The key to anything, is to have fun.
-Stephanie Sheh
I am one lucky cookie. I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing the great voice actress and director Stephanie Sheh. Chances are, if you’ve watched anything animated, you’ve heard her voice. Stephanie has over 200 voice over credits. Yes, you read that right. Two hundred. And talking to her, you would never know that she is basically a voice over celebrity. Her two feet are planted on the ground, and she is as humble as can be.
She is currently starring in the English version of “Tatty and Misifu” that our team at VOFFLA is producing. She is playing both Lilly AND Misifu and we feel so fortunate to have her on board.
Stephanie, how did your career and love for voice over begin?
I wasn’t actually one of those actors who wanted to do voice over ever since they were a kid. I just wanted to act and after graduating from college, I tried out everything, as most actors do. Voice over was one of them and it seemed to be something where I was consistently getting cast and I was getting good feedback from. The feedback I would get from on camera would be things like “Oh we like you, but you don’t look the part.” I would do casting director workshops and I was always the one getting the scenes last. It made me think that they didn’t really know what to do with my look. Also, being BIPOC at the time severely limit me, say if they were casting for a family. I think that if I were in my 20’s now, it would be different because there are so many more opportunities for BIPOC actors these days. I recently decided to explore on camera acting, after abandoning it and I can definitely see that there are so many more roles for Asian actors.
What genre did you start in?
I got my entry way via the Anime industry. I watched Anime, I was a fan and I loved the genre. At the time, the standards for dubbing were not very high. It was a very different time, they didn’t have beeps, they couldn’t stretch anything. They even had to use a stopwatch to time everything! Those were the early days of dubbing. So, if you had to dub under those conditions, how good could you be? There was also less communication between the original creative side and the dubbing team. I was an insecure actor at the time, and I didn’t know if I was any good, but the Anime dubbing seemed ok because the bar was really low. I didn’t know how difficult it really was.
I started auditioning for those roles.
What was your very first job?
I actually got a job producing dubs, since I didn’t have any credits at the time, it was definitely useful. I got to audition for projects the company I was working for was producing. Those were my first credits. My first credit was the role of Silky in “I’m gonna be an Angel”. My second credit was Mamimi. They were both from the company I was working for.
What would be your dream project to work on, if there were no limits at all?
I wear many hats but acting is still my number one passion. I get the most joy working on original animation projects. I’m a big nerd for anything Star Wars so it would be super cool to be in the Star Wars universe. But I wouldn’t want it to take me out of the running for live action.
What was the most fun project you’ve worked on?
It’s really hard to pick. The key to anything is to have fun. I obviously love working on Tatty and Misifu with you guys, it’s so much fun and the cutest series. I find myself constantly laughing in terms of what’s happening in the show. I’m currently working on a show that is super fun, I love the cast and the episodes. I’ve been working on it for 2 years, it’s not out in the US yet so I can’t say anything more than that. It’s an original.
Monia: We’ll just call it “unannounced TV show coming to a streaming service”
Stephanie: Yes, exactly. Sometimes you have to wait a really long time before you can say anything.
You’ve been doing this for a very long time. I don’t kiss and tell, so I won’t say how many years exactly. X number of years ago, what do you wish someone told you that you didn’t know and wished you knew?
I was very lucky to have some great mentors who helped me along the way.
But I would say, to not take things personally, whether it’s rejection or anything else. And to take care of your own mental health. If you don’t work on your own issues, those will just come up and can be an obstacle for you. It can be creating excess anxiety before a job or during a job, or blocking you from accessing certain emotions you’ll need for a character because you have a personal hang up that you haven’t dealt with.
I got really good advice right off the bat. When I got let go of my producing job and decided to go freelance, my mentor called me and asked how I was doing. I told her I had nothing to do and was unemployed. She said: “Right now your job is to clean your house, do your laundry, do whatever networking you need to do. When you start working, you’ll realize that when it rains, it pours, and you won’t have the time to do those things anymore. So do them now.”
When I got fired from my first job, I learned a lot from it. It was my first time working with this big-time director, I got very nervous. I put too much pressure on myself and was too worried about doing a good job. I was beating myself on the inside every time I got a direction and it got in the way of my performance. I screwed myself out of that job, I wasn’t dedicated to the performance, I was only concerned about how it came across. It was a big learning lesson for me. I don’t regret it, because had I not gone through that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
Monia: I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And even if it’s absolutely heartbreaking at the time, usually, later on you look back and think: Oh, this is why that happened. I needed to learn something.
Stephanie: Exactly, I would have to agree with that.
Anything else you’d like to share with us today?
This may be helpful. Social media is great to keep in touch with people, and networking. However, actors need to know that they can’t reveal anything about the project they are working on until it’s out and they’ve asked for permission to post about it. Maybe they don’t think anyone will see it, or think they’re being vague but they’re not. And other actors end up being penalized. I’ve noticed now I sometimes have to sign multiple NDA’s or lock my phone in sessions, which can be a bit dangerous if there’s an emergency. So please, don’t post about projects. Same thing goes for fans, they mean well but they can get actors in trouble by speculating. I almost got in trouble once by wearing a Sailor Moon shirt, and all these blogs started saying this was proof I was going to be in the movie. At the time I didn’t even know if I was dubbing it. So be really careful about what you post online.
Stephanie Sheh is represented by Atlas Talent.
Follow her on Twitter @stephaniesheh