Video Gamers Podcast - Voicing Legends: Alicyn Packard on Acting, Animation & Monster Hunter Wilds - Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: April 28, 2025

Ever wonder what it takes to bring a video game character to life? In this episode, we sit down with the incredibly talented Alicyn Packard, whose voice has breathed life into countless characters in gaming and animation—including her latest role in the hugely popular Monster Hunter Wilds. We dive into the craft of video game voice acting, her journey into the VO industry, and what it means to build a prolific career behind the mic. If you love gaming, storytelling, or just geeking out over how characters come to life, this one’s for you. All the video game news and discussions you need, every week, right here on the Video Gamers Podcast! FOLLOW ALICYN PACKARD AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alicyn/?hl=en Website: https://alicynpackard.com/ Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Ol’ Jake, Disratory and Gaius Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/videogamerspod Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/  Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod  Subscribe to us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1    Visit us on the web: https://videogamerspod.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From early morning workouts that need a boost, to late night drives that need vibes, a good playlist can help you make the most out of your everyday. And when it comes to everyday spending, you can count on the PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard to help you earn the most PC optimum points everywhere you shop. With the best playlists, you never miss a good song. With this card, you never miss out on getting the most points on everyday purchases. The PC Insider's World Elite MasterCard. The card for living unlimited. Conditions apply to all benefits. Visit pcfinancial.ca for details. Hello fellow gamers and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. Monster Hunter Wilds has been a fantastic addition to the beloved franchise and the

only thing that tops the quality of its combat and world are the dedicated men and women who played a part in its making. Today we've got a very special guest whose voice has graced both video games and animated series over the years. She's a voice actor, comedian, musician, singer, and writer, and she's darn good at all of them. We'll get back to just how awesome she is in a minute, but first some introductions are in order.

I am your host Josh, and joining me, his talents include walking blinking and breathing and Being an all-around awesome guy. It's John. I got what I got a little bit of love there, man. I appreciate it I don't know Me to throw that last line You're so generous Josh, I really I know I know man and You're so generous, Josh. I really appreciate it. I know, I know. Oh, man. And joining us, most recently, she's the voice of Olivia from Monster Hunter Wilds,

and you've heard her in games such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Spider-Man 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, Neon White, and well, just lots of games and shows. A whole bunch. It's Allison. What's up, guys? and well, just lots of games and shows, a whole bunch. It's Allison. What's up, guys?

Thank you, Josh and John, for the warm welcome. It's great to be here with you all in person. Yeah, thank you. Yes. Real pleasure. Yeah. We're just in the same room, actually, just on three different cameras.

It's just three different cameras. Awkwardly three different cameras. OK. OK. Yeah. OK. Right? Allison, it is super awesome for you to join us. I mean, we are really excited to have you on the show. So number one, thank you for giving some of your time

to come on here and chat with us goofballs. We're going to talk a little bit about Monster Hunter Wilds. We'll talk about some of the other work that you've done. We're going to throw some kind of quick fire questions at you as well, so that everybody can kind of get to know you a little bit more also. So this is going to be a good episode. So thanks for joining us on this. Oh my gosh, you're so welcome.

Hi, everybody out there. It's good to meet you as well. Hi, Allison. That was nice. Hi. Everybody collectively replying to you. Oh, okay. I'm the voice of the people, everybody.

Okay, the voice of the public, there you go. The voice of the voiceless. So, Allison, we have to just kind of start off because you have had an amazing career. I actually like, it's funny because I knew who you were before we ever even started talking about having you on the podcast. And that is very true.

And I'm not just saying that because you're on the show but I have seen some of your work in the past. I've seen like your, your, you know, your social media and stuff like that. And it's just, it's, it's kind of neat to see like the path that people have and the journey that they go on and stuff like that as well. And the fact that it mixes so much into, you know, like the hobby of gaming for us

is just kind of a really neat thing to see. So one of the things that I wanted to kind of start off on is that you've done what a lot of people dream about. And not only have you done it, but you've actually made quite a name for yourself, like as a voice actor. And you got to be in Monster Hunter Wilds, which is crazy.

So my first question to you is, what was your excitement level like when you got that call that said hey We want you to voice Olivia in Monster Hunter wild. I mean it was crazy. I was familiar with the franchise Monster Hunters and I Didn't know they were doing a new game, you know often when we're auditioning for projects We get sides that give no indication of the of the for projects, we get sides that give no indication

of the project, no indication of the game. They're just kind of more general, just so that the casting can get an idea of people's acting abilities. So you never know when you're, you know, what you're auditioning for. So when I got the call from my agent, I was very excited to see that I'd be working with Jonathan

Klein, who was a director I'd worked with previously on a Capcom game, another Capcom game. And, and then when I heard it was Monster Hunters, I was just over the moon, you know? I think it's about time for them to, you know, come out with the next gen system game for this and I'm just so happy with how it came out. Yeah, I, it's, it's one of those things you always try to envision like, you know what it's like for somebody to kind of get that call to say, hey, here is something awesome that we want you to be a part of. And that kind of initial reaction is

always a fun a fun thing. Because like, you know, I know a lot of people that would come with like a lot of anxiety, like there's some excitement, but then it's like, oh my goodness, I really gotta step up for this. That kind of thing where I think there's a wide mix of emotions there. Yeah, well the good news with video games is you often work very closely with the director. And so it really is a collaborative process

and you're definitely not in it alone. Although there's definitely, you know, numerous sessions and many hours of recording under the belt for this one. Yeah, I can, I can imagine. So, so listen, we, we, we, we, we, normally we save these questions for a little bit later in an episode, but we thought it'd be kind of fun to just start off with these kind of like, we're just going to call it like quick fire questions for you, not to put you on the spot, but this way way it's a it's a good way for our listeners to kind of get to know you a little bit more and and honestly they're just kind of fun too.

Okay. All right so we're going to fire off some questions to you and the goal is to answer these as simply as possible we don't want to get in the weeds on these so even if it's a one word answer, it's supposed to just be quick. Okay. Okay. So I'll start off. John and I will take turns on these here. So all right, here we go. What's harder, yelling and grunting in an epic combat scene or having a believable laugh on command? Oh, I think the yelling and grunting. Yeah. I mean, because at the end of the day, if you're yelling and grunting for hours, it is going to take some wear and tear on your voice. That's true. But this is coming from the person who's just casually a singer in a band, too.

Like, amongst all the other things she's doing, she's like, oh, yeah, by the way, I'm like a lead singer in a band. I got this thing going. I was thinking more about like the Rose from Call of Duty sessions. Oh, yeah. Rose. Certainly, the physical. Oh yeah. Rose.

Certainly the physicality gets challenging, but you know, you did bring up an interesting point, Josh, and it can be very tricky to laugh on cue. You know, you have to really make sure that you're there mentally in the believability of the imagination or it's gonna sound like, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Like somebody that just told a really awkward joke in a room

and people are like, I think I'm supposed to laugh at this. Like. It's like Ryan's regular laugh. Allison, if you had to choose one of your characters to adopt their voice for the rest of your life, who would it be? Oh, gosh. Maybe Jibanyan from Yo-Kai Watch,

because I just think it would be hilarious to walk around all day being like, boys of fury! Nyanyanyanyanyanya! She did the voice! Oh, that's awesome! It'd be so funny. Oh, okay, you would get a lot of people with that,

because they'd just be like, what is that? I like this, but I don't know what's going on here. I feel like the other moms at school would think I was a little weird though. Yeah, libraries would be awkward. Yeah, that's true too. All right. Where's nonfiction?

Nyah nyah nyah nyah. Ooh. Oh man, that's, yeah, library would be like, what are you doing? All right, what are you doing? All right. What reality show do you think you'd have the best chance of winning? Oh, God. You know, I don't think I want there's any reality shows I actually watch. Which one would you want to be on?

Let's alter it. Amazing race or that. That would be so much fun. The Amazing Race, which I only have an idea of what this shows up, but I think it's like adventure, right? And they go on all these adventures. That sounds fun. Yeah, you and a buddy like go like on a big trap, what do you call it? Scavenger hunt across whatever. Yeah.

Sounds awesome. I would choose Amazing Race. It looks incredible, but I have a fear of heights, and they're always making people bungee jump or do something crazy where I just be like, yeah, I'm real good up until that point. So. I have the most. Get away from Josh, he just vomited on the ground.

Right, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's just like daily for Josh, though. No. I'm not scared of anything else. For the record, it's my only fear. Allison, this is probably the most important question, and so I may have a follow-up. Waffles or pancakes? Well my husband makes really good protein pancakes. I love a protein pancake.

Kodiak chocolate pancakes. Yes that's like my dessert that's what I do for dessert yeah I make a big old giant it's like a giant cookie at the end of it. Okay, so follow up question. You're gonna send me that recipe. Well, it's just Kodiak pancake mix and additional chocolate chips. Basically. It works for me.

It's great. What is the best pancake topping? Ooh. I mean, it's gonna sound basic, but I can't have pancakes without butter. Yeah, butters are the right answer. See, I'm a purist. Maple syrup. I like all the other stuff.

It's not a slander against fruit toppings and whipped cream and all that, but a good maple syrup on a pancake is just peak for me. These Kodiak cakes, they got chocolate chips in them. You don't even need it. Yeah. Well, it's just. Yeah, well, it's just in general, I don't know, syrup's a little too much for me, for some reason. I've never been a syrup person.

Yeah, it's intense. It's like, you gotta be ready for the day. Oh, see, no, mine's swimming in it. I mean, I've had people look at me, like, legitimately, and be like, dude, what are you doing? And I'm like, if it's not soaking wet, I don't want it. Oh, wow. I'm gonna go with them. Okay, if it's not soaking wet, I don't want it. Oh, wow. That's a good reason.

OK. All right, here we go. Onto the next one here. If you could time travel to any period of history and you had to live there for five years, which would you choose? You know, I think there's, I mean, this is a tough question. But right off the top of my head, I think, like, the 1920s,

like the roaring 20s in America. Cool fashion. Sounds fun. Ekeezies, women kind of wearing short skirts and getting there, like, you know, right to vote and all that. And I think that sounds like a really interesting and also really like the fashion

of the 1920s was very fun and quirky. The fashion and the music of the 20s was amazing, but the purpose of a speakeasy is to have an illegal place to go drink alcohol, so that sucks. Right, that's true. Which is funny that they're such a popular thing now too. And well also you think the Roaring Twenties, oh they were so poppin', and then you realize,

but wait, that was totally prohibition. The whole 20s was prohibition. Prohibition was like, what, 20 years or something. Yeah. Yeah, they did not want people having a good time back then. That's for sure. That's crazy. No.

Allison, out of all the characters you've played, who do you think would survive longest in a zombie apocalypse? Rose, definitely. Oh, characters you've played, who do you think would survive longest in a zombie apocalypse? Rose, definitely. Oh, I'm a... Olivia, maybe. I was gonna say, there's gotta be a little reason to be biased there. Uh, Rose has more guns, which maybe I think behoove zombies, because you don't want to get too close. But you run out of ammo eventually.

Shh. I do have my ammo eventually. Olivia's got that close quarters combat going. Yep, that's true. You gotta pick one. Who you going with? I'll go with Olivia. All right, there you go. See, it's a good choice.

I've always said a katana is the best weapon in a zombie apocalypse. I do. Oh. What? No way Me thinks you so so for the listeners who can't see what's going on right now She has a gigantic monster hunter weapon that she certainly stole

You're safe with us, did you take that cuz we won't tell No, my friend Brandy made this isn't incredible. She made this. Wow. I'm creating a Olivia cosplay. That's awesome. That is amazing. That's gotta be a hit at cons. Oh, guess what else I have here for those that can't see it. My friend Cody made this for me. It's T3D printed. This is on Olivia's belt. That's the light. Right? Yeah. That's really cool. See, I geek out over all these props and I love cosplay. Like it's so much fun.

I don't know if you can see, but I have like Kratos's Blades of Chaos on my back wall. And I dress up as Kratos whenever we go to a con and stuff. It's so much fun. I hope I get to come to a con in Phoenix and meet you guys. Hey, Fan Fusion in June. It's huge now.

Yeah. Yeah, June 5th, 4th, 5th and 6th. So that's when it is, and it is a massive con. Do you still get like sensory overload when you, I imagine you've been to a bazillion cons. Do you still get sensory overload when you go to those or is it kind of routine at this point? I wouldn't say I get, you know,

I'm an extrovert that feeds off that energy. You know, I really like... Even con energy? It depends on the con. And it depends on like, if, I've done some that were too slow and like, or like I was slow and then it's like, you're just hanging around waiting. You're like, I could be in the forest right now.

Like it's the end of my weekend. You know, I like, I like to be grounded with nature as well. But yeah. It's a good thing you live in California. The last one I went to was such a blast. It was so fun. So yeah, a lot of times I'm just like kind of buzzing with like that positive vibes that everybody gives off.

But. That's awesome. What about you, John? Are you sensory overload? um and guess kind of perpetually Hi, I sleep two to three hours a night So there's always some level of my reality that I'm like navigating like that. It's a level of discovery

That's what we ask every day. Yeah you asleep? Yeah, a lot of coffee. Oh yeah, that's it. Yeah, like two to three hours of sleep for years now. Yeah. Oh, what's going on? People have all heard this story. No, I have kind of always been not a great sleeper. And then I did mixed martial arts and jujitsu

for a long time and I have like spinal arthritis and Yes, I mean everyone has their stuff I I function pretty well given limb limited sleep, but yeah I mean, it's a it's a hassle. Anyway, and for those that can't see Daisy yeah, this is all I can do for me. John's got the filter on, like, maximum strength right now.

This is full Kardashian filter right now. This is the best you get. Nice. I'm with you, Allison. I'm an extrovert to the core, and being around tons of people just super energizes me. You know, I definitely get like, my legs are killing me

by the end of the day, because we've been, you know, we've been walking 20,000 steps and stuff like that. But I just love being around a bunch of people that are all having a good time. Yeah. Yeah, so. Yeah, I really enjoy them. Okay, let's fire another question off at you here.

Have you ever accidentally talked in a character's voice during normal life? Please say yes. Please, please, please say yes. Instead of saying thank you at Starbucks, I'll be like, happy hunting. Oh my god. You'd be getting free Starbucks forever for me.

Funny thing is, my son is actually a voice actor as well. What? He's been on Baby Shark and a couple other shows. And so him and I, we are constantly talking in character voices. I did this character Baby Mommy. I'm just like, hi, I'm Baby.

It's Baby Mommy. No, put it on your song, Baby Mommy, please. Wow. My gosh, that'm Baby. It's Baby Mommy. No! Put it on your song. Baby Mommy, please. Wow. My gosh, that's amazing. You know, I just like, we'll just be like, rough out and be like, Hey, Bodie, what are you doing? You know, it's just like, it's kind of our love language. I love it.

So yeah, that's a lot of fun. But I'm, I don't think, you know, not accidentally. It's not like I just opened my mouth. Intentionally, but yes. Joking around. So I have to ask, there is a, there's an impression that, you know, being an actor is hard. You know, it's extremely competitive. Lots and lots of additions, lots and lots of time.

And so you mentioned your son is now a voice actor. Do you not like your son? Is that why you, like, have allowed him to get into this? Or, like... It's different. It's different for kids. Because it's a lot... It's less competitive. Because there's just not as many kids that do it. And he doesn't get, you know, I might get seven to, you know,

anywhere from five to 12 auditions a day. I mean, sometimes that's usually the high end, but sometimes you can hear people. Whoa, wait, back that up a day? A day. Like just any given day? Yeah, like so today I think I had, today I only had five, six.

Only, only five. I only had six, and that was a little bit of a short. Wow, wow. Some of them, I five. I only had six. And that was a little bit of a short. Wow, wow. Some of them, I mean, I auditioned for commercial, animation, promo, video game. I'm really lucky because I have a pretty versatile voice so I can work in all the different formats of voiceover. I've definitely spent time studying each one

because commercials are very different read than a video game. But it's the versatility that really gives you the longevity to be able to have a career doing this and be able to support yourself enough to keep investing in your career and classes and coaching and equipment, you know, studio and all those pieces that it is to run a small business. But yeah, some people do tremendously well, like some people that have naturally sounding kids voices, their speaking voice sounds like a kid, they tend to book more kids for animation, but sometimes it's harder to be like, prudential. You know? Yeah. You see, if you saw, you know, like, it's harder from,

you know, they're, they may have a more naturalistic kid's voice, but. They don't have a range. Less versatility. So, you know, there's pros and cons of both. You just kind of have to do the best you can with the pipes that you got. I think that you were probably like a really annoying child

who was like, just had all these voices anyways. And you're like, I got to figure out some way to make money with this. Is that? You know, when I was in high school, I was on the radio club. Ah, now, OK. And it was another guy in the radio club that was like,

you know, you could do voiceover. Because I always wanted to be an actor. And so I think I was doing theater, musical theater. and then I'd done a little bit of on-camera but you know like local commercial for the restaurant I worked at and like a couple things in. And then I went to when I when I came to college I went to Emerson I was already aware that that was a job. So I kind of had a leg up in a sense of I started going after it at a young age. And again, the younger you are, the less competition there is. So I kind of just booked my very

first job, which was great and gave me the confidence to keep going. Yeah. 20 years later. You touched on something that is honestly kind of fascinating. So I want to ask about it, to be honest with you, because we have talked to a couple of other voice actors. And, you know, it is that that anxiety of trying to, you know, do an audition, you know, book a job, you know, that kind of thing, working with various people and stuff like that. But you touched on the the small business aspect. Yeah. And I think that's something that like, I mean, it kind of caught me off guard where it is the,

if you were a voice actor and you see success in that role, you are like your greatest asset in that case, you know? And so to be successful in that field would require that you look at that as a business in a sense. And I think people would go, I got a job, like I got a gig, like this is amazing, I'm so excited. But like when you get to a certain level, you have to have that business mindset to say,

like I am managing me, I am managing my talent and putting it out to the world. Like, what is that like? Because I don't think we think about that, to be honest with you. Yeah, I thought it was all like limousines and mimosas and stuff. Is that not accurate?

There's definitely a couple mimosas. Yeah. People don't really ride limos anymore. We're like black cars. But there is the famous story of Don LaFontaine, who is the famous movie trailer voice actor, who sadly passed away. But he would be driven from studio to studio

in a limousine every day. Are you talking about the in the world? That guy? Yes. Wow. But now mostly we work from home since the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, I would go in more than half the time. And now there are a couple shows.

There's a show I just wrapped that was in person. Monster Hunter was mostly in person. Oh, no kidding. Yeah, I like going in person because there's something about the visceral energy of being in the room with people, especially because most of the time for animation and video games, we are just recording one-on-one with the director. So any opportunity to make magic,

to surprise yourself in the scene, to surprise yourself in the moment, you know, that all helps. So whatever magic you can download from playing off the other person, I think is a great thing. That's a neat thing because I am the kind of person where, and it's one reason even with the podcast,

we always do videos so that we can see each other, you know? And it's like, you get to see the body language, the inflection when people are laughing, when you get to see that laughter, it's more infectious and things like that. And I know that a lot of voice acting is done in a booth. And so a lot of times you are by yourself and it's like, again, just personal preference.

If somebody was like, hey, do you wanna come down to the studio and you guys can meet up and record and go over stuff like, I would jump on that because like you said, I feel like you would just get that energy from that at that point. I love it. I mean, commercials, I think it's just fine to do them at home.

Although it is great to go in and chat with the engineer. A lot of times the ad agency and or whoever's directing you is not there in the room anyway, even if you were in studio. So that's fine, but there's a magic that happens. And we're creating art here. It's not a science. So I think take any opportunity you can to play off other people and really be in the moment.

I think I find since the pandemic, I'm working from home more than I ever have. Being home is distracting. Being home is more distracting probably than being in a coffee shop because you're looking around and like, oh, I gotta clean up my little guy. Like, oh, here's the scrunchie.

Here's my phone. Oh, the biggest tool of mass distraction. And so I welcome any opportunity I can to get out of this box. Yeah. It's funny, a lot of people say that. They say working at home is actually harder than going in because you dedicate, like when you go to an office

or a place, you get in that work mindset, but when you're home, it's very hard to say, okay, well, I'm gonna focus on work, but then you've got the kids playing, the dogs running around, something's going on. You're curious as to what's happening and very easy to get distracted in that way. So yeah. All right. Well, Alison, listen, we are a gaming podcast. So we've got to talk about some video games with you here. You know, and you know, just that it happens to be a very recent game,

Monster Hunter Wilds. Like one of the biggest games ever. Are you guys enjoying it? Are you playing? Are you kids playing? We have actually a lot of people in our community that have been absolutely enamored with it. I played Monster Hunter World back in the day,

but I have not gotten a chance to play Wilds yet, but it is absolutely on my radar as well. What are you doing this weekend? Oh, I know, right? Yeah, there's Marvel Rivals Season Two is coming out. Weekend after then. Yeah, right. There you go.

So, you know, let's, let's, let's check games just a little bit here. You know, with Monster Hunter, it's a massive franchise. Did you, are you familiar with it? Have you played these games, like prior to getting into Wilds and your work with them? You know, I mean, I watch a lot of the gameplay on YouTube. That's how I get my downloads and I have a lot of friends that are gamers, but it's really hard for me

to balance my time. I have so many hobbies. It's only eight to 12 auditions a day, Allison. Come on, step it up. Lazy cheese. It's more just like even just staying in shape is the whole thing. And then I play guitar and ukulele. I sing and I write songs is my like what recharges me

and fills my soul. But my son's been starting to get into video games, and so we're balancing that with ease and grace. Thought about getting a PS5 or an Xbox just so we could play. But yeah, maybe Christmas, maybe the holidays. It is so tough to balance a busy career and then the you know

People think video games take up a lot of time and they do like absolutely I think I'm lucky and that I don't watch very much TV you know a lot of times people kind of go and they wind down at the end of night and they sit on the couch and they watch TV I Crave that like interaction. I want to be doing something so for me video games are actually how I relax at the end of the day to be doing something. So for me, video games are actually how I relax at the end of the day. But, you know, there is there is absolutely that valid thought that it's like these take up a lot of time because I have this goal that I have to accomplish with gaming, you know, I have to beat this game or get to the end of it or something like that as well. So, you know, it's so it's

one of those things where, you know, you said you watch a lot of video and stuff. Is that how you prepare? Like, do you do you familiar familiarize yourself with a franchise and kind of like listen to some of the voice acting in the in the previous games and say, Okay, like, we've got this vibe? Or do you just say this is me? This is what I'm gonna do. And, and, you know, kind of hope that hope that it fits in. Is this where a director comes in with you? That's where the director comes in. Is it? Okay. Yeah. And something like where they're adding much more dialogue or it's much more actor heavy, this version. So yeah, so the director kind of helps guide you. But like I mentioned, you're cast off not knowing the project. So it's not like I could try to do it in a monster-thruster

style. So I kind of just came in and, based on the specs, did my best take. And yeah, Olivia is very cool. She's a really cool role to play. I've been loving... Fans have been creating all kinds of fan art and messaging me, and so, you know,

I love that people are having a positive response to her. I think it's crazy when you see these franchises that are so, like, global, in a sense. Like, everybody knows Monster Hunter. Like, whether you've played them or not, you've heard of them, you've heard your friends talking about them. Or what? And I think, I think sometimes people lose sight of the fact that it's like there are millions and millions of people that are playing these games and loving it. And not only are they playing it, but they're playing with their friends, you know, so it's like now you have that interaction there as well. And, you know, you know, especially with gaming, these some of these franchises are iconic.

You know, I mean, Monster Hunter is one of them, but you hear people talk about Halo, you know, Call of Duty. You have experience doing voice acting for Call of Duty. And it's like these things are global. Like my parents who are in their 70s know what Call of Duty is they've never played one but it's like they know of it So that's incredible. It really is. Yeah. Yeah Allison I have to ask so like Monster Hunter is a game that's known for like crazy over-the-top action It's a very action heavy game When you are getting ready to voice or audition for something

like this, it's just lots of like guttural sounds and responses and stuff. Does voicing something like that, does knowing that you're going to voice something like that, does that amp you up? Do you end up getting more animated in the booth and stuff? I mean, I think each scene just calls for a different level of physicality. And so for example, when I was working on Call of Duty, I would be on the ground. We also had a Scully cap with those microphones. I would use- Motion capture stuff?

Yeah. Just the microphones. Oh, okay. So you're not tethered to this microphone. Monster Hunter, we had that as well. Yeah, like they use in live theater, basically. Right. But there would be, funnily enough, there was like,

mannequins kind of in the booth to absorb the sound. So I would use those as my eyelines. And if I was shouting across the room, I would like direct it towards that. You know, you're kind of moving through space. You want to get in there and be as physical as possible. Yeah, it's just kind of each game and each scene is a little bit different. I did Ratchet and Clank, Rift Apart.

A couple different fun characters in there. And that was more like an animated series, some kind of more fun, bigger kind of characters, and still grounded. But there was less of that. Although I did play a pirate that was like, har, yar, you know, slicing and dicing. But yeah, it's so interesting how each project

is its own little world. And you wanna sink into the world, you wanna sink into the character, and just really serve the script and serve the project and everything's a little different. So you mentioned that when you audition for these and you get the role that you don't know what you're auditioning for necessarily, right? For this, for instance, you know, like, hey, I'm doing an audition and I'm sure that they

request either a specific line or a you know, a series of lines or something like that. But like, when they say, hey, you know, we want you for this. Here's the project, right? And then you go, okay. And that's like, we want you to play Olivia. Like she's this super strong female character. She's in Monster Hunter. You're going to be fighting these fantastic beasts, you know, and all this. Like, how do you, like, like how much information do they give you? Like, do they say, like, do they give you like a spreadsheet and say, these are all the characteristics of Olivia?

Do they say, look, as long as you're gritty and tough, like roll with it or like, how do they point you in the right direction on something like that? You know, I think that starts with casting. They try to cast someone who's the best vocal print and gives, gives off that vibe. And then you work with the director, and they really help hone in that performance

to make sure that it's honoring the game and the franchise and the world and the character. But also, yeah, we are also honoring the Japanese actors as well. Yeah, that's, yeah, because I mean, that's an interesting point too, because, you know, do they try to like, are they just, do they view them as like completely separate in that case, like the Japanese voice actor and the English voice actor? Is there like, do they try to say, Hey, you know, we have some of the same tone so that there's not this like huge difference in the inflection and the tone of this character. Is it like, we don't mind it all, like just be you be the English voice actress for this?

Um, yeah, I mean, we, we try to be consistent so that the character is consistent in different, sorry, I think it's like I'm blowing up right now. Let me put my focus on. It's okay, we'll wait for you. So which, I do believe they try to make it consistent so that the character globally is expressing the same type of emotion and vibe. That's so neat. I never thought about that. Do you ever get the chance to meet or like actually communicate the people that are doing

like the other... Not really. Gosh, I want to go to Japan and just meet some of the voice actors of projects that I've worked on. And I often wonder, I need to do a little research. Like if I'm a match for somebody, you know, if someone is the Japanese actress of Rose, is it possible that person's also the Japanese actress of, you know, Jubanyan? Like, you know, if you match someone naturally,

their sound, their pitch, their inflection, then it's possible that you match them in other things as well. Like, who's the voice of Black Maria in One Piece? Like, is that also, you know, is she also the voice of anything else I've done? That's fascinating to think about. It's like a severance situation going on here,

where it's like, you've got two people that are actually like voice acting the same roles, but they don't know that the other person's been voice acting that role. I've met the Greek Chabonyan. He reached out on social media media and he's a man. Wow. So, yeah.

That's a really cool thought, like to just, yeah. I know. So one other question for like, how do you keep this secret? Like, you've got to do all this work. You get the job. You've got to be excited. I mean, you've got to be jumping up and down. And then I don't, I mean, was this like,

was this all done in six months? Was it done in a year? Like, how do you keep this all under wraps? It took definitely more than a year. I think more closer, it was in two year period. And you just have to, you know, that you're signing an NDA in confidentiality. And, you know, you just really want to make sure that you do not utter a word about the project.

Because, as you know, video game leaks have been prevalent. And damaging. I've even heard about voice actors posting selfies in the booth where the script is in the background, reflected off the mirror and people zoom in and find the name of the project. The internet sleuths just blow it up. And you get out.

So I try to be very careful. I rarely even post boothies. Like I shot in the booth of like, working on this, can't talk about it. I just feel like, hmm, I'll talk about it when it's out, you know? Yeah. Allison, two years for this project is really surprising.

So even for a game as big in scope as something like Monster Hunter, two years is incredible. Does that come by what? Like, do you get presented with an initial, like, here's the initial script? But you need to be available for like pickup lines that kind of thing like the game is still involving We're still writing things and working out bugs and we need you to be able to Rerecord or record new dialogue because stuff is coming up all the time

Like how does how does it stretch out to two years? Can you help us? Understand that I mean Are you playing? It's in depth. There is, yeah. It's a huge game. There's stuff. But I mean, it's like, it's not every single day. It's like we're coming in and then we're coming back

and things are evolving. So, but I don't want to share too much. I don't want to, you know. Yeah, makes sense. You just gotta, just gotta check it out. So do you ever, like you mentioned that you go to the studio sometimes and you get to work with other people, is there ever an instance

where you are recording like in the same, I'll just say booth with somebody so that you, I mean, you know, knowing a little bit about audio, like that's hard to manage like two microphones in one area with people yelling and shouting and things like that, but it's like, do you ever get that opportunity to say like, we get to like act this out and do this together?

Oh my gosh, it used to be much more common. It used to be the standard. When I started, it was starting to go away and but still occasionally they do group recording sessions which are the most fun. It's just hard to schedule, I think. So, but the Mr. Men show, which was a show on Cartoon Network that I started out doing, we would do group records

and they would, it was like sketch comedy. So there'd be different sketches. They would bring the two to three to four actors that were in each scene in and out. And we kind of shuffle in and out of the booth and it was so much fun. And I was working with like Katie Lee, who was the voice of Sunny Gummi

and like shows that I watched as a kid. So that was really, really cool. I am working on a project right now, it's unannounced, but it's the first group record that I've done in a long time. So that is very fun. So I can't wait to see it. That's gotta add to like the,

I get to go to work. Like I get to go hang out with all these people. Seriously. Oh yeah, another reason why voice actors love going in person is for the snacks. Oh. You know, when there's recording studio, different ones have different levels of snacks.

Not even crafty, cause we, you know, don't get a full crafty, but there'll be, there'll be snacks sometimes. What is the best snack that somebody has had for you? Well, I mean, you know, I try to eat healthy, so it depends on what degree of commitment I'm in with that. But, you know, I love a variety of herbal teas to start. I mean, that's always nice. But if there's fun cookies and like, there's one recording studio that has a chef. Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, Lion's Planet Studios. Like, you can just say, I would like to order this, and they'll make it for you? Yeah, you go in and they'll get to your session early, and they'll be like, would you like an omelet? It's still breakfast. Or, would you like? Yeah. They're like making grilled cheese and tomato soup. Yep.

Keep them coming, buddy. There is another side to the voice acting world. I'm just getting a glimpse of. Yeah. That's awesome. Gotta love lime. Right? Yeah. Wow. Josh, I actually, so I got to tour the oculus

headquarters in Seattle Probably about five years ago and they have the same thing Basically that what they do is they set up their office so that people don't want to leave and then therefore just stay there and work Forever, you know if you make I mean I say all this but I work in a place that's really really cool I mean you hurt you hear about like Google headquarters having like full-time masseuses and like game rooms and nap rooms and stuff like that. And it's like, I get free lunch every day,

completely stocked pantries, a refrigerator full of drinks. And that's like my house. Yeah. Exactly. So I guess I can't be too jealous. I have a massage therapist, but I have a cat. Oh, cats are the best masseuses ever. He'll make biscuits on my lap. Oh yeah, the biscuits on the lap is great.

I have to kick my cat out because they will insist on being in my lap during recording. Cats are the best. Yeah, unless you're allergic. I've had this fight with many of my friends because they're allergic to cats and they're like, they're little demons. And I'm like, no, you're not. If you die unattended in your home, a dog will wait a little while out of respect for you and love.

A cat will start eating you right away. Wait, what? Yes. I don't, I don't. Cats, domestic house cats are also the most prolific murderers on the face of the planet. They kill more varieties of prey animals than any other animal on the face of the planet.

That actually my cat have only killed one thing. That you know about. I will say my cat is an insane hunter. If a fly gets in the house, it is incredible to watch like him turn into the little murder machine. I have not had to kill a fly in years because if one somehow makes it inside,

this cat is like, oh no, you're mine. It's, yeah, it's impressive. So, and we got sidetracked on cats now. Do we get sidetracked guys? I don't know. I mean, I'm fine having a cat podcast too. I have to go back to something, Allison. Josh asked you what your favorite snack was,

and you said tea. That is true. You did say tea. Tea is not a... I'm an omnivore, so I don't know what my favorite snack is. Do you lean more sweet or salty? Oh, I definitely have a sweet tooth. Yeah. Do you like lean more sweet or salty? Oh, I definitely have a sweet tooth. Yeah, do do you like

chocolatey sweets or Or like fruity sweets chocolatey. I believe but all yeah. Yeah milk chocolate I'm not crazy John, you know, oh, yeah, I agree. Yeah, it's chocolatey all the way for sure Yeah, it's white chocolate even chocolate. Yes For sure. Yeah. Is white chocolate even chocolate? Yes. I'm not, I'm not, I mean,

I'm not turning down white chocolate, but it's not, it is the far like inferior chocolate. Bro, have you ever had a white chocolate Reese's peanut butter egg? No, because I want the good chocolate ones, John. I want the chocolate peanut butter eggs. It is like a gift handed down from Zeus on high. It is like the, it is the most miraculous little gift

that the heavens have ever bestowed upon mankind. Get a, I'm serious, get yourself a six pack, put it in the freezer for a couple hours, pop one out, take a bite, thank me later. They're amazing. And then the people started trying to cover things in yogurt to mimic white chocolate, cause they're like, people can't tell the difference. It's just a slippery slope, man.

I just want chocolate at that point. That's fair. Now I'm not going to be able to stop thinking about those. Right? White chocolate. Yeah. I've actually heard that from another person that has really terrible food takes too, John.

So maybe it's like a consistent thing. Oh, come on. This person doesn't even like pickles. We're over here maybe it's like a consistent thing. Oh, come on. This person doesn't even like pickles. Josh and I are over here with our cats and our dark chocolate. Yeah. At least Allison and I, we know. We have sex with two.

Haters. Oh, man. Listen, so we're running a little low on time, Allison, and obviously we want to respect your schedule as well. Thank you. But one of the things, and this is, I love this because as a dad, as a person with a full-time job and a hobby that takes up a lot of time. And I know that you have a lot of hobbies and we need these

kind of creative outlets, right? Like we work really hard. We're busy. Life can get chaotic. Being a parent is hard enough. And so you need these things to do to kind of just be yourself sometimes and say, this is how I be creative and this is how I relax and things like that. But with, with, you know, being a mom, having a very successful career in voice acting, being a musician, a singer,

you know, all these things, like how do you balance that? Well, I, I am addicted to a planner, you know, I also definitely have ADHD, some ADHD tendencies, you know, staying on track is, is a challenge, especially when you just love so many things. But the reality is life is finite. Yep. And you wanna try and get as much, I used to peck in so much stuff, and coming out of college I was like,

yeah, I wanna win a Grammy and an Emmy, and unrealistic ideas. But to some level, I have been able to have the experience, create the experiences that I've wanted. And that's really it at the end of the day, because everything else is, everything's temporary. I mean, there is no, you've made it. There is no, I'm at the top of the pile,

because there's always another level to climb up. So now I think about things of what experiences do I want to have in my lifetime? What experiences do I want to have in the next 10 years? What experiences do I want to have in the next three years? What experiences do I want to have in the next year? Are you able to share what some of those might be? What's... I wish I had my planner with me off the top of my head.

There's got to be some big thing, though. That I'm working towards? I mean, one of my biggest things is, like, just, I want to be an amazing mom. You know, that's, like, a lifelong goal. Just being... voicing iconic characters, you know, continuing to do that. I'm also a songwriter, and so I would really, you know, I have some specific goals around how I want to be creating my music and putting it out in the world.

But there's also, it comes down to what do I want to experience every day? Like what are the habits that I'm trying to create? And for me, that's like exercising almost every day, having a freedom of time to be able to create and the things. So like for me right now, it's the habit of free write, creative writing that leads to like lyric development and songwriting and you know, being able to have the freedom to say yes to different experiences, you know, travel is a big one. I would love to live nomadically at some point in my life and be able to just really experience other cities.

I mean, we are kind of LA bound, at least for a chunk of time. But at some point, you know, the world is getting more... More mobile. Accessible. Yeah. So that's something that's important to me.

Is there a place like at the top of your list that you'd like to go? Like if you could just like snap your fingers. Is there a place like at the top of your list that you'd like to go? Like if you could just like snap your fingers. Is there a list? We'll say visit to begin with. I mean, I'd really like to go to Italy. I've never been to Italy.

I really like to go to Japan. I had a friend that just got back from Japan with her kids and I was like, tell me everything. Yeah, but Costa Rica is one of my favorites. Mexico City is one of my favorites. I have been to Costa Rica. I haven't been to any of the other ones, but I have been to Costa Rica.

Guanacaste, so the West Coast, that's where my wife and I actually got married. So we got married on the beach in Costa Rica. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it was incredible. I would love to go back for sure. I've been to Japan and Italy and Costa Rica for that matter.

And Italy, if you get the opportunity, most people start in Rome. I highly, highly recommend starting in Verona. It has most of the wonderful things that Rome does, arguably better food and way, way, way, way less people. Okay. In Japan, you can't go wrong. Yeah, I'm gonna hit it around now. I've seen the photos John has and it looks really awesome. I have family there that we abuse our privileges way too much. Yeah.

Oh man. So it's interesting that you talk about the experiences because, you know, not to get too deep, but as we get older, like you said, we kind of go through this period in life where we want to see success, right? Like you said, you know, you wanted to win a Grammy and an Emmy and these sorts of things. And that's great and it drives us for a long time. But then as we get a little bit older, we kind of start to go like, these goals have changed.

Like my goal is the experiences in life. Because like you said, you do start to realize that life is finite and you only have a certain amount of time and if you don't take the time to do these experiences, then you won't have the memories from those and then you only get the one chance at life. And it's funny, because it reminds me of my mom who was in her 70s that got her first tattoo

like a year ago. She just went and spent five months in Alaska by herself. Oh wow. By herself, five months in Alaska. She's soon to book a skydiving trip. I must meet this woman. Oh, skydiving. Oh my gosh. Oh my God, I think her, she and my mom would get along. Yeah, she's awesome. I mean, but it is, it's neat to see because she is in that phase where she is going,

look, I have limited amount of time and there's these things that I wanna do in life and I'm going to do them. One life, yep. I love it, yeah. I mean, you know. As far as we know. People, yeah.

Well, right, right, sorry, yeah. People take it for a life insurance. You never know. One that I'm consciously aware of at this very moment. Yeah. All right. So one more question for you, Allison. Because you have such a varied career and you kind of have had this opportunity to do so much,

do you have a preference when it comes to doing like anime and animated series or video games? I would think it's probably not commercials, but if it is, like I would be curious as to why. Corporate instructional videos. I mean, but sometimes- Medical operations. I never know.

So do you have a preference? Is there something that kind of resonates with you more than the others? You know, it's like there's seasons, seasons of life. So variety. Right? I've loved voicing promo and I got to voice a documentary that's coming out.

That was a bucket list item I'd never voiced. I've voiced docudramas, she made, you know, she made me do it, killer things, and those are really fun too. Yeah, I bet. Um, video games are very fun. They can be hard. Um, commercials can sometimes be hard,

or they can sometimes be super easy breezy, which is very nice. In what way are video games notably hard? Video games are notably hard in that you don't get the script in advance usually. So you're kind of working off cuff. And you don't often get full scenes or like the context, because stuff will be reused.

So it could be, hey! You know? Sometimes if you get to do voice, a scene that's already cut, and you get to watch it, and you hey, you know, sometimes when, if you get to do like voice, a scene that's already cut and you get to watch it and you're like matching to picture, that's really fun. But sometimes, you know, you're just kind of going in there and you're just going for it. And then there's also sometimes a lot of vocally stressful

stuff because, you know, you die a lot of vocally stressful stuff, because, you know, you die a lot. Yes. Ha ha ha ha ha. Yeah, I mean, I've loved doing anime and dubbing and matching to picture. You know, anime fans are awesome. And of course, the kid stuff is super fun, too. You know, working on Rugrats and shows on Nickelodeon.

Yeah, completely iconic. I mean, several generations of kids grew up with that show. Yeah, that's got to be like a really cool thing to be a part of. And you know, you were Tails, too, and you were in Tom and Jerry. Yeah, I'm like, Tails and Sonic Drone Home. And yeah, Toodles on the Tom and Jerry show.

Toodles, that's my sign up. Oh, no, that's not, I saw that earlier and I was like, John's gonna love this. I've fallen into a fortune in Cannes Sardines. Oh, man. That's good. I have to ask, so you mentioned that you were a, you've been wanting to be an actor your entire life, or you had wanted to be an actor.

Was there some role that was like catalytic for you? Like, oh, that's what I wanna do. Was there some role that you saw that got you into it? It was, in the first grade, I got cast as Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. And like, you know, it's kind of just over from there. I played Annie was a really fun one.

I think by that point I was much more comfortable singing on stage. I remember doing The Wizard of Oz in the fourth grade and being, I was the scared girl, I was like, ah, you know, so nervous and like just awkward. And my mom was like, you should really make up a dance to go along with it. I was like, I'm 10, you know. The one thing is scary enough, mom. I can choreograph a dance.

I'm sorry, my friend Maggie is a ballerina and she can do that. Could you juggle while you're doing it too? Like just add a little juggle in there. No pressure, right? Mm-hmm. But yeah. Halloween's one of my favorite holidays,

like cosplaying at a con because that ability to just kind of be somebody else for a little bit and then you have the excuse to just be, to be a little out there, to be a little crazy or like acting is honestly so much fun. And it's like, you know, somehow I have fallen into this, like anytime I can play the villain, I will absolutely be the villain role.

But it's like, cause it's fun. I'm really a nice guy, but it's like that, that just ability to be like the fake bad guy is so fun. You know, it's, you know, if I can jump out and scare a kid at Halloween, that's a good time. Oh, totally. Yeah, I get that. All right, well listen, Allison, we want to thank you so much for hopping on with us. This has really been awesome to have you on.

Real treat, yeah. It really is. We always say like somebody's time is truly the greatest gift that they can give you. And so thank you so much from us and from all of our listeners for hopping on the podcast with us and just hanging out, kind of giving us some insight. It was such a pleasure, guys. It was great to chat with you and thank you so much to

everybody that's out there listening. Yeah, drop me a line if you like this podcast. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok. I'm at alison, A-L-I-C-Y-N on Instagram, at alisonpackard on TikTok. Those are the two. Don't find me on Facebook, please. Don't make me go on Facebook.

We'll leave links too as well in the episode description for people also. Drop me a line. It's been so great getting to chat with you guys, and we have a lot in common. Yeah, yeah. It's fun to just meet other people that are awesome, you know, and have that passion and that zest for life. And it's not something you see all the time.

And so when you do see it, it's really cool to kind of just be able to chit chat and hang out for a little bit too. Also, this is the first interview I've done in seriously so long. What? Since Mike, because I have a podcast, Allison's Wonderland, and I interview people who work in animation and video games. Great name, by the way.

Thank you. We've been on hiatus for like over a year, just kind of trying to stay sane. Yeah. And manage your 300 other careers. I was thinking about switching over to where video podcast, this is my studio. It's actually, I can't really turn my, but I shoot in here in my recording studio.

But if I just did Riverside, oh my God, that makes it so much easier because then I'm not having to edit all three cameras and all that. So thinking about bringing it back this summer in this format, you know? You should, yeah. I actually checked out a couple of your episodes

just to kind of see, cause I knew you were doing podcasts. It's so much fun. You get to meet so many awesome people. In person is great. Cause it's a lot of work and it's sort of not really sustainable. So this is much easier, I think.

Yeah, awesome. Well, Alison, thank you so much for coming on the show with us. It's really been a pleasure to chat with you. You're awesome. Love all the stuff that you do. Love your energy, your happiness. It really does come through. It's awesome to see.

So all right, everybody, listen, make sure you check out Allison's social media. Go follow her. Cheer her on as she continues this awesome path that she's on and the fun that she's having and all that. That's going to do it for this episode. Until next time, happy gaming. In honor of Alison Packard. Toodles.

Toodles, baby. Thanks for watching!