Major(s): East Asian Studies
What is your current role? What was your journey in arriving there?
I’m an actor and director with a focus on voiceover, particularly videogames. I also consult with development teams about SAG-AFTRA compliance, standards and best practices for actor performance. I’ve been an actor fulltime since 2011, joined my current talent agency in 2014, and have been consulting and directing since 2019. Currently, I also volunteer as Chair of the Interactive Negotiating Committee at SAG-AFTRA.
My journey started with theater through high school and at Wesleyan, including a summer with the British American Drama Academy; though you could say it started before that, when I first fell in love with games and game performances as a kid.
Moving to NYC after graduating Wes, I paid close attention to how auditioning felt for different kinds of acting – which kind I could fully embrace and sustain every single day. Voiceover was always the most freeing and comfortable, and I knew I needed to focus my efforts there.
Innovations in actor process and new high watermarks in games performance in the games of the 2010’s inspired me to commit fully to this performance category, and I moved to LA in 2015 to be at the center of the work. Every extension of my skills and activities, including directing, consulting and labor organizing, has been from a desire to expand and serve this medium the best I can.
What do you enjoy about your work? What do you struggle with?
The games industry faces many challenges.
There are the extremely volatile, unstandardized, un-unionized, long-term high-pressure working conditions for developers.
There are still tensions within the community around inclusive values (mainly backlash to genuine progress and sincere growth).
There’s the rise of generative AI, which threatens to consume art, writing, coding, actor performance, along with innumerable skills and professions.
Development tools have become more accessible and democratic, which is a very wonderful thing – but the market has also become wildly saturated, and the lack of visibility is devastating to teams of all sizes putting years of heart and soul into their projects just to see them utterly ignored.
And, while there are many legendary, moving, delightful and inspiring actor performances in games, overall the literacy and support for actor process is very low in this industry, compared to other mediums.
That makes the situation seem pretty grim, but I love acting, and directing, and helping games teams to get great performances very much.
As an actor the main limitations on what I can portray are my imagination and vocal athleticism. It’s very liberating, and when the atmosphere is playful and curious, it’s some of the most therapeutic fun there is.
Because you rarely get scripts in advance, being a game voice actor requires fearlessness and abandon that are exhilarating to embrace, and an honor to make space for as a director.
Players will resonate with these characters, potentially for many hours, bound together by the intensity of interactivity – it’s a very unique, intimate way to meet a global audience.
And the people are very cool – diverse, unbelievably smart, wildly creative, largely very down-to-earth and approachable. Networking by talking about games you love is so fun.
As for the union work, it’s deeply humbling, and extremely challenging mentally and emotionally. But working hard to make things better for everyone, at scale – including setting union precedent in an otherwise un-unionized industry – is very meaningful, and gratifying.
How did your time at Wesleyan influence your career choice/journey?
Wesleyan gave me essential acting and directing fundamentals that have stayed with me always. Learning not only how to access or cultivate sincere emotion, but develop reliable, medium-appropriate technique, and above all to comprehend and pursue compelling dramatic choices – these are the fundamental distinctions between amateur and expert performance.
I also got an immensely valuable head start on exploring my character and vocal range, as well as microphone technique, through a regular radio drama show on WESU. Those are very special memories and formative experiences.
Do you have any advice for students thinking about entering your industry?
For actors, I recommend developing a list of values and questions that matter the most to you, in both an individual working experience, and an overall career. Aggressively seek your answers through experimentation.
What kind of acting feels the best?
Why – is it immediate feedback from an audience, or a scene partner?
Is it the kinds of stories you get to tell?
The kind of skills you get to learn?
How big of an audience do you need?
How often does the experience of working hit a good high?
When is it draining or unsatisfying?
How often, and how badly?
How much sacrifice per attempt does it take, to make the numbers work out?
What kind of auditioning feels most comfortable?
Are you willing to work on things that aren’t inspiring but pay well?
That aren’t inspiring but easily accessible and keep your muscles working?
That give you a flexible schedule?
This investigation process helps resolve a fundamental acting paradox: that there is a lot of pressure to specialize, and you should do so strategically; and, you’ll want to develop a skillset that is diverse, and above all sustainable. You need an unfathomable amount of stamina for this career.
For games as an industry, in general:
Experiment with tools but don’t get stuck in them, as they go in and out of style.
Draw inspiration from everywhere and remix freely.
Analyze the ‘player’ experience in all aspects of the games you play, and importantly, in other mediums and life in general. What causes good friction? Bad friction?
Make things. Don’t be an Idea Guy; no one needs an Idea Guy.
Dabble, not just to find your fated specialization, but also to communicate intelligently with your collaborators.
Learn to how to diplomatically advocate for yourself, and to bring the best out of others by being curious and supportive.
Go to games events and make authentic connections with peers at your same experience level, and when you meet heroes, balance joy and interest with self-respect.
Updated November 1st, 2023
