Morrissa Nicole On What Voice Acting Gives Her That On-Camera Acting Doesn’t

January 14, 2025 | Neil Turitz
Photo by Martin Brown of Elyon Images , courtesy of Morrissa Nicole.

Morrissa Nicole might not yet be a name you know in voice acting, but it’s one you have probably already heard, especially if you live north of the border. Nicole is the voice of CBC News’ The National, the flagship nightly news and current affairs program from Canada’s public broadcasting company. She also does commercials for ATFO (the Alliance for a Tobacco Free Ontario) and Ford, but if you’re here in the US, and you have young children, then odds are you know her from Lyla and the Loop, in which she voices Lydia.

The only thing about all this that is even slightly askew is how briefly she’s been doing this. She only got into voice acting when COVID-19 shut down the world. Everything she’s done has come since, which makes her achievements that much more impressive. She’s a talent on the rise. She chatted with us from her home studio in Toronto.


Insights: Lessons From Morrissa Nicole

  • Enroll in voice acting classes to improve skills and network with industry professionals.
  • Use the voice booth’s privacy to experiment with your performance and voice different characters.
  • Build strong industry relationships; casting directors may recall your talent for future roles.

How did you get into acting in the first place?

I started when I was about 12 years old and I told my mom I was interested in acting. She said, “all right, let’s put you in some acting classes.” I won my first national competition out in Vancouver, which opened a lot of doors and opportunities for me music-wise and acting-wise. I started with musical theater, from there film and television, and now voice acting.

That sounds simple. No struggle at all.

Well, there’s a lot of struggle. There’s always some kind of struggle, but yeah. (Laughs)

What was the competition that you won when you were a kid?

I think it was called iPop if I’m not mistaken. They had people from all over Canada, and all over the US, and they had all these crazy industry professionals from Sony and Atlantic and others. It opened a whole bunch of doors for me. Music-wise, I was able to release my first EP out of Nashville. That was very exciting.

Acting-wise, it got me an agent and got me started in musical theater. I did High School Musical, and from there, some more theater. I did the North American tour of We Will Rock You in 2019-2020.

Right up to the pandemic?

That’s probably where my voiceover journey begins, because as we know, the world shut down then, and I wanted to do voice acting so desperately. I asked my agent, “what can I do?” I took my classes, of course, trained, signed on with a voice acting agency, and then I got my very first role on Zokie of Planet Ruby.

What was it about voice acting that so appealed to you?

I’m a vocalist, so I love using my voice. For me, it just kept me in the vein of what I love to do. I had a studio, I had all the equipment ready to go. The ability just to be able to stay in what I like to do, that’s what drew me to it.

Is there something that voice acting gives you that on-camera acting doesn’t?

I do think that what voice acting allows is, because you’re in a booth, it’s just you, so you’re able to play around that much more. I feel like I’m isolated and I can have as much fun as I want. I can be as silly as I want. I can go as big as I want. I can go as small as I want because it’s just me and the script.

Your imagination can run wild when you’re by yourself. You depend on your imagination because you can’t play off of anybody. It allows me to get super-duper creative. Every voice director I’ve worked with has just allowed that opportunity for me to go really big. Go big, or go home.

Do you find that voice allows you to play roles that you would not normally be considered for if you were doing on-camera work?

Going older or younger, for sure. I do think that the industry is driving for authenticity and diversity, so they want ethnic to be ethnic. If I’m a Black woman, they want me to play a Black woman, and I love that. I think that’s important. As a Black woman, you can speak to different black experiences and ensure authenticity, especially when you’re representing heritage. I think that’s very important.

Now, after COVID, we are being very careful in ensuring that we are matching our character descriptions for animation as much as we can to the people behind the mic. That just allows for more opportunities for Black voices.

Do you think that getting into voice acting has made you a better actor overall?

One hundred percent. I talk about that all the time.

If you started right at the beginning of the pandemic, you’ve only been doing this for a few years. Have you been able to track your development?

That’s a tricky one. I would say the way that I know that I am improving is the amount of bookings I’m receiving. Not just that, but the amount of word of mouth that’s coming. I think a big thing for voice acting is, that sometimes you don’t book the job, but they keep you in the back of their mind.

It’s not just who you know, but who knows you. Maybe you don’t get one gig, but the casting director remembers you for something else.

I’m having a lot of that happen, auditioning for something and they say no, and then they’re calling my agent back going, “but we like her for this other thing. Can she send this back to us?” And it’s not going out to anybody else. That’s how I’m like, “okay, I’m making some groundwork here. My name is starting to be known because it’s coming back.”

As somebody relatively new to voice acting and very successful at it, if you were talking to another actor who said, “I want to get into voice acting,” What advice would you give them?

The advice that they gave me, was training. Go and do the classes, do the work.

The first year, everything was on Zoom and we were all shut down. All I could do was take classes and I invested like crazy. You invest in yourself and you reap your reward, but it was classes that helped me get to where I am. You take those classes with the casting directors who are casting and are active.

Having a good voice is not enough. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor, but it’s for people who are prepared. So you’ve got to be prepared.

Ready to find your next role with Casting Networks? Sign up for a free trial today!

You may also like: