Voice actors don’t often seem to get enough credit since quite often they don’t get seen in their work and only heard. David Eddings is just one of many that seems to be left out at times unless a fan happens to notice that he’s making a contribution. But if you take a look at his resume you might notice that while he hasn’t done as much as some he’s done more than enough to be counted as a talented actor. The act of taking a character in a game, TV show, or movie and making it just right and so that it fits the profile is something that does take some art and also takes a bit of skill since you can’t just come up with a voice and hope that it fits. If that was allowed to happen more often than not we’d get some truly strange sounding characters in video games.
But as Steven Asarch from Newsweek wrote his dismissal from a job proves that voice acting isn’t much different than regular acting when it comes to how the people are treated and how much back and forth nonsense goes on behind the scenes. Being a voice actor can sometimes mean that a person is seen as a little more dispensable since there many upon many people in the world that are able to use their voice to bring a character to life, and sometimes are just as good as the person before them if not better. Unfortunately the fact is that when a person is an actor there is a very big abundance of people behind them that want a chance and are possibly willing to do it for less and will be called up if they’re good enough. While David has certainly established himself as a very skilled voice actor that’s not always enough since the next generation is always snapping at the heels of those that are currently taking the spots that they covet so much.
One of his biggest voices to date is that of Claptrap, a character from Borderlands that is something of an eccentric robot that some people like and some people don’t. While he became quite well known for this character he was let go from the game after a while over what seems to be a dispute about payment, but is uncertain since David says one thing and the company says another. It’s hard to know who to believe in such an instance since it’s very true that people who do the work want to be paid and paid well for their efforts, but when the company attempts to offer what they think is fair it might be taken as an insult since some companies do try to get by with paying as little as possible. The one downfall of being a voice actor is that if you’re not that well known elsewhere or haven’t gained the kind of fame that can command the paycheck that’s desired then the chances are that fighting over the rate of pay isn’t going to go well for the actor. Remember, a lot of people see voice actors as dispensable at times and very easily replaced. It’s not right to be honest, but it is a reality of the job.
That being said, David seems to have been in the game long enough to know how it works and how to put himself on the right track should he ever experience a hiccup in his work. Voice actors are amazingly versatile at times since they can use their voices for a number of things from games, movies, cartoons, commercials, and much more. The voice actor doesn’t have to worry about being on screen that much and as a result doesn’t really have to worry over being as well-known as actors that make their living on screen. David has been pretty successful in his life and at this point it doesn’t seem as though there’s a lot that he couldn’t do if he really applied himself and decided to push forward. Whether he’ll continue to do video games for the foreseeable future is hard to say but since he’s already made a name for himself in this industry it might be a good idea to stick around and see what he can get as the gaming world moves forward.
All in all voice acting is not as easy as people seem to think it is and it’s not as stable as a person might think either. It’s a job that is likely very fun at times but it’s still a job, meaning that one still has to work at it and be one of the best if they don’t want to lose their spot. So far in his career David hasn’t needed to worry too much since the work is almost always there.
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