Susie Valerio on Maintaining Passion for the Craft
By Kayla Bowles, August 20, 2023
Hello SOVAS readers, and thank you for taking the time to visit my column, Diary of A Voiceover Intern. Here, I intend to engage my evolving learning experience as an intern at the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS) through a series of conversations with voiceover professionals. I will engage SOVAS ambassadors, previous winners of the Voice Arts Awards, casting directors, talent agents and others in discussions about breaking into the voiceover industry and building a thriving career.
My guest today is Susie Valerio— bilingual Brazilian producer, voice actor, and casting director based in the United Kingdom. Susie trained as an actor in London, and has spent over twenty years working in the global entertainment industry with prominent companies such as Voicefox, Imagineear, and Soundcuts Audio.
Kayla: Susie, it’s such a pleasure getting to talk with you; thanks so much for being here!
Susie: Of course!
Kayla: So, you’ve been working in the entertainment industry for over twenty years. Did you have any specific goals for yourself when first starting out? How have those goals changed over time?
Susie: I started acting as a child and have loved the entertainment industry ever since I can remember. I have never wanted to work in a different area, and in terms of career progression, my ultimate goal has always been to work consistently in my chosen field to the best of my abilities, at an international level. In some respects, my core desire has remained the same from the start, which is to make a living doing what I love. That being said, looking back to my earlier days I can see that my dreams and goals have obviously grown bolder and much more complex along the way, always in a very organic manner. I really love being part of our industry and have always enjoyed working across most aspects of entertainment over the years, from production to performance. Over time, my initial goals of training with the best and getting an agent changed to growing my client list and booking smaller gigs consistently, and then shifted again to aiming at working consistently on much bigger and previously seemingly “impossible” projects, but this process always felt like a very gradual natural movement to me.
Kayla: I’ve only been working in this industry for a little under three years, but I can absolutely relate to looking back and seeing how my goals have changed. Were you always interested in voiceover? If not, what drew you to the world of voiceover specifically? How did you learn about and get involved with SOVAS?
Susie: I trained both as an actor and as a “content maker”, having studied Film & Media at the London University of Arts, and Drama, Film & TV at Brunel University. After graduating, I joined Equity, our union in the UK, and also the now closed Actors’ Centre, where I could train further and was able to meet working professionals in the London scene. At the time, I was taking regular workshops in all areas of acting, signing up to most classes and workshops on offer. I really had the best time learning at the Actors Centre! As I have always been very fond of “equipment” in general thanks to my grandfather, who used to have a small photography studio and a workshop to fix radios and TVs.
When I was a kid, I saw a Voiceover workshop on offer and got very interested in learning more about the technical aspects of it, even though I didn’t think VO in London in the late 90’s / early 00’s would be for me. I am Brazilian and 100% bilingual, but I do have a slight international accent. I was very aware that I was not the typical voice you would hear on TV in England back then, but I was drawn to check the class out all the same. When I met the teacher, a wonderful BBC producer called Bernard Graham Shaw, my life was literally transformed! As soon as I got near the mic, it became very clear that VO was my calling! I felt at home. Bernard saw that too, and explained to me that there was great demand for native foreign voices in London. He said that if I had good demos, I should have no problem finding top representation and, most importantly, well paid work. It really was a revelation to me, as I really didn’t expect that this would be the case! Once the workshop finished, I asked for Bernard’s details and booked a session to record my first reels straight away. It was a massive investment for me at the time, but I had a gut feeling that it was the right thing to do. I am really glad I trusted my instincts, as within a couple of months from the workshop, I had my first English and Brazilian Portuguese demos produced by Bernard and had already secured awesome representation in London too. As he predicted, the whole thing happened super fast and I have never looked back. I genuinely feel that I owe my whole career to Bernard and his one-day workshop on a London afternoon.
In relation to SOVAS, I learned about it from my friend Rachael Naylor, from the Voiceover Network – who also used to train at The Actors’ Centre in London at the same time I was there! When Rachael travelled to the U.S. for SOVAS for the first time, I remember talking to her about her experience at the Voice Arts Awards and That’s Voiceover! and feeling that it was definitely something I would like to get involved in. A couple of years later, I volunteered as a judge, and later also volunteered as an ambassador, suggesting the addition of Portuguese as one of SOVAS’s international languages.
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From the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences
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Kayla: What do you find most challenging about being a casting director?
Susie: I absolutely love working as a casting director and have been doing so since my days at university, when I used to cast all of my roommate’s films. My professional career in casting started as a casting assistant for on camera and stage work, and later as a studio manager for a big casting studio in London. As time progressed, I migrated to working mainly in voice, which I really enjoy. As someone who is also an actor, the most challenging aspect of working as a casting director is definitely having to say no people, especially in situations when I get asked for “feedback” on why someone has not booked a particular job. The casting process is highly complex and can easily involve dozens of people selecting the cast, but many actors believe we hold the power to hire or fire. Situations when I get asked for “reasons” why a job has not been booked can easily become extremely awkward, especially if the person asking is an actor I know personally. On the bright side, there is nothing better than finding new talent, and no better feeling than telling someone that they have booked a dream job.
Kayla: Your experience of casting films for your peers at university is very similar to how I first learned what a professional voiceover job might be like, through auditioning for and lending my voice to independent projects on my college campus. Experiences like that are so special; I definitely learned a lot about my work ethic and what my strengths and weaknesses are. How do your experiences as an actor inform how you approach casting, and vice versa?
Susie: I think my experience as an actor helps me a lot in casting. Firstly, I obviously know a lot of actors, which is definitely a huge asset. Secondly, I know a lot of actors from different countries, which quickly made me quite sought after for projects requiring an international cast, or projects recording in languages other than English. I think my knowledge of the industry as a foreign actor working in an English speaking country is definitely a massive bonus when it comes to casting fairly and ethically, as I have first-hand understanding of what fair representation should look like, both as a foreign actor and as a consumer too. I am very passionate about diversity in casting and go to great lengths to find the right talent for any given brief, whatever language, accent, ethnicity, or nationality might be needed.
In terms of how my work in casting informs my work as an actor, I think it really helps in terms of performance and also by giving me a very broad and always up-to-date understanding of our industry as whole. Over the years, working in casting has also eased some of the emotional pitfalls of auditioning, as I am much more aware of the multiple reasons that go into booking talent.
Kayla: I imagine that being proficient in both working in front of and behind the microphone teaches one so much, including what makes a good audition really stand out. Shifting gears a little, I was wondering what the most enjoyable genre (commercials, animation, ADR, etc.) is for you to work in as both an actor and a casting director and why?
Susie: I personally love voicing commercials! I am forever fascinated by the subtleties of performance that can be achieved with literally a handful of words. I also love narrating stories and museum guides. As a casting director, I work primarily in video games and truly love it. I am “a bit of a nerd”, as mentioned above, and have always loved video games. It’s an amazing medium, the ultimate “team sport” alongside film, and casting is a huge part of its storytelling process.
Kayla: That’s so interesting. I’m also quite the “nerd” myself, and I believe that it was the media that I loved growing up that truly inspired me to pursue voice acting in genres where you truly bring a story or characters in a story to life. I’ve got one last question for you before we wrap things up: Do you think you could let me know from both the perspective of an actor and casting director what you think is the most important thing someone breaking into the industry should know or learn?
Susie: I think the most important thing anyone entering the industry should know is that working in the entertainment industry is not a “job”. It is a life choice. Earning a steady income and having an stablished career in our industry takes many years of training, a lot of patience, unwavering desire to do well against all odds and sheer hard work. If you love the industry enough to hold tight through all the inevitable ups and downs in bookings without ever losing your spark, then this is definitely the path for you.
Kayla: Being truly passionate about the work that you do is so important and is truly reflected in your performance, whether you work as a voice actor or in any other professional setting. Susie, thank you again so much for doing this interview with me; I really appreciate it!
Susie: My pleasure!
Kayla Bowles is assistant to Rudy Gaskins and Joan Baker, founders of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS), creators of That’s Voiceover! Career Expo, and the Voice Arts Awards. She currently studies the art of voice acting with Joan Baker, and has studied with Real Voice L.A., The Acting Studio, and Broadway Evolved. Though new to the voiceover business, Kayla has already booked a local TV commercial, a role in an indie animated series (in development), and lent her voice to various passion projects. She is currently an undergrad at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.
From the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences
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