VAM 220 | Interview with Jamieson Price, Part 2
Welcome to episode 220 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 second and final part of my interview with the man with the amazing voice, Jamieson Price! You may be familiar with his work in anime shows like Gurren Lagan, Fate/Zero, Witch Hunter Robin, and Gankutsuou: The Count of Montecristo. In games he’s worked on World of Warcraft, Persona 5, and the .hack//G.U. series. Jamieson has extensive theater experience and even played a part in Mel Gibson’s film, the Patriot.
In the previous episode, Jamieson shared with me how he got started as an actor. He fell in love with acting in elementary and high school, and eventually majored in theater in college. After working as a theater actor in regional theater for many years, he decided to go to graduate acting school to advance his skills. He got a Master’s degree from the California State University at Long Beach. Right after graduating, he got cast in a show where he met an actress, Dorothy Fahn, who was working on the anime Digimon and suggested that Jamieson audition for parts in the show. Jamieson started booking smaller parts, which led to larger parts, which eventually prompted him to choose voice acting as his primary occupation since it allowed him to spend more time with his family and still be an actor.
In this episode, Jamieson shares with me what inspired him to pursue acting in the first place. It turns out, he was naturally attracted to acting because he so enjoyed playing pretend in imaginary worlds. Immersing himself in a story and in a character was appealing to him, even at a very young age. A pivotal experience for him when he was in middle school was seeing a production of Shakespeare’s play, The Taming of the Shrew, done in the style of Commedia dell’arte Italian mask theater. This performance piqued his fascination with acting specifically, and he started participating in plays himself.
When he went to college, he decided to major in psychology because he thought it would be a more financially reliable career path than pursuing acting. When he became disillusioned with psychology, he decided to follow his inspiration and embraced an acting career whole-heartedly. Once he made that mindset shift, the universe started presenting opportunities for him that he made sure to take advantage of.
Even with all that early inspiration and later theatrical success, he was still motivated to continue improving his acting skills. While grad school was a useful place for him to advance his abilities, his wife actually turned out to be one of his best acting coaches. She helped him understand the true effect his behavior had on others, both on stage, and in real-life. This helped Jamieson become more aware of his own demeanor, which in turn allowed him to become a more nuanced actor.
After discussing this, Jamieson and I wrap up this interview with his advice for the aspiring voice actor. He stresses three topics that voice actors should focus on. First: establishing solid, fundamental acting skills. Second: developing a strong imagination in order to immerse yourself fully in a scene, and Third: developing good vocal health routines so you can maintain your vocal instrument over time. We also talk about how important it is to be able to express yourself with emotional abandon, while also having good technical vocal production skills supporting your acting. This will allow your performances to feel both immediate, and masterful at the same time. It’s the kind of acting discussion I always love to have and I’m so glad we get to share it with you.
Leave a Reply