Nancy Cartwright.

Dear Fans,

For the past several months, I have been branching out and asking my industry friends to give me their insider takes. I have been focusing on subjects that professionals need to have some knowledge of, and have been getting opinions from a wide range of specialties and hats in the business.

So far I have interviewed my good friends Jack Thomas (The Replacements), Mike Scully (The Simpsons), Carolyn Omine (The Simpsons), Ginny McSwain, a longtime voice-over director, and several other wonderful people. This time I spoke with VO pro Kath Soucie.

One of the top voice-over actors working today, Kath began her career in New York as a theatrical actress, followed by featured roles in episodics and movies of the week after her move to Los Angeles.

Soucie's natural acting ability and vocal versatility have created a constant demand for her talents, and she has brought life to hundreds of animated characters. After creating the voices for Phil, Lil and Betty for the series Rugrats, she followed up as the same characters in Rugrats, The Movie and its sequel Rugrats in Paris. Her featured roles include Jetta in the feature Clifford's Really Big Movie, Wendy in Disney's Return to Neverland and Lola Bunny in Space Jam.

Nancy Cartwright: You got your actor training in New York. Tell me about your early years as an actress.

Kath Soucie: I've wanted to be an actress for as long as I can remember... I was completely certain about this from an extremely young age. I was so amazed that someone on TV could say or do something that could actually make me laugh out loud -- and I wanted to do that, too. I really wanted to make people laugh. It seemed like magic to me that a story or a skit could make you feel so many things. When young, I never envisioned myself actually creating or writing the stories. I wanted to be the one to tell them. I spent my Sunday afternoons as a kid watching old movies. I loved the vintage actors... Kate Hepburn, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn. I thought Lucille Ball was hilarious.

As soon as I could, I started auditioning for plays in school and in the community. My college theater professor told me that the place to go if I were really serious about a career in acting was New York City and that's where I went just as soon as I could. And while I went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied for two years in their conservatory-like atmosphere, I also did scene study all over the city and learned different techniques from every avenue that I could. It was an incredibly creative time that still inspires me these many years later. Somewhere along the way I met an actor who was working in voice-over. He was in the commercial end of things and invited me to a taping of a campaign that he was working on, which was my first exposure to this area. Eventually, I was brought out to Los Angeles at the invitation of an agent who had moved there from N.Y. and wanted to represent me in L.A. I made the rounds there, worked in TV a bit and then stumbled on the animation community. I thought it would be a lark to give it a try. It turned out to be one of the most perfect vehicles for my early desires to make others laugh and to just, in general, be a big giant ham. It was perfect for me!

NC: I checked your listing in imbd.com and you are one of, if not the, most prolific voice actresses working today. What is your technique for creating so many vastly different characters? Do you base them on friends? Family? The quirky neighbors who live down the street?

Kath Soucie.

KS: Once in a while, I'll knowingly add a characteristic of someone I know to a character. More often than not though, it's really unconsciously done and I don't realize that I've done it till later. Sometimes it's just noticing the way a little kid says a particular word or the way they sound when they're full of sugar or overtired that I'll remember in the middle of a session and just add it in -- and the director will like it and it becomes a quirk of that character from then on. I love it when the writers have noticed that and will start writing that little quirk into the script. Lots of times the clues are already there for you in the script and it's up to you to just bring it to life. Or it will be in the way the character is drawn... certain physical characteristics just beg for certain sounds and vocal patterns; you know what I mean? Sometimes I just fool around with a tape recorder and try to come up with something unique... usually for an audition.

NC: Who gave you your "big break" in the voice-over industry?

KS: Well, Manu Toupou, who has since passed away, first exposed me to the art, so I am forever grateful to him for that. In addition, Sandie Schnarr was the first agent that signed me (and who I am still signed with 23 years later). She gave me a great launch into the whole game and provided support from day one. As far as the actual official "big break" -- that would be Michael Hack who hired me -- green as could be and scared to death -- for my very first animation session in a show called Rambo. I no longer remember what that episode's plot was, but I know it had plenty of guns and manly stuff in it. Me? I had three characters to do with one line apiece, who were all ladies in peril and in desperate need of help from Mr. Rambo. I was completely thrilled.

NC: Who are your VO "heroes"?

KS: Heroes? Frank Welker, Frank Welker and Frank Welker. He is hands down my most giant hero in the animation VO community. He is an amazingly gifted genius. He can create every sound that you might hear in a jungle: the drip of the raindrops, the wind rustling in the trees, and all of the inhabitants that you might encounter there. I love animals. I mean I love animals and Frank's great ability is that not only can he make the sounds of the animals; he can give them a true voice. I've done episodes of cartoons that had an environmental bent focusing on things like ivory poaching, global warming. He portrayed a mother elephant being torn from her baby by ivory poachers for her tusks. The mother's cry and the baby's anguish were all there in Frank's voice. Captain Planet did a show centering on puppy mills and what he did in that show... there wasn't a dry eye in the house. I've heard him do dozens of sensitive performances through the years and he always, always delivers something so special and unique and moving.