A Comic Conversation Ep 31 - Marie Westbrook - Animedford 23

[00:00:00] Good morning, good afternoon and good evening! This is Comic Con Radio! Comic Con! Coverage of pop culture events from around the globe. Amazing interviews with celebrities. Daily recaps and reviews of popular television, movie reviews. Everything fandom from around

[00:00:17] the globe. Comic Con Radio! Get ready to enter our universe! Let's go! Have you ever wanted to be in the future with all kinds of cybernetic upgrades inside your body? No? How about becoming a massive tree god?

[00:00:44] Well our guest has done that and more in this episode of... A Comic Conversation! This episode's guest is the amazing Marie Westbrook from Cyberpunk Edge Runners, Jujutsu Kaizen and even the voice of the WWE. So grow some roots, upgrade your cyberware

[00:01:02] implants and get ready to serve the Republic Army in a galaxy far far away. It's time for... A Comic Conversation! Alright ladies and gentlemen, our next guest is known for voicing Doryo in Cyberpunk Edge Runners. Maria and Bakihana... Hama... Hama... God, I'm embarrassing myself. It's fine.

[00:01:25] Bautai and Indivisible and Hanmi and Jujutsu Kaizen. This is her very first convention guys. So give her a warm Oregonian welcome. Welcome Marie Westbrook. Everybody put your fins together. Let's go. Welcome, welcome. Thank you. And again this is your very first con? My very first.

[00:01:53] That is so cool. And it's been amazing. Aww. It really has. Everybody's super cheers. Give yourself a little applause Anna Medford. Yes. Medford, it's been a great experience. So thank you. So I think I met you yesterday because you were at the hotel and you almost ran

[00:02:14] into me and you were like, bang! You were like, go home. Oh we're interviewing her tomorrow. Always be aligning probably. That's what I do. Sometimes I just... We just saw her going. That was Marie Westbrook. I want to say hi. But you're so busy. Sorry.

[00:02:25] No it's all good. It's all good. I was just teasing you. Okay anytime you want to just run him over it's fine. He's cool. He's cool with it. Alright so let's get to know you. We are the Distance Nerding Podcast. We

[00:02:37] have a segment on our show called Growing Up Geeky. What did you geek out on when you were a kid? Oh when I was a kid. That's a really good question man. I mean I geeked out on like my little pony. Yeah. Barbie. Barbie.

[00:02:57] Like the traditional things what? Am I asking is there any bronies out there? Oh yeah. I mean I definitely had a lot of that kind of thing. Music. I've always geeked out on music. I love music from all different genres, decades, all of that stuff.

[00:03:15] And I definitely did some gaming. Some Nintendo, Super Nintendo, that kind of thing with my brothers. We had a house of a lot of... My brother's a computer programmer so he was always putting things together, taking things apart. Oh that's awesome.

[00:03:32] And yeah so I remember playing like Megatron. Is that what it's called? No Mega Man. Mega Man. That doesn't sound right. Mega Man. I guess you could play Major Tron if you have a Transformers game. Yeah that's what I'm thinking of my son Super into Mega Tron.

[00:03:49] He's... I commend him for being a fan of Megatron. Yes. Yes. I was into a lot of that stuff. We're just learning more about you. Where did you grow up? I grew up in a super small town in Idaho. So not... yeah, South-East Idaho it's called

[00:04:04] Soda Springs and I was born in Northern Idaho actually when we moved when I was like four. So I grew up in Little Soda Springs. It's right on the Wyoming-Utah border, like 3,000 people. Oh that's cool. Yeah. It was great. Small town feel.

[00:04:18] Yeah very small. I mean I didn't realize obviously that it was a small town until I left. Yeah I know. It was a really small town. That's true. Yeah. Medford is huge compared to that town. So how do you go from what did you say Soda Springs? Yeah.

[00:04:31] To becoming a voice actor because it like when I was growing up I loved cartoons and animation and shows. I never dreamed of actually like oh being a voice actor is a job. That's an occupation, a career.

[00:04:46] How do you... like I'm so fascinated by all of you that you have this cool job of you know... The job I want to have. Exactly. Yeah right? I mean I had the same. I never even thought of it as a job that people did. I just

[00:05:02] sort of watched TV, I watched cartoons. It was not anywhere in my realm of something that I would grow up to be because I grew up in people who were you know teachers and doctors and police and... Accountants.

[00:05:15] Yeah accountants and just the basic you know jobs that you learn about as a kid and that's what people did. There wasn't these sort of outlier jobs and I didn't even it wasn't even a reality because I wasn't at that time you know you weren't able to watch

[00:05:28] YouTube and the internet that stuff I feel like has definitely opened up the doors for a lot of things. So basically it's not basically this is very it's I took I took some terms and some

[00:05:41] long routes but I got into acting very randomly like somebody sort of approached me about it and I was also going to school at the time and I graduated in physics and chemistry education and I was a teacher and that was my... Physics and chemistry.

[00:05:58] Yeah it was a it was a composite major so it was sort of like you're doing a little of both. So you need a degree in physics and chemistry to become a voice actor? Yes. Yeah right. I know.

[00:06:08] Where I'm hanging up is somebody approached you to get into acting and it's like and so the springs? Yeah. Wow. It was some a girl that I went to high school with was it's actually she was

[00:06:20] modeling and her mom told me so I'm so such a small town thing. Her mom was like you she went she went to my she knew my mom because everybody knows each other said your daughter should get into modeling you do this whatever.

[00:06:35] Here's all the information and they remember thinking what oh yeah like I thought it was sort of silly like I did there's no way and so I sort of got in I did get into

[00:06:46] that world a little bit but I'm five three and modeling isn't wasn't really my like forte but it did get me into acting. Oh. That's where I got into acting because that was something where I could really

[00:06:59] didn't matter how your size all of those things right and so I was doing that but also of course I was like well but I still have to go get my degree and I still have to do like a real job and all of that stuff.

[00:07:12] So after I was graduated and was teaching and I had taken some classes and things I just realized teaching wasn't for me. Not that I don't have mad respect for teachers I just knew that there were other things

[00:07:29] I wanted to do and and I kept waiting tables which I was still doing when I taught school and pursued that I got my sad card and basically there was a I moved up to Seattle

[00:07:45] not yeah because that's where people go to act I know so I don't know why I went up there I family up there and I did have an on camera agent who got me a voiceover audition and that voice of our edition was for Nintendo nintendo dogs.

[00:07:59] I don't know if you remember that little Game Boy thing. Which dog did you play? It was I was I was the like commercial voice for it. Oh that's awesome. Okay. It was in Target stores and things like that so. Shout out to Nintendo dogs.

[00:08:11] Shout out Nintendo dogs. I got a fan of Nintendo dogs. That's awesome. And I remember thinking I had the audition alright I went and had to record the audition which was a big deal then I had to find somebody that had a microphone

[00:08:24] and could record it for me put it on a CD and then drive and drop it off and I thought oh my gosh that was such a huge pain. What's a CD? I'm just kidding. They're maybe. They're tiny things that you can like hang. Yeah. They're decorations now.

[00:08:38] They're very good decorations now and they like keep birds away and so and I booked that job so that sort of led and then I ended up moving to LA same thing happened with Star Wars the Old Republic I got an audition for my on

[00:08:51] camera agent and I booked it and my agent was like maybe you should get a voiceover agent. And so then I started taking classes and really the grind but yeah you seem very confused when he called me I didn't even know I booked it.

[00:09:08] It's like so they want you to come in and read for this. Like what do you mean? Did I book it? Because I'd already auditioned. He's like yeah maybe you should get a voiceover agent so basically after

[00:09:19] that then I then I learned you don't book every job that you auditioned for because then it was the grind of okay I gotta put in the work here. I took classes upon classes I took started with commercial that's where

[00:09:31] you pretty much always most agents want you to have commercial under your belt. Okay can you we'll talk about voice acting and in that in a minute but like what's it like auditioning that I'm so like fascinated by the whole

[00:09:46] voice acting industry what's it like auditioning do you have to what are you gonna do is we always have potential voice actors out there. Yeah exactly that's what I assume I mean it's so auditioning is definitely what I consider part of the job.

[00:10:02] I consider that as much of the job if not more than the actual bookings because you if you don't audition you're not gonna be getting jobs so my day typically looks like I have multiple agents I have my LA New York agent

[00:10:16] and then I have regional agents and I'll get several emails every day with auditions and in the beginning it was not so many you know in the beginning it was like you know one or two because I was with more of a boutique agency and I

[00:10:30] record them from home. From home? Using twisted wave which is super super simple you don't need anything more than some it's called twisted wave. Somebody write that down. I have a really good mic though. She's literally running it down. She's like recording right now. That's great.

[00:10:48] It's so simple and you don't need more than that so I anyway and I just turn it into MP3 and email it in and that's there are times where I do have to go in to studios for auditions but that since the pandemic that's become less.

[00:11:05] Less but you are in LA. I'm in LA. So Soda Springs does not have a whole industry of voice actors. Oh no yeah we did have a morning radio guy. Yeah a guy went to high school with he does a bunch of morning radio show.

[00:11:19] Was it Rick Robertson and was he getting sued? Oh yeah no. None of that. He was walking by right there and not listening to us. Hi Rick. Good talking to you. So switching gears. Tell us about some of the roles you've had.

[00:11:36] You mentioned a few of them but what's it like getting those roles, reading those roles? I mean Star Wars. She's been on some pretty major game franchises. Yeah that was the beginning for me was the games.

[00:11:46] I mean the Star Wars thing was super cool but I was so nervous. I was so nervous. I was like I don't know if I'm going to do this right. I've never done this before and it was three years of recording that game. Three years of recording.

[00:12:02] I mean not every day it would be every few months I would come in and record it for so for three years I could not utter a word that I had anything to do with that game until it was released. Oh like in the oh my gosh.

[00:12:13] And it was for old republic right? Yeah. Not to the old republic but old republic. No it's not but I don't think it's an RPG. It's an online RPG. No no it's not but no this one is not an RPG.

[00:12:25] I think the old republic might be now but this is old republic 2008. Gotcha. Well if it's night to the old republic yeah that was a different game. Yeah. Pretty sure night to the old republic came before that. Now we're going back to our geek like...

[00:12:39] Go to our stenographer. My brother actually got to uh... Go Google it. Got to beta test it. Yeah he's a huge gamer yeah he got yeah so that was a little... So did he beta test it because of you or just he's in... Yes.

[00:12:54] I mean he requested he had to go through the process but yeah he... I told him that I was in the game he was like the only other living soul that knew that I was in the game and I didn't know a ton about it

[00:13:04] and he went through and he spent two days trying to find my character and I was like I think she's a Jedi but I'm not 100% and then Vianna I'm like oh wait she's uh... Trooper class he's like I don't have time to go back and redo this Marie.

[00:13:18] Sergeant Jackso. Yeah Sergeant Jackso. I had to look it up just to double check it is the old republic so it is the MMORPG. Okay okay. What is it like being in and we talk to actors like having an NDA where you can't talk about things

[00:13:34] you're like oh how was work today? I can't tell you how work was today. Especially for franchises like that. We're used to it. If you have other voice actor friends they all know you can't talk about it. We're just like oh yeah I'm working on something super cool

[00:13:48] can't wait until I can talk about it. So for something like that how do you find the role because a lot of what we've talked about with some of the other guests were like how do you get into a character and really not just a voice

[00:14:02] but tune into the acting part of that can you tell us about your process for I mean it definitely helps to have a visual of the character with this one specifically having a good director makes all the difference because they need to be able to

[00:14:17] tell you what's happening in that specific situation because you don't see it and I actually did do a game called the touring test where the developers actually had me read the lines but they weren't telling me exactly what was going on so when I saw the game

[00:14:35] I was like oh well that's sort of weird that I did it that way I totally would have done it different so you need that as far as making those choices having a great director is amazing by the way the touring test is great

[00:14:49] and all that but there are just things that me personally probably somebody else wouldn't notice but I looked at it as an actor I would have made a different choice there had I known that so having that having a good director

[00:15:05] is also going to give you an idea of the character and if you booked the role and they want you to do what you did so you just take that you take what you did and then you need to be able to follow direction that's hugely important

[00:15:20] because they already know you've got the general vibe now they're like okay take this here can do a little more of this here or how about we go make this she's laughing you know this is sort of a funny situation between a friend

[00:15:32] or this is a little more intimate so you have to know how to handle yourself with the microphone in those circumstances huge or with like Hanemi from Jujutsu Kaisen I was super fortunate I was offered that role but I didn't know

[00:15:48] and at this point it was my first anime because I had gotten to anime because I have a niece and nephew who love it and I was like I really wanted to be able to my niece is on the spectrum

[00:16:00] and I really wanted to be able to relate to her because she loves anime so I wanted to be involved in that and I wanted to be able to tell her things she's like that's cool that's her response to everything but I know she really thinks it's cool

[00:16:15] internally she could be like oh my god this is amazing so I didn't know that I could go back and of course I probably didn't know this I just didn't think about it that I could go look at the original Japanese

[00:16:27] especially for this because it was like two weeks they were about two weeks behind and I could have seen this character so when they had me do the line and I knew it was a big bold character and I remember because there were several characters on the screen

[00:16:43] I was like which character is this and then when the next screen came up it was like only Hanami which is this giant man looking tree eye creature I was like oh my god that's the character let's go back

[00:17:01] and that's when I was like I need to be deeper I want to really be powerful like we said make certain choices so I made some but that was just a funny first experience and now since then I've learned that I can do a little more research

[00:17:15] when I go in if it hasn't been an audition like Doryo I auditioned and had a callback and I definitely knew a little more about that character I got to see the character I was going to ask about that how much creative input freedom do you get

[00:17:38] because you talked about anime like you're dubbing something that already exists but for games a lot of times it's not quite ready you may see like a sketch or something like that but you're not voicing it as it's happening so do you get creative freedom with the character

[00:17:56] so games you get a little bit more I think that the case thing can change sometimes I'll want to add like go going in or laugh or whatever but oftentimes whatever you do you have this much time to put it in that's the thing with games

[00:18:16] they're like oh that's super cool we can't fit it into the two seconds or whatever that line has to be in and there are some exceptions for that because there are certain parts of the games

[00:18:28] theatrical and the acting could come out and I could take my time when I wanted to and so But it's definitely I feel like a lot of the time when you're in gameplay

[00:18:36] You have to be really specific and obviously with anime you have to be able to fit You want to take those ups and downs and make it sound as conversational as possible

[00:18:45] But you have to fit that's a cool thing about Hanemi being my first anime like the mouth doesn't move at all Good point. I was like oh my thank this was a gift for me

[00:18:55] I didn't have to worry about that. Yeah, you can do the character whichever you want to do it Yeah, exactly for that and I'd done live-action dumbing but I had yeah dubbing so you didn't have to worry about mouth

[00:19:03] I didn't have to worry and I could and so I had some more freedom with that. Yeah, it's not like ADR Yes, yes, yes, do you have any fonds like memories or stories of recording whether it's

[00:19:16] You in a booth or you with a group of people, you know doing it together Yeah, I mean we rarely get to do things together Kind of sad to me Recordings are starting to like go away. Yeah way the dinosaur but like yeah, why is that?

[00:19:33] It's your timing for people. Yeah. Yeah It's easier for people to be able to just kind of do it from home things like that But you don't get the if you don't you don't get the playoff of each other the way

[00:19:43] Yeah, that you used to get with ensemble cast Yeah It's I mean sometimes you'll have a director that will do that with you like redo it and they'll really get into it So you can sort of you know play off of that but

[00:19:54] I have it a couple and I just got to do what it's called No sleep podcast and we just did a really cool Season finale for it and we all got to be there and that was really fun

[00:20:04] So because it is fun to get to be in the room with other actors and get to like play off of each other Because you get that extra up and now honestly I'm just used to not doing that way

[00:20:13] But I still have fun because the director is on the on the other end usually through foam pads coming in through my ears right my headset, okay and Sometimes during the other room and I can see them

[00:20:24] But I'd like to engage with them as well and hear what they're saying and like oh, yeah Oh, yeah, okay, and if they're excited about it. I get excited about it I know instant feedback. Yeah, and for cyberpunk everyone that was a cool thing to work on because

[00:20:39] Everyone was excited about it. I could tell just from the sound engineers The producers like they hopped on to meet me in Poland And they were all excited about it and like none of us totally

[00:20:51] We didn't know that it was gonna be as big of a hit as it was right But they were excited about it and I feel like that sort of translated to what ended up happening the energy like you can Feel it like that's cool. That's cool. Yeah, right

[00:21:02] We're gonna talk about some how to get into voice acting so we always have like voice acting Amateurs out there. So if you have questions get ready We have a mic set up so you can come, you know ask some questions. Oh

[00:21:19] Well, okay come ask me questions. Yeah, yeah, so just get those ready, but I'll try not to step on your Questions or toes but you have a what are some very beginning tips that you could share with us

[00:21:34] With the audience like you know potential voice actors any like beginning tips Like I know a lot of people like I want to get into it I just don't know what to do whether it's my voice or equipment or whatever may be any initial tips

[00:21:47] so I always I mean I get asked this question a lot and I'm always so happy to answer You know give any information or wisdom that I've gained through the years, but I definitely think should be a coach

[00:22:01] Doesn't matter. Yeah, I know I'm not that yeah for some reason like that's not my but I love to mentor people Just on the side of my teacher should be a teacher. Yeah You mentioned that

[00:22:10] So it doesn't matter what kind of voice you have there everybody, you know some people like oh I don't have a good enough no no no There are so many different places and I feel like it's even in commercial now

[00:22:21] So many places for all different kinds of voices to be and to fit Definitely working on your acting so taking classes on I mean just acting like theater or acting or whatever helps especially for games games anime any sort of character work

[00:22:37] You do having that background is huge Okay, to be able to develop a character because you still are you know working on a character with it has

[00:22:45] Experiences different emotions and things and just to be able to have that sort of control of your own voice right and then That's always just classes. Yeah, that's a theme

[00:22:54] We have with every voice actor we talked to but also something that I kind of like harp on a lot is need to focus on the

[00:22:59] Acting more so than the voice the voice will come later. It's more honing your skill as an actor and then doing the voice later Yeah, yeah, yeah for sure Are we talking about like a voice acting class or like acting in general?

[00:23:13] Both both but there are there are some great voice acting classes that have some great teachers that have a cute really theatrical backgrounds that are helpful to and that's another thing is a lot of these classes are

[00:23:29] Accessible online now you can take zoom classes with different there's a different Disney coaches and things Yeah, exactly Elise Bowman. Yes. Yes. He's here one of the voice artists. She is a coach There's tons of people to do that

[00:23:44] There's I always my personal opinion taking a group class in the beginning is super helpful because you learn Almost as much if not more from listening to the other actors Because they go up and you're like to have in your own thoughts and then you hear the direction

[00:23:59] They get and then watch them take that direction and go with it and you're like, oh Yeah, that was super cool how they did that you learn so much and

[00:24:09] Another thing about voiceover is the community. Yeah is somewhat small and we're we're everybody's pretty cool to each other It's like different than the on camera will everybody is super embracing and wants to help and be supportive of one another

[00:24:22] So getting in that I remember being in that small Small little class one of my first classes. I remember Shelby young wasn't with me

[00:24:29] I don't know if you know who she is she does she's now has like millions and millions of followers because she also does the influencer stuff But you all kind of help each other you ask questions

[00:24:38] You keep in touch with each other somebody else finds a piece of information They you know, it's it's your own little community just community to start with and often the coaches are super helpful as well That's awesome

[00:24:49] I haven't heard that yet of like think about the other people in your class or people that you can play off and how they're Interpreting how you may interpret like direction from a director or teacher. Yeah, but then seeing how they interpret it, right?

[00:25:01] That's so smart. This is why again. This is where you're here going up Which is saying like the voice acting community is so Kind of just they're so cool with each other because it's like oh I went into audition for this

[00:25:13] It didn't work out, but you know what I know X Y and Z and you know, I think they would nail this and a lot of times sometimes

[00:25:19] Actors will get roles based on that. Yeah. Yeah, but like on on camera work is like so competitive that it's like They don't do that. It's like, oh, yeah, I didn't nail this audition

[00:25:29] You know what you can go talk to him and he might do this do a good audition like with voice acting They will they will Say hey, here's a good person that will fit this character versus on screen is like no

[00:25:40] I want this role and that's it. Yeah, let's talk about Finding a character like the backstory like how do you have to come up with it on your own? Do you ask the writer director?

[00:25:51] Producer like how do you in the in the mindset, you know, they give you directions sometimes for the audition But sometimes it's not super helpful So you have to you have to come up with your own even if it's just for that audition

[00:26:05] Even if you're totally off base and when you get into the session, they're gonna give you more information Mm-hmm You have to be able to come up something so that it's real to you so that you can make little moments out of things

[00:26:17] You know, if you don't have that sort of visual of like what's happening in the scene How close you are to the person that you're talking to how far away you are

[00:26:26] What's going on behind you? Like if you're in combat, you're not like you're not talking like this You know, you know, you're like, you know, your your voice is raised But you also might not be yelling you might still be talking to the person you all that information

[00:26:38] It's super good to know and it's very you can hear it in the read Even if it's not totally accurate if that's your choice, you're still making a choice

[00:26:48] You know, that's another question I had in my hair. It was like do you get to make certain choices as you're like Okay, you have the lines you have direction, but you're like, let me add this

[00:26:58] This because this is what I think is the character doing like or the emotion right this way. Yeah, let me try it This way, you know, I kind of think yeah, do directors want that?

[00:27:08] I mean when you're in the session, I feel like you can feel it out But okay, yeah, they there might there are definitely times like okay, or they'll give you a direction like okay

[00:27:17] So is it sort of like this or how about I try a little bit of this and oftentimes? So like yeah, yeah try it like I just did a session recently where I was doing like, you know ABC's

[00:27:27] ABC takes and that gave me all sorts of liveries like just you know I basically just go take that line and just whatever you want to do with it, you know

[00:27:34] And so I would do a very ABC's were all very different thinking of it in different ways to do in different inflections So I did get to have some of that but you know, there is obviously a base level of what this character is

[00:27:48] Okay does yeah, do you just going back to your work? Is there a certain character or project that you did where you're like I love this character or this project because I

[00:27:59] Got to do this I got to add my own spin or I got to I love how I use my emotion in this Character that sort of thing. Yeah, there's one that like sticks out to you. Oh my gosh. I'm trying to like think if there's

[00:28:13] Your favorite child row yeah, I know it's so hard because I like so many things for so many different reasons I guess also to lead that's a kind of go in with that

[00:28:22] But do you do you go back and watch the stuff that you're in? It's not every actor does that I? It depends sometimes there are things I'm like I don't I don't care to hear that like any sort of live-action dubbing that I've heard

[00:28:34] I'm like I will I I just don't want I don't know it's weird to me Hopefully to everybody else is totally fine. It sounds good. That's hopefully you know, hopefully but it's hard for me

[00:28:43] To I like when I also get to this is why I enjoy voice acting and not on camera I am like that character adjacent like it's not me It's it's a character and I get to so it's more fun

[00:28:55] It's easier for me to watch but I definitely sometimes will hear something and go like you know Yeah, and it's not your until I get used to it like if you're acting

[00:29:03] It's your face in that character, but you know sometimes it's yeah different face. Yes. Oh, that's interesting So yeah, I mean it I do watch and I definitely try to go in and see some of this some of it's hard to find

[00:29:15] Defined gameplay and stuff. You can't find everything all the time So I've there's a game that just came out that I'm like how am I gonna even find These characters yeah, yeah, I'll say my brother to find stuff sometimes cuz he's really good at like sleuthing

[00:29:29] And then record it and yes put on YouTube for me. Thanks Yeah, I imagine like row companies like that because just the Chaotic nature of that game of what rogue company. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, oh row company was so fun, too

[00:29:41] They were super into the game. That was a really fun one Because and then I also got to you know, there's the motion capture element of it That wasn't me so we're like, okay, that's dope. Yeah, have you ever done mo cap only facial capture?

[00:29:54] I haven't done any motion capture. What's that like? Do you with the dots and I've done it with the dots and I've done it without So Zar Gala which is like this or character that's for Raid Shadow Legends

[00:30:03] They have tons of commercials so if you game at all that you've seen those commercials Anything like they're all over the place. Yeah, so Zar Gala I was just I was just talking about that down there basically I just have my phone recording the whole session

[00:30:16] So every even little thing I do which in fact I have one where I did where I totally my computer wasn't working and there's me like panicking and then I Send it off email it to them there and you they were in Ukraine now

[00:30:29] They're in Poland and they take that no dots or anything. They're like truly magicians Yeah, and they create this and her face looks like an orc version of my face. Yeah, they're 3d mapping your face

[00:30:41] Yeah, yes, it's pretty cool. You didn't have dots on your face, but they map the video There's basically AI software you can use that'll map her face and then they can go and put it in the computer and recreate it

[00:30:53] Uh-huh. That's crazy. It's super cool. I got to do the facial dots for a Magic the gathering spot. That was cool. So yeah, so I guess that had to be in studio, right? You're not at home putting dots on your face

[00:31:06] That was in studio and it was still sort of the time where it was the pandemic So I remember they gave me this I had to go put the dots on myself They gave me a picture and would like go do that. Yeah. Oh wow, that's so cool

[00:31:18] I mean those and that's not weird. No, it was it was yeah, I got the experience of doing it myself That's cool. I think normally I make up say they would do it. They know where the dots go Yeah, yeah, so we interviewed

[00:31:30] Jackie last year yeah, that's Jackie last year And great Delilah at the same time was really cool. They had some fun like tips of how to find the character You have anything that any tips that like to ground your character like

[00:31:45] Jackie shout out to Jackie her thing was like I need to find the posture of the character of how I'm gonna Hold myself, you know what I'm about to do the voice or gray will laugh and the laugh brings her to the character Yeah, yeah

[00:31:59] This is my thing I mean, I think that that is definitely a thing there are some characters where I literally have to like I'm sitting talking I'm booth. I prop my foot up and like lean like this while I'm doing it because in my mind

[00:32:13] That's what the character there. That's how I make it cool That's why I hold myself or if I'm doing like a yeah, it definitely the physicality Yeah, I'm doing a really strong character. I'm standing really strong or if I'm doing a

[00:32:26] Well, like Doreo. She has a really strong voice. Yeah, so I know I had to like lower my voice I also have done some Emma Stone voice matching So I sort of found that she's you know like a little bit lower like down at you

[00:32:36] So I go in that little lower octave and I've learned to sort of make those deeper voice characters that way But I also with Doreo She she is that deeper lower strong voice, but she's also she's like I would definitely do that with my shoulders

[00:32:51] She's she's like sometimes. She just like super cool. Yeah, cool and confident. Yeah. Yeah She's very confident. My god Sometimes she just like you know, she's pretty bad for somebody that will just beat the crap out of anybody that gets Yeah, exactly

[00:33:04] So I think I think honestly I for me I really love personally and when I get in when I can see a picture Doesn't know what you don't always get that. Yeah, okay

[00:33:15] So I sort of try to imagine a person or a character that I already can associate with what sort of vibe they have Association, okay, you know. Yeah, exactly so she's and so and if I can see the picture

[00:33:26] I kind of like okay this person seems this they seem like they have Yeah, this quote or they're like or they're super together or maybe they're together on the you know to on the outwardly

[00:33:35] But really they're sort of a mess inside, you know you coming up with those details Is how I come with a character and I'm not I definitely can change my voice pitch and my voice And I've done some more animaty type work, but I've learned for myself

[00:33:49] My normal lower register is what books me the most work stronger register So that's sort of where and I've just learned that there's times where I'm like, but I can do this and you know And I feel like it's probably fine

[00:34:03] But they're like, yeah, but we have lots of other people that can do that too But we you know, we want you to do this thing that you do so you it's like learning that thing about yourself, too

[00:34:10] What can I do that's me but also the character that's super interesting like how to find your I guess range or octave Like if I think about a singer, I'm like, how do you find where your sweet spot is seeing?

[00:34:21] I guess yeah for voice acting you kind of have to do the same thing and like this is my sweet So I can do this signature, but here's here's my signature. Oh my god. That's so cool. I did it again I totally forgot about

[00:34:33] questions if you guys have questions about any other projects Marines been in or voice acting or you know, whatever Raise your hand we'll get you up here. We got a mic even if you're this thenographer come on up

[00:34:47] We have a mic up here. So yeah, let's go ahead and come to the microphone. Welcome. Welcome. What's your name? Hello, can you hear me? Hi? My name is Stephanie. Um, I went in transferring pivoting my career from accounting which was slowly killing me to

[00:35:05] Professional acting and yes release bombing basically. I was just gonna say I know it's a little crazy time, but you only live once right for sure I actually have two pages of the questions I won't waste people's time, but I would love to connect sometime

[00:35:21] But I guess the main questions I had are like what kind of specific classes? What do you recommend or mentors or? Mentors agent in yeah that you recommend like the detail wise

[00:35:34] What it's like on like location wise like if I live in Oregon would I have to move to LA? How would that all work? Can you do it? I know a lot of things are like virtual, but how does that all play out?

[00:35:45] How do you build your portfolio because you mentioned? Not always being able to access things after you record it But how do you build that resume and be able to send in samples?

[00:35:56] Or do you just have like a website that you just add random things on to Marie before you answer any of those? I have to ask Stephanie. Are you stealing my interview notes because you stole everything And by the way

[00:36:11] Marie you hit your table is down there with the other celebs If you have if we don't get to all these questions or any other questions, you'll be signing yes Yeah, yeah, and and I'm also always happy to answer these questions for people like I yes

[00:36:24] It does I am happy to do I'm happy to so we can talk even if I don't get to them All we can talk another time or anybody for that matter like I feel like I'm happy to share

[00:36:35] People did the same for me, you know, I started from scratch didn't know anything And you probably won't be able to fully you might not you won't be able to fully pivot You're gonna have to do both in the beginning which I'm sure you're aware of but um

[00:36:53] Pick one or seven I'm thinking like I know there's so many things like if you go on So it depends on how Much you want to go into the world

[00:37:04] I know even the people down in the the tables who are in Dallas right now because Funimation and things out there Had their little stints of living in LA

[00:37:13] And I do think that there are more opportunities for sure now since the pandemic where you can be in other places And get into it, but you you need to be taking classes There's a bunch of casting workshops And classes to go to I'm thinking of like

[00:37:31] My mind is trying to go to I've like I have a whole bunch of things written down But there's a place even called Edge Studio. That's a website that has That has a list of contacts and things that you can look at there's different

[00:37:43] Oh, you know, there's the the voiceover guide the voice over resource guide the voice over resource guide It's online and there's pamphlets for it I used the actual physical thing when I first got into voiceover and

[00:37:56] Literally listen to every single demo maker on there before I made my decision Because you're gonna need it you're gonna need a demo before you can get an agent and a lot of agents Oh, they only will listen to your commercial demo first

[00:38:09] You have to get into commercial and I know everybody is like but animation doing commercials or Like I mean that kind of is all-encompassing Commercials sort of are more or a much broader

[00:38:22] But they are bigger money makers and more broad for an agent and you're able to get more work in those So if you want to get an agent generally speaking unless you already have credits They are gonna want your commercial demo first

[00:38:38] Oh, that's cool. I mean that's definitely something I feel like audiobooks or are a little bit of a separate area Of you know, we definitely are we definitely mesh together, but it's a little bit separate

[00:38:51] I can't explain that makes like a lot of my agents don't necessarily represent audio but people but they have their own representation So I mean so basically you would be taking a commercial class or a general class where there's general

[00:39:05] Classes through voice castor. That's an LA. I know they do online classes voice tracks West. That's voice tracks TRI-ax they have a lot of different classes and different

[00:39:17] Coaches there's tons of private coaches, but again the voice of a resource guide is gonna have every single person you can go to their websites And look everything up yourself and see what it is But I definitely think that getting in on a more general level

[00:39:30] Is gonna help you get in elsewhere and doesn't mean you can't also be Connecting and doing your things with like I know bang zoom has some stuff where they've they've worked with people at Conventions right they have the big

[00:39:42] What was the one that you guys know the one that they just did recently where they literally have a panel and they select somebody from that That's how Christina he got her start from miraculous. Wow really 16 or something almost an audition panel

[00:39:53] Yeah, they were they haven't done it in a while, but they did it recently It was it Anna it was what it's bang zoom So if you look them up and look on their socials they talk about it

[00:40:04] Tour dates so to speak it's up, but I don't think they do it all the time They just do it at the one convention and it's an anime convention And I'm trying to think of exact what it anime expo. I think it might be anime expo

[00:40:15] Yeah, that's like one of the biggest like for anime Yeah, I know I know Jackie Jackie last year got her start with something similar to that So yeah, so there are ways to get in that way so you can almost simultaneously

[00:40:26] Be working on both you work in your character and be sort of taking these other classes You know what I mean so that when you're in you're ready to focus your attention in whichever direction you want to go

[00:40:35] I don't know how much to answer but that voiceover resource guide gives you tons of information voice over resource guide That's already asked some questions questions questions. We all nominated Stephanie to ask all the questions. Okay, perfect. Please do Thank you Stephanie. That was great. Yeah

[00:40:50] Yeah, she had amazing questions and she did and she actually answered the majority of the other questions My notes she did Just the mind reader somehow she hacked into your computer and got our entire

[00:41:04] Interview my passion is literally password. So it's because you're not the smartest. All right, okay So let's get into the wrap up questions here. Okay, so these are gonna be the hardest questions You're ever asked hard hitting hard hitting the hard question right now. I'm nervous. Yeah, okay

[00:41:19] What is your favorite kind of taco or favorite taco spot? Oh You know you're so Cal now so you gotta come with the right answer. Yes There's a place called El Tapatio that makes really good like it's one of those like strip mall hole in the wall

[00:41:34] Yeah, definitely like dirty You're the better. Yes so great And they make these really amazing street tacos and I loved I just get the pollo But I love guacamole guacamole is the thing have to have the guacamole in the taco. That's smart

[00:41:46] I like that. Yeah, I like that creamy flavor. Yep. Sure. That's good. He's just his mouth is already Really good Now normally we ask what some advice you might give to people trying to get into the industry But it's gonna change it up a little bit

[00:42:01] What's one thing that you can do on a daily basis to help fine-tune your craft read out loud Anything read the friggin newspaper out loud practice reading out loud all so much so much

[00:42:13] Like you have to become a you want to become a good cold reader meaning you just open that up And you were able to like I mean there's so many times where I've gone I have never seen the lines before and now it's the session

[00:42:21] I have to read these lines and make sense of them on the spot and just so just being able to read out loud and have it You know, obviously everybody comes up with their own things that work for them

[00:42:30] Yeah, sometimes people that's not there at thing but reading out loud and just your own practice auditions And there's a way at studio has practice auditions that reminds me there Auditions, but I was gonna say and a lot of times those words aren't English words

[00:42:43] It could be Japanese words. It could be something made up for this story So it's like oh man have to be ready to figure that word out. I had one character recently I forgot about that. I don't even know it was some crazy language

[00:42:55] They literally think they told me they took like Polish and then put it in reverse and then I had to like I gotta find that character and see if I can find a clip

[00:43:03] Yeah, and then wrote it down. I was like she got what you know what you like? I don't even know it was like crazy But I had to sort of read it because there was a male character doing the same thing

[00:43:12] So we had to sound sort of the same. We couldn't just like make up our own thing. Yeah, that's very different though Like you don't need to that's like cold reading orcish. It's like That was on the spot like there was no addition for that

[00:43:23] That was yeah quick question before we get to the wrap the final final rapper questions But you mentioned working for companies in Poland. How does that work out? Is it through your agent or yeah? Like cyberpunk

[00:43:35] Yeah, so funny that there's just seems to be a lot of gaming companies there in the overseas and Cyberpunk I did a I did a couple game trailers for companies over there. Yeah, they're through my agents Okay, or my manager and I think all of them

[00:43:48] But you know what the one that I the Zargalov that I do is through my Colorado agent I have a amazing regional rep in Colorado called Go Voices and that I got through them

[00:43:57] So ran like I've gotten some really amazing things through some some of my smaller agents Not that my my agent is Atlas in LA and they're amazing, but and you have multiple

[00:44:05] I didn't even realize that you have multiple agents like yeah, you have different agents for different things you do So it's like well the day my mind the regional ones covered specific things to that area

[00:44:16] So your commercial your auditions in work that you do are gonna be different It just basically expands the amount of work that you're gonna get networking is your auditioning. Yeah, right? Oh, yeah I have Colorado Salt Lake, Oregon Portland in both ears

[00:44:31] They're amazing there one of my friends had them for all in both ears is what they're called both ears I have a Pittsburgh agent and Polish agent I know but it's back expanded outside of the US

[00:44:42] But people other people have I've not expanded outside the US because then it gets you get to a point where it's your it's too much Right, it's too much. You're doing auditions at like three in the morning. Yeah

[00:44:51] Yeah, I you know at a certain point you're you have to be selective about your auditions right when you get that many Yeah, which is nice another side quest question Okay, so you're reading for a company out in Poland right for video gaming

[00:45:03] When do you have to work with them? Is it your 9 to 5 Monday through Friday or is it like 3 a.m? Your time generally are working later So they'll be working in the evening and it'll be an early morning for me Like with when I did the Zargala stuff

[00:45:16] It was sometimes like 6 30 or 7 in the morning Oh, I was okay with that because I'm used to getting up early with my kids Okay, but sometimes or depends away at like one time

[00:45:25] I was on the East Coast so I was able to do it a little bit later It's happened to be on the East Coast I have so many questions for you like you just blew my mind having like multiple agents different regions

[00:45:34] We got a haver on the I know I know okay. We'll have a show. Okay. Sorry. Sorry go ahead So again another hard question here, right? And this really is like choosing your children. Oh God, okay

[00:45:45] A fight happens. Okay, Sergeant Jack. So fights Doryo who wins in a fight I mean I like Dorya wins Dorya wins Dorya cool I mean Sergeant Jack so is like a trooper and she's smart and savvy

[00:45:59] But like I think if we're if they're getting into an actual physical fight. It's Doryo I mean Doryo kicked mains ass. Yes, and that's that's what I was talking about earlier

[00:46:07] Is like, you know, she's she's she will beat the crap out of anybody because she beat mains ass and main is not a small Guy she has not all human parts. She's got like some cyborg All right, so what's next for you

[00:46:22] That's that's not sag stricken and not Yeah, there's this there's you are saying yes. Yes. Okay good for you So I I can talk about this because because it's not struck But other people other actors get it sort of but I already know I actually talked to Saga

[00:46:43] I know you can absolutely talk about this because it's Disney people get weird But I get to do all the Ahsoka campaign for Disney so any of the Ahsoka spots you see you'll hear at the end

[00:46:52] I know I was so excited that they let a female voice do those spots and I do the camera It was on TV last night. I saw my mind was just blown right now I don't know if you saw the look on my face just right now

[00:47:02] Yeah, believe me stores ain't no small thing in my house. Which is so this Campaign so like there so, you know commercial like Ahsoka, you know August 23rd on Disney Plus Yeah, so I do I do a ton of trailer and promo work as well, which is awesome

[00:47:17] I do I like to mix up the genres that's so I'm doing the Ahsoka campaign and I could I couldn't be more excited about I'm so excited for that. We're gonna be In the last like week that's crazy. Yeah. Oh, yeah comes out next the 23rd

[00:47:31] Yeah, August 23rd about a hundred and fifty times and so so where can everybody follow you and kind of like social Media's or places that they want to see you to the table. I'm warning you

[00:47:42] I'm like trying to be better at social media. I'm so bad at it But Instagram is the one I'm on more which is just Marie Westbrook VO awesome Twitter I'm I'm like I need to be I feel like all the anime people are on Twitter

[00:47:54] I can't I think my brain can only wrap and handle. I also have two small children My days are quite busy, so there's always talks at any way Instagram's Twitter's toxic anyways. It's a little crazy

[00:48:05] It's probably good that I'm not in that game, but I definitely try to keep my my Instagram stuff up to date with like stuff That's like really happening. Okay, you know, that's the cool place to be Instagram. Yeah

[00:48:16] I like Instagram. I feel comfortable there. There you go. Yeah. All right. Well everybody. Let's give a round of applause to Marie Westbrook I am so happy guys. Thank you so much. So awesome. Thank you so much Love you Well, we hope you enjoyed this week's

[00:48:39] This was the production of the distance nerding podcast and time for tacos media for more content follow us on Facebook Instagram Twitter twitch YouTube and tick tock all at distance nerding if you enjoy our content

[00:48:50] Please leave us a review on Apple podcasts Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks and keep nerding together Good morning. Good afternoon and good evening Signing out from another amazing episode of Comic Con radio Tune in for your daily shows of Comic Con radio go to

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