Deep down there’s a child inside all of us, some are just more willing to embrace it than others. Ellyn Stern is one such person and her career as a voice actress and children’s book writer serve as the perfect way for her to keep her young heart intact.
“I know the thing that compels me to be an actress – to be a voice actress – and to write is the child in me. I may have grown up intellectually though that’s questionable,” she adds with a cheeky laugh.
“But I’ve grown up and there will always be the child in me and I never want to lose that because that’s joy. I think once we lose our inner child and we stop embracing that we lose the joy of who we are.”
Though things for Ellyn actually started out a little differently from where she is now, and her career in voice acting arose from a welcome suggestion. “I was one of the stars in this western and I was finishing the work when the casting director asked me if I’d be interested in doing some voice work,” she says.
“So I auditioned and I got the job and I asked if my boyfriend at the time – who was Richard Epcar [now Ellyn’s partner] – could come along and we both got the jobs and so that was the beginning and it just flew from there. The work was very different, and getting work back then was really different because there wasn’t a large demand for people doing voice work so we just went from one project to another and it just kept going like that.“
Her unplanned beginning in the industry some years ago has since developed into a successful career, having voiced characters for Ghost in the Shell 2, Armitage III and Shadow Hearts: Covenant, amongst a seemingly endless list. Though her most recent role sits amongst one of her favourites.
“Actually it’s quite funny, I just did one of the leads in this new Disney cartoon, and it’s called Limon and Oli. I played a mother duck and she was a lot of fun and really wacky and crazy, and I love doing wacky crazy and outrageous characters,” she says.
The beauty of voice acting – and something Ellyn quickly came to realise – is that there are no limitations to who you can be. The possibilities are simply endless and playing a zany duck is just the starting point of where voice acting can take you.
“That’s so exciting – the fact that there are no boundaries. I can play a baby, a little girl, a little boy, I can do an old lady, a teenage voice – I’ve even filled in for men’s voices because I do have that depth and I can go into that range, so it’s pretty limitless. Of course on camera none of these would be in my wheelhouse,” Ellyn says.
Having the ability to manipulate your voice for such a variety of characters is a true skill, though something that is made easier for Ellyn with the experience and knowledge of where her voice can take her.
As a result recognising who she has voiced might be a tricky task, but look at her impressive resume and you’ll soon become aware of just how many times you’ve heard her, unbeknownst that it was the same voice actress from one of your favourite characters.
Ellyn will be bringing her beautiful vocals – something I can vouch for from her smooth voice over the phone – and her new children’s book It’s Hard to Give a Butterfly a Hug to Australian shores where she will attend Supanova Pop Culture Expo on April 10-12. And she couldn’t be more thrilled to be coming down to see her fans.
“You know it’s really wonderful, when I started out doing this I thought, ‘Who is going to be listening to this?’ I had no idea there was going to be such a fan base, that there was going to be such enthusiasm for the voice work I had done,” Ellyn beams.
“To see people hearing it, enjoying it and liking what I had done and then sharing their thoughts and appreciation for it – that’s amazing. It’s just wonderful and I absolutely adore it and I’m just so grateful to all of my fans for supporting the work I’ve done. I really really appreciate it.”
When & Where: Supanova at the Melbourne Showgrounds – April 10-12
Written by Amanda Sherring