Talking Voices: From Fan to VO Pro
By Michael Smith
Scattered among the thousands of people who move to Los Angeles every year are more than a few with dreams of stardom, lights, agents, fame and followers that only Hollywood can bring.
After stepping off the bus in Hollywood, many discover that there’s more to making it in tinsel town than meets the eye. Armen Taylor moved to LA in 2009 with dreams of becoming an on-camera actor. Armen did what most people do: he put an expiration date on when he was supposed to have accomplished this dream. Like Cinderella, the clock did strike midnight for Armen, but unlike Cinderella who fled the castle, leaving behind her prince and glass slipper, a chance recommendation on YouTube and a single mouse click would give Armen Taylor the new outlook and motivation he would need to shift his focus from on-camera to an unexpected promising career in voice acting.
Armen’s expiration date for his dreams was his 30th birthday: October 11, 2016. Following the same course as countless other aspiring actors, he went to as many casting calls and workshops as he could while working as a waiter, but still, nothing stuck. On the night of his birthday, he took some time to reconcile his feelings because, in the same way Cinderella ran away at midnight, Armen proclaimed he would leave LA once his time ran out. “That night, having spent the last three months rethinking everything and auctioning off my dreams, I found myself lying in bed, hollowed out,” he wrote to René Veilleux, Co-Founder of Verité Entertainment, in a letter. With a B.A. in History, Armen’s alternative to acting was heading back home to Seattle, Washington to work towards earning his PH.D. to become a professor. Like most creatives in Hollywood, Armen came to a crossroads, and like many in his generation, he ended up in a YouTube deep dive, trying to distract himself from the impending reality. Somehow, through some pseudo-divine means, YouTube’s algorithm recommended Steve Blum’s Talking Voices interview! Knowledgeable enough about the cast of Disney XD’s Star Wars Rebels, Armen clicked on the episode. He would later write to René Veilleux, “that decision literally changed my life.”
Armen Taylor (Left) pictured with fellow voice actors, Steve Blum (Center), and Adam Gifford (Right) after their session.
Talking Voices is a web series on Verite Entertainment’s YouTube channel featuring premier voiceover talent such as Matthew Mercer, Kevin Michael Richardson, Debi Derryberry, Tara Strong, Kari Wahlgren, Richard Horvitz, and of course, the very artist who gave Armen that ray of light, Steve Blum, among others. These actors give helpful tips of the trade and also talk about their unique experiences in Hollywood’s voiceover world. In the now legendary Steve Blum episode, the Red Dead Redemption II actor speaks about becoming a working actor while voicing Spike Spiegel on Cowboy Bebop. Curious, Armen went to Wikipedia and found out that Steve Blum didn’t start making a living as an actor until he was 40. For Armen, this meant that his age didn’t have to play a huge role in whether or not he would find success as an actor. He had never considered this thing called voice acting, where his age or his look would have no play to better odds for his success, just his voice, his drive, and his talent could be the determining factor on whether or not he could become a working actor. The next day, he signed up for an animation workshop with voice actor and teacher, Pat Fraley at Salami Studios, in Room C, which, mind you, would be meaningful to Armen’s journey a couple years later. Over the course of 2017, Armen attended every voiceover workshop he could, including private training sessions. “I kind of treated the year as my going to graduate school, like I’m going to get a degree in voiceover,” said Taylor. He didn’t know it at the time, but his passion and dedication to his voiceover tutelage would pay off…sooner rather than later.
Armen Taylor in the booth for a video game!
Famed Roman philosopher Seneca once said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” So what choice does a top voiceover agent have after hearing a voice full of promise? Dean Panero, owner of one of LA’s top voiceover agencies (DPT), knows. “Armen was in a class and might have said one full sentence, and I remember, I just hit the talk-back and asked, ‘do you have an agent Armen?’ He said ‘no.’ I said, ‘you do now!’ That’s how it happened!” explained Dean. Now armed with representation, Armen began booking video games, animation and commercial spots!
Two years after Armen’s very first voiceover class, the actor is now booking consistent roles. Remember the earlier mention of Room C at Salami Studios? Fast forward to 2019 and Armen is back there, in that same room, in a session with voice director René Veilleux, who unbeknownst to Armen (at the time), is one of the producers and creators of Talking Voices!
Armen’s story is especially rewarding to Verité Entertainment because it embodies the spirit of what Talking Voices is all about: giving fans and creatives, not only an inside look into this beautiful community, but also being an inspiration to those who are interested in pursuing the art of voiceover professionally. It wasn’t until days later, when on Instagram, that Armen put the pieces together. He had just recorded with one of the creators of the series Talking Voices – Armen had come full circle.
Fans can recognize Armen’s voice in gaming titles such as Smite, Paladins: The Game, Fire Emblems Three Houses and CRYSTAR. His voice can also be heard in audio books like J.A. Hunter’s Viridian Gate Online: Imperial Legion and series like season 2 of Netflix’s Dark. In an interview with Michael Smith of Verité Entertainment, Armen said, “After my first few steps into voiceover, I felt like this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life. I felt like I found my tribe. This is a community that I am so thrilled and honored to be a part of.” Cinderella’s story ended on a happy note, with her marrying a prince, and Armen Taylor’s is “happy” as well, but his story has only just begun. You can watch Talking Voices on Verité Entertainment’s YouTube channel. Who knows? You might be the next Talking Voices success story!