VOICED. with Colin Ryan
Colin Ryan is a seriously talented actor with extensive credits across screen, theatre and voiceover. He was recently on stage as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at Sheffield Crucible, has appeared in Doctor Who and is the voice of Alphinaud in Final Fantasy XIV. We sat down to find out how he approaches the different genres and what skills keep him at the top of his game.
How’s it going?
Colin Ryan
Going well thanks! Just caught up on EastEnders and about to do a self-tape. Then I need to edit some videos from my Twitch streams - I’ve been streaming Final Fantasy XIV recently, a game I’ve voiced a character in for the past ten years. Streaming is completely new territory for me but I’m really enjoying it. Getting to know the game now as a player has been fascinating, it's surreal hearing lines I recorded ten years ago and only now seeing them in context.
Tell us what you do?
I’m an actor. I’ve been in the industry for sixteen years and feel really lucky to have worked on a real mix of projects across stage, screen and voiceover. The subject matter across the mediums has been varied too, which is something I really value as it gives you a broad perspective of the world and the different ways people think and relate to each other.
You’ve played so many roles across stage, screen and voiceover. How does your creative process differ across genres?
The bare bones of it is usually the same: starting with dissecting a script and finding clues as to who these characters are and what they’re seeking in life. But each discipline is quite different. In theatre you have the luxury of time to be able to hone and evolve a performance over the run, and in the process you make all sorts of revelations and discoveries. It’s knackering doing eight shows a week, but there’s something satisfying about seeing a story through in one go, from start to finish. Screen work is totally different in that regard as it’s usually filmed out of sequence, so when you’re working on a scene you do a lot of work on where your character’s been and where they're headed so that their journey makes sense when it’s cut together. Voiceover is a world of its own as working on video games is very different to doing commercials or narrating audiobooks.
What skills would you say have the biggest impact on your work?
Vocal technique is probably what links everything. Whether I'm singing, doing Shakespeare, jumping in to different accents, or in a shouty video game session, it’s important to me to have the vocal facility to be able to go to all those places so I’m always looking to deepen my understanding of my voice. It’s also something I really enjoy - I’m a voice and language nerd so I’ll happily fall down a YouTube rabbit hole watching videos of laryngoscopies or analysing someone’s accent from an obscure 1960s documentary. The more flexible my voice is, the more I can bring to each role.
Is there a character you would love to reprise?
It would totally be my Doctor Who character, Harry. I had so much fun on that job. Working with Peter Capaldi was a career highlight - I learned a huge amount from just watching him work: his preparation, attention to detail. But he was also incredibly generous off-camera and would take the time to share his insights and experience. Playing Harry was a lot of fun and I like to think he's still knocking about somewhere in the Whoniverse.