This is a post to fellow voiceover artists who happen to carry the wonderful skill of speaking two or more languages, and the great opportunities you can uncover!
As we are all learning with time, it serves us all best to quit being timid and apologetic over our skills and assets, and begin to flaunt them in order to gain brownie points and further our job opportunities!
When I began as a freelance voice actor, I realised that I would have to throw it all on the table, and use every possible key word to boost my CV. I spent a few years advertising myself as a British female voice over artist, and with hard work and a growing CV a lot of opportunities became available.
However, I had always been shy of revealing the other side to my coin, which would be that I was raised by two Russian speaking parents in the north of England (Manchester to be precise). Having had many ‘interesting’ to say the least experiences of being typecast as a Russian spy in my acting career, I thought it would be best to avoid being typecast in my new voice over venture and focus on building my clientele with my northern voice over accent. I was adamant to be seen as a a northern female voice and grow in that branch.
What I realised with time, is that I was obstructing myself from the bigger picture - and a MUCH bigger industry!
I decided to record a Russian voiceover reel and send it to some agencies, and to my surprise I had more interest than I could have imagined. I am now happily partnered with Sue Terry voices, who represent my international and British side.
It is important to know that international companies seek all sorts of voices in the capital of creativity. London is a fantastic place where the industry supports all voices, and as a female voice over artist, I have learnt to not be apologetic about my skill sets and really embrace my internationality - and it is very rewarding indeed!
So far my jobs in Russian and with a Russian accent have included DOVE, MR PROPER & HERBAL ESSENCES, numerous Video Games, along with some dubbing and corporate work - and all from the comfort of my own home!
So I would like to encourage all fellow voice over actors to really embrace and champion their internationality and get the ball rolling!
Check out my Russian voice over reel below!