Nancy Cartwright.

Grey DeLisle has voiced many popular characters including Daphne on Scooby-Doo, Vicky the evil babysitter on Fairly OddParents, Azula on Avatar: The Last Airbender, Mandy on The Grimm Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Queen Amildala on Star Wars: Clone Wars, Wubbzy from Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and most recently, she voiced the inimitable Riley Daring and infamous Buzz Winters from The Replacements.

Nancy Cartwright: Tell me about your early years. I know that you started singing gospel songs when you were in your late teens. What did that lead to?

Grey DeLisle: Well, to be quite honest... I think my sheltered, religious upbringing saved me from listening to a lot of crap! I don't have a lot of bad influence clouding my brain. I was raised primarily by my grandmother who used to sing with the great Latin bandleader Tito Puente in the 1940s. She had a huge collection of jazz records -- Stan Getz, Keely Smith and Nancy Wilson (not the gal from Heart!). I used to stay awake late into the night learning those tunes, not to mention the stuff in Spanish. The first song I ever sang in front of a crowd was an old bolero called "Sabor A Mi" -- translated "A Taste of Me" -- pretty grown-up for a 6-year-old, not to mention a tad unsettling! Thanks, grandma! I remember singing it at my aunt's wedding and the whole audience erupting in laughter! I was terribly offended! How dare they laugh at my bared soul!

My mom was a recovering addict who had become "born again" so at her house I listened to Mahalia Jackson, Elvis and The Carter Family. My dad turned me on to George Jones, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. High School leaked a little Morrissey and The Cramps into the mix, and The Beatles somehow snuck into my subconscious along the way too! I suppose it lead to me recording a very eclectic catalog of work!

NC: From your filmography, it looks like your first professional job was back in 1992 with Kureyon Shin-chan. How did that come about?

GD: Ah... never trust Wikipedia! My first big job was Reptar on Rugrats! I had been trying to get a cartoon job for ages and couldn't even get in front of any actual casting folks! I had to audition from my agent's office! I was cleaning houses and hostessing at a Chinese food place on Ventura Boulevard when I got the news that I had booked that part! I was so excited on the way to Klasky-Csupo to record it that I looked down at my script again to make sure this was all really happening (and feel extra prepared!) and nearly hit the car in front of me -- thus overcorrecting and spinning out of control to the side of the 101 Freeway! My tire was popped and I was sure I'd never get another chance like this so I flagged-down an oncoming car and asked if they'd drive me to the studio! The guy must've thought I was a little wacky (good judge of character!) but he drove me [to the studio]. Thank goodness he wasn't Ted Bundy [laughs]!

NC: You have one of the larger libraries of voice-over work of anyone in the industry with 198 credits to your name. What is your technique -- aka "secret" for creating so many different characters? Are they based on friends, relatives or the guy who lives down the street?