Talking to voice acting star Fred Tatasciore is not your average conversation, primarily because you’re not just talking to Fred. You’re also talking to a plethora of characters he has created in his life and career. Each has a unique voice; some don’t speak a known language.
The versatility Tatasciore shows off without any thought or preconception is more than a little mind-blowing, and you have to work to keep up. It’s a lot of fun, and gives something of an insight into the man that fellow voiceover star Yuri Lowenthal refers to as “a legend.”
Take away Bollywood star Brahmanandam, and there is no other performer since the introduction of sound with more IMDb credits than Tatasciore. The combination of animated films and TV, video games, impersonations and any other kind of voice work makes him the most prolific American actor ever. Part of his brilliance is that you don’t always know it’s him because of his remarkable adaptability, which comes through even in regular conversation. He spoke to us from his home studio in LA.
Insights: Lessons from Fred Tatasciore
- Hone improvisation skills to adapt quickly to direction changes and enhance character development.
- Practice vocal techniques and breath control to diversify your range and maintain vocal health.
- Record and catalog your work to reference past performances and maintain consistency in recurring roles.
How did you start as an actor in the first place?
Ever since I was a kid, I loved playing and doing voices. [I was] always acting out stuff and doing impressions. My dad had a little recorder, I just started playing around with it, and then just kept at it all through my life.
I’ve always been into music and art, and my thing was animation. As I got into school, I was pursuing all of that and doing impressions and still making tapes. That got me into standup comedy, and then I got into improv, and I studied it with the Groundlings, which is a great place to discover creativity.
From there I got into theater, where I did the classically trained thing. Shakespeare was my life for a while and doing stand up, and I was really into music, so I wanted to do comedy bands. Vocals with samplers and stuff. I’m still kind of playing around with that right now.
How did that lead to the voice work?
I went to UCLA for both theater and film school, and I didn’t quite know where I was going to land as a voice actor per se. I just knew I always wanted to do work like this.
I ended up doing voices for student films, my friends’ films, and my own stuff. Then I got an agent through that who said, “You can do this for a living.” I never knew it was an actual job that I could pursue. Gladiator was my first big ADR movie, and Family Guy was one of my first shows. I was on the first Family Guy and I’m still going with that show. It’s been an incredible journey.
Part of what’s interesting about your career is the … um … shall we say, less human characters you play.
The weird part — it’s funny, I never really talk about this — but it was very hard to break in by the time I got there. I always joke that I say I yelled my way in.
I had a propensity for doing animals and creatures. I got known for being the [in a growly voice] big loud scary monster, [reverts to his voice] which was not really what I went into the business to do. I was trying to do comedy and drama, and I ended up seeing like, “Oh, what would a T-Rex sound like doing this?” (Laughs)
You mentioned studying improv, which seems like something of a recurring theme in voice acting.
Because you have to think on your feet, it doesn’t mean you’re just adding lines. Some shows love that, or in the case of Family Guy, I don’t improvise because it’s so tightly written.
One of the most important things I tell aspiring voice actors, or actors in general, is you have to know how to take direction, be on top of it and be able to change. The improv can help you change your tempo, or maybe approach it a different way.
A lot of great characters come out of you just messing around, coming up with a voice and you don’t quite know where he’s from and then just let him talk.
Let’s say I have this guy, you know, and he’s like, [slips into a flawless Cockney accent] I do what I do and I don’t what I don’t. You know what I mean? You know, I don’t and I don’t right, you know, yeah. [back to his voice] And maybe he works well for this particular character.
That Cockney guy sounded like a combination of Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine, with some Guy Ritchie characters mixed in.
That’s an example of taking three different people you know and putting them into one. That’s an example of taking three different people you know and putting them into one. Let’s say I’m doing a Paul Fries, and they mix it with [a voice similar to Orson Welles] Orson Welles and, all of a sudden, I have this guy, but he’s a frog [back to his voice]. Even bad impressions, it’s like if you do a bad baseline for another song you’re trying to do, you might make a new song, I feel that sometimes, even your worst impressions become another character.
How do you keep them all straight? You have over 1,000 IMDB credits, at least some of those roles must linger.
I’m pretty compartmentalized. The key here is always to connect to the soul of the character. You’ll always remember that. It helps to have a reference. Also to keep practicing.
I record everything. I try to keep a log of everything I’ve done if I can. When we go back to the same characters, they live with you.
Here’s what’s interesting: I remember the character and their story and I kind of remember their pace and their affectation and their dialect. It’s the pitch I have to remember. How high or low I was, isn’t that weird?
I’m fascinated by the filing system you must have in describing these characters.
I’ve never really talked about it before, so I’m glad that we can bring it up. I always joke that I have VOCD: voiceover OCD, because I am collecting characters in my brain.
I am a hoarder of audio files. Sometimes, they’ll say, “Well, what did you do on that thing?” And I’ll look at some email or some audition I did back in February of 2020 or something.
I always love when people bring stuff to me to say, “Can you make it like the guy you did over here?” You’ve lived with him for so long, you know, that [slips into a Yosemite Sam impression] Y’all, Yosemite Sam is right there. [back to his voice] He’s ready to go. All those guys are there. They’ve got to be specific. The specificity helps you. Specificity is your friend. It really is.
I think it’s amazing to be so prolifically specific.
This is a strange job because primarily you’re an actor, but you’re also a voice artist. I’ve done a lot of classes on this, and it gets very dry sometimes to try to explain real basic vocal techniques. It’s not just acting, it’s also breath control and how far back your glottal stop is. This is your instrument.
Sometimes, I show up to a job where I don’t get to speak English. I am speaking alien languages or being a T-Rex or a monkey or a dog. Then there’s Moongirl and Devil Dinosaur, for example [he unleashes an unintelligible GROWL]. How can I get that intention? I’ll start with a lot of notes and then slowly abstract it down in that case for that particular show.
Do you have favorite characters?
Oh God, yeah, that’s a hard one for me to answer, ’cause they’re all my babies. I like them all for different reasons.
Hulk comes to my mind because he and I have a history. I was a big fan of Hulk growing up, and then to be able to play him for over a decade in different forms, that one is near and dear to my heart.
I loved playing Lieutenant Shaxs on Star Trek: Lower Decks, ’cause I’m a big Trek fan, so I pinched myself playing this character who’s head of security and he’s just a big softy. [Starts as Lieutenant Shaxs] I just want to talk about my feelings, you know! [back to his voice]
I love Bang, the character I played on StoryBots. I love doing anything where it’s educational for kids. In the Marvel show Hit Monkey, I’m just playing a monkey. I didn’t realize how funny it was going to be.
Do you find that certain jobs have a greater responsibility than others?
Good question. I’d say when you play iconic characters, like let’s just say Hulk, you know that there are many before you and many after you are gonna play this. It would be like playing a James Bond character. If I do a Darth Vader voice or I do something of an iconic nature that has existed before and I’m gonna add my own thing to it, I do feel like I want to uphold what that character is to those people and what it was to me.
When I do [mimics Mel Blanc’s voice] a Looney Tune, I’m gonna honor Mel Blanc. I’m gonna honor everything but still bring a little bit of whatever energy I can have to him [back to his voice]. I think a lot of us feel that way. Yes, there is a responsibility.
I love doing educational stuff for kids because that is a responsibility too, and trying to bring some light fun, and inspiration to them. You are responsible for everything you do, but there is that added pressure. For example, on [a Dustin Hoffman impression] Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, that’s Dustin Hoffman in the movies, so I have to make sure I stay close to Dustin Hoffman’s version, but I’m a little different [back to his voice]. But yes, there is an onus when you are playing a character that you grew up with or everyone knows. You want to hit those notes. You have to. And then push it if you can.
Man, I tell you, Fred, talking to you is one wild ride.
(Laughs) I hope so!
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