You're listening to Voice Acting Mastery, episode number 201.

Welcome to the Voice Acting Mastery podcast with Crispin Freeman.

Voiceactingmastery.com is your place to learn both the skills and the mindset you need to become a professional voice actor, even if you're just getting started.

In each episode of this podcast, you'll discover valuable tips,

tricks and insider information to help you portray characters in animation, video games, and beyond.

And now here's your host, voice actor Crispin Freeman.

Hi there. My name is Crispin Freeman, and I'll be your guide through the world of voice acting.

If you'd like to know more about me, feel free to check out my personal website at www.com.

Welcome to part two of an interview of me, hosted by my good friend and fellow voice actor, Julie

Nathanson. As I mentioned in the last episode, Julie had offered years ago to turn the tables on me

and interview me on my own podcast. I thought it was a great idea, and I'm so grateful that she

agreed to take over as interviewer for this four-episode series. In the previous

episode, Julie and I began by discussing my early childhood, and how my inherent perfectionism,

combined with my parents' expectation that I excel in school, contributed to my tendency to approach

any challenge with an overwhelming desire to get everything right and to make

no mistakes. We also spoke about the time when a mentor of mine told me to repress my feelings

and to never cry, because he was convinced that's what it meant to be a man. I adopted his advice

and never cried once between the ages of 11 and 16. In the midst of my

stoic perfectionism, I was fortunate enough to also have a high school advisor who instead showed me

when it was appropriate to break the rules and hack the system from time to time, especially if you

were doing it for noble purposes.

His insights gave me a psychological get-out-of-jail-free card that really helped me to break out

...