Ben Diskin is a young, successful, extremely talented and versatile actor who’ll be working for a long time to come.
Ben Diskin started out in his profession at a very early age. So early that even at his current young age, he’s considered something of a veteran to the voice over game. With a long list of credits already under his belt, Ben also has the rare distinction of transitioning quite smoothly from super young child actor to an equally successful adult voice over career, a rare occurrence indeed.
Ben plays the new Eddie Brock / Venom (far right) in The Spectacular Spider-Man
However, despite all his successes, personally I think that Ben’s most impressive aspect as a young maven is his well grounded principals and down to earth attitude. Always professional, always diligent and always always talented, success couldn’t come to a nicer guy.
Of course I always suspected that his quiet, nice demeanor was all really just an elaborate ruse to get unsuspecting bullies to give Ben an excuse to practice his martial arts skills. =)
Some of Ben Diskin’s credits include playing Eddie Brock / Venom in The Spectacular Spider-Man, Numbuh 1 & Numbuh 2 in Codename: Kids Next Door, Kai in Blood+ just to name a few.
Thanks to Ben for sharing some of his valuable time for this exclusive interview:
cap) How did you get introduced to the voice over industry?
bd) I was introduced to the voice over industry at a really young age.
As I got older and learned to speak well enough, my agent at the time,
Bob Preston, had me read some voice over dialog before I was even old
enough to read. I’d just mimic his line-readings and we’d go from there.
cap) How long have you been in the voice over industry?
bd) I guess you could say I’ve been in the voice over industry since I
was about 4 or 5 years old, so I’ve been in this around 20 or 21 years now.
cap) What would you attribute most to your voice over success?
bd) I’m really fortunate to have great parents. Both my mom and dad are
actors, so when they put me in the business I always had plenty of good
coaching as well as reasonable parents who never tried to force me into
“stardom” as many stage parents do to their kids.
cap) How long did it take you to land your first voice over job?
bd) I can’t really remember WHAT my first voice over job was, to be
honest. I’m guessing it was a radio commercial or something. I’m going
to go out on a limb and say….. 3 years? *shrugs*
cap) What was the first job you earned that really got you noticed in the voice over community?
bd) Although I had the lead role in a cartoon show (Problem Child: The
Animated Series) when I was around 10, the first job I got that REALLY
got me noticed was my work on Codename: Kids Next Door for Cartoon
Network in which I played two of the main characters.
Ben plays Numbuh 1 & Numbuh 2 in Codename: Kids Next Door
cap) Finish the following statement: “One thing you might not know about voice over is…”
bd) One thing you might not know about voice over is that it’s all
secretly a cover-up for various top-secret professions. Fred
Tatasciore? Ninja. No joke! … No, really the only thing I can
think of is that a lot of people don’t really consider VO to be “real”
acting because only the voice is used. From what I’ve seen and
experienced, total character immersion is the best way to get the
desired take and reads that are half-assed are easily recognizable by
casting directors and audiences alike.
cap) Do you feel that the industry has changed since you first started in the business? How?
bd) I wouldn’t say the INDUSTRY has changed, but the technology the
industry uses has gone through leaps and bounds. With people recording
their voices on computers instead of tapes, takes can be instantly sent
to casting directors, modified by audio programs, cleaned up by superior
editing techniques, etc. It’s made things easier on the recording
artist, but at the same time it probably makes things more difficult for
casting directors. It’s hard to tell if a person has sent in their
first take or just the best lines edited together from a series of poor
takes. This can cause a casting director to seriously reconsider hiring
outside of a select few group of actors whom he/she knows can handle the
various roles. It’s a risk to just hire someone from a take they
recorded at home or at their agency.
cap) What’s your favorite part of the job?
bd) My favorite part of the job is the work itself! I know there are
many hard-working people out there who hate their jobs and I’m very
fortunate to be in the minority of folk who love what they do for a living.
cap) What’s your least favorite part of the job?
bd) If I were to find something I actually DIDN’T like about voice work,
it might be that occasionally I’ll play a character that leaves my
throat very sore for a while afterwards. Really, though, most
characters are rewarding enough that I don’t mind the occasional blood
throat.
Ben plays Eddie Brock / Venom in The Spectacular Spider-man
cap) Finish the following sentence: “If it wasn’t for voice over, I’d probably…”
bd) If it weren’t for voice over….., I’d probably be screwed, blued,
and tattooed. My on-camera career is pretty much non-existent and
although I love writing and camera work, I don’t think I’d be able to
get a job too easily since there’s so much competition and I’m terrible
at self-promotion. So, if it weren’t for voice over…… porn, I
guess? Yeah, I’m sure EVERYone would just LOVE to see ME naked.
*passes out vomit bags*
cap) If you were just entering the voice over industry now, would you do anything different?
bd) If I were just entering the voice over industry now, I’d probably
lick a lot more boot. It’s hard as all heck to get people to give you a
chance in a business where there are already sooo many talented people
who’ve been doing this for many years longer than you. I’d have to do a
lot more to get casting directors to give me a shot since they wouldn’t
have a clue who I am or why they should hire me.
cap) With several automated online based marketplaces opening up in the voice over industry like voices.com, voice123.com, etc., do you think this changes the playing field in terms of competition, agent value, barrier to entry in the field?
bd) The online marketplaces are interesting but I’d be cautious about
them as well. There’s pretty much no protection on those sites in the
form of agents or managers, so actors trying to get into the business
can easily get involved in projects they shouldn’t be doing and not
being paid what they rightfully deserve. It’s all fair in love, war,
and work, so I don’t have anything against any actors who are trying to
get noticed by eliminating the “middle men,” so to speak, and going
right to the casting directors.
Ben plays Kai in Blood+
cap) Do you have any voice over tips you’d like to share?
bd) My best advice for playing characters in a cartoon show would be to
remember the characters’ sense of self and reality. You’re not “playing
a character” and giving him/her/it a voice; you’re a real entity who
just happens to have a voice that’s different from your own. It’s
pretty easy to tell someone who’s just trying to say “Look at this cool
voice I can do!” with their reads from someone who’s actually put
themselves into the world and mind of the character.
cap) When you’re not working, how do you typically spend your time?
bd) When I’m not voice acting, I typically spend a lot of time at my
dojo where I’m an assistant karate instructor. When I’m not teaching
karate or acting, I’m relaxing, shopping, or just hanging out with friends.
cap) Being an actor who also works on-camera as well, do you think there is a difference in how you approach the two acting avenues? How so?
bd) On-camera acting usually involves a lot more subtlety and an
ability to throw one’s self away. If you’ve got the line reading down,
but your eyes say you’re thinking about something else, it’ll ruin the
scene. This won’t always get in the way of your voice acting unless you
let it come out in the read. Oh, having to memorize lines rather than
reading them from a script changes things too, but I think that’s pretty
self-evident.
cap) Complete the following sentence: “I wish…”
bd) I wish I had super powers. That’d be bitchin’. I seriously wasn’t
sure how to answer this question ;D
cap
