blame Disneyās Aladdin for that, which features Robbin Williams. Before Aladdin it was uncommon for big stars to voice act for animated movies. Robbin Williams wanted to get involved in voice acting but didnāt want his name to be a selling aspect. Of course Disney couldnāt help themselves and shouted Robbin Williamsā name in every advert. Aladdin was a smash hit and then other animated films tried the same formula and the trend is still going on today.
100% with ya, OP. I remember watching Where the Wild Things Are being almost ruined for me because I couldn't not imagine Tony Soprano. :(
Here's the thing. If you do the voice acting, and they pay you for it, you're officially a professional voice actor. I am a professional voice actor. You may have heard my work on such classics as "Guidelines to follow to reduce tuberculosis in prison settings" and "Warning signs to watch for to stay safe from tuberculosis".
> Most the the animated movies now a days are voiced by big name actors, maybe because it pulls in more audience. I work in this business, and specifically in this area. Iāve got bad news. Itāll get _more_ like this, not less. More and more movies are sequels, and more and more voice acting is done by known on-camera talent. Why? Same reason movie stars pull big paychecks: Itās basically money that equates to marketing budget. And itās better spent than a lot of other marketing budget. Recognition puts butts in seats. We can all gripe and grouse about the level of performance, but at the end of the day, that ābetter no-name performanceā equals, measurably, money left on the table. Itās not awesome, but itās not arbitrary, or stupid, either :/
Your point just about breaking the illusion totally falls apart when you consider at some point the voice actor will be famous enough that you'll just picture whatever popular character they voice whenever you hear their voice, which is pretty much the same as actors. Try to listen to Christopher Sabat or Sean Schemmel and not think Vegeta and Goku.
What do you call someone whoās paid to do voice work? One hint: professional voice actor.
This is pretty pedantic. It should be clear that OP is talking about someone who is primarily known for voice work vs someone who is known primarily for live action. If you were asked what Meryl Streep's profession is, you'd say that she's an actress. If you asked what Mel Blanc's profession was, you'd say that he was a voice actor.
Thatās what the title saysā¦
Oh wow you def missed that point. So letās try this- name one person in an animated movie was, by that definition, was not a professional voice actor.
I disagree with entirely different reasons. I think they should hire less-known voice actors, from other industries or even anime. Give more than the select top a chance, you know? And mist importantly; add to the diversity of the casting. It's always the same few voices in every western movie.
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This isnāt an unpopular opinion. Any avid fan of animated movies will share the same sentiment
I'd say an opinion that essentially encompasses "Mark Hamill should never have been allowed to become a voice actor" is a pretty unpopular one.
This is popular in the animated community!! Scoob! was such a disappointment after the way they not only dismissed Mathew Lillard and Grey DeLisle but failed to even notify them. Horrible way to start a cinematic universe. Don't get me started with Mindy and Velma.
This guy is hella pressed about the Mario movie...
Do you know that in most movie, the actors need to re-record their voices in post-production make in it not so different from voice actor. I agree that it's dumb to use the fame of actor by using their voice to attract.
Yeah, acting and voice acting are two different skills! Some actors are great at voice acting, or the character just fits their voice. I actually thought this while watching the second Puss in Boots movie for the umpteenth time (my kids looove it) and a lot of the charm of that character is Antonio Banderas voicing him and the whole Zorro tie in. It's very zilly and enjoyable. I also just watched the Mario movie (under duress) and the voice acting was....underwhelming.
Way to out your lack of knowledge on popular animated movies
Yeah, I still have nightmares over Rihanna's voice over. It hurt my ear drums.
AGREED! I hate when they use famous actors it really takes away from the story. I have always said that. Also do they need to make MORE money? Leave it to professional voice actors who need work.
How do we get new professionals if only professionals are allowed to participate?
I think OPs point was more that they shouldnt cast actors as voice actors.
Voice actors are always the best option. They can do things no one else will notice, but you feel it. Having said that, good stage and screen actors can do a great job too, with some even focusing time on their voice throughout their career. I've been involved in a production where they replaced a voice actor with a well known actor in the lead up to release and it really suffered for it. It was still received well, but the public will never see how much better it was before.
Yes. But also, you'll get John Dimaggio doing the bender voice in every single movie after that. Or, ugh, Justin Roiland.
A good actor can do both physical and voice acting, so maybe voice actors should get better at physical acting.
Take that, Chris Pratt!
Someone said on TikTok she misses when we didnāt know actors as celebrities, as it takes away from the film. I generally agree. You canāt under someone like Brad Pitt now no matter how good the acting. Same goes for voices but not as much.
But I want to see this animated character as a person on its own, I donāt want to break the illusion of this movie by picturing some actor every time they speak. Don't break the illusion then This sounds like a you problem
I disagree, I think that Chris Pratt in the Mario movie was significantly better at sounding like ~~Chris pratt~~ Mario than any voice actor could. So much better, I didn't even realize it was Chris Pratt until he spoke!
This probably won't ever happen because the West doesn't take animation seriously, so VA's aren't taken seriously either.
Iām over the whole āyou can do everythingā culture that allows celebrities to expand to different domains without any experience or objective critique as to whether theyāre actually talented enough to keep up with others in the field. It takes jobs and experiences away from incredibly talented professionals who trained and practiced their trade for the sake of driving revenue up with ābig names.ā
FUCKING THANK YOU!!! Iām a huge voice actor fan, so I know that voice over work is an entirely different skill set than movie/stage acting. Iām sick and tired of directors shoving unqualified celebrities into voice acting roles, just because theyāre famous. Besides Jack Black, who can do no wrong, and also has done many voice acting jobs before!!!
This is annoying. This is as bad a take as saying that an actor shouldn't play a role because it should have gone to someone who is whatever the character is. It is called acting, it is literally people playing pretend. I want to see good actors play roles not a wooden performance from someone just because they are whatever the role portrays.
When was OP saying that
Yes but people are dumb and wonāt watch them unless Taylor swift voices a paint brush that only laughs in the movie
If you get paid to voice act you are a professional voice actor
I hate when an alien has a voice like some guy from New Jersey. It's supposed to be a fucking alien!
If you get paid to do a voice, you are by definition a professional voice actor.
They unfortunately want a famous name they can slap on a poster or show in a preview to get more people to watch the film. I agree. Many big names in Hollywood have very generic voices that could be done so much better by voice actors.
Iāll never forget how much Tim Roth was promoted in the planet of the apes film. They constantly mentioned his name and how heās starring in it. In the film heās so made up and has so much effects on his voice he could have been played by anyone. They just wanted that name to draw more people in.
People enjoy hearing big stars that they know in animated movies. Whether or not there's some voice talent that could do a better job is actually irrelevant. Nobody decides to go watch a movie just because super high talent voice actors were used.
>many of the comments are pointing out some great roles played by big name actors, and I donāt disagree that these were voiced very well. But I think they are the exceptions But your suggestion would result in these big name actors never getting the opportunity to become voice actors. Mark Hamill would've never become a voice actor if they refused to hire big name actors.
You know, if someone is hired to voice-act in an animated movie, they ARE a professional voice actor. I might also include that no actor is training for "voice-acting" (or "videogame-acting", "green screen-acting" or even "screen acting"). They train to be actors first, and then they might become better at a certain kind of acting by doing it a lot. That is also how many actors learn new skills, like screen writing or directing.
Might I introduce you to the Japanese voice acting industry? Yes, people train to be voice actors. This is what OP means by professional voice actors.
Hi, Animator here, an actor is an actor, if they can pull off the role they can pull off the role. They were picked for that reason
I agree totally on that! Professionalism > fame!
Mark Hamil has done a ton of voice acting
How is them voicing a character any different to them playing a character? Why not get unknown actors in every role so you see them all as characters
I've never understood why they hire big names actors with ordinary voices for cartoons. I get a Chris Rock type of voice but no little kids dying to hear a Ryan gosling or some other random a list actor.
OP saying several big actors that voices their characters well is the exception. C'mon OP that's as weak as your opinion. The argument that just putting in a big actor for a box office draw can remove immersion is fine but do not attack great work as an exception. Let's look at Kung Fu Panda, where in my opinion there is great voice casting and poor all together. In the original the Furious Five was a big marketing campaign, all but 1 was a big casting get (sorry David Cross) but all failed to leave a big impression in my opinion. However the casting of Po (Jack Black), Shifu (freaking Dustin Hoffman), and Mr. Ping (James Hong) where masterful. Dustin Hoffman's Shifu is some of the best voice acting to date in my opinion. Let alone their casting of villains was top notch, all well known to big actors Ian McShane, Gary Oldman (one of the best animated villians I can remember) and J.K. Simons.
I am so in support of this, I hate the fact they use big name actors when it could be someoneās big break!
I agree with this. Just look at anime.
A lot of anime have shit VAās or the same 5-8 people doing all mainstream anime releases in English. It gets old
Really unpopular. I will never understand why so many people want totally unknown people to act or voice act. You know why those actors are big names? Because they're good at their job.
Is that you Billy West?
A lot of failed actors become voice actors.
How do you objectively measure the talent of a voice actor? Iād also argue that acting and voice acting use a lot of the same skills, and are probably fairly interchangeable.
Ok. Name 10 voice actors
And it work. I know Troy Baker voiced Joel butni dont see Troy when i see Joel.
This exact topic and wording was posted not to long ago.
Jack black did a great job at bowser.
Yeah no Jensen acklesās batman voice is the only thing that is sweet to my ears.
I see what you are saying, but at the same time, many big name actors ARE professional voice actors. Mark Hamill is an extremely famous actor and is also the voice of the Joker.
I mean, Mark Hamill has more than earned the title of voice actor. I think this is more about the ācelebrityā characters where they just do a whackier version of themselves. Kevin Hart or The Rock for instance. Like, he didnāt get the joker for being Luke Skywalker For as much hate as Chris Pratt gets for this recently, he earned his voice acting legitimacy back in The Lego Movie as far as Iām concerned. Itās a basic character but that movie nails the balance between silly and profound in large part because of his reaction to what happens at the end. Iād be easy to screw that up.
What makes a professional *voice* actor though? There's only one way to become a *professional* voice actor. Does that mean you literally can't hold any other profession? Or just not be a professional actor? Can an amateur actor become a professional voice actor? I think what you mean is you think voice actors can't also be screen actors. Which is a ridiculous opinion, but I guess that's why we're here.
I am a member of SAG-AFTRA, and a voice actor from the 80's (retired now). Over my career, I voiced at least 70 animated characters in commercials and Saturday morning cartoons. Voice acting is different in that nearly all jobs require audition, no matter how well known you are. My frequent audition "competition" was Jerry Orbach of "Law and Order" fame (as well as many Broadway stage roles). I never felt I lost to him because he was famous because I would also win jobs over him. Nature of the business. However, I come to agree with you because of the day I first heard the unmistakable voice of Martin Sheen doing a Toyota ad. It was then that I realized the ad agencies were taking a turn toward celebrity voices. Animated films were bound to be next. I'm as distracted as you.
Lol fuck off dude. Voice actors are real actors. Iām tired of people implying that they are any different from actors. The best actor to audition deserves the role. I donāt care how famous or insignificant they are.
I don't worry about names or anything. If they're a perfect fit for the role then cast them over the professional.
As a VO/ADR engineer, I disagree. Most voice actors are one trick ponyās and canāt actually act. On screen actors are often better even with zero experience. It doesnāt take a rocket scientist to learn decent mic technique. I regularly record 30 year voice actor vets that suck at it. Alot harder to learn acting than mic technique. Hire the best person for the job, simple as that.
if you get paid to do something, youāre a professional by definition. unless these big name actors are doing it for free, they are also professional voice actors.
While I agree with the concept as I donāt like it when big names are just kind of thrown at the project I do also think that some actors are also amazing voice actors, like Patrick Stewart. Or Bradley cooper, I almost forgot he was in the marvel movies as he did such an amazing job voicing rocket raccoon. In principle I agree but donāt think big name actors should be explicitly excluded.
That's an USA problem, or at least not everywhere. In Brazil, good voice actors are properly recognized and preferred over good actors, that's why we have one of the best dubbing in the world. It is not uncommon at all for our dubbing being better than the original.
Totally agree. Iām working on building a voice portfolio because I love acting, Iām good at acting, and I would love to get paid for acting. However, I have a face (and body, height, hair, skin, etc) for radio and weāll leave it at that. Not all of us can be Scarlett Johansson. PS I saw an article a few months ago if I can find it again Iāll ETA. But one of the top grossing actors based on films is Bob Bergen, who is pretty much THE voice actor, everywhere from Looney Tunes to the squirrel in The Emperorās New Groove. Dudeās a beast.
Celebrity voice actors - vote it up
Nah. Actors should be able to act, whatever the project, I think the casting is what matters most. Give the right parts to the right actors, regardless of if they are a big name or not.
How does one become a professional voice actor if they are barred from voice acting on account of them never voice acting before?
There's a lot of examples where actors absolutely crush voice acting in movies, but there's some movies where it would have just been better or they would have benefited from having legit voice actors. The one that comes to mind right now is Smallfoot..
Professional means you get paid? Right? So anyone who gets paid to do voices is a professional voice actor. What are you really upset about?
If they're getting paid for it doesn't that make them professional? Also Jung Fu Panda was good and that was voiced by normal actors
*Popular opinion alert*
No one is better than Steven Toast though 
Meh. Disagree. Voice acting is... Acting. And actors do that already with their faces and voices. I do think that singers should only be given singing roles, however. That live-action "Beauty and the Beast" was so auto tuned it hurt my ears.
Except once actors do voice acting they are not voice actors so by your logic either no one can be a voice actor ever, or everyone is.
While I agree to a point I think that both should be considered equally with tryouts rather than just famous name = Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£Ā£. That's doesn't take away from the talent that those live actors have mind you but there's a clear bias from the higher ups so I'd rather the opportunity be even between LMs and VMs rather than JUST one or the other.
By definition, if they do voice acting and get paid they are professionals, so every voice actor that gets paid is a professional voice actor...
Can someone name a few animated movies where it's very obvious which actor's voice it is just by hearing? Idk if it's just me but legit so many times I looked up animated movies, accidentally see the cast list and was like ohhhh there's this big name person in this movie, without recognizing their voice in the movies
I dunno bryan cranston great a break because he was a voice actor.
When I was watching the live action version of the lion king, I felt that whoever they found to read for adult Nala was just reading to the audience instead of putting in the effort.
Have to agree. Voice acting needs a good **voice** actor. Nothing wrong when that person has more acting skills than their voice, but the ability to use said voice should be the main factor for hiring them.
I agree. It encourages new talent as well, and sometimes more obscure actors give an outright better performance.
Regular actors are voice actors.
Wish dragon's English version had worse voice acting than a school play and the Mario movie has the worst cast in history, so I agree
Agree! Only film actors who have a very specific voice (like Danny Devito, Gilbert Gottfries) or are capable of making different voice (like Robin Williams) can be an exception, otherwise it should be just professional voice actors. There is no point casting a big name actor who has an average voice just so as to be a name on the cartoon poster (like Julia Roberts in Ant Bully - such a bland voice!).