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Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: exclusive, he-man, interview, masters of the universe, Masters of the Universe: Revelation, Masters of the Universe: Revolution, netflix, Tiffany Smith
Masters of the Universe: Tiffany Smith on Embracing Versatility & More
Tiffany Smith (The Great North) spoke with Bleeding Cool about working with Kevin Smith on Masters of the Universe, voiceover work, and more.
Tiffany Smith is a Jill-of-All Trades host and actor, dividing her time between the live-action and voiceover worlds. On the live-action front, she's appeared on The CW's Jane the Virgin and Supernatural, CBS's NCIS: Los Angeles, NBC's Quantum Leap, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Her voiceover roles include the video game LEGO DC Super-Villains, Gears 5, and Fox's The Great North. Smith spoke to Bleeding Cool about her work with Kevin Smith's Masters of the Universe animated shows Revelation and Revolution as the voice of Andra. Based on the Mattel toy franchise, the series follows the adventures of He-Man/Prince Adam (Chris Wood), who battles the forces of evil with his friends while protecting Castle Greyskull.
Masters of the Universe: How Tiffany Smith Tackles New Acting Challenges
Bleeding Cool: you've done it all in live-action, voiceover, and hosting things. What's the secret to your versatility?
A lot of it in the last couple of years stemmed from me just asking myself, how can I sustain my creativity with how strange the industry is right now, working with and creating whatever opportunities that are available to me, which so many creatives are doing. Fortunately, I mean I don't love thinking of my work as a Jack of all trades, master of none haha. I just really enjoy challenging myself and trying new things. I believe in trying, and if you fall on your face, that's okay. You try something different. Fortunately, I haven't had many bad experiences [laughs] trying new avenues and challenging myself.
When you started on each, which did you find was the most difficult to get started in?
I went to school for broadcast journalism in college. That was the thing that started it all, hosting and stuff on G4, DC Comics, and I moved a lot growing up. Talking to people has always been something that came easy to me, because anywhere I moved to, I needed to make new friends, so hosting I think just came naturally from that. From there, it was just this feeling of wanting to keep challenging myself. I would do set visits, and think, "Man, I want to be doing those stunts on this set and doing this thing." With voiceover, I played so many video games and watched so much animation of course that was something I wanted to dive into. The thing that got me into comic books was watching 'X-Men: The Animated Series' as a kid. I'd always had an idea in my mind that voiceover would be something I would love to get into. Every avenue of this industry has its unique challenges, where people will say, "Auditioning for TV and film is super hard," but then when you start getting into voiceover… Well, getting into voiceover is hard too, it is super tight-knit. It can be even harder to get plugged into that space. Every avenue has its own unique challenges.
I just really like asking people questions about things and getting to know them. When I started getting into voiceover, my first session for 'Masters of the Universe,' was a session with Susan Eisenberg. As soon as we finished, I asked her, "Can we grab lunch and sit and talk? Can you talk to me about all the incredible stuff that you've been able to accomplish?" I mean she's Wonder Woman! I was like, "Can we talk about voiceover and any tips [you have], how you got into it and things, what do you love about it?" I always like to think of myself as a beginner, no matter what I am doing and find mentors to learn from whether people know they are mentoring me or not haha. I'm like, "That person is my new mentor, and so I try to learn as much as I can from the incredible people I've been lucky enough to be in the same space with."
Speaking to other voice actors, the pandemic caused many to record in isolation. Did you share some space with other actors in the recording sessions?
We did the first season, and I had one session with other actors on 'Masters of the Universe.' After that, we were by ourselves. I remember doing the press for season one, and we did that on Zoom. That was the first time I talked with Chris Wood, our He-Man. I would go into the studio and our voice director, Collette Bennett Sunderman, who is amazing, she and Kevin Smith would be on Zoom. I would see them on the screen, but I was by myself in the booth for most of it.
When it comes to voice versus live action, do you have more creative autonomy with what you can do with a role? Or do you typically stick to how it's written in the script?
The fun thing about voiceover that's different than being on camera is you don't have to think at all about what your face or body is doing because they're not trying to capture you in that way. There was one effort that I needed to do, jump out of a plane, then hit this machine, roll onto the ground, get up, and shoot someone. I was like, "Uh-huh?!?" [laughs] I remember, Collette demonstrated it first. And she just sounded AMAZING! I was like, "Okay… I'm a pretty good mimic. So, I just have nail what she just did." When you're thinking about something like that as an on camera actor, so much of it is actually…I have to make sure I look like 'Black Widow' when I land, and [Yelena]'s like, "Why do you always have to land like a superhero?" When you're doing voiceover; you don't have to think about how you land to make a noise or say the line the way you need to. It's making sure that it sounds right because the animators are the ones who are going to make you look badass. There's definitely a lot more freedom in that way when you're doing voiceover.
Masters of the Universe: Revelation and Revolution are available to stream on Netflix.
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