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[Interview] Vanessa Marshall (Hera on Star Wars Rebels) [message #320315] Mon, 20 June 2016 17:22
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A brief interview from the New Zealand TV Guide ...

Voiceover artist Vanessa Marshall lends her vocals to
Star Wars Rebels characters Hera. She tells TV Guide
about her career, her Star Wars memorabilia collection
and how she takes care of her voice.

The voice of sci-fi
-------------------
TV Guide: What was it like when you first saw the Star
Wars movie?

Vanessa: I might have been 10 years old and I was in
Boulder, Colorado visiting my family for the summer.
I was an only child so my parents would sometimes
deposit me with my cousins. My aunt took me to see
this movie and I had no idea what we were doing and
why, I thought, "Oh goodie, it's popcorn time". From
the minute the credits rolled across the screen, and
there was that brilliant music, I was captivated and
I really feel like that was a turning point in my
life for a million reasons.

TV Guide: Do you have much Star Wars memorabilia at
home?

Vanessa: I have an entire room. I might need to rent
a second space for more. I have action figures,
lightsabres, stormtrooper helmets. I have Darth Vader
helmets that talk. Maybe an easier question is, "What
don't I have?"

TV Guide: Are you a sci-fi fan in general?

Vanessa: I'm a fan of storytelling, but I think sci-fi
is sometimes some of the most daring stuff created.
I'm really enjoying some of the stuff that's on
television right now, particularly Orphan Black and
some of these really cool female-centric narratives.
But I also love comedy and I love drama. There is a
really cool community around sci-fi and I have enjoyed
getting to know people in that, either on Twitter or
different forms of social media. It's been wonderful
to bond with people over that subject matter.

TV Guide: As a voiceover artist, can you be at work in
jeans and no make-up?

Vanessa: Yes, I would say more so than an on-camera
gig. We come to work more casually, although I would
say that I think it used to be more of an invisible
profession prior to Instagram, Twitter and SnapChat
and all these things that have camera features. You
may want to dial it up a little bit before you go to
work because you may see a picture of just how casually
you dress and you may not want that to be on the
internet for the rest of your life. Long before these
things came along, literally these guys would come
along in their pyjamas.

TV Guide: Do you do anything in particular to look
after your voice?

Vanessa: I have a Masters degree in acting from New
York University and back then, for what felt like
centuries, we did vocal exercises that were
mind-numbing at the time. However, I do tend to utilise
those before going to a record just to sort of wake
everything up and keep things nimble and limber.
Whether that has any impact, I have no idea. I tend to
avoid some of the voiceover work that requires intense
screaming because that can traumatise the vocal cords
and change the quality of one's voice for other work
that is more soft-spoken.

TV Guide: How did you get into this line of work?

Vanessa: I was also a stand-up comedian and a writer.
Growing up, I didn't really have a desire to act at
all. I wanted to write and direct and produce, but I
ended up in drama school. I find storytelling and
writing so much more interesting that I was like, "Oh,
I'll just do acting because I can do it". I did a
sketch comedy show and I played 13 different characters.
An agent saw me in that and said, "You know, you might
want to try animation" and I went in and read for her
in the agency. That was in 1997 and she ended up signing
me. I took a billion classes and learned a great deal,
and basically started working straight away and I
haven't stopped. I don't have an on-camera agent. I
don't seek in that area at all. I only do voiceover.

TV Guide: Is your Star Wars recording a nine-to-five
job?

Vanessa: It's usually on Thursdays for about four hours.
Not every week but maybe every other. We'll go straight
for four hours. It's really manageable and so much fun.
It's an honour to be involved with it.

TV Guide: What do you like about this work?

Vanessa: The cool thing about voiceovers is it's a bit
like golf - you can keep playing and keep playing and
hope to get better with each swing. It's sort of a
never-ending experience in terms of its capacity. The
only limits are your imagination. I like that David
Oyelowo is playing Agent Kallus (in Star Wars Rebels).
I think Disney does a great job with hiring all kinds
of races and genders. That is very exciting to me. It's
maybe one place where it's a bit kinder than some of
the other areas of entertainment. It doesn't matter
what you weigh.

** End of interview **
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