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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, utilizing her potential whenever she can with the connections she's made. 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 TV 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 [I asked myself] how can I sustain my creativity with how strange the industry is? Finding whatever opportunities are available to me, which so many creatives are doing. Fortunately, it's one of those I don't love thinking of my work as a Jack of all trades, master of none. I 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. Unfortunately, I haven't had too 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, where I was 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 stuff came easily. From that, it was like I wanted to keep challenging myself. I would do set visits, and I was like, "Man, I want to be doing those stunts on this set and doing this thing." With voiceover, it was like I played so many video games and watched. 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 in the animated space. They all have their unique challenges where people will say, "Auditioning for TV and film is super hard," but then when you start getting into voiceover…the voiceover world is tight-knit. It's harder to get plugged into that space. Every avenue has a different difficulty.

Something I pride myself on is I like asking people questions about things. When I started getting into voiceover, my first session was for 'Masters of the Universe,' and Susan Eisenberg was in that session. As soon as we finished, I was like, "Can we grab lunch and sit and talk? Can you talk to me about all the incredible stuff? She's Wonder Woman. I was like, "Can we talk about voiceover and any tips [you have], how you got into it and things you love about it?" That helps with the challenges because I always like to think of myself as a beginner, whether people know it or not. 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 people and that was the first session that I had for season one of '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 and He-Man or any stuff. I had one session with people, and then it was by myself, or I would go into the studio and the voice director Collette 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 for that one-to-one session.

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. For instance, stunt work and the effort where you're taking a punch, punching someone, or jumping off a cliff. There was one effort that I needed to jump out of the plane, then hit this machine, roll onto the ground, get up, and shoot someone. I was like, "Uh-huh!" [laughs] I remember Collette did it too. *grunting*-that kind of thing. I was like, "Okay, I'm a good mimic." When she did it, I was like, "Okay, I got it." When you're thinking about that as an actor, so much of it is actually…I got to make like 'Black Widow' when she lands, and [Yelena]'s like, "Why do you always have to land like a superhero?" It's like when you're doing voiceover; you don't have to think about how you land it 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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