VAM 109 | Interview with Stephanie Sheh, Part 1
VAM 109 | Interview with Stephanie Sheh, Part 1
Welcome to episode 109 of the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with yours truly, Crispin Freeman!
As always, you can listen to the podcast using the player above, or download the mp3 using the link at the bottom of this blog post. The podcast is also available via the iTunes Store online. Just follow this link to view the podcast in iTunes:
http://www.voiceactingmastery.com/podcast
Welcome to the first part of my interview with the talented and amazingly driven voice actress, Stephanie Sheh! You may know Stephanie’s voice acting from her work portraying characters such as Zhu-Li in Nickelodeon’s hit series, the Legend of Korra, Hinata in the ever popular anime series Naruto, and most recently Sailor Moon herself in both the re-released original anime series and the newer Sailor Moon Crystal remake. What you may not be as familiar with is her work behind the scenes in animation and video games! She’s produced, directed, cast and even engineered voice acting sessions for numerous projects. She has hands-on experience with almost every aspect of the production chain, and because of her broad array of talents, she has a wealth of information about what it truly takes to succeed in the industry.
I had the great pleasure of working with Stephanie when I first came to Los Angeles. I was fortunate enough to direct her in an obscure anime show called I, My, Me Strawberry Eggs where she played one of the lead characters. I was impressed with her work and commitment level back then and my admiration for her tenacity and skill has only grown. What I really appreciate about Stephanie is how down to earth and practical she is. She never minces words about what it takes to succeed and always tells the unvarnished truth. She is focused and dedicated. She knows that her success is up to her and she tries to share that understanding with others so that they too will take responsibility for finding their own avenues to creating a viable and fulfilling career.
In the first part of our discussion, Stephanie shares with us how she broke into voice acting. She had a very unconventional path and her journey reveals a lot, not only about her and her level of commitment, but also about the entertainment industry and some of the unspoken expectations that people in Hollywood may have. She also discusses her initial fear that her family would not support her decision to pursue acting as a career and how she had to overcome that fear of rejection in order to follow her acting dreams. I’m honored to have Stephanie on the podcast, so pay close attention! She’s got a lot of great insights to share!
Download Voice Acting Mastery Episode #109 Here (MP3)
11 Responses to “VAM 109 | Interview with Stephanie Sheh, Part 1”
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That was a roller coaster of events! She seemed to jump from one thing to the other fairly quickly. I’m so glad she’s truly happy as well. She’s done a fantastic job as Sailor Moon and I can’t wait for the next episode!
Yours,
~ Kalyn
Yup, Stephanie admits at the very beginning that she likes to tangent a lot. But I find her tangents so interesting that I can’t resist running down those avenues with her! Hopefully you’re still able to follow us down the rabbit hole! There’s going to be lots of more good stuff in the next episode!
Stephanie’s beginnings and the initial fear of rejection from her parents is similar what I’m going through right now. How we put obstacles in our own path was a real eye opener for me.
I can’t wait for the next episode
-Ian Pabito
Good! I’m glad you found Stephanie’s personal story helpful! I’m looking forward to the next episode as well!
I understand being frustrated. When I was nineteen the dub cast for a very popular anime was announced and the male lead was voiced by a guy who was my age. I just kept beating myself up about it, for no real reason.
I’m a fan of Stephanie’s work and I can’t wait to hear more.
Thanks to you and Stephanie for your time and wisdom. Do the thing!
You’re welcome! Thanks for listening! There were plenty of actors who were accomplishing far more than I was when I was younger. That will always be the case. There’s no good reason to use that to beat yourself up. It only keeps you from getting closer to what you want. Everyone has their own journey. Just make yours as good as possible.
I was so happy when she said she watched Ranma, I love it so much and I’m getting it on Blu-Ray off of Amazon.
Yes Thespian Club still goes, my school does it.
Wow! I had no idea they were releasing Ranma on Blu-Ray! That should look really good!
This was the first podcast I have ever listened to and I really enjoyed it! I loved hearing about Stephanie’s journey; I enjoy those types of stories. Plus I loved her as Zhu-Li.
But I think what impacted me most was your closing statements. I’m going through a transition now as I am nearing the end of my college schooling. I really want to get into anime somehow, but as an artist, I’m not quite sure how to do it or what I can do. I just know that I love it all and really want to be in that environment and the people that work in it. I get so nervous about the future because I can only see large, vague end-goals. I have to keep reminding myself that dreams come with small steps because, as you said, over time they really do get you somewhere.
Thank you!
Thanks for listening and welcome to the podcast! Hopefully listening to Stephanie’s journey helped you understand what it takes to work in any professional entertainment industry. It is important to have simple attainable things that you can shoot for so as to avoid getting overwhelmed. I wish you the best!
Thank you so much!! It did help a lot. Luckily I just talked to the Art Department Chair at my university and he wants to help me. He’s really into comics so he somewhat knows how to direct me for an internship with anime/manga. Matter of fact, he found something already, so I hope it works out!