Sound effects, the role of the microphone and continual character development surprised Dionne Quan, who provides the voice of Kimi in Rugrats. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies.

I also never imagined that the process of creating a character can continue even after you have auditioned and been chosen for a part. Sometimes a character can change drastically, feeling and sounding completely different from the original character on the audition tape. The process involves many people, and can take time. No workshop or book could ever really prepare me for the high energy and intensity of the work, or the joy I will always feel doing it. The sense of freedom the work gives me never ceases to amaze me.

Dom Irrera, who voices Demolition Man in Hey Arnold!, didn't expect voice over superstar attitude. © 2003 Dom Irrera Productions.

Dom Irrera
Dom is the voice of Demolition Man on Hey Arnold! In addition, Dom is a noted stand up comic, having hosted his own HBO special, Showtime series and Comedy Central special. He has also appeared as a series regular on Damon.

I was doing a show called Captain Simeon and The Space Monkeys. They asked an actor named Maurice LaMarche if he could do Orson Wells and he replied, "Do you want the 30 year-old or the 40 year-old Wells?" That's how good some of these guys are. Do you remember the hand model episode of Seinfeld? How every aspect of the business has their stars? Well this is true of voice overs too. There are a few voice over royalty who are carted around in limos every day to do jobs all over town. So my biggest surprises have been the extremely high level of talent and the small circle of voice over elite.

Danielle Harris
Voice over artist, actress and writer, Danielle Harris stars as Debbie Thornberry, the trendy teenager on Nickelodeon’s hit series and feature film The Wild Thornberrys.

Danielle Harris, who voices Debi in The Wild Thornberrys, was surprised by the size of the voice over community. She expected it to be as large as the on-screen actors' world. Image courtesy of Paramount /Nickelodeon.

What has surprised me the most about working in the voice over business is the size of this part of the entertainment industry. I have been a television and film actress for a number of years and I thought that the voice industry was just as large! I had no idea just how difficult it was to break into. I just got lucky and landed The Wild Thornberrys with absolutely no voice training or workshops. All I had under my belt was years of on-camera acting classes and I guess that has taught me enough! This part of the business is small and everybody wants to be part of it because it is one of the best jobs in the world! I mean how many jobs do you get to come into work for a few hours once a week in your sweats and pretend you're a talking elephant or a 16 year-old high maintenance drama queen with more issues than a newsstand!