Q&A with voice actor Tara Strong
Kidsday reporters Alison Fennes, Catarina Magnone, Zoe Spruill and Laila Woods interviewed voice actor Tara Strong when she was in Manhattan recently. She has done many voices on many shows, including Twilight Sparkle from “My Little Pony: Equestria Girls — Better Together.” She has also done voices on “Teen Titans Go!” “Unikitty!” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Q: How do you keep your voice healthy and not hoarse?
A: I never have smoked in my life. And I also don’t eat dairy, because I’m vegan. So a lot of times if you’re sick, your moms say, don’t have dairy right now because it adds mucus. So I don’t do that. And I try not to go places where there’s going to be a lot of smokers. I also try not to scream a lot. Then I’d lose my voice, which would be bad.
Q: How do you change your voice for male roles?
A: Usually, boy roles, I make them a little raspier and I go kind of deep in my throat, and I picture in my head whenever I’m doing a character. A boy answers things differently than we do, because we’re girls, so we’re clearly better communicators.
Q: You were born in Toronto. Do you still live there?
A: No. I live in Los Angeles, but I was just in Canada recently, visiting my dad.
Q: Did you ever come up with a new voice by accident?
A: All the time. Sometimes, I do my auditions in my home studio and I’ll be like, Where did that person come from? A weird voice I’d never done before.
Q: Who or what inspired you to do voices?
A: I always did voices when I was little. I’d give my animals funny voices and my toys funny voices, and me and my sister used to tape ourselves doing a fake little radio show. And I always wanted to be an actress and a singer and a dancer when I was little. My parents didn’t know much about acting so they got me an agent when I was 13. “Hello Kitty” was one of my first voice-over auditions.
Q: If you could be one of your characters, for one day, who would you be?
A: I’d have to be Twilight Sparkle, right? Then I could fly. I could do magic spells all over the place. Unikitty is pretty fun.
Q: What is your favourite voice that you do?
A: It’s so fun to do Unikitty and Raven and Timmy and Bubbles and Twilight. But I always say that my favourite job was Melody from “The Little Mermaid 2.” Because I got to sing. And when I was a little girl I wanted to be “The Little Mermaid” so badly. So to get to play her daughter and sing with her in the studio was pretty exciting.
Q: Who is your role model?
A: I have so many role models, especially right now. I love a lot of strong women who are willing to stand up for what’s right. Acting-wise, I always loved Meryl Streep, and June Foray was a trailblazer in the animation world. Mel Blanc, of course, was such an inspiration. My own mom inspired me; my papa, too. They took me to every audition.