Is this the golden age of English voice acting? With the quality of work we’ve seen over the last few years, many might think so. Suzie Yeung, a voice actor who’s voiced everything from Final Fantasy VII Remake’s Yuffie to Chainsaw Man‘s Makima, is a prominent player in the profession. We recently caught up with Yeung, who’s been busy charting her own path in the flourishing industry, to find out how she got her start and what keeps her going.
Her Origin Story
As the only child of immigrant parents in the United States, Yeung often spent time alone watching cartoons and playing video games. Imitating the voices she heard in her favorite series became a hobby of hers, but her family encouraged her to focus on “real life.” Growing into adulthood, Yeung found herself working a full-time job unrelated to voice acting — until, she tells us, opportunity knocked: “I was recommended to audition for a project a friend helped run since they knew I was interested in voice acting in the past,” says Yeung.
This audition led Yeung to book her first role as the English voice of Kaban, the main protagonist in the media franchise Kemono Friends. The timing couldn’t have been better, as on completion of the project, Yeung was confronted with an unexpected turn of events — her department had been dissolved by her company and her position no longer existed. Rather than chasing the next nine-to-five, however, Yeung spun this apparent setback into a chance to pursue voice acting professionally.
Speed Bumps and Successes
Though her achievements may make it seem otherwise, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Yeung; the pandemic hit just as she was starting to find her feet in her new profession. She gave herself an ultimatum: Make some kind of progress in voice acting over a six-month period of living in Los Angeles or give the dream up and go home. But the day after she settled into LA, she received an audition for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Her turn as Yuffie Kisaragi proved to be her breakout role in the industry.
Since then, it feels as though it’s been hit after hit. Yeung’s IMDB boasts more than 150 roles. These include global hit games such as Genshin Impact, Persona 3 Reload and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. On the anime side, she’s provided a voice for Makima in Chainsaw Man, Tsumiki in Jujutsu Kaisen and Mimi Tachikawa in Digimon Adventure: (2020). Having her name attached to projects of this caliber is an incredible feat. However, she’s mindful that behind these celebrations are often untold stresses that the public does not see.
“This job is 90% rejection, and not being able to handle it can set you back financially and hurt your self-esteem. All the ‘successful voice actors’ you see are just the few among the many in this industry who have barely scratched the surface with their careers,” Yeung says. “And even among those people, you only see their highlights and not the work they’re putting in or what they’re going through behind the scenes.”
Improving Her Craft
Putting on voices for characters is hard work, and Yeung has never taken formal voice acting classes. Rather, she’s spent her life absorbing media, starting off by imitating the styles she heard watching cartoons or playing games. Over time, she evolved her approach. “I challenged myself to connect more with the character,” she says, “and bring out more authentic, dynamic and nuanced reads.”
Another way she hones her skills is by auditioning constantly. Trying out for different roles helps her stretch her range, experiment and, she explains, inject more of herself into each subsequent performance.
The most challenging roles for Yeung tend to be characters with deep voices. The diaphragmatic control required, plus the focus on word articulation, requires deep concentration. In contrast, Yeung shares that her most natural role has been Yuffie due to her snarky yet playful side.
Within the English voice acting space, Yeung admires quite a few of her peers. She respects Zeno Robinson (My Hero Academia) and Alejandro Saab (Horimiya) for their talent, positive attitudes and infectious passion for the industry. She also enjoys the work of Elizabeth Maxwell (Persona 5), Erica Lindbeck (Barbie) and Abby Trott (Demon Slayer).
Things Fans of Voice Acting Should Know
All of the recent furor over the voice acting industry has resulted in both interest and scrutiny from the wider community. One thing Yeung wishes fans understood better is that voice acting is just one part of the equation. “We work with a team of directors, engineers, scriptwriters and production to make a cohesive product,” she explains. “Especially in the case of dubbing, we are the last segment of the chain and usually don’t get to see the script ahead of time. We don’t get a lot of say in how things go, as the animation is locked in, the script is usually predetermined, the director may have a certain vision and so on.”
She continues, saying, “It’s our job to make all the pieces fit in the most believable way possible, but sometimes, it can be exceptionally hard with what we are given. This might result in reads being stilted or unnatural. [T]his is on top of anything else that might be going on, like being physically or mentally tired, stressed or ill.”
Another point of comparison that often comes up within the community is how English voice acting sounds versus its Japanese counterpart. To Yeung, the English and Japanese don’t necessarily need to sound exactly the same to achieve character accuracy. It can boil down to interpretation, which differs between cultures and languages.
“For example, what might be perceived as cool and charming in one [culture’s] portrayal, may not come off that way to a different audience. Adapting to the character in context is much more involved than just having the voice ‘sound the same,’” she explains.
Advice for Aspiring Voice Actors
For those interested in pursuing a similar path, she warns that the decision to go into the voice acting field shouldn’t be taken lightly: “There will be dry spells, sometimes for reasons absolutely out of your control, that will make you question if it’s possible to keep going or not. I would not dare to do this if I didn’t have some savings and the confidence that this wasn’t the only thing I could rely on in life. Be pragmatic about it, and strengthen your sense of self so you don’t lose it along the way.”
