the unseen actress

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The Unseen Actress An interview with voiceover arst Deby Cedars

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An interview with US voiceover artist, Deby Cedars.

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Page 1: The Unseen Actress

TheUnseenActress

An interview withvoiceover ar�st Deby Cedars

Page 2: The Unseen Actress

ithout it knowing it, youmay have already heardof Deby Cedars. Well,

heard Deby Cedars’ voice at least.Voiceover work is the hidden art

that seems to pass many listenersby. But as with many other ar-s-cfields, the less it is no-ced, themore successful the ar-st’s job.

Deby Cedars from Derby,Connec-cut is a full--mevoiceover ar-st but her ac-ngroots started in her youngeryears.

“I guess it all started at home. Iwas one of the last to be born inmy family. By the -me I camealong, I think my mom was boredwith having kids. I’d shout andmake a noise to get her a.en-onat the side of the pool forinstance, but she’d put her faceback into her roman-c novel.

“When I was in kindergarten, I

had a best friend and we dideverything together. We had toaudi-on for parts in a musicalplay although I didn’t know it wasan audi-on as such at the -me. Iwas picked, but my best friendwasn’t which I felt pre.y badabout, but I realised that I hadsome sort of talent that I couldwork with.

“So I decided to get into ac-ng.It wasn’t for the glamorous sideof it - I wanted to enjoy theprocess of finding a character andperforming that role to the bestof my ability. I didn’t care if I hadan audience of two or thousands- of which I have had both by theway!

“I had been doing stand upcomedy in bars in the RainbowClub in California. I had also beendancing and singing in Browsnvilleand had people recognising me ingrocery stores. I even got astalker, which freaked me out a

li.le and I wasn’t en-relycomfortable with that way ofliving.”

Deby’s ac-ng skills saw herthrough a decade of work, but bythe -me she was reaching 30, shewas becoming conscious of thefact that cas-ng agents werebecoming more picky:

“Being only 5’2, I was playingteenagers un-l my late 20s. Butmy height was becoming aproblem. I had one guy call me upa�er an audi-on and told me thatI read the best, and that I was themost talented, but physically Iwasn’t what they were lookingfor. ”

Deby started ge/ng work forradio commercials but therecame a turning point when arou-ne examina-on found that Ihad lumps in my breasts. I had alot of tests which involved a lot ofwai-ng. I was very scared. Duringthe long days and weeks of

W

TheUnseenActress

Star Interview

Page 3: The Unseen Actress

wai-ng, I had -me to put my lifeinto context and I decided that if Ihad the all-clear, that I would takemore care of myself.”

The all-important all-clear camea few long weeks later and Debythrew herself into her work.

“I had first understood theconcept of voiceover work when Iwas at film-classes in Houston.The teacher had up an advert forGrape-Nuts and then asked for avolunteer to do the voiceover.No-one put themselves forward.I hadn’t as the adverts for Grape-Nuts at that -me was usuallydone by a middle aged guy butthen I thought ‘What the hell?’.

“I moved to Connec-cut where Iknew I’d have access to a studio.A guy called David Goldberghelped me a lot but it was at hisstudio where I met Paul Liber-who really taught me the basics.He taught me so much aboutvoice ac-ng – the differentmicrophone technique, thebreathing, and tongue placement.He taught me how to create acharacter that I could nevercreate on stage by addingaccents, rhythm and speechpa.erns. I realised that withthese new skills that I could makea living and be compe--ve.”

Deby was soon hired for booktrails, video games, celebrityimpersona-ons, cartoons anddocumentaries.

“My work and my repertoire hasbecome very diverse. It’s hard forcas-ng directors to define me as aresult. Being diverse can workagainst me so I have to marketmyself to each genre in differentways.

“I'm very proud of the booktrailers I've done but, the biggestrole to date is the video gamePhantasmat, where I play a deadgirl. It has not been released yet.”

But for any ar-st, ge/ng acontract can prove a trickyexperience.

“Most of the work I get is frommarke-ng that I have done. Itmeans that I have more controlover the things I do. Most of thebig studios are in New York toobut I do have my own studioshere. I work mostly out of myliving room. As a consequence, Itend not to get out of the housemuch!” she laughs.

“Voiceover work is different toother ac-ng roles in that youdon’t really have other actors tobounce off. I therefore have toreally think about the audience.The diversity is staggering - oneminute I’ll be a geeky teenager,the next I’ll be a sultry womantalking ero-ca!

“My career has certainly beeninteres-ng so far. I’ve worked onmovies like Face Off (with JohnTravolta), Deep Impact (withElijah Wood) and America’s MostWanted. Bob Bergen, thevoice of Porky Pig, has evencomplimented me on myvoiceover work. He told me that Iwas very, very talented and evencompared me to Tara Strong. Thatwas nice.”

Deby’s chameleon-like ability totransform her voice into manydifferent characters is the result

of many years of dedica-on andhard work.

Deby’s latest role is Sebas-an,the li.le boy slug character whowill be teaching children how todial 911. It’s a role that Deby isvery excited about.

“When I finally get -me tomyself, I think I’d like to get mypoetry published someday andwrite an anima-on script. Un-lthen, I’m quite happy being theunseen actor and the voice thatmakes the difference to theproject I am working on.”

Star Interview