random

sarah vowell, a writer and contributor to npr, is probably best known for her voiceover work in "the incredibles". she's so funny! i saw her on letterman last night, and she said when she "sold out" to do voiceover work, she sells out all the way - and even did animated game voiceovers for the incredibles, and voice work for the violet parr doll. she got discovered when the director was hearing her on the radio.

"Have you ever had to giggle, yawn, scream, sigh, guffaw on command?

[SV:] That was actually the hardest part of the job and something my radio essays and documentaries hadn't prepared me for. At the first session I was supposed to make a sound into the microphone like I had just been punched. Like, "Uh!". I was having trouble, not being an actor, and finally I just told Brad [the director], "You're going to have to hit me." So he stood next to me and punched me in the arm. We always recorded the screams at the very end because they wreck the voice. That was super fun. I don't think I had screamed, really screamed, for about 20 years."

getting an offer: "Then I got an email from the producer. It was just the sort of left-field ... [an] offer I [usually] turn down without blinking. But it was from Pixar. They're the best at what they do, the most universally culturally revered. It's like if Nelson Mandela showed up asking for your help to fight racism. Maybe fighting racism isn't normally your thing. Maybe you're more of an armchair racism hater. But if Mandela was standing at your door asking you to get on the bus, you'd just start putting on your shoes, right?"

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