Ashly Burch is a top voice actor — a career that comes with the risk of hemorrhaged vocal cords and little in the way of job security.
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Insightful article from the Washington Post on the changing role of voice actors in the video game industry, including the long-term effects of vocal stress, the low pay for game work relative to other media and the consequences of the recently-settled SAG-AFTRA strike.
The article, while fair, is generally sympathetic to the voice actor's point-of-view. This observation from voice actor Kate Flannery really hit home with us: “That’s the weird thing about vocal stress...You push yourself to do these voices because you want to be easy to work with. And that’s where you get hurt. There’s a people-pleasing aspect that doesn’t happen when you’re [onscreen] acting.”
Any voice actor who has been around a while has found him- or herself in a situation where, eager to please, they pushed themselves way too hard, and suffered the consequences. If they were lucky, they only lost their voice for a day or two. Others not so fortunate however, have suffered long-term and even permanent damage. Voice actors should be afforded more protection in this area and allowed to say "no" when a client is asking them to go beyond what is reasonable and do something potentially damaging to their voice without fear of repercussion or being blackballed for "being difficult."