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Voice-Over Tips with Sean Astin & "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Co-Stars

Voice-Over Tips with Sean Astin & "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Co-Stars

7:26·By Gemma G
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SUMMARY

Young Hollywood interviews Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, and Rob Paulsen, the voice actors behind Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello in Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Sean Astin shares how his voice acting improved after dialect training for "Lord of the Rings," and the trio offers tips for aspiring voice actors. They also reveal their favorite animals and describe their ideal Sunday activities.

About this video

YH is in the Nickelodeon Suite at Comic-Con hanging out with Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello themselves, AKA Sean Astin, Greg Cipes, and Rob Paulsen, stars of Nick's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"! Sean reveals to us how he developed his voice acting skills thanks to dialect training on the set of 'Lord of the Rings', plus the gents offer some good voice over tips, reveal their favorite animals, and describe their perfect Sunday!

CHAPTERS

KEY MOMENTS

FULL TRANSCRIPT

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Young Hollywood

Hi guys.

Sean Astin

Hi. Nice to see you.

Young Hollywood

Nice to see you. It's been a couple years since I saw you guys. So you've been picked picked up for season 150.

Sean Astin

Turtles live a long time. These turtles never go away, right? Never. It's incredibly incredibly fun to be part of this. We're having a ball.

Young Hollywood

Wait, do you guys ever shoot together or are you guys always still like, you know, in the booth by yourselves?

Sean Astin

Most of the time we're together. It's preferable if we can. Hard to get through a session because he says he opens his mouth and everybody starts laughing.

Voice-Over Tips

Yeah. Oh, come on.

Young Hollywood

And you just won an award. We need to point that out. You just won. Wait, I got to read BTVA's. Best actor. That's.

Sean Astin

That's it's because of my association. You know, these guys make me look good.

Young Hollywood

Is this the trophy or did you get a trophy? What did you get?

Sean Astin

That's it. Yeah. You can sell it on eBay. It's probably worth a lot. No, I didn't get a trophy yet, maybe it's in the mail.

Voice-Over Tips

It's in the mail. I'll make one for you. The golden throat.

Sean Astin

That would look pretty weird.

Young Hollywood

That's fantastic. I've started auditioning for voiceovers.

Sean Astin

Good for you.

Young Hollywood

No, but I don't book anything. So I need to know the key guys. I got the three masters here. I didn't book.

Sean Astin

Sean can tell you a totally serious story about that very thing. Yeah. I I auditioned for probably, I mean, if I'm being trying to be accurate about it, probably 150 voiceover auditions. And I couldn't do it. I don't I don't have his ear. I don't have his instincts. And I just couldn't I couldn't hear what the people on the other side of the glass could hear. They'd give me a note and I just wouldn't get it. So then I go down to New Zealand to do Lord of the Rings. And they put us with these dialect coaches. Andrew Jack and Roshen Cardy and we spent six weeks, six weeks of prep. Most movies don't take six weeks. Six weeks of prep where for an hour, 90 minutes a day, we would go into this little booth and we would sit and study charts about like your mouth and your diaphragm and your teeth and your tongue. And we would do all these weird vocal exercises. If you make your tongue like a like a hot dog thing and you go And you're just like are you just trying to make me look dumb? You could do that. You look great doing it. And we would do dialects and everything. And by the end of that experience, I could sort of hear what other people were hearing. I got sort of more in touch with my own sound. So all you need to do is get booked on on Lord of the Rings and go to New Zealand for a couple of months. You'll then start and then you'll start booking all the time.

Young Hollywood

I got to do Lord of the Rings?

Sean Astin

Yeah. Yeah. Do that. I predict that they'll remake that movie by the way. Not remake it that they'll that they'll do, you know, they'll make it again.

Young Hollywood

What's a perfect Sunday for you guys?

Sean Astin

Ivo the turtles so I can go play golf because that is what middle-aged white guys do.

Voice-Over Tips

We had we had what for me was a perfect Sunday together. It sounds crazy, but we got together in Malibu and we rode our bikes for about six or seven hours. We went all the way up through the mountain. I almost died.

Sean Astin

You didn't almost die.

Voice-Over Tips

No, you almost killed me. I might not have been here today. A group of angels watching my back. No, he takes me riding in Malibu. I'm like, I'm down for a nice bike ride. I'm in shape. And this guy is a, you know, he does I had a really good bike. He had like something from 19 he had No, that's not why I died. It wasn't the bike. He takes me through a tunnel, right? Where the cars are flying by you going 60 70 miles an hour this close to you. So if you wobble a little bit, your head's off. Your head's getting taken off.

Sean Astin

He made it. He made it.

Voice-Over Tips

And then we got to the end. My wife and daughters were at a restaurant and we all sat down and we had some great food and the sun went down right on the Pacific Ocean. He was. He was. There was pure bliss. That's to me is like a perfect day.

Guest

My Sundays I like to be um, you know, I watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Yeah. Uh, but in Venice Beach, I got a Venice Beach pad right on the ocean and I I like to surf all day long and then I like to dance and play drums at the drum circle.

Young Hollywood

I want to play a little game because you guys are the turtles. Bear with me, it's corny. Are you game?

Sean Astin

Oh, sure.

Young Hollywood

I want you to write down at the top of the um page, your favorite animal and then the three qualities that you like about that animal. Don't look. Your favorite animal is Cloris Leachman. I know Cloris and I absolutely should have picked that. She's so sweet.

Sean Astin

Sean's changing his answers. No, no. I just spelled it wrong. Okay. I'm improving my spelling. All right, there you go. Okay. Okay, now you can hold them up. Okay, so you you can go through it. So dog.

Voice-Over Tips

Dog. The infinite qualities of a dog because of its pure love. It's love is infinite and a dog is basically the pure personification of love. So infinite qualities of love. Okay. And dogs are so playful and I can keep going.

Guest

Okay, so I picked giraffe because it's my wife's favorite animal. And uh it's graceful, unique and tall. And I I'm not so tall, so I admire that quality that is far from myself.

Young Hollywood

Okay. Okay, and I picked Wolverine because they are fierce, they are rare and they are the mascot of the University of Michigan, which is my alma mater.

Sean Astin

Oh, I'm changing to Bruin.

Young Hollywood

Your animal is you and how you see yourself in the universe is you. So graceful, unique and tall is is who I am. Who I think I am. Maybe in your spirit. Are you tall?

Guest

It's my yeah. Well, I was just going to say like if that's how I feel I am, then it shows that we aren't necessarily we don't see ourselves the way the world sees us. Maybe. Maybe.

Young Hollywood

And you are The infinite qualities of love. Pure love. Playful. Kisses. Playful. And kisses. There's infinite reasons to love yourself. That's totally Greg. He doesn't he's an infinite he really truly is. He's a loving, sweet individual. I think that was really perfect. I think these are perfect. Guys, thank you so much for playing along. Congratulations on the success of the show. When I finished doing those vocal exercises, I'll see you next season. I hope I'll be cast.

Sean Astin

I hope so. And you know what? Don't give up. Honestly, it's such a great it truly. This for those who actors out there who might be watching. It is. It is the best gig in the world because Sean, you guys both do a lot of on camera stuff. I used to. And it it's all of it is great. When you're able to pay your bills doing something you would do for free. It's fantastic. But I have to tell you when you're in a room with these kind with these folks and the the folks who primarily work in the voice acting it are the most gifted, unpretentious, lovely people. So please keep it up. You will love it. And I won't have to do all this hair and make up on the money.

Young Hollywood

No, you don't have to worry about that. You look like a million. Bringing your I love this. Can I bring you guys in the booth? Will you fit in the booth with me? Do you get nervous?

Sean Astin

Yes. Yeah. That's a waste of time. You don't have to worry about the way you look. You got that knocked into a cocked hat. You're fine. But just have a ball. Have fun. You're just face modulator. Yeah. Yeah. You're hot darling. And use your third eye. It's all about using your third eye. Because it's. He's got a whole pile of them. The guy behind the camera right now, his arm is so tired from going like that for the last hour. Please, for the love of God, stop talking. Tell the turtle to shut the hell up.

Young Hollywood

Thanks for watching, Young Hollywood, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Timestamps are approximate — click one to jump the player.

PEOPLE MENTIONED

  • Sean Astin

    Voice actor for Raphael, discusses voice acting tips and experiences

  • Greg Cipes

    Voice actor for Michelangelo, discusses his perfect Sunday and favorite animal

  • Rob Paulsen

    Voice actor for Donatello, discusses his perfect Sunday and favorite animal

  • Andrew Jack

    Dialect coach on Lord of the Rings

  • Roshen Cardy

    Dialect coach on Lord of the Rings

  • Cloris Leachman

    Mentioned humorously as a favorite animal

FAQ

Who are the voice actors for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in this interview?+
The voice actors interviewed are Sean Astin (Raphael), Greg Cipes (Michelangelo), and Rob Paulsen (Donatello) from Nickelodeon's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
How did Sean Astin improve his voice acting skills?+
Sean Astin improved his voice acting skills through six weeks of dialect training and vocal exercises while working on "Lord of the Rings."
What is Rob Paulsen's perfect Sunday?+
Rob Paulsen's perfect Sunday involves playing golf, or a long bike ride in Malibu followed by dinner with his wife and daughters by the Pacific Ocean.
What is Greg Cipes's perfect Sunday?+
Greg Cipes's perfect Sunday involves watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," surfing all day in Venice Beach, and then dancing and playing drums at a drum circle.
What advice do the voice actors give to aspiring voice actors?+
The voice actors advise aspiring voice actors not to give up, as voice acting is a great gig, and to enjoy the process and have fun with it, as it allows for paying bills while doing something enjoyable.

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