Voice Acting

Famous actors and actresses are some of the most recognized people in society, and are often considered really talented, for their portrayal of a character, actions, and expressions. Voice actors/actresses, despite not physically appearing in the movie, t.v. show, or other media, can be equally, if not more talented.

Live action actors/actresses have to rely on their expressions and appearance to successfully play a character, while voice actors/actresses only use their voice to do the same task. Thus, voice actors/actresses can be extremely versatile, with some of them portraying hundreds, even thousands, of different characters. Mel Blanc, the man who played nearly all of the Looney Tunes characters, has had over 1100 roles. Compare that with some of the most prolific actors like Christopher Lee, who has just under 300 roles. That's nearly four times as many roles!

This aforementioned ability to use only their voice to play characters is something that really helps voice actors/actresses shine. They don't have the luxury of facial expresses or body movements to help them achieve the desired emotion; that is the animator's job. Therefore, voice actors/actresses work hand-in-hand with their respective animators to get a character just right. Sometimes, voice actors/actresses will go to extreme lengths to achieve the desired effect. For example. Vic Mignogna, an English dub anime actor, well known for his role as Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, was recording a scene after Edward had been beaten up and had a swollen cheek. In order to make Edward sound like someone with a swollen cheek, he stuffed a miniature doughnut in the side of his mouth and recording the scene with that doughnut. I doubt live action actors/actresses would be willing to do the same thing.   

Some voice actors/actresses even play characters of the opposite gender. For example, Tara Strong, a fairly well known cartoon character actress, has starred in over 400 roles, with a number of those roles being male characters. These male roles include Timmy Turner from The Fairly OddParents, Terrence from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and Ben Tennyson from Ben 10. Yet, she can also play the most feminine of characters, like Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls. These roles are very diverse and impressive. It's hard to tell it's her, and I doubt that live action actors would be able to pull off roles like these with just their voice. Plus, she had her first major role as Hello Kitty in Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater when she was only 14 years old!

There are some live action actors/actresses who are good at voice acting, and the best example would be Mark Hamill. This actor, well-known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, has also made his mark in the world of animation, starring as Skips in Regular Show, Alvin in Dreamworks Dragons, Hobgoblin in SpiderMan, and, easily his best and most-known role, the Joker in various shows like Batman: The Animated Series. His role as the Joker is very well done and one of the best interpretations of this psychotic character I have seen.

Lastly, some voice actors/actresses don't get to see the animation before they record a scene, so they are completely in the dark about what the character looks like at that moment. It is for this reason, as well as their versatility and emotions, that I believe voice actors are better than live-action actors. So the next time you watch something animated, listen to the voices. They may sound familiar to you.