Acting Workout

This July, get one-on-one direction and critiques on your Acting from Kay Bess!

All great voice acting is rooted in authenticity, in revelation rather than external character creation. We don’t “put on” voices, like a queen dons her cape. The characters and voice campaigns we create are born of the magical confluence of a copywriter’s words, a visual artist’s images, and an actor’s grasp of the human condition as expressed in her voice. The best voice actors know they are team players, not stars – even when their voices are attached to legendary characters or projects. Whether we work in commercial, narration, video gaming, or animation, we work in concert with other creatives to make a piece of vocal, visual, and musical art.

Kay Bess approaches each actor as the unique human being they are. Toss off commonplace misunderstandings of what makes a great voice actor. The sound of one’s voice is only a small piece of the puzzle. Human beings never speak just because our voices sound interesting. We speak in response to others. Responding implies having listened, and listening is first in any great acting method. 

Kay Bess is an American voice actor and a native Southern Californian, from Santa Barbara. She trained in The School of Dramatic Arts BFA Acting Program at The University of Southern California and studied Philosophy at UCLA. She studied Meisner Technique at The Ruskin School in Santa Monica and is a member of The Actor's Co-op Theater Company in Hollywood.  Kay has worked as a voice actor for over 35 years and has been heard on several hundred TV and radio commercials for the likes of Toyota, Honda, McDonald's, Motel 6, Yoplait, Hidden Valley Ranch, Kaiser Permanente, Apple, Jergen's, Hyundai, Sears, SoCal Edison, and more. She's done promos for every major American TV network as well as cable stations CNN, A&E, Fox News, The Disney Channel, Comedy Central, FearNet, SyFy, and CTV News Canada. She's narrated shows on HGTV, Discovery, WE, The Learning Channel, and NatGeo. She is Queen of Yore in Final Fantasy XV, ROXY in Crackdown 3, Gail in Fallout 76, Tianhuo in Them’s Fightin’ Herds, and Persephone Brimstone in Agents of Mayhem, among many other major video game titles. Kay has recently added animation to her voiceover arsenal, with roles in Dreamworks’ Spirit: Riding Free, Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, and a few more set for release in Summer 2020. She is best known as the voice of The Property Brothers on HGTV, seasons 1-4;  Ana in the video game Lara Croft Rise of the Tomb Raider and, being the Trekkie she is, Kay is THRILLED to voice Jean Luc Picard’s ship, La Sirena, in the new Star Trek series: PICARD on CBS All Access. 

Get real-world one-on-one direction on your reads with Kay! We'll meet via Zoom on Thursday, June 16, from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm PT!! Reserve your seat today! 

***Please note that you will receive all pertinent info, Zoom Room Link, and scripts one day prior to the event. We're looking forward to having you at the workout! Participation does not guarantee representation or work.