The Utility Voice actor is the Jack-of-all-trades of the voice acting world. Could this be you?

Imagine you’re a producer for a AAA video game. You’ve spent dozens of hours casting actors for your principal roles, and you have some difficult choices. You don’t necessarily want to use the same actors you always cast, but the confidence that you can depend upon them to deliver is priceless.

Then at the last minute, your development team hands you scripts for a handful of NPCs (nonplayer characters for those not quite as nerdy as I) that absolutely must be voiced. What do you do? 

You choose the actors to book based on their versatility. Which of your final contenders can believably take on additional roles?

This is where the Utility Voice program comes in. If you’ve sharpened all the crayons in your box – the big accents, vocal range and depth, acting skills, comedic chops, and improv – you can easily raise your hand for a request like this. 

Oh, they need a German gnome to antagonize the player in this area? No problem. 

The DLC (nerdspeak – Downloadable Content, aka extra game levels) for the game includes a snooty prince with a Posh English accent? You got this. 

An amorphous blob with no scripted vocal characteristics needs to be the player’s sidekick, which means being fun, charismatic, and memorable – YOU GOT THIS.

If you can regularly step forward and be ready to take on any of these with a grin, you’re going to be in demand. Casting directors, directors, and producers all want to work with people who are easy to work with, and who save them time and money.