Acting grad Krystal Meadows is currently recording the second season of Nelvana‘s hit animated show Grossology. On the series, Krystal voices one of the lead characters: Abby Archer, part of a brother-sister duo who use science to solve crimes too “gross” for adults. We asked Krystal how she landed the gig, and how voice acting is similar (and different) to on-camera work.

How did you get cast on Grossology?

I went to a General Audition at Nelvana, one of Canada’s biggest animation houses, located in Toronto. A general audition is where you go in and read sides for a variety of different characters so the casting people can get a feel for your vocal range. They know the new shows that are in development that need to be cast, and off the general audition they can make recommendations to the director and producer about who they think should be brought in to audition for that show specifically.

I read for about 4 different young girl characters and a boy character. Then, two months later, just after Christmas, my agent called and said that it was between me and one other girl for one of the characters I had read for in my General Audition, for the show Grossology. I had an intense week and a half of wondering and hoping and finally got a call that they had made their decision — I got the part of Abby Archer on Grossology. We started recording two weeks later. It was a wild ride. I was never called in for a call back for the role of Abby Archer after my General Audition– I was cast off the general. The audition process doesn’t usually happen this way, but it did for me on this one.

What has the experience been like?

The experience of being one of the leads on my first series has been amazing. I have learned so much about the animation industry over the past couple of years. The man who was cast to be the voice of Ty (Abby’s brother), was much more experienced than I was. We recorded scripts together, so I got to watch him and play off him. It was great because we would feed off one another, and that’s always exciting, because you can feel the chemistry and the lines popping off the page and coming to life. Working in animation is a hoot, we laugh a lot and it makes work feel like play. But it isn’t all laughs, we do work hard.

How is voice acting different from on-camera performance? Are there particular challenges in voice acting?

Voice acting is similar to on-camera or theatre in that you have to make the words your own. Anyone can read a story, but an actor brings the story to life by crafting the scene and crafting the story. You still have to make choices or use tactics and play off the other people in the scene. The voice and words have to be coming from a truthful place. You have to be especially careful of this in animation, because you can go very BIG and over the top, but you have to make sure your choices are grounded and truthful.

Animation is challenging in that you can only use your voice to express. The audience can read a lot from your eyes and body language with on-camera acting, and you don’t have those vehicles of expression in animation, you only have your voice. However, if you were to watch me or any other experienced voice actor in the recording studio, you’d see that we are using our eyes and our bodies and allow that to affect our voice. If you just stand at the mic with your hands at your sides, your voice and performance will come across as flat. You really have to use your imagination, especially trying to picture the villains, and in chase scenes.

Also, with animation you may be voicing a character that’s half your age or younger, and you have to connect with your inner child and really play. That’s one of the most rewarding and fun aspects of animation for me. I don’t think adults should ever forget what it’s like to be a kid and play, and imagine, and believe in magic. I certainly hope that I never do!

What is a typical day for you on Grossology?

I usually get emailed the script a few days before the record, so I have time to read it over in advance. As I read it over I circle tricky words to pronounce or words that I know I have to watch my “Canadian dialect” on. A lot of shows are recorded in Canada and play in the US, and you have to sound like you could be from “any city in North America”. I have to really watch my vowels on words like out, about, sorry, and words with similar vowel sounds.

Then when you’re heading to the record, you have to make sure your voice is warmed up. This is very important if you’re doing lots of yelling or screaming, because you have to do a few takes and don’t want to hurt your vocal folds. Also, if you’re doing a voice that’s not in your everyday range, you have to warm up that part of your voice.

Then at the record, I usually get the first run-through of a scene to do my take of how I think it should go. The director, producer and voice director are in a room across from me, and I’m behind the glass in the studio. So I see them talking about things, and then they come on mic and say things like, “Can you make line number such-and-such more of a revelation, and really play up the thinking on the last line, and we love what you’re doing in the middle, keep going with that.” Then you do a few more takes of the scene for safety, and sometimes have to go back and do a few more takes of a specific line, because they want it a certain way.

The great thing about voice over is that you don’t have to memorize your lines!!! Sometimes that can be a real pain for on-camera or theatre, and with voice over I don’t have to worry about that. So we go through the script scene by scene, or 3 or 4 pages at a time. Do a few runs and then move on. Then usually there are pick-ups to do a few weeks down the road after an episode is recorded. Sometimes things don’t match up with other characters like they thought. Usually I don’t record with the villain character, so if they record after me and do something that the director and everyone loves, I’ll go back in and re-do my line or lines to match them.

How did your time in Acting at VFS help prepare you for voice acting?

At VFS, I was introduced to the basics of crafting a scene; how to make strong choices or pick strong tactics, and stick to them in the playing of the scene. Crafting the scene is so crucial, and it takes a lot of mistakes and practice to weed out choices that don’t work until you find the choice that makes your scene pop off the page and come to life. Crafting the scene is important in any type of acting, be it on-camera, theatre, or animation voice over. It’s hard to judge any kind of art to be good or bad, but you can tell the difference between an amateur actor and a trained actor by how they craft a scene.

Also, the year at VFS really helped me stretch my comfort zone and explore different sides of myself in the variety of scene work that we were given. This comes into play in animation when you audition for darker characters like villains, or even toddler characters. You have to explore extreme opposites of who you are, and going through a program like the one VFS offers really prepares you for challenges like that.

Other than Grossology, what are you working on now?

This year I recorded an episode of a new series, Clang Invasion, that’s coming out next year, where I did the voice of Bobby Guard, a robotic boy. It was a real thrill to get cast as a boy, as I’ve been practicing boy voices for years. Boy voices are challenging in a different way than girl voices and I love experimenting with them.

I’m also touring with a two-person clown show in November. My partner and I are taking our show “Ham & Jam” to children’s hospitals along the way.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences with us, Krystal. We’ll be watching Grossology Season 2… and we’ll keep an eye out for a pair of clowns around town this month!