That was the disappointing news I ended last week on, for a lovely AAA gaming project that I’d had the pleasure of working on for 6 months.
As development went into the final stages, it was concluded that the character in question needed an older sounding voice, and so my time on the title has wrapped.
I’m not sharing this just to get sympathy.
I mean…. Not ‘entirely’ 👀
Lord knows there are far more profound things happening in peoples lives than this.
But just as I’ll happily celebrate the wins, I think it’s just as important to talk about the losses and how you deal with them as an actor.
➡️ First it’s about getting good.
➡️ Then it’s the struggle to get seen.
➡️ Followed by the challenge of actually booking in an industry where everyone is - at least - very good.
➡️ And even then, when you’ve booked the damn thing… there’s always that ‘what if’ niggle until the project actually gets released.
This isn’t my first rodeo.
I’ve had leading roles in projects that got cancelled or lost funding. And I’ve also received parts as part of other recasts myself. I’ve had roles promised me only to go to ‘bigger names’ and supplied the temp voice for ALL the characters in an entire game, only to not be part of the finished release because ‘we heard your voice so much’.
So what do you do?
Dust yourself down.
Put it into context.
Ask yourself if there’s anything different you could have done to change the outcome.
Scream into a pillow.
And once that’s run its course... pick yourself up and get ready to fight again.
Because THAT’S the game as much as anything 🫡
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By Christopher Tester, British Male Voice Actor
