By Joy Tanner
Tell us about your award-winning role in Super Wish and what inspired you about playing Balloonicus.
To give you the backstory, my character is a semi-deflated Birthday Balloon who rules the Happy Land of Birthdays with his tyrannical grip. He loves being the ultimate authority in the land, but he absolutely hates birthdays and everything that has to do with them. Which makes it difficult because he commands an army of cotton candy and gumdrop-button soldiers. You know, a very relatable character for a performer to bring to life!
What I really loved about the character was knowing that he was the big baddie for the whole arc of the season. More importantly, also the heart of the comedy of every scene he was in. Balloonicus has long sets of dialogue with his main henchman, Glen, who only responds with puffs of air and beeps.
This meant it was up to me to set up the joke, deliver the punchline and then play off the reactions of someone who would be animated retroactively. It really forced me to focus on creating all the proper beats, so things stayed threatening or funny without relying on another character to sell the moment or save a joke. We were cast and then recorded the entire series during the first year and a bit of Covid lockdowns; this meant none of the performers ever got to work with or even see each other. Which is a total credit to everyone who had to go through the auditioning process and work from their home closets.
The Outstanding Performance award nominees and winners are decided by a jury comprised of ACTRA Toronto members. How does it feel to be honoured by a jury of your peers?
To be nominated is a huge honour; knowing your performance was seen by those who know the craft that goes into an animation performance and judged to be worthy of mention. Winning, it is even more humbling and really means a lot.
What does it mean to you to be an ACTRA member?
I am very proud to be an ACTRA Member. I remember when I started working professionally out of theatre school and how excited I was to become a member. Having done this for almost 20 years, I’ve really come to appreciate what having a union of performers does for the individual. From the health and dental coverage that my family has used every single year; to getting the correct payments rectified by the union through to taking disreputable producers head on; to my RRSPs, which, to be honest, I never would have saved during my 20s and 30s. ACTRA membership has been one of the best decisions I’ve made.
Do you have any advice for performers just getting started in the industry?
Always learn and practice your craft. Be humble. Be ready to learn even when you feel you know what you’re doing. This is a craft, it really is; if you keep honing it, you’ll only get better. Also, this is a business. Treat it like one. Both in terms of your social media posts and comments and also in terms of tracking your money. Neither your agent nor your union tracks your paycheques to make sure you’ve been paid. There is no excuse for you not following up on late or missing payments. Take accountability for all aspects of your career.
What is the most significant role you have ever had and how has it impacted your life or career?
I’ve been really fortunate to have played some well-known and iconic characters, but I can easily say the most significant role I ever had was the title character for Jimmy Two Shoes. I was just a few years into being a professional actor. I had only landed a few guest roles in animation, and I was working, like many, as a server in a restaurant. I was in the final round of callbacks for Jimmy Two Shoes, waiting for my turn to go in, but I was stressed because I was going to be fired if I didn’t leave immediately for my shift at the restaurant. A more experienced) performer leaned over and said “Kid, it’s between you and two other people for this role. You can’t leave now. Do you want to serve tables? Or do you wanna be an actor?” So I called the restaurant and told them I quit. Luckily, I ended up booking the role! It was a big role to take on, dialogue wise, but it was also the role that made me throw away the safety harness and just jump into this career.
Have you ever had a specific challenge with a role and how did you work to overcome it?
A challenging experience? Yes! I once had to replace a performer on the second season of an animated series. It was very difficult to achieve the voice match because he had a sibilance in his speech. It took me a lot of practice to get the dialogue out while also keeping it clear enough to understand what was being said. The real added layer was that our choices for comedy with the character were very different. It meant that for the first 10 scripts or so, I had to think about how they’d have approached the scene and then slowly, each episode, add a bit more of my choices to it, until it became more and more natural.
Can you share anything about any upcoming projects?
Time for the Promo Plug! Yes, thank you for asking. If you’re in the U.S., I’m starring as Pedro in the animated film Gracie and Pedro: Pets to the Rescue alongside Bill Nighy, Susan Sarandon, Claire Alan and Brooke Shields, hitting movie theatres this summer. You can hear me reprise my roles on Thomas and Friends, Rubble and Crew and Vida the Vet. As well I had the amazing chance to work on a franchise so ridiculously near and dear to my heart in an upcoming major video game. Stay tuned!
Joy Tanner is the Editor of Performers Magazine, and Performers on Set. She has voiced Candy Kong in Donkey Kong.
