If you play a lot of video games, you may not recognize Holly Fields’ name, but you’ve likely heard her voice. Since getting her start in acting in the ‘80s (she used to go to “Alphy’s soda pop parties” with the likes of Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio) Fields has become a prolific voice actor. She describes herself as having done 200 hundred voice-over jobs by the time she was 18, with a particular focus on video game roles. Fields appeared on Digital Trends Live to talk about growing up as a child actor, and the top secret world of video game voice acting.
Recalling her start as a child actor, Fields describes how her career overlapped with another ‘80s actress: Molly Ringwald.
“I was born in Sacramento, and we moved to Texas, and Molly Ringwald’s dad asked my mom to get me into acting, because I really wanted to pursue it …” Fields explains, “… because Molly Ringwald is from Sacramento, so we went to school together, and she’s older, so she and my sister were friends. So my parents said ‘Okay,’ I begged them, and they let me do it, and I got an agent in Dallas, and started into voiceover … then one day I was with an agency and they said ‘You sound like Cameron Diaz, do you want to audition for this Shrek job? They’re looking for a voice double for Cameron Diaz.’ And next thing I know I was re-voicing everything for Cameron Diaz, and working on Shrek, and then I got Star Wars: The Old Republic — didn’t know it was Star Wars … they told us we were auditioning for The Old Republic…”
As Fields describes it, the video game voice acting business operates with a level of secrecy Area 51 could only dream of.
“It’s really secretive. They give you the script when you get there, and it’s like a book. Very stressful, because you have all these very high up men in the room that are, like, very talented men that are producing and directing you … and so they give you only your lines, because it’s so secretive, and then you just go, you get three takes, and they’ll give you more, and you’re there for hours. And that’s it. You go home. You have no idea what the story is …”
Digital Trends Live airs Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. PT, with highlights available on demand after the stream ends. For more information, check out the DT Live homepage, and be sure to watch live for the chance to win occasional prizes.
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