I thought being an actor wasn’t for grown-up people, but it didn’t matter whether I considered it that—I discovered it was essential for my soul that I threw myself into this. — Simon Vance
If you’re looking for what it takes to be an actor long-term, over the course of your LIFE, then you’ve come to the right place, and you’re going to really enjoy today’s episode!
Perhaps you thought that acting couldn’t really be your job, but you still felt it in your soul it’s what you wanted to do—or maybe you’ve experienced some huge and life-altering changes and are unsure where it’s going to lead. Our guest today went through all of that, and has become one of the top performers in his industry—and he continues to push himself!
Today on the show is actor and narrator Simon Vance. With over 1000 audiobooks recorded in his career, he has narrated such a diverse range of works, from George R.R. Martin and Steig Larsson’s Millennium series (which we discuss), to Brent Weeks and Charles Dickens!
He’s also focused on getting back in front of the camera as an actor, which we talk about at length because of how much success he’s had in audiobooks, and he still wants to explore new territory!
We cover a lot of ground, particularly all the years leading up to audiobook work, which Simon shares is often skipped over in other interviews, and that’s exactly why I do this—to talk about as much of the journey as we can, not just the part people might already know!
Simon’s got a wonderful story to share, including a move to a new continent, practically not knowing anyone, and having quite a tough time breaking into the business. And from hearing Simon’s audio work, you might not know he’s been the wild one of his family, including being part of a rock band at Leeds University!
I definitely need to thank Kristine Oller (whom you heard on this show talking Cashflow for Creatives last season) for recommending and connecting me to Simon. Of course I knew about him as one of the top narrators out there, and I was quite thrilled to have this opportunity to find out more about the man behind the voice. As usual, there’s such a fascinating story, and I have even more admiration and respect for Simon’s career!
Just a bit of what we cover in this episode with Simon:
- What he initially studied at University that didn’t work out
- All the twists and turns and decisions that led him to a job at the BBC
- The weekend workshop that really opened his eyes to being an artist
- The struggles he faced as an actor when first moving to California
- Being nervous before starting to record an audiobook
- His new challenge of getting better as an on-screen actor in film and TV
And so much more! Simon is wonderfully open about the lack of clarity in his early years, the not knowing, and the challenging relationships. While it hasn’t always been easy, he also has some fantastic ideas and insights on what has worked for him along the way!
Plus, Simon even shares how he worked on a practically unreadable chapter in Alan Moore’s Jerusalem, so don’t miss that!
About the guest
Simon Vance was born in Brighton, England and as part of his early years, attended the local School of Music and Drama. He went to Leeds University, becoming part of the student TV/radio network, and afterward, worked at BBC Radio Brighton, which led to BBC London and Radio 4, the national speech-based network.
He found he had a knack for audiobooks by working for the Talking Book Service of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. After moving to the Bay Area, he worked on stage and a bit on camera before finding audiobooks, which eventually really took off!
He currently has 16 Audie Awards, including for The Tao of Pooh, Great Expectations, The King’s Speech, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, and Alan Moore’s Jerusalem. He is also the recipient of 70 Earphone Awards, including for many of the books just mentioned along with The Wind in the Willows, The Prestige, and Dracula. He was chosen as Booklist Magazine’s inaugural “Voice of Choice”, is an AudioFile Magazine “Golden Voice”, and is in the Audible “Hall of Fame”.
I am really honored to have someone on the show who is so accomplished in audiobooks, especially when it’s a medium I’m working in and developing my own skills and career. Simon, like with our past guest and narrator Ray Porter, may set a high bar, but as they say—it’s certainly achievable!
Please enjoy my chat with Simon Vance!
Total Running Time: 2:00:12
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Want to hear from another award-winning audiobook narrator? Check out my talk with Ray Porter!
What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let us know in the comments.
Scroll below for links mentioned in today’s episode and additional show notes…
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Show Notes
Simon Vance around the web
His Site | Twitter | Facebook | Wikipedia | Film/TV | Additional Theatre
Simon’s Audiobook Items
Audible Hall of Fame | Audiofile Magazine “Golden Voice”
Simon’s “other” voices: as Richard Matthews | as Robert Whitfield | as Michael Gibbs (some of his earliest work!)
Highlights
- Is Simon an expat or an American citizen?
- Taking holiday back to the “old country”
- “London-by-the-Sea”: how Brighton, UK came to prominence
- What his parents and grandparents did for a living
- Starting classes at the Brighton School of Music and Drama
- The fascination he had and the career he wanted to do when he was young
- What he initially studied at University (and didn’t work out)
- How he got connected with BBC Brighton and started working there
- Getting involved with student TV and radio programs at University
- Even with an Economics degree, working for the Leeds bus company
- Getting his first permanent, full-time job at the BBC
- Neil Gaiman’s 3 stool legs
- The trap that a lot of actors can fall into: the why?
- Getting into Radio 4 at the BBC in London
- Taking acting classes while working at the BBC
- The moment he realized he wanted to be an actor
- The weekend workshop that really opened his eyes to being an artist
- How his free spirit and risk-taking caused friction with his brother
- Audiobooks being the culmination of several lifelong skills he developed
- How a London production of Kiss Me Kate eventually led him to the US
- The struggles he faced as an actor when first moving to California
- How he got started with commercial audiobooks
- Applying for back-up jobs in the late 90s, post-divorce and after bankruptcy
- All the valleys that can come up throughout your life (not just in your 20s or 30s)
- Focusing on the things that need to be done that can ground you
- How Steve Jobs and the iPod changed Simon’s life
- Working hard at “not sucking” [his opinion] in front of the camera
- How to deal with the pressure of recording famous audiobooks
- Working on the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson
- Why he feels confident with audiobooks vs. onstage or on camera
- The research and immense work that went into the audiobook of Jerusalem by Alan Moore
- The “practically unreadable” chapter that Alan Moore wrote
- Making sense of unusual spellings, and dialogue without punctuation in The Wake
- What makes good narration and why is he always nervous with a new book?
- The challenge of being successful in audiobooks to starting new with on-camera work
- How he got involved hosting the Audie Awards
- What he knows needs to be done for his on-camera career
- How he feels about the awards he’s received and books that have been special to him
- Finding time to read for fun and books that have impacted him
Selected People and Items Mentioned
- Brighton and Hove, UK
- All Our Yesterdays (TV program)
- Royal Air Force
- Christopher Slade, Simon’s friend at BBC Brighton
- Piers Bishop, artist
- Leeds University
- Leeds Student Television (formerly “Network 4”) at Leeds
- Michael Graham Cox, in the original broadcast of The Lord of the Rings on Radio 4
- The BGB Studio, with Risa Bramon Garcia and Steve Braun
- Radio 4 at the BBC
- Royal National Institute’s “Books for the Blind”
- The Actors Centre in London
- Hampstead Heath
- The Actors’ Institute (now The TAI Group)
- Esalen Institute
- Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet
- Robert Heinlein, author
- Simon narrating the Helliconia series from decades ago
- Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Berkeley Repertory Theatre
- British Equity (Artists Union)
- Marin Theatre Company
- Betrayal with Tom Hiddleston
- Tony Robbins, author and life/business strategist
- Prozac medication
- Rod Stewart’s autobiography (with Simon narrating)
- Stephen Fry, actor/narrator
- Jim Dale, actor/narrator
- Millennium Series of books (Simon narrating)
- Dallas after J.R. was shot
- Jerusalem by Alan Moore
- Northampton
- Audio Publishers Association Conference
- Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
- The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth (narrated by Simon)
- Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 by Robert Forczyk (narrated by Simon)
- Audie Awards
- AudioFile Magazine
- The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, a comic book series
- Christopher Priest’s The Prestige
Simon on narrating (children’s) classics
The beginning of “Around the Bend”—the “unreadable chapter” in Alan Moore’s Jerusalem
+ click to view/close the monologue
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