AYUP!
I'm SJ, a practicing voice actor from Doncaster. My story is a tale of many chapters, even now at the lowly age of 19. But to spare the frustration, heartache and at times, utter boredom. Here's the events that led to my obsession... voice acting. A hobby to many, a job for few. But for me, it's life. It's all I want to do.
The story begins in a house in Market Weighton, a village near Hull. After a breakup with my dad when I was young, my mother dated a man who was ex-millitary, a diagnosed psychopath, and utterly controlling. Every aspect of my life for many years growing up was peppered with aspects of fear and control. And that's where the seed was planted. In his house, my former stepdad HATED me being too loud, so watched tv/played video games on low (sometimes zero) volume.
To keep the entertainment value, I voiced all the characters. I got pretty good too. It was definitely an enlightening moment hearing Spongebob's voice for the first time and thinking 'Huh. Yeah, that makes sense.'
Cute, right? Well, the future events in that household make those memories hard to cherish, but long story short, we got out of there. I started trying to do voiceover gigs on sites like casting call club and fiverr at the age of 13. I did small gigs, with utterly atrocious audio clarity. Then, after acquiring a new setup at 15 (which I still use to this day) I landed a gig with BeyBlade doing a legacy series villain. Fun fact, they cast me since I, quote 'Looked depressed' and the character was indeed rather melancholy.
I took a back seat for a while, doing exams etc. But got back on the horse when starting uni. Since then, I've auditioned for about 200 projects, landing 18 roles, from amateur to professional. Including, but not limited to, Doctor Who 18th doctor adventures by Rift Point Productions, where I feature as the Doctor. Several RPG vendors (mainly spell vendors, due to the english accent) and two Halo machinima projects where I feature as main characters.
RPG character example 18th Doctor example
Here's to the future!
SJ Harris - Future KING of voice over
Comments
Brilliant stuff, SJ! A great blog intro to you and your work. 😊 You've evidently been on quite a journey and so it's really pleasing to see you begin to realise your passion for voice acting. These audio clips are great! I look forward to hearing more of your work this year!