Are you looking for the perfect voice for your brand? Look no further! Find with us the best British voice actors at one click.
Are you an aspiring British voice actor? Do you want to learn more about good voice acting? Maybe you would like to get inspiration from some of the best voice actors in the industry? Whatever the motivation behind your interest in voice acting, you’ve come to the right place.
From Animal Farm, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Chicken Run, Gnome and Juliet, Angry kid, Postman Pat, Bob the Builder to Danger Mouse, there are some fantastic British shows and films featuring excellent British voices.
If you have grown up admiring the voices behind your favorite cartoon or animations, it is time to make your dream come true. This guide delves into British voice acting and examines some of the top names in the industry.
Voice Acting in the UK
But first things first; what should you expect as you seek to join the crème de la crème of British voice actors? Much voice acting in the UK happens around London, within the SOHO neighborhood. The central hub is near Leicester Square and Piccadilly.
If you are an aspiring voice actor, this is a place you will find yourself visiting many times for auditions and work. There are many companies in the entertainment industry working from here. They depend on agents to find the best talent. There are opportunities for voice acting in different fields, including:
- Commercials
- Narrations
- Announcements
- Biographies (telling the lives of celebrities or other famous personalities).
- Animations
- Cartoon TV shows
- Corporate voice training videos
- Online production voice services
- Motivational/inspirational videos
- Documentaries
To start as a British voice actor, you need an agent. But in the U.S, it is different; you have to go through a casting director.
Before going to an agent, you have to hone your skills through training and much practice. There is lots of work to do in becoming a great voice-over actor. Even great actors who have excelled in Hollywood sometimes find it hard to ace their voice acting roles. Your agent will be responsible for searching for available jobs for you.
If you have already refined your voice acting skills, ample work opportunities are waiting for you. Most agents tend to identify diamonds in the rough and take them through rigorous voice training with the help of voice coaches. A voice coach will help you through new techniques, concepts, and tactics that you can’t discover on your own. You can learn how to do different accents from your voice coach or train yourself online.
In this digital age, you can also hire an online voice coach for your British voice acting lessons. You will use innovative collaboration tools for your online training.
Your voice coach will help you with multiple aspects of the voice acting career, including audio production training, demo production, character voice development, accent training or reduction, and tips for marketing yourself.
It would help if you also learned how to showcase your talents to the world with a voice over blog.
Learning from the Best
Training and exercises are fundamental for voice acting. However, it is also essential to learn from successful British voice actors.
Below are some of the greatest British voice actors whose stories and works can inspire you to excel in this robust industry.
1. David Tennant
You have most likely watched David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who. It is the role for which he has gained the most recognition. He has also done voice-overs as the Doctor in two animated stories.
Other voice acting roles include several animated television roles such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as the Fugitoid, in Dragons: Riders of Berk as Spitelout, father of Snotlout, droid Huyang in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He also features as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales, starting from 2017 to the present.
What can you learn from David tenant? Well, he started acting very early in his school days to hone his acting skills. He started his training by taking Saturday classes at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Moreover, he specializes as one of the most renowned Scottish actors; his Scottish voice gets him many character roles in animated productions. In 2015, Tennant received the National Television Award for Special Recognition.
2. Sir Patrick Stewart OBE
Patrick Stewart is, without doubt, one of the best known British actors. He is also a director and producer. Like many British voice actors, he started in theater in the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stewart is best known for his role in the X-men feature films. He starred in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Logan. He has also voiced the same role in several video games, including X-Men Legends, X-Men Legends II, and X-Men: Next Dimension.
Furthermore, he is the voice of CIA Deputy Director Avery Bullock in American Dad!. Sir Patrick was also the narrator in the Ted movie. Ted was Universal’s Highest Grossing Film Of 2012.
Other notable voice acting roles include the voice of the Magic Mirror in Disneyland’s live show, Snow White – An Enchanting Musical, narration of Peter and the Wolf, which won him a Grammy, The Four Seasons, Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. Stewart also has roles in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Pagemaster, The Prince of Egypt, and Chicken Little. Additionally, sir Stewart made an appearance in some of the greatest animated shows, including Family Guy and the Simpsons. In 2019, there was also an announcement about his return to the Star Trek Series in his role as Picard.
For Patrick Stewart, the biggest lesson for a voice actor is that it takes perseverance to make it big. He acted for many years without becoming a household name. However, today, he is one of the leading British actors.
3. Tim Curry
Do any of you remember the Rocky Horror Picture Show? If you do, it is highly likely that you have experienced the incredible talent of Tim Curry. While he has done well in many acting roles, Tim Curry has also excelled as one of the greatest British voice actors.
Some of his best voice-overs are Emperor Palpatine in The Clone Wars, Dr. Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thorn berries, computer program MAL in Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Some Tim’s other memorable voices include a Russian geneticist in Gargoyle, Dinosaur devil in Dinosaurs, Forte, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, King Chicken, Duckman, King Acorn, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mr. Salamone, Eloise: The Animated Series.
Tim’s story of how he got the role in the Rocky Horror Picture Show should inspire you always to be bold and grab opportunities. He heard about the musical when he lived on Paddington Street, off Baker Street. He took his chances by talking to Richard O’Brien and later Jim Sharman. The rest, as they say, is history.
4. Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury is one of the most recognizable British actors. Her most memorable voice being that of Mrs. Potts in 1991’s Beauty and the Beast. In her long acting career, Angela has featured in theatre, television, and film roles.
Her first acting role was humble. It was in theater as a nightclub act at the Samovar Club, Montreal. Angela’s initial success in the film roles was in Gaslight and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Some of her incredible voice roles include witch Mommy Fortuna in the animated The Last Unicorn in 1982, grandmother in the Gothic fantasy film The Company of Wolves, the Grinch, Kingdom hearts II, Anastacia among others. She has also done commercials for Bufferin, MasterCard, and the Beatrix Potter Company.
5. David Warner
David Warner is one of the most successful British actors with multiple roles in animated films and other productions. Born in 1941, Warner’s career like that of most British voice actors spans theatre, film, and television.
Some of Warner’s most memorable voice performances are in Batman: The Animated Series as Ra’s Al Ghul, the Red Skull in Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Lobe in Freakazoid, Nergal, a demonic creature from the Earth’s core in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Lord Xantar in Battle Force: Andromeda (2003, Animated Series), Zarm in Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990, Animated Series), Archmage in the Gargoyles (1994, Animated Series), Alpha in Men in Black: The Series to mention a few. David Warner’s voice is instantly identifiable, making him one of the hottest voice actors.
If you would like to excel at voice acting, it is vital to create your unique, natural voice early in your career. A distinct voice such as Warner’s is a great asset in this industry.
6. Minnie Driver
Minnie is an English-American actress and singer-songwriter whose breakout role was in Good Will Hunting. The role earned her nominations to the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
In voice acting, she was impeccable in her role as Jane Porter in Walt Disney Pictures Tarzan. She was also in South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999, Animated Film) as Brooke Shields and in the voice dubbing of Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke.
Like most of the best voice actors, Minnie had a background in theater training. She attended the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. The academy enabled her to create a foundation for her film and voice acting career.
If you want to succeed in voice acting, you should also invest in some professional training. Training aids you to understand better both the technical side of voice acting and the business side of building your brand.
7. Benedict Cumberbatch
A discussion of the best British voice professionals can’t be complete without the mention of Benedict Cumberbatch. You know him from works such as Hawking, where he played Stephen Hawking in 2004, Sherlock Holmes in the series Sherlock and 12 Years a Slave, among other great productions.
However, Cumberbatch has also starred in animations such as The Grinch (as the Grinch), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug(Smaug, Sauron the necromancer and The One Ring), The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies(Smaug, Sauron the sorcerer), Penguins of Madagascar (Agent classified).
Wrapping Up
So many great British voice actors, so much to learn. These are just a few of the voice acting greats you can learn a thing or two
Follow their journey to the top and learn how they did it. Study their roles and use their best performance for your exercises. It is crucial to understand their views on succeeding in voice acting. Remember also to check their routines before they took up their roles.
