For those of you who like audiobooks, it’s no secret that the quality of the narration can make or break the listening experience. Jenny Kutnow, an American voice actor living in London, narrated my latest novel, The Unexpected Guests, and I couldn’t be more pleased with her work! She really brought the characters to life. Here is my conversation with Jenny.
Ruth: How did you decide to pursue voice acting? Tell us a bit about your journey.
Jenny: I’m actually pretty new to voice acting. I’ve been working as a graphic designer for the past several years (and it’s still what I do full time), but voiceover is something that has always interested me. I decided to take a voice acting class to see if it was something I could actually get into, and I’ve had a bit of luck with audiobook projects, which has been a lot of fun and extremely encouraging.
Ruth: What’s the most difficult aspect of being a voice actor?
Jenny: It can be easy to forget that this is acting! I always strive to connect emotionally with the content that I’m reading, and then get that across in my performance. The best voice actors make that sound easy, but it’s not.
Ruth: How do you prepare for a book narration project?
Jenny: I always start by reading the work so I can absorb the intended tone of the writing and embody each of the characters as much as possible. Then it’s just a matter of diving in and narrating! I’m very deadline-driven, so, from a practical standpoint, I also work out a reading and production schedule so that I can pace myself with the narration without tiring my voice out, but still finish the project on time.
Ruth: You did such a great job narrating The Unexpected Guests—thank you for bringing the characters to life! Who was your favorite character, and why?
Jenny: That’s really lovely of you to say, thank you! Charlie was probably my favourite character—I related to the anxiety around creative work and going through blocks, and I empathised with being in the middle of chaos whilst trying to work out his own issues without making it everyone else’s problem!
Ruth: I also felt a kinship with Charlie for the same reasons. The character in the story who was the most difficult for me to relate to—and therefore the most challenging to write about—was Sunny. She’s so different from me! Tell us more about your other voice work. What kinds of projects do you do, other than book narration?
Jenny: I’ve mostly been working on audiobook narration, but I’m starting to branch out a bit into other areas of voice acting. I’d really love to work on documentary voiceover projects that have a different tone and usage which really appeal to me.
Ruth: Anything else you’d like to tell us?
Jenny: Not that I can think of, except that I am grateful to everyone who has listened to the book! It was an honour to read your writing, Ruth, and I appreciate your interest in my work.
To learn more, check out Jenny Kutnow’s Backstage profile: https://www.backstage.com/u/jenny-kutnow/. You can also email her at [email protected]
