After graduating from VFS’s Acting for Film & Television program, Krystal Meadows forged a professional career in voice acting, finding work on series like Grossology and Clang Invasion. Some of her most recent work is featured in Kids WB’s World of Quest, where she plays “Anna Maht”, a sorceress-in-training.

If that didn’t keep her busy enough, she also applies her voice acting talents to commercials, and works as a live theatre and on-camera actor too.

Considering Krystal’s recent Gemini award nomination for “Best Ensemble Performance in an Animated Series” for her work in Grossology, there’s no doubt her future’s looking bright.

Hi, Krystal. The last time we spoke with you, you explained what it’s like to work on an animated series like Grossology. Now that you’ve had a few more years of experience under your belt, is there anything you’ve learned in your recent work that you didn’t know when starting out?

Krystal: I’ve learned the power of subtle shifts with tone of voice, and to have a greater understanding of rhythms from one scene to the next.  I’ve also learned to recognize my own personal rhythm and not let that be the character’s go-to rhythm. Because of this, I find that I have a fuller variety of voices in my tool box.  I feel that I’ve had time to sharpen my comedic timing as well.

You’ve recently started voice acting for more adult-oriented Teletoon series, such as your recurring role on The Dating Guy. What was the transition like in moving toward more mature language and subject matter?

Krystal: The transition has been smooth.  It’s the same basic acting skills but you can play around more with innuendo and double entendre.

I’m a giggler and I always have been, so I’ve had lots of practice laughing without making a sound when recording in group sessions.  The stuff people come up with is hilarious, but you never want to laugh during a take when magic happens – you don’t want them to have to throw it out because you couldn’t hold in a laugh.  But as soon as the take is done, it’s wonderful to burst into a huge laugh and tell the other person what a great job they did.

It seems like voice acting might demand a different skill set than your theatre work or on-camera acting. How do you keep your other acting skills in shape while working on an animated series?

Krystal: Animation is actually very close to theatre and on-camera work.  You’ve got to lift the words off the page and remain rooted and truthful while doing it.  It’s easy to go BIG, but if it’s not truthful, it’s overacting.

Animation is harder in the sense that you don’t have your body to express with. You’ve got to focus everything into your voice.  If you were to sit in on any animation recording session, you’d see that the actors use their body while they’re speaking. Their hands are moving and their bodies are alive.  If you just stand still, it’ll come across in your voice as lifeless and flat.

Finding how the character stands is a big thing for me, as that can have a huge effect on the voice.  I audition for boy parts in animation, and finding how each character stands is an “in” for me to discovering their voice. I still take on-camera classes, and auditions in general are great to keep your skills in shape.

Working in theatre is another great way.  I’m playing Gretel in a children’s production of Hansel and Gretel this winter.  With theatre, there is more time to talk through the work and explore different choices and to collaborate.  In animation, we record the whole episode in one day.  So you’ve got to do more work on your own, coming up with your choices and then, if the director sees a certain scene differently, you’ve got to switch gears on the spot and be able to produce that.  There’s no going home and working on it and coming back the next day.  I find animation very instinctual.  Be bold, be truthful, and go with your gut.  If that’s not how the voice director or director sees it, you take a breath and give it another shot right away.

You’ve also done some commercial work recently. Can you talk a little about how that process differs from a TV production environment?

Krystal: With radio and TV voice work, you only have 15, 30, or 60 seconds for the character to come through with the message of the spot.  Again, like animation, you don’t have your body to help convey the message, so you’re focusing everything into your voice.  You have to have strong choices but you can’t punch it or push it too much; it’s got to have an ease to it, as people don’t like to know they’re being persuaded.  The slightest shift in your tone or intention can make a huge difference in the spot.  There is still room to play, but you’re inside a much smaller box than you are in animation.  And you’ve got to be incredibly rooted and truthful.  There are only seconds in the spot, so if you lose the listener, you don’t have much time to get them back on your side.

What do you think is the biggest misconception some people might have about voice acting?

Krystal: That it’s easy or that it’s not real acting.  Acting is acting, no matter if you’re on stage, on camera, or working in animation.  If you’re not truthful, you’re overacting and people will tune out.  In animation, the material may not be as deep as on-camera or theatre, but the basic acting technique of being truthful is huge.

Another small thing that seems to get a lot of people is that we record the voices before the animation is done.  Most people think we watch the animation and match our performance to that, when in fact, the animation is done later. So sometimes things can come up in a record that can affect the animation.  It’s not total freedom to change things, but every once in a while, something magical will happen and the voice director, director, and producer will keep something that happens in the moment.

What are you working on next? Is there a dream job you’re hoping to land?

Krystal: I really enjoy voicing boy characters in animation and have a dream to be the voice of the lead boy in a series.  I love the challenge of getting into the headspace of a boy and experiencing situations through the eyes of a boy.  I was pretty shy growing up and I think voicing a boy somehow gives me permission to go to a place of jumping right in and not caring what people will think.  Not that girls can’t do that. But because I’m voicing a boy, I can separate it from myself more.

I’d also love to be “the voice” of a company – to have one of those voices that people remember and recognize immediately.

Good luck, Krystal. Thanks for your time!