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Spotlighting the people and projects you need to know In the Room With
Julie Ashton
The prolific voiceover CD shares her process and what stands out in an audition By Elyse Roth
are capable of doing anything. When you get a script, there are multiple roles. With one-liners, there are 80 or so characters; then we start to think: Who do we have that we can utilize their amazing talents and fill in all these holes? And then we have guest stars who can pick up extra roles when they have that range in their voice. There’s never been a time when we’ve said, “Hey can somebody do this voice?” and they’ve said, “No, I don’t think I can do that.” They always want to give it a shot, because it’s so much fun. And I think it’s also really creatively freeing and inspiring for the actors to be able to stretch themselves that way.
IF YOU’RE A FAN OF ADULT ANIMATION, CHANCES ARE YOU’VE heard the work of Julie Ashton. The renowned casting director broke into the world of animation when she got a call from “Bob’s Burgers” creator Loren Bouchard, and her work on that show led to collaborations with the team on Apple TV+’s “Central Park” and Fox’s “The Great North,” as well as Netflix’s “Big Mouth” and its forthcoming spinoff. Her background in sketch and comedy prepared her for finding multitalented performers who could channel their skills into voice performances. It’s opened up a whole new world of talent for Ashton, who here shares her process and what she wants to hear on a demo reel or self-tape.
BACKSTAGE 06.10.21
sing and act and be funny and have a great voice for the show. Because of COVID-19, Broadway performers weren’t working. We were able to utilize so many of these brilliant Broadway people and musical people for the show. How do you know if a live-action performer can handle a voice role? Probably the
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How do actors end up voicing several characters on a show? We have people on our shows who are unbelievable voiceover actors, who we know
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Read the full interview at backstage.com/magazine
backstage.com
ILLUSTRATION: RAQUEL APARICIO
How is casting a musical animated show like “Central Park” different from something more traditional like “Bob’s Burgers” or “The Great North”? It is very different. We have lots of shows that have songs on them, but not a show that’s almost strictly a musical. From week to week, when we have new characters, we discuss who we know [who] can
hardest thing is to create a character that’s believable and grounded and also interesting enough that it matches up with the wonderful animation on our shows. I really admire actors who can create a complete character without us even seeing them on the screen. I get auditions for people every single day, and they’re just reading lines and yet somehow making me laugh and get emotional. The thought of them being able to do so off me sitting there, literally looking at a blank screen and only hearing their voice— that gives me the chills.
What’s the difference between casting live-action and animation? We have our favorite people who we know and love and trust, and who we can use over and over and over again. And you wouldn’t even know it, because they’re doing different characters that they’ve created. I had done a lot of kids’ casting and comedy; I can’t use an actor over and over again on those. I’m lucky enough to be with a group of people that we all have the same sensibilities and our favorites, and then, luckily, they’re creating all kinds of new characters for our shows, where we’re bringing in a diverse selection of people and getting self-tapes and turned on to these brand-new people, and they happen to be amazing voiceover people.
