CHAPTER five
Developing Characters

The Process

Developing characters is a creative process. In this chapter you’ll learn how to get the creative juices going for this task, how to experiment with your vocal instrument to produce different sounds for different kinds of characters, creative acting techniques for characterization, and how to save your newly developed characters so that you can retrieve them later.

There are many different techniques for developing characters. Actors may prefer to develop their characters by improvising. Writers may choose to develop their characters on the written page, staging scenes between them, writing an autobiography or profile sheet. Artists may prefer to doodle or sketch. Do whatever works for you. As a professional voice actor, you’ll be expected to have a minimum of five distinct character voices, but the more voices you can do WELL, the better.

If you’re an actor, you may develop your character instinctively. Some people feel more free experimenting by themselves, whereas some prefer to improvise with friends. Find some free time and put yourself in a situation that feels safe for you. Get in the mood to act silly and have fun. Take yourself back to the days of your childhood. Where do your characters live? Give them permission to come out and play.

Be sure to use your body as well as your voice. This physical process helps the brain remember the voice, as the body goes into a movement or gesture that signifies that the character is emerging. Don’t be embarrassed to use the full body technique when you’re in the recording booth. The best voice-over actors utilize their entire bodies when they’re on mic.

Developing Someone Else’s Character

Maybe you want to start with a character who has already been fleshed out for you in a well-known story. What about the Wicked Witch of the West or the Big Bad Wolf? Villains somehow seem easier and more fun to play. Why is the Wolf so bad? What made him that way? Is he ravenously hungry? Or does he just enjoy scaring Little Red Riding Hood? Why? Become him. What does he look like, and what’s his attitude? Is he confident and super smooth? Is he a con artist? What’s plan B if the grandma act doesn’t work? You know the story, and you’re opting to start out with the tried and true. Take off in that direction as far as you can go. Get into your character’s heart and soul.

Now experiment. What might make your wolf a bit different? How does he stand? Does his long hair hang down over his stooped shoulders and get in the way when he tries to catch his prey? Is Little Red Riding Hood so hard to catch because he’s skinny and frail? Has this forced dieting taken away all his confidence so that he has a tentative voice? What does he sound like? Maybe he has allergies to the rabbit food he’s been forced to eat, and his voice is nasal. Perhaps he slobbers from an overbite.

Now force your mind to wander off into a different direction from the first. Voice-overs are about choices. You’ll need several variations on the theme in order to have choices to make.

There will be many times when you must develop a personality for a character. You’ll need to be able do this when you’re auditioning and even when you’re in a session.

When you’re given a description or drawing of the character, be sure to use what you read or see. What does it tell you about the voice? Does the character lack teeth or have a small nose? If the character has big cheeks, is he likely to speak sloppily? Maybe he spits. What clues does the drawing or description give you about your character’s motivations? What happened just before the script started? If it’s not written and you can’t consult with the director or writer, make it up. Who are you talking to specifically? According to Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, attitude makes all the difference. Develop the character’s point of view.

Often your work will consist of merely a line or two, perhaps only a word or two. Make those few words unique, make them believable, but also allow those words to slip seamlessly into the whole.

Characters in television and games tend to be more one-dimensional with only a few traits visible much of the time. We rely primarily on the few traits we see for the humor or for proof that a character is a hero, a villain, or a scamp. Rarely do we get a chance to see these characters in depth. Consider archetypes. We know these kinds of characters from years of reading about similar characters in myths and legends. The audience brings their own deep feelings about these characters from other stories. Even a seemingly one-dimensional character doesn’t have to be a stereotype. Give your character a couple of unique traits that will help him stand out from the rest.

Because there is more time for development, lead characters in a feature-animated film have a tendency to be more multidimensional, much like characters in a play. These characters undergo a transformation during the course of the story, and they often learn something profound about life as they do. These characters require more work on your part, analyzing what you find in the script. What are their motivations and goals? What characteristics and skills do they need in order to obtain their goals? How do they change? What is their philosophy and approach to life? What decisions do they make? What emotional changes do they go through? What are you going to say when you accept your Academy Award?

Developing Original Characters

Did you have an imaginary playmate when you were young? Can you find him? Where has he been all these years, and what silly things has he been doing without you? Where does he live? How have his surroundings affected him? How has he aged? What kind of friends has he found? Does he have any enemies?

Become an animal or an inanimate object. How do you look? How do you move? Who are your friends? How does your physical self affect your voice? From what part of your body does your voice originate? If you’re a sheepdog, does all that hair make you itchy and put you on edge? Do you have trouble seeing through your bangs? What do you do when you get a pebble stuck in your paw? What if you’re allergic to wool? If you’re the steam engine of a train, does the smoke make you cough? Does traveling fast take your breath away? How does it feel to be a rubber ball and bounce so high? What if you’re afraid of heights? What about a ball that’s old and losing air? How does it feel to be left in the toy chest for weeks and months? Does a red ball sound different than a black ball? Does a baseball sound different from a basketball? Why? How?

Try using, “What if … ?” to come up with new ideas. What if Rory Rabbit was so tired that his voice not only dragged but actually dropped an octave? What if Hosanna Banana from Montana speaks with a Western twang? What if the tooth fairy was toothless?

Make incongruous relationships. Another way to come up with new ideas is to randomly take a name, an incongruous personality trait, and a voice characteristic (which may be incongruous as well) and put them together. These should be so mismatched that you create possibilities for humor. Red (a green lizard with flaming stripes of fire like a hotrod) … moves v-e-r-y slow-ly … and has a crackling voice.

Visualize each character … in color. What colors are your character’s hair and eyes? How does she smile? Visualize her mouth, her nose, and her chin. How does she stand and move? Is she outgoing or shy? Self-confident? Is she tall or short? What kind of clothes and jewelry does she wear? Does she have a distinct mannerism? How do these physical and personality traits affect her voice?

Visualize where she grew up and where she is now. Can you hear that in her voice? What is her family like? Who is her best friend and her worst enemy? Why? What unusual or funny things does she do? What makes her different? Does she work or go to school? What does she like to do on a Saturday night? How can kids identify with her? Does she have a secret desire or passion? What things in her past made her the person she is today? How does she feel right now? What does she want? How do these things affect her personality?

Another approach is to say, “This is the kind of character who …” Now fill in the blanks. Add the telling details. Dish out the gossip.

Who are the other characters in his world, and how does his relationship with these other characters alter him? What are their attitudes toward him, and what’s his attitude toward them?

How would you describe him? Easygoing? Responsible? A joker? Outgoing? Unreliable? Evil? How would his best friend describe him? How would his worst enemy describe him?

What are his most inner thoughts? What does he imagine? What are his hopes and dreams? What are his fears? What does he hate? What are his hidden motivations?

Is his voice fresh? Is it realistic, but quirky? Is it broad and cartoony? Does it fit into the styles of voices that are being used today? Your character’s voice should command attention.

Likability

Animation characters need to be likeable. Even the worst villains should have some quality about them that make us relish them. Most villains in animation have traditionally been truly evil. But even with a villain, you want to add just a wisp of human kindness, where we’d least expect it, so that we enjoy his villainy even more. Emotions and feelings make him vulnerable. It’s that vulnerability that makes him human and interesting. Vulnerability makes us care. Animation trends change. Today an antagonist may not be evil, but merely someone who contrasts and conflicts strongly with the hero.

What very human traits does your character have that make him vulnerable? Think of Homer Simpson or Shrek. How do we identify with them? What sort of weakness does your hero have? What’s his comic flaw? How does this affect his voice? Is he big and pompous with a funny little laugh? Does he let out a nervous little giggle when he’s afraid?

Status

Most of us think little about status, but status is important in developing your character relationships. How does your character feel about his own status? How do others feel about it?

Status will often be revealed by how our voice sounds and what our body does. A high-status person sounds confident. His voice may be lower and powerful. He may begin sentences with a long, “Uhhhh …,” keeping others on hold while he collects his wise thoughts, or he may speak without any hesitation at all, revealing his absolute confidence. Physically, he may be tall and inhabit space, as if he owned the world. He holds his head up and looks others directly in the eye. A low-status person may have a weak voice that sounds like it’s groveling. We recognize instantly that he’s vulnerable. He may insert a lot of short “Uhs” in his sentences or incessantly clear his throat as he struggles to communicate. A woman is likely to giggle, nervously. The low-status person hunches over and tries to take up less space. He looks quickly away and then sneaks another look. He moves his head about while he’s talking. He fidgets and touches his face, hair, and clothing. He tries to ingratiate himself. He apologizes. Characters with high status can be serious, such as a president or a CEO, or they can be laughable when they’re convinced that they’re more important than they really are. Characters with low status can be sinister criminal underlings or they can be charming, such as a toddler or a girl on her first date. What makes your character vulnerable? In real life we’re likely to be high status in certain situations and low status in others. Think about the character you’re developing. Is his status high or low? Exaggerate it. What characteristics define your character’s status?

It’s also possible to play with the indicators of status. Think of a baby behaving like a high-status individual, a leader instead of a follower, and you have Stewie on Family Guy. Think of a father as the dumb one in the family and you have Homer on The Simpsons. Take just one low-status trait and add it to a high-status character—a massive elephant king with a tiny, hesitant voice—or the reverse—a lowly worm, speaking with all the slick confidence of a car salesman.

Summing Up Your Character

Give your character a name. The name should tell us more about him. Some famous character names give a shorthand version of the character’s most obvious personality trait: Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, and Goofy.

Now sum up your character, using only what is most important to his personality and voice. For some characters, you don’t need to delve down as deeply as we did earlier. Do as much as you need to do for the circumstances at hand. Give your character a couple of lines of dialogue that expresses who he is and how he talks. Many classic characters have a dialogue tag, a word or pet phrase that is unique to them: “What’s up, Doc?” “Yabba dabba doo!” “Cowabunga!”

Your Characters as a Reflection of You

Ideally, each character, no matter how off-the-wall, is one of your children and so reflects you and your experiences. What kinds of characters do you most enjoy doing? Be sure that your repertoire includes a number of characters showcasing your strengths.

Types of Characters

Different kinds of animated stories have different types of characters. For instance, a classic heroic figure will not sound the same as a realistic character.

When you try different voices, be sure that those voices can be understood easily. If the audience has to work to understand the character, they’ll miss the gags and the important story points. Soon the magic of the whole tale will be lost. Make sure to use a voice that’s clear.

Make up characters for inanimate objects around your house. Give them a specific characteristic. A ball is bouncy. It’s round and has a bright color. A grape is juicy. It may be purple. It squishes. What kind of personalities would these objects have? What kind of situations might they be in? What would they sound like?

Voice Placement and Mouth Work

Use your own body and, especially, your own voice to help us see your characters. The following voices are examples to show you how to experiment. These are not necessarily voices that you should learn. These are ways to develop your own characters. There are no clear borders to these placements. It’s a thinking process to help you get where you need to go. Sometimes one can be combined with another. Normally, you would use a placement that is right for your specific character. Think about the size and shape of the character, the physical attributes. A character with a large, round stomach might use a voice that seems to come from his tummy, whereas a tough guy with a strong jaw might speak with his jaw jutted out. Combine one thing with another. Find something totally different. Be original.

Some actors like to give each of these placements a name so that they can recall them more easily, such as Miss Flutterby for your top-of-the-head voice or Nerdy Ned for your nose voice.

Don’t be afraid to use your eyebrows, scrunch up your nose, bring your upper teeth forward, or use other muscles to give yourself a new sound. Try a smile. If a clenched fist or extended arms helps get a specific sound, do it!

You may want to add a wrinkle like an overbite or a cackle. Wrinkles are generally done with the mouth, but they may be done with phrasing as well. Do keep your characters simple; don’t add more than one wrinkle to each character.

Practice these placements so that you can eventually sustain them for hours at a time without stressing your voice. In order to do these professionally, you must be able to keep each character absolutely consistent so that the character’s voice doesn’t change during the recording session. (One good way to do this is to record the character onto an iPod or MP3 player. That way you can remind yourself of the character’s voice even during your session. This is especially helpful when you’re recording more than one voice at a session. Do NOT expect your show producer to have a voice-over sample available, even for an existing character.)

Commonly Used Characters for Cartoon Work

Certain characters are used regularly in cartoon voice-overs, and you should work to perfect two or more different characters for each of these main categories.

characters that are used less often:

How do these characters laugh and cry? How do they cough and moan? Experiment with believable or funny sounds for each of your characters.

Some of these, such as the animals, alien, and robot, require other sound effects made with your voice as well. The right sound effects can enhance many characters. Does your snake hiss or exaggerate his “s” sounds? Does your alien or your robot “beep” or echo or make some sound that is completely original? Work, too, on common dialects. (See chapter on dialects.) Southern, Brooklyn, English, Cockney, Irish, Spanish, Indian (from India), and Middle European are needed frequently. Once you’ve mastered the dialects, try using them in character.

Practice until you can do one character better than anyone else! Then do your other characters as well as you possibly can. The reason you want at least two characters for each type is that another actor recording with you might already be using a voice similar to your first choice or the director doesn’t feel that your first choice is the voice that she wants. Important! Do NOT do a voice that you can’t sustain during the entire recording session or during an entire season of recording. Don’t do a character with a voice that’s annoying. Don’t do a character that might damage your voice permanently. It’s not worth it!

Baby to Old Age

work at making your voice a little older or younger. First try it with your own voice, then get into one of your characters, and try it in character. Remember that age isn’t just a number, it’s also an attitude. Babies may just chirp random sounds or cry (weaker cries for newborns). Toddlers don’t yet have all their teeth. They can’t pronounce their words clearly. They may talk slower and with less volume. Some young kids have teeth missing in front. Some children’s voices are over enunciated. Younger kids may not be as sure about what they are saying, sounding more tentative or stumbling a bit. A younger voice may be a bit higher in pitch, but the real key to a young sound is adding breath: the more breath in the voice, the younger the child. Actresses may need to stay away from their own natural highs for a young boy’s voice, as their natural voice is already high. They may want to use their own voice, squeezing it in the throat. Or women may want to throw their voice into their head for the voice of a young boy. A young voice may seem more innocent or carefree. Teen boys may be struggling with a changing voice that cracks. (Try practicing yodeling if you have trouble getting those teen voice cracks and changes.) As people age, their voices may get a bit lower, then eventually higher. Aging voices lose power and volume. There may be less oxygen coming from the lungs. There may be less flexibility. The voice may have more texture. It may be more gravelly. Like the breathy voice of a very young child, that gravelly sound can be achieved by adding air to the voice—the more air added, the older you’ll sound. An older voice might seem weary, pinched, or strained. It could quiver. Older people may have lost their teeth.

Robots

There have been so many famous robots that it is increasingly difficult to get a new sound. Listen to others such as See-Threepio and analyze what makes them sound robotic. Be aware that these voices are almost always processed. You might add static (the tongue rolling in your mouth) and a disconnect. Play with various electronic imitations. Some monotone quality might help, but don’t use a complete monotone voice or you’ll put your audience to sleep. You can pull at your neck near your Adam’s apple for a mechanical sound. Experiment and add your own wrinkles.

Shortcuts

Do develop voices that are new and fresh. Stay away from voices that everybody else can do. However, if you’re asked to come up with a character on the spur of the moment at an audition, you might need to rely on something familiar. Never do a voice for the first time at an audition or a recording session. What actors can you see in a specific role? It’s not unusual for a casting or voice-over director to ask for a voice “like” an actor or character we all know. So learn by watching and listening to other actors with distinctive voices or characters, both old classic screen actors and current actors we love now. Don’t rule out women doing impressions of Robin Williams or men doing Rosie O’Donnell. These can make interesting characters. Ask someone you trust to pick the best of those you try. Once you have a voice down pat at home, consider what you can do to change it slightly or add a new wrinkle to make it your own. What can you do to make that character special? We’ve been talking about character voices that are based on and reminiscent of a real-life person, not just impressions. Legally, It’s now possible to be sued in the United States for doing a parody; consequently, some studios no longer risk doing them. Seek the advice of an entertainment lawyer if you have any doubts.

From the earliest days of comedy, probably back as far as the days of the caveman, entertainment has included comedy types. Think of the Greek and Roman plays, the puppet shows in the Middle Ages, vaudeville, and television. Some of the classic Roman types included miserly old men and scheming slaves. Today, comedy still uses types such as the Fish Out of Water (Shrek in a castle), the Coward (Scooby-Doo), the Blockhead (Homer Simpson), the Nave (Bart Simpson), or the Conniver (Wile E. Coyote). The advantage of a comedy type is that these types come with the ability to conflict with just about everyone or every situation in a funny way. They’re still useful, but be sure to add some unique touches.

More Tips about Comedy Characters

Some characters are just funny characters. Others are funny because of what the voice-over actor brings to the character. What can you do to make a funny character even funnier?

For comedy you want to exaggerate. Make your character larger than life. Think Yosemite sam and SpongeBob squarepants. Think Robin Williams.

What flaw does your character have that makes him funny? What typically human mistakes does he make that cause us to laugh and recognize ourselves? We tend to like characters who make us feel superior to them—Pooh, Scooby Doo, or Fred Flintstone. Kids like to feel superior, too. Young kids don’t get that chance very often!

Remember that acting is about action and reaction. Your comedy character should be the kind of character that is bound to cause a big reaction from the others that surround him. Both drama and comedy center around conflict, and conflicting points of view can be funny. However, some comedy characters seem to have the ability to get themselves and others in trouble and cause havoc around them time after time. In animation we often use the kinds of characters to whom slapstick things are just bound to happen.

Use incongruity. Fish-out-of-water characters work well in animation. Use incongruity not only in the environment that the character is in, but also in the character himself. The character is this … but he’s also that. The lady is a superhero, but she squeals when she sees a spider.

Attitude is important in any character. We want to see and hear an attitude. Does your character pretend to be something he’s not? Is he belligerent for no reason? Does he suck up? Does he sound like the proverbial used car salesman?

Characters for Kids

When developing characters for kids, try to view life from a child’s perspective. Kids want to be accepted by their peers, they seek independence, they struggle against bullies and those who won’t share, and they strive to be appreciated by family and community. They identify with characters they like and love to hate a truly evil villain. Kids like wordplay, puns, silly words, and sounds. They laugh at jokes about taboos.

Standard Character Development Acting Techniques

Remember that you’re acting in character with motivations. Think about what you’re saying.

The more details you know or make up, the stronger choices you’ll be able to make. Do make strong choices; don’t do a voice halfway. Commit to a character! Don’t be afraid of taking risks. Strong choices often involve risk taking. It’s okay sometimes to use a small voice for a big character, the opposite from what we expect, but again, don’t do it halfway. Use variety in your voice in range, tempo, and phrasing; use variety in your acting as well. Play up the nuances that show your character off. Try to make your character very different from the character that you’ll be interacting with the most. Really listen to what the other characters are saying and react accordingly. Externalize everything. Let us hear what you think and feel in your voice. Enjoy your character. Have fun with it!

Getting into Character and Keeping in Character

Get into character in whatever way that works for you. There are many acting books out there to help you become your character. Think back to your childhood when you could do it effortlessly and on cue. How did you believe so easily then? Careful and regular practice with your characters at home lets you become really comfortable with them so that they’re like a second skin. For some actors it only takes practice and a quiet minute to relax and become someone else. Other actors visualize themselves in the recording booth, visualize in detail the character walking in, and visualize themselves stepping out of their body and the character stepping into their shoes. How do you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally as the character? I think it’s mostly a matter of concentration, of centering your whole being on believing that you are who you want to be.

More than anything else, it takes practice to be able to keep in character and change characters during your recording session. Practice your characters at home until they are second nature to you. Practice changing back and forth between characters. Remember that in the United States you will probably be recording three or more voices during the session. Try to keep those voices as different from each other as possible. The voice director may stop you with suggestions. Certainly, there will be mistakes and redos. It’ll be your job to watch the script and voice the correct character at the right time, while doing a great job of acting at the same time.

Original Characters versus a Character in a Script

When you’re developing characters for later use, you have no idea where those voices might eventually be needed. So although you want to know them in some detail, you probably don’t want to develop a complete backstory. You want the flexibility of being able to place those characters wherever they’re needed. If you’re cast as a character that someone else has developed, you want to learn as much as you can about that character (any available backstory). Then develop the character around the facts that you know and make up as much additional backstory as you need. Of course, if this is a character in a television series, the writers may add more backstory later, changing what you only imagined. So you need to allow some wiggle room in the character and remain flexible.

Character Files

You should have a separate form or file for each character you can do. List the character by name, make notes about his attitude, personality, age, and how he looks, detailed voice placement, texture (breathy, gravelly, smooth and velvety, cracking, etc.), pitch, range up and down the scale, tempo (fast or slow), rhythm, phrasing, energy level/projection (force, not volume), wrinkles, dialect, and style. Does the character have a specific laugh, cough, snort, or other sound? Include any character designs you might have, and anything else that will help you recapture that character, such as how you first developed the character. Try to include an autobiography that captures his heart and soul, his dreams and his secrets. Write some copy that would be typical for that character. One characteristic phrase or sound bite is often key to recalling a character, and if it can personify that character for a casting director at the same time, that’s great! Evilinda the Babysitter: “What a delightfully wicked child you are, my dear! Now sleep fright! Scary dreams!” Record the copy you wrote. File the characters by type (young boys, evil villains, princesses, old characters, small characters).

Original character form—Page 1.

Original character form—Page 2.

Research! Research! Research!

Watch both new and classic films. Watch new and classic television. Listen to old radio shows. You want to be familiar with the old classic voices, as well as the current pop culture stars. Watch real people going about their daily business. Listen to the voices of others: relatives, friends, that new person you’ve just met. Make notes on an interesting dialect or way of speaking. Notice any interesting personality quirks that are unique.

Record interesting voices. Record babies, laughs, and animal noises. Make note of the pitch. How about the placement? The texture? The range? Can you mimic the sounds? Try to make the baby cry a little older or younger. Try to make the baby or animal sound angry, tired, or hungry. Can you make them cuter? Vicious? Catalog your recorded sounds for reference.

Watch people in shopping malls, hospitals, and other public places. Use what you see. Remember to exaggerate. Combine the qualities of different people, juxtaposing traits in unusual ways for the funniest effect. Make up funny stories about these people.

To Be in Demand

The key to getting plenty of work is in constantly doing new character research and development and in practicing the characters that you already have. Collect all the audition and rehearsal copy that you can. Practice makes perfect! Voice-over actor Gary Gillett takes a piece of copy and reads it in as many voices as possible each day. Other actors wake up in the morning as one of their characters and speak only in that voice for awhile so that they become comfortable with it.