voice over observation and insight

I’ve held on to a blog post from “Not Just Voiceover”, produced by my voiceover friend James Lorenz, since mid-March because I just wasn’t sure what to do with it…but I knew there was “something” there. The post noted:

Actor-singer Zac Efron, who is part of the animated movie ” The Lorax”, says giving voice-over for the film was not what he had expected.

The actor plays the lead protagonist Ted and admits putting his voice down for the part was not what he had expected, reported contactmusic.com.

“It was kind of weird. It was not what I expected. Luckily, I found out we got to record before it was animated, so we didn’t have to fit our lips into their mouths, which I always wondered if people had to do or not.

An “actor” who doesn’t understand voice acting? “Fit our lips into their mouths,” said Efron. Surely, that was a joke, right?

But why was Zac Efron (or Taylor Swift for that matter) the right voice for the movie? I kinda wonder, but do not know, if the casting was more about star power than voice acting skills.

Certainly, my opinion is tainted because this is my business. Further, in fairness, I’ve not seen the movie and maybe the performances by the two young performers were amazing. And movies are a business, not an acting showcase – stars do sell tickets.

But is it right? The answer is, I think, it doesn’t matter because the celebrity voiceover situation is unlikely to change.

But then I came across this AMAZING interview with the great voice actor Billy West produced by Dan Roberts.

There is so much great stuff here but West talking about celebrity voice over made me feel better and not so alone in my opinion.

What do you think?

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