Listen Live
Donate
 on air
    Schedule

    KCRW

    Read & Explore

    • News
    • Entertainment
    • Food
    • Culture
    • Events

    Listen

    • Live Radio
    • Music
    • Podcasts
    • Full Schedule

    Information

    • About
    • Careers
    • Help / FAQ
    • Newsletters
    • Contact

    Support

    • Become a Member
    • Become a VIP
    • Ways to Give
    • Shop
    • Member Perks

    Become a Member

    Donate to KCRW to support this cultural hub for music discovery, in-depth journalism, community storytelling, and free events. You'll become a KCRW Member and get a year of exclusive benefits.

    DonateGive Monthly

    Copyright 2026 KCRW. All rights reserved.

    Report a Bug|Privacy Policy|Terms of Service|
    Cookie Policy
    |FCC Public Files|

    Back to The Business

    The Business

    The World of Voice Acting

    We look at the art of the heard -- but not seen -- voice actor. Three veterans on what it takes to succeed and why some great on-camera movie stars can't cut it.

    • rss
    Download MP3
    • Share
    By Kim Masters • Mar 19, 2012 • 28m Listen

    We look at the art of the often heard -- but never seen -- voice actor. Three veterans -- Rob Paulsen, Robbie Rist and Lara Jill Miller -- give us their secrets to success and share why some top level on-camera actors have trouble with voice acting. Our guests can be heard in Doc McStuffins, a new Disney Junior animated series about a six-year-old girl who heals sick toys with the help of her stuffed animal sidekicks. Rist and Miller play those sidekicks, and Paulsen is a recurring character. This is the latest in a long line of credits for these three that includes Animaniacs, Clifford's Puppy Days, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Jimmy Neutron. They all started out on-camera (Rist was cousin Oliver on The Brady Bunch, and Miller played Samantha, the youngest girl in the 80's sit-com Gimme a Break) but now nearly 100 percent of their work is voice acting.

    Today's Banter Topics:

    - The Failure of John Carter has people questioning Disney execs

    - Hunger Games on track to be a huge git for Lionsgate and Summit

    - Hollywood holds bidding war over porn e-book, 50 Shades of Grey

    Banner image: (L-R) Rob Paulsen, Lara Jill Miller and Robbie Rist. Photo by Galen Karlan-Mason

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Kim Masters

      partner/writer at Puck News, host of KCRW's “The Business.”

    • KCRW placeholder

      Darby Maloney

      Producer

      CultureEntertainmentArts
    Back to The Business