On February 2, 2007 I had the pleasure of interviewing voice actor Thessaly Lerner who was the voice for the Silent Hill's favorite nurse Lisa Garland. Not only did I think that I was being annoying and my email ignored, I was sure that there would be some thoughts of "God help me get away from these Silent Hill stalker freaks" arise somewhere in Thessaly's head. As in most cases I was wrong. Thessaly was more than happy to answer my questions, not to mention extremely polite. Please enjoy!
-CowboyFromHell
Interview with Thessaly Lerner
Voice of Lisa Garland
CFH: How did you get started in the voice acting business?
TL: I went to theater conservatory for college - emerson
college in Boston, graduated with a
fiscally-ridiculous degree in acting, as there is no
money to be made in the theater. A friend who was
taking vo classes recommended I take one. I did! It
was awesome! Then I started working at the VO
school/casting studio, VoiceMedia/Susan and Friends
Casting, and learned all about the industry - casting,
producing, acting for vo's, which are very different
than other forms of acting. Worked at the studio
for 7 years, within those years, secured an agent and
started auditioning and working! Took about 2 years
of auditioning a lot to start making money.
CFH: What about the other voice actors in Silent Hill.
Did you interact with themwhen you recorded your
role, or did they have separate sessions for each
actor?TL: We all had separate sessions, but I know most of the
other vo actors because we're all from the same SF
agency, and work other jobs together. SF VO community
is pretty small, so we all get to know one another.
CFH: What's the actual voice acting process like?
TL: Commercial and animation are very different.
Commercial is very real, low key, intimate. Animation
can be very over the top, charactery. The process is:
you get to the session, get your script and head into
the recording booth. Usually we do about 3 - 10 takes
of each line. Generally recording line by line.
It's great when there's a picture of the character and
a lengthy character description, but often there's
not. There's often a lot of directors with different
ideas, so good interpersonal skills are important.
CFH: Did you get to work with Silent Hill 1's director,
Keiichiro Toyama, and if so, did he have much to do
with the direction of your acting?
TL: No. I don't think so. It was a long time ago and I
had no idea it would be the cult phenomenon it has
become. The voice director was the same guy who is
the lead character; he had to do the voice because
the guy who was supposed to be that character got
another vo job that paid better, for that day. I
vaguely recall some Japanese peeps at the session, but
I can't be certain.
CFH: Did you get to work with Akira Yamaoka and if so
what was he like?TL: Nope.
CFH: I know that you have done voice for other video
games such as EverQuest II and The Sims II.
Have you ever played any of the video games you have
voiced?TL: Ridiculously, no I haven't played any of them. I've
been meaning to play the sims 2. I don't play video
games. It would be very interesting however, and it's
been on my agenda of things to do for a while now.
CFH: What would you say to anyone who'd be interested in
doing the same work as you?
TL: Don't quit your day job. It's a very very highly
competitive field, but if you really really want it,
you can achieve anything. Take improv classes.
CFH: What projects have you just worked on or have
upcoming?TL: I just did a spot for wisconsin radio; more
expansion packs for the sims 2 are coming up, which is
always a great time in the studio. I audition almost
every day for work, so i never know what's around the
corner. I'm also hard at work on my ukulele album and
my solo comedy/ukulele career as the UkuLady -
see www.myspace.com/TheUkuLady; as well as hard at
work with my music partner and our band, Special
Occasion Music - see
www.myspace.com/SpecialOccasionMusic - we are working
on new songs for our album. I'm also developing
some cartoons and music for cartoons in development.
Also, I'm actively campaigning for The Downfall of Evil.
CFH: When you were asked to do the voice for Lisa
Garland, did you ever think that Silent Hill would reach the
success that is has?TL: Absolutely not. It was a small non-union job that
paid very little and I always thought I was miscast
and should have voiced the kid, who is Saundra Wane,
who is a wonderful voice actress from SF. I'm
thrilled, however, with the ongoing fandom of SH.
Unfortunately I've seen no money from it, aside from
the initial payment and a tiny lawsuit from Konami's
stealing of voices for Silent HIll3.
CFH: Of all the projects you have done, which would you
consider your favorite?TL: I love doing The Sims 2. We've been working for
about 4 years and I love my castmate (Jack Conte) and
our fabulous producers and engineers. We have a
fabulous time in the studio and laugh all day long.
It's great that it's been ongoing, not only for
financial reasons, but because I really love working
with the sim peeps.
CFH: What are your hobbies and interests outside of the
acting world?TL: I play ukulele almost every day, writing songs. I
love to cook, garden; I love hanging out with my niece
and nephews and family. I also write plays and love
to be a party hostess. I also love world travel and
am itching to go somewhere far away like india or
mongolia. I spend a lot of my time marketing,
scheming - new graphic publicity cards and such. I
also love playing music with Special Occasion Music,
website coming soon: www.SpecialOccasionMusic.org I
also love subversive comedy, interesting art and yoga.
CFH: If asked, would you do voice for another Silent Hill
game?TL: Of course. I love to work.
CFH: I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to
answer my questions. I really appreciate it!TL: Right back at you! :)
Thanks for your interest and the publicity cowboy!
:)Thessaly
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