Speaker 1: Hey Christy, Hi Will, how are you? I'm fine? Thanks?
Speaker 1: How are you doing? I'm doing just fine. Can't complain?
Speaker 1: I can Oh, gosh, I'm not going to. I just okay.
Speaker 1: I was like, was there something in particular or just no.
Speaker 1: I just love when people are like, I can't complain.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you want me to be open and
Speaker 1: my back kind of hurts, you know a few times
Speaker 1: last night? Yeah, this chair I'm sitting and doesn't have
Speaker 1: a pillow, We I to complaint? Okay, we got to
Speaker 1: go down that road to ask my husband. I'm a
Speaker 1: big complaining If you just do you complain to brendon
Speaker 1: a lot? Are you kidding me? I'm just curious. I mean, also,
Speaker 1: my husband is a former marine, Like he's like a
Speaker 1: complaining marine is a happy marine. That's like what they say.
Speaker 1: But and so yeah, I mean in general, that's like
Speaker 1: our love language is complaining. But overall, date night is
Speaker 1: just sitting across from each other at a candle at
Speaker 1: dinner and just complaining about everything. I don't know about you,
Speaker 1: but I'm particularly we say this every week. We might
Speaker 1: as well just put this on a loop. But I
Speaker 1: am particularly excited for today's episode. I am always astounded
Speaker 1: at the diversity and the level of mastery, the variation
Speaker 1: of mastery that we have, because all of our guests
Speaker 1: are so different, um, you know, coming from different aspects
Speaker 1: of the industry, which you know, of course, there's one
Speaker 1: way to get a big break right, like you get
Speaker 1: it right, and that including our contest, which if you haven't,
Speaker 1: please go ahead and and submit your two minutes or
Speaker 1: less submission to I hear voices at I Heart radio
Speaker 1: dot com. Um. But honestly, like this guy was, also,
Speaker 1: this wonderful guest of ours is no stranger to competition
Speaker 1: or contests of this sort. I will say, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: actually if there's the perfect person to talk about exactly
Speaker 1: what our contest is and how you know, how your
Speaker 1: life can change from something like this. It's our guest
Speaker 1: who is with us today, Christie. Oh my gosh, it's
Speaker 1: Justin Guerini. Hello, Hi, how are you? I'm doing fine?
Speaker 1: How are you? I'm doing well? Thank you? I got
Speaker 1: by far the nicest background of the three, right, goodness,
Speaker 1: what I loved you. I was just about to comment
Speaker 1: on your background. It's very very much voiceover Boothy. Oh,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you very much. Christie looks like she's
Speaker 1: being held hostage to joke, held hostage in a tropical
Speaker 1: location though it's very sun Thank you, thank you sunniness.
Speaker 1: How are you doing well? Thank you well, thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us? Hey, well, thank you very much for
Speaker 1: having me a kid. I mean, this is great. We
Speaker 1: know you're super busy going on, so it's really good
Speaker 1: we're able to join us for a while. Well, no,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate you having me on, and and just
Speaker 1: the fact that I get to promote this show is
Speaker 1: pretty awesome because it's fun and I've been like waiting
Speaker 1: waiting for it to come out. So is this your first?
Speaker 1: Is this your first big video gig? No? I mean
Speaker 1: well I think yes, well my first like big it's
Speaker 1: sort of like being on like multiple shows and actually
Speaker 1: being a cast member. Yeah. I'm trying to think, can
Speaker 1: I do anything else in the voiceover? I've done to
Speaker 1: other cartoon voiceovers, but like never this one. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about it in the actual interview. Unless this is the interview.
Speaker 1: This is the actual interview. Yeah, yeah, exactly, Who's who's
Speaker 1: the one being held hostage? I wanted? Yeah, no, I
Speaker 1: this is the first sort of like big deal certainly
Speaker 1: to me UM and cast member one, because I grew
Speaker 1: up loving Disney cartoons so much, like it's like pretty
Speaker 1: much everybody unless they've been hiding under a rock. And
Speaker 1: yet I went in one day a long time, like
Speaker 1: I'm talking like maybe fifteen years ago, and I was
Speaker 1: meeting with some executives at Disney UM in their sort
Speaker 1: of voice over department, because I wanted to do it,
Speaker 1: and they were telling me about how at the time,
Speaker 1: the gentleman who was I think only the third or
Speaker 1: four maybe fourth voice of Mickey Mouse was starting to
Speaker 1: get older wanting to retire, and um they were looking
Speaker 1: for a new voice. And I just went, oh boy,
Speaker 1: and I was and and I just like broke it
Speaker 1: out and I was like, I've always, you know, thought
Speaker 1: that Mickey was a fun voice. And the guys were like, uh,
Speaker 1: do you want to come in an audition for it.
Speaker 1: I was like, Yeah, I want to come in audition
Speaker 1: from making I would love to. And so at the
Speaker 1: time I was working for TV Guide Network and doing
Speaker 1: a lot of live red carpets in studio hosting like
Speaker 1: talk talk Talk Talk Talk talk, talk talk talk all
Speaker 1: day long and was Awards season, and so I was
Speaker 1: on the carpet and doing all sort of stuff that
Speaker 1: I had to go in for this interview. I got
Speaker 1: to go into this interview and like my voice was
Speaker 1: feeling a little rough and like yeah, and so it's
Speaker 1: one of those like very typical actor e l A
Speaker 1: things to have happened, right, and and you know, fortunately
Speaker 1: I was working, but I went in and um, you know,
Speaker 1: I did something to the effect of say you want
Speaker 1: to come to my club house, Well, right, let's go,
Speaker 1: and like just doing it and having fun with it.
Speaker 1: But it was kind of like ragging the guy. When
Speaker 1: I came out of the booth, you was like, that
Speaker 1: was really really awesome, And he didn't say to me
Speaker 1: in so many words. I think later I found out
Speaker 1: the note was like it was really close, great job,
Speaker 1: We'd love to see you in the future. And uh.
Speaker 1: They ended up casting from inside the actual company, which lovely,
Speaker 1: which they love to do, right and uh. And so
Speaker 1: then many many years later this came along and I
Speaker 1: was like, yes, let me give it a shot. But
Speaker 1: it was something where it was just that I got
Speaker 1: to create all my own and and there were some
Speaker 1: references in there. Um, and I just really took like
Speaker 1: the idea of like the earth a cat or the
Speaker 1: kit rather cat woman, but yeah, and just ran with it.
Speaker 1: And so that's that's how cat Perker. You said you
Speaker 1: grew up loving Disney cartoons, which ones? Like what were you?
Speaker 1: What were your favorite cartoons growing up? My favorite of
Speaker 1: all time? I mean like you've got Bambi, And I
Speaker 1: remember a friend of mine who was a family friend.
Speaker 1: She was like, she took me to that when I
Speaker 1: was little, and she said, you just started bawling at
Speaker 1: the very beginning because of the story. There were over
Speaker 1: hard like from the start, right from the start, Uh,
Speaker 1: Fox and the Hound, which funny story, not really funny,
Speaker 1: but it's interesting to see how how the world has changed.
Speaker 1: Like if you go back and you watch the original
Speaker 1: Fox in the Hound, it's dark, it is. It is
Speaker 1: more like the grim fairy tales, where like the world
Speaker 1: is not a perfect place and you're gonna ago. Whereas
Speaker 1: now you look at the newer version of it and
Speaker 1: the opening sequence is this big slapstick like literally farmer
Speaker 1: steps on the rake sort of thing, and they're like
Speaker 1: running around having a great time. So it's just interesting
Speaker 1: to see how uh tastes have changed. All we say
Speaker 1: over the over the years. UM, but my favorite, to
Speaker 1: answer your question directly, of all time is The Sword
Speaker 1: and the Stone. Not the most commercially successful Disney cartoon,
Speaker 1: but one that just got me so much because I
Speaker 1: think Arthur got the chance to go with Merlin, and
Speaker 1: you know, I love the magic of it all, and
Speaker 1: I just love that he got to have the different
Speaker 1: perspectives of the different animals and was what he ultimately
Speaker 1: needed to have in order to become the leader that
Speaker 1: he would become. O. That's so beautiful. What about shows?
Speaker 1: Were there any shows that you watch growing up? Were you?
Speaker 1: I mean like SHOs, Formers? No, any shows any any
Speaker 1: animated sit where you like a Transformers fan or former
Speaker 1: Definitely g I Joe and going back to look at
Speaker 1: those p s A s are hilarious. Um, and then
Speaker 1: like Gummy Bears, um, duct Tails, Yeah, dubs one for me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I loved all that. Um. Let's see what are the
Speaker 1: other ones that stick out in my mind? I also
Speaker 1: loved and still love Adults Swim Adults from like when
Speaker 1: it first came out, with like Cow and Chicken and
Speaker 1: Dexter's Lab and like all those things. Like so I've
Speaker 1: been like a cartoon junkie for that. It's like your
Speaker 1: comfort zone. It's your comfort it is it is and
Speaker 1: I was like one and it gets It's Disney like,
Speaker 1: am I gonna sell? It's exciting. Well, let's talk a
Speaker 1: bit about that because you we've been talking about your
Speaker 1: show without actually really mentioning your show. So what show
Speaker 1: do you have coming out? And who do you play? Sure? So, um,
Speaker 1: it is called Super Kiddies and it is a very
Speaker 1: exciting uh show that is geared towards two to seven
Speaker 1: year old. It'll be on Disney Junior and Disney Plus.
Speaker 1: And it is all about these cats, these kiddies that
Speaker 1: live in Kitty Dale, of course, and who want to
Speaker 1: make it and a possum possum but from possum place
Speaker 1: to live and so uh, these kitties are very special
Speaker 1: kitties and whenever they hear the call from their friends
Speaker 1: help something's wrong, Um, they transform into the Super Kitties.
Speaker 1: And they each have individual powers and unique powers. And
Speaker 1: so who I play is the reason why they get
Speaker 1: the call a lot of times, and that is Cat Burglar.
Speaker 1: He is a sneaky, slinky Nina bad guy. I get
Speaker 1: to play the bad guy it's great, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: but bad, really bad. He's not so bad. I think
Speaker 1: he does uh, he does something like the wrong things
Speaker 1: for the right reasons, right, and so you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: he will go and as his name would suggest, he
Speaker 1: will cat burgle things from people, uh and pets around
Speaker 1: Kitty Dale. Um. But it's always because he needs something
Speaker 1: or because he thinks that's going to help him get
Speaker 1: something else. And what I love about him is that,
Speaker 1: always and forever, every single time he is eventually caught
Speaker 1: by the super kitties, he gives the stuff back. He apologizes.
Speaker 1: He always admits that. Yeah, he always admits that he's
Speaker 1: done something wrong, and he learns a very valuable lesson.
Speaker 1: And I think that's so important now, especially for kids,
Speaker 1: because I have a nine year old, a twelve year old,
Speaker 1: and then my stepdaughter just turned eighteen yesterday. Yeah wild right.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, kids now, when it comes to
Speaker 1: making mistakes, I mean, that's like the worst thing you
Speaker 1: could possibly do to them, right. They don't want to
Speaker 1: raise their hand necessarily in class. My my boys really
Speaker 1: complain about that, and yet I encourage them. I like,
Speaker 1: you know, what mistakes are like the best way that
Speaker 1: you can learn getting it is. You know, strong and
Speaker 1: wrong is what my my acchoired director used to say. Right,
Speaker 1: It's like we're gonna just sing out, so we'll no
Speaker 1: be strong and wrong, right, strong and wrong, so we
Speaker 1: know where the mistakes are right. And so that being said,
Speaker 1: I think that one of the things that I love
Speaker 1: about this show, and especially about cat Burglar's role in
Speaker 1: this show, is that his job. He comes in and
Speaker 1: he makes plenty of mistakes, yet he always takes responsibility
Speaker 1: for it, He always apologizes for it, he always learns
Speaker 1: his lesson, he always gives the stuff back that he takes.
Speaker 1: So I think that's it's important for kids to know
Speaker 1: that you can make a mistake and still grow and
Speaker 1: still be Okay, Okay, so we'll hold on, hold on.
Speaker 1: Do you think I have a six year old and
Speaker 1: I have a three turning four year old? Okay, and
Speaker 1: my six year old is when I say obsessed with cats, like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you understand, she has been obsessed
Speaker 1: with cats and kittens. With have a Bengal cat in
Speaker 1: her house and she just loves it to death and
Speaker 1: it and and she I mean, I cannot tell you
Speaker 1: how obsessed this girl as a cat. She is going
Speaker 1: to I am going to you watching you all the time.
Speaker 1: Every day, I'm going to tell her I know cat.
Speaker 1: She's gonna freak out. Yeah. I don't know what it
Speaker 1: is about cats, but like when we were growing up,
Speaker 1: I think we all love teddy bears and like puppies
Speaker 1: and cabbage kids. But I think, like if there was
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if this is a generational thing. But cats are big
Speaker 1: right now. Okay, cats are so big. Cats are in
Speaker 1: and I'm happy to that I get to play one
Speaker 1: of them. And another thing, just does your daughter like music?
Speaker 1: She loves music and cats singing music? Are are you
Speaker 1: singing as well? I might be singing a little bit
Speaker 1: of Well, look, I'll tell you this much if you
Speaker 1: if you love cats, great, if you love music extra great.
Speaker 1: Because each one of the twenty two minute episodes has
Speaker 1: an original song in it. So I mean it is
Speaker 1: it is music, it is cats, It is uhen ship
Speaker 1: and favorite. But it will be your daughter because she's
Speaker 1: like twenty something, right, But listen to I really do
Speaker 1: appreciate it. And it's the face the face of your
Speaker 1: demographic Okay, Like really, I love it because, um, like
Speaker 1: you're saying, they're taking cat Burglars taking accountability. And you know,
Speaker 1: usually when we see villains they're very villainy. Um. But
Speaker 1: I have noticed in the program programming that Disney Junior
Speaker 1: has been doing lately is that they're making it, you know,
Speaker 1: nothing's too scary and nothing's too bad where the villains
Speaker 1: can't come back from it. And I think that's wonderful.
Speaker 1: How do you how do you approach a villain character
Speaker 1: that's not too hate herbal right? And I think, well,
Speaker 1: it comes down to the great writing that's on the show,
Speaker 1: first of all, and and then it comes down also
Speaker 1: to the way that the actual super Kitties handle things,
Speaker 1: you know, meaning cat Burglar can get away, cat Burglar
Speaker 1: can tease, right, cat Burglar plays cat and mouse with
Speaker 1: them all the time. And yet at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, when cat Burglar does eventually get caught, because
Speaker 1: he gets caught every single time, um, the super Kitties
Speaker 1: always treat him with respect. They're like, hey, look, this
Speaker 1: wasn't right, but we hear you because because cat Burglar
Speaker 1: always explains why he does something with anything, he's really
Speaker 1: important right to know that it's not just because he's
Speaker 1: mean or because he's just somebody who likes to steal things,
Speaker 1: right now, he always has a reason, and he's always
Speaker 1: trying to just like kids, just get their needs met,
Speaker 1: just like anybody trying to get their needs met. But
Speaker 1: he goes about it in a way that can sometimes
Speaker 1: make other people feel sad, can sometimes make other people, um,
Speaker 1: hurt other people's feelings, and so you know, in order
Speaker 1: to then take all of that and make sure that
Speaker 1: I honor the fact that these great writing and the
Speaker 1: super Kitties themselves really treat him with respect, it's in
Speaker 1: the voicing side of it. Really, it's just making sure
Speaker 1: that he never gets to mean right. Like he can
Speaker 1: like tease and it's like really fun to be teasy,
Speaker 1: but to never like make it a little too uh
Speaker 1: nan nanny boo boo, if you know what I'm saying. Saying,
Speaker 1: but like and at the same time also just keep
Speaker 1: him light, keep him fun. And and so again I
Speaker 1: rest heavily on the great writing in the show, but
Speaker 1: really it's just about making sure that it always has
Speaker 1: this undercurrent of fun, always has an undercurrent. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously it's a high pitched voice, um, and so Um,
Speaker 1: that helps, right, But to just always keep in mind
Speaker 1: and remember that he is and he doesn't want anybody
Speaker 1: to know it, but that he's really a good kittie
Speaker 1: at heart. Are we allowed to hear the voice? Are
Speaker 1: we allowed to hear it yet? Or oh sure, it's
Speaker 1: no problem. I mean it's up here. And sometimes he
Speaker 1: gets a little like, hey, come on, guys, can't catch
Speaker 1: me that, you know. So it's like never to it's
Speaker 1: never like Growley or anything like that. But um, but
Speaker 1: it's it's just so fun to hear him like work
Speaker 1: out a problem and you know, even I think the
Speaker 1: worst thing and it's not really bad at all. It's
Speaker 1: like sometimes he turns around, he goes super kid, right,
Speaker 1: you know. You see he doesn't necessarily like the fact
Speaker 1: that the super kitties come and try and uh yeah,
Speaker 1: he's always having fun. That's so interesting. So the range
Speaker 1: of your voice is fascinating to me. So obviously we
Speaker 1: there's a lot of folks right well that we that
Speaker 1: we know. Maggia is one of them where they are
Speaker 1: able to do they have these beautiful, rich, deeper voices,
Speaker 1: you know, because I don't know in terms of are
Speaker 1: you what are you are? You are you a baritone?
Speaker 1: Like no, no, no, I would be a high tenor
Speaker 1: when it I'm just singing. Yeah, but it's really interesting
Speaker 1: because I you know, and then you know, as you
Speaker 1: both no doubt, no, you know you talked throughout the
Speaker 1: day and you you have everything kind of drops a
Speaker 1: little bit lower. But um, and when you have the
Speaker 1: old you know, the old SMB seven and then do
Speaker 1: you have a when you have annoyment over there? What
Speaker 1: are you rocking annoyment? There will something serious? I don't
Speaker 1: know's I've got my my my, I have the m
Speaker 1: x L, I have the old nine thousand whatever. It's rocking.
Speaker 1: It sounds great. And so yeah, the the whole point,
Speaker 1: like you know what I mean. So like it's the
Speaker 1: microphones definitely come into play. But for me, I've always
Speaker 1: had a bit of a higher register, and um, as
Speaker 1: I get older, it definitely drops and I'm like more
Speaker 1: in the speaking baritone zone. But like almost every single
Speaker 1: day I will warm up my voice and I'll warm it,
Speaker 1: whip up and and to make sure that I keep
Speaker 1: that range. And literally it's just keeping the your chords
Speaker 1: flexible and the muscles around them flexible. That helps, you know,
Speaker 1: and someday I'll get to play, you know, maybe a
Speaker 1: character that has a little bit more of this, you know,
Speaker 1: and I love like doing. At the end of the day,
Speaker 1: you know, there's like like like the was that the
Speaker 1: guy from h Inspector gadgets another one? Right? Yeah? Right,
Speaker 1: yeah exactly so yeah, so I just I'd like to
Speaker 1: it's the spirit of play at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I love Super Katies so
Speaker 1: much is because there is this undercurrent. Even when the
Speaker 1: Super Katies are chasing Cat Burglar, it's play and um
Speaker 1: for two to seven year olds. I don't know about
Speaker 1: your two to seven year olds. With my two seven
Speaker 1: year olds when they were two to seven, um, that's
Speaker 1: all they want to do. And even when Cat Burgers
Speaker 1: being chased by the Super Katies, even when he gets
Speaker 1: caught all the things, it's always play. And so for
Speaker 1: me developing vocal characters, UM comes down to just being
Speaker 1: willing to play, being willing to fail, being willing to
Speaker 1: get it so unbelievably wrong. UM, because at the very
Speaker 1: least you'd learn what doesn't work, and at the very
Speaker 1: uh most, you find these new things that you wouldn't
Speaker 1: have otherwise found if you tried to play it safe, dude.
Speaker 1: We talk about that all the time on here, and
Speaker 1: and we inspire people, like we have a really big
Speaker 1: contest where we try to inspire people. I'm sure contest
Speaker 1: going right now. That's very exciting because we're giving someone
Speaker 1: their big break and giving them there a year contract
Speaker 1: with C E. SD and right see his face, it's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's one of the things you want. You can have
Speaker 1: the website. So we wanted to talk you about, you know,
Speaker 1: American Idol a little bit of course, because that's essentially
Speaker 1: what we've You don't mind, yeah, I mean, if you
Speaker 1: don't mind, it is our super awesome contest to become
Speaker 1: the next big voice actor and you get flown up.
Speaker 1: That's the entire title title. You're flown out to Los Angeles,
Speaker 1: you have lunch with us, you meet your agent, you
Speaker 1: get to sign for a year with C E. S D.
Speaker 1: Thousand dollars, you in a thousand dollars you do promost
Speaker 1: for for our show hard Radio. The website. It's awesome.
Speaker 1: If two minute entry no more, no longer to I
Speaker 1: hear voices at I heart radio dot com. There you go,
Speaker 1: American idol. Obviously they say, oh, that's your break, but
Speaker 1: the fact remains, you started training and singing well before
Speaker 1: any of the Atlanta Choir. I mean that's at the
Speaker 1: boy Atlanta Boys Choir, which is obviously known throughout the world.
Speaker 1: So I mean, can you can you walk us through
Speaker 1: a little bit of how you got started with everything,
Speaker 1: not just idol, but before how you just found your
Speaker 1: love of what you're doing now, found your voice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's it. I found beautiful, beautiful intro um. Yes. So
Speaker 1: really it just came down to, like everyone else, I
Speaker 1: just sang with my parents in the car, and one
Speaker 1: day somebody at a school, it was out of doors
Speaker 1: schools what it was called in Georgia, was like said
Speaker 1: to my uh dad in very uh typical Southern fashion,
Speaker 1: they said, but your son can carry a tune in
Speaker 1: a bucket. And so from there, uh, they just saw
Speaker 1: that I kind of just was able to to sing.
Speaker 1: And we had this big piano in the hallway and
Speaker 1: I would I would hear things and I would plunk
Speaker 1: it out. You know. It was about four and I
Speaker 1: wasn't like Mozart being in the stretch imagination, but like
Speaker 1: I would plunk out melodies and I just showed an
Speaker 1: interest and so at four years old they had me
Speaker 1: auditioned for the Atlanta Boys Choir and I ended up
Speaker 1: getting in four years four. Yeah, so I was a
Speaker 1: little boy soprano and that was this intro. My my
Speaker 1: conductor was named Wolskang, so you know, it was for
Speaker 1: real and and so that was my entry into the
Speaker 1: world of choir, into the world of both sacred and
Speaker 1: secular music. And you know, it didn't hurt to have
Speaker 1: the parents that I have. My mom was one of
Speaker 1: the first anchor women on CNN when it started up
Speaker 1: in the early d My dad was chief of police
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, on the force for thirty plus years. So
Speaker 1: I grew so I grew up around the lights, the politics,
Speaker 1: the cameras, the everything, and so that certainly was a
Speaker 1: huge catalyst for everything that I do. And then just
Speaker 1: would go on from there to to continue to sing
Speaker 1: in school and audition for for you know, local theaters
Speaker 1: and whatnot, and then um, I would go away. I
Speaker 1: went to college for vocal performance at University of the Arts,
Speaker 1: studied theater there as well, and dance there as well.
Speaker 1: So it was always just always always geared towards performance,
Speaker 1: and as happens. You know, the people say lucky break right,
Speaker 1: But what is luck luck is preparation meeting opportunity, as
Speaker 1: we know. And so I was just prepared from a
Speaker 1: very young age, went to school for it, um and
Speaker 1: and studied it. And then all of a sudden, this
Speaker 1: opportunity show nobody had ever heard of came along. And
Speaker 1: it was at my first sort of like entry into
Speaker 1: the scene because I've been auditioning for another Disney project
Speaker 1: called The Lion King shame didn't do well. Uh yeah,
Speaker 1: and in and out of theaters, out of theaters, and
Speaker 1: so I was auditioning for the Broadway show. Uh and
Speaker 1: about four years I had been auditioning for it, had
Speaker 1: done everything that you could possibly do other than set
Speaker 1: foot on the stage with a contract in my hand,
Speaker 1: and um, as things happen, I get this yellow piece
Speaker 1: of paper from the show nobody had ever heard of,
Speaker 1: called a golden ticket to go to Los Angeles, a
Speaker 1: place I've never been at the time, in two thousand two.
Speaker 1: And that very same week I get a call from
Speaker 1: the casting office of course Lion King, and they're like
Speaker 1: and so I'm like, oh, really, well, there's this show
Speaker 1: in l A. Can I call you back in a week?
Speaker 1: I might get cut. Let me call you back in
Speaker 1: a week. And so I got out to l A
Speaker 1: long story slightly less long. I am at the point
Speaker 1: where I have to say yeah or nay to the
Speaker 1: Lion King, or yea or nay to this show called
Speaker 1: American I don't nobody had heard of. And Hollywood Week
Speaker 1: is designed to just wear you out, designed to yeah,
Speaker 1: designed to test you to see if you can handle
Speaker 1: being on the big show, which is like go go, go, Go,
Speaker 1: Go go go. And so I was walking down the
Speaker 1: aisle at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, shockingly enough,
Speaker 1: and uh, I looked up at the stage with the
Speaker 1: American Idle logo and the smoke and the lights and
Speaker 1: the production and the camera on the jib arm. And
Speaker 1: then I looked over into the orchestra section where all
Speaker 1: of my you know, friends and competitors were chatting and
Speaker 1: they were exhausted. I was exhausted, and I remember just
Speaker 1: breaking out, just just bawling and crying. And it was
Speaker 1: not something that I did at twenty two. Now that
Speaker 1: I'm married and have three children and two dogs, like
Speaker 1: crying comes a lot easier when I feel sorry for myself, right,
Speaker 1: but like, uhh yeah, I'm tired, yeah really that emotional trained.
Speaker 1: And yet I remember looking up at the stage and
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, Oh my goodness, that stage that I'm
Speaker 1: performing on, that I'm doing these things that I've really
Speaker 1: never done before in this kind of way on the show.
Speaker 1: That's the same stage that Michael Jackson at the fiftieth
Speaker 1: anniversary of Motown did the moon walk for the first time.
Speaker 1: So many of the people that I love and have
Speaker 1: inspired me to have a music career have performed on
Speaker 1: this stage. And I don't know what it was. I
Speaker 1: would like to say God, but that's just what my
Speaker 1: belief system that like this voice said do this. And so,
Speaker 1: like a just strange person, I called up the Lion
Speaker 1: King Disney and I said, thank you so very much,
Speaker 1: please to consider me in the future, but I'm gonna try.
Speaker 1: I'm I just gotta go for this other show. I
Speaker 1: wasn't in the top thirty, which was like the big
Speaker 1: sort of cut off I had. I could have been
Speaker 1: cut the very next day, but there was something that
Speaker 1: said do it, and so I called him up. I
Speaker 1: said thank you so very much, but please keep me
Speaker 1: in mind the future. And the really awesome bow of
Speaker 1: this whole story is that about ten eleven years later,
Speaker 1: I would make my debut on Broadway in a show
Speaker 1: called Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so depend on film, right, Oh you did there
Speaker 1: you go? Yeah? Yeah, Well it didn't last very long,
Speaker 1: but I would make my I would make my debut
Speaker 1: being like Patti Lapone and Brian Stokes Mitchell's son in
Speaker 1: this in this uh great Broadway show that didn't get
Speaker 1: as much as us do as it deserves, but we
Speaker 1: would have our opening night party in the same hotel,
Speaker 1: in the same conference room that I first sat and
Speaker 1: waited an audition for American Idol. Wow, it all comes back.
Speaker 1: It just came right back around for me. So I
Speaker 1: think I made the right choice. And now here I
Speaker 1: am almost seven seven Broadway shows later. Yes, I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, and shows and I mean best author author.
Speaker 1: They always say with the with the you know you've
Speaker 1: been waiting to do, uh Lion King and then Idol
Speaker 1: comes up. They always say, as an actor, if there's
Speaker 1: one audition you really want, book nonrefundable plane tickets on
Speaker 1: the day of the audition. So that's then you know
Speaker 1: for a fact you're gonna get it. That's like you
Speaker 1: gotta do something there. So but let me is that
Speaker 1: another audition secret? Will uh? Let me let me ask
Speaker 1: you a question then, because to bring it back selfishly
Speaker 1: to I, hear voices, Um, how important was Idle to you?
Speaker 1: You know, in somebody giving you that break? I mean
Speaker 1: it is is it? I mean it's do you look
Speaker 1: back at that and say, Man, what my life would
Speaker 1: have been had I not taken that opportunity? You know,
Speaker 1: I wonder sometimes, but I just would have been in
Speaker 1: the lion king, um, not the second place to go? Right,
Speaker 1: not a bad not a bad fallback right? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: And and so I do think, like I wonder what
Speaker 1: it would have been like. But I know, just for
Speaker 1: a fact, because I've been able to do so many
Speaker 1: interesting and cool things that I've forgotten about, people will
Speaker 1: come and remind me of things, or there is uh
Speaker 1: someone her name is Judy, and she from the very
Speaker 1: beginning has kept track of everything and anything that I've
Speaker 1: done publicly and just like notated it on a website. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a huge shout out to Judy and and you know,
Speaker 1: and and this is not someone who's just sitting around.
Speaker 1: She's like a lawyer, she has like her own boots,
Speaker 1: and yet she just wanted to do this. And it
Speaker 1: is such a blessing because I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I totally forgot that I did all that. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I totally forgot that I met that person. And the
Speaker 1: long and the short of it is that American Idol
Speaker 1: gave me like not just a foot, but like propelled
Speaker 1: the body through the doorway that most people are trying
Speaker 1: to get through, so much so that now here, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty years later. It was pre social media. It was
Speaker 1: pre you know, so many of the things that we
Speaker 1: know to use to leverage a brand, and yet you
Speaker 1: can't get thirty million people to watch anything anything live
Speaker 1: on TV phenomenon. I am not a musical guy. I
Speaker 1: I don't sing, I don't dance. I watched every week.
Speaker 1: I watched every week at the beginning, So it was
Speaker 1: it was one of those things where it brought everybody
Speaker 1: together and everybody watched every week. Something like that just
Speaker 1: doesn't exist anymore. But that then brings me to something
Speaker 1: I want to talk to you a bit about because
Speaker 1: it's I know it's hugely important to you, um, and
Speaker 1: something that we like to try to take a bigger role.
Speaker 1: And then we're trying with this contest. But you're a mentor,
Speaker 1: You're a mentor to other people that are up and coming.
Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about what that's like. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I had a very very very off putting audition experience
Speaker 1: UM a few years back, and so much so. It
Speaker 1: was for a major, major musical that you know, we
Speaker 1: all know and love of. And yet the experience itself, uh,
Speaker 1: in short, was three months of my time, wasted energy, money, everything. Uh.
Speaker 1: And what happened was is that I was asked to
Speaker 1: jump through all kinds of hoops, flaming hoops. Uh. You
Speaker 1: know Acilene who all the hoops? And at the end
Speaker 1: of it, after three months of my time learning a
Speaker 1: significant amount of material, going in, staying in hotels, like
Speaker 1: doing all the things that we do in order to
Speaker 1: really make sure that we deliver in the room. UM,
Speaker 1: they just were like, no, and we here know all
Speaker 1: the time in this business all the time, but but
Speaker 1: there's something to be said for no. And maybe here's
Speaker 1: why are no? And hey keep keep coming back or no,
Speaker 1: some takeaway something. Yeah, it can be very hard. I mean,
Speaker 1: and don't even gonna starting the voiceover world. It's just
Speaker 1: like you're screaming into the void sometimes or most of
Speaker 1: the time. Right. And yet I realized, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: it once I got over myself and I was like,
Speaker 1: should I am be in this? Like I can't, Like
Speaker 1: I'm not at the top of the charts, but I'm
Speaker 1: also not starting out either, And if they can do
Speaker 1: this to me, then imagine what they're doing to people
Speaker 1: who don't have the experience, who don't have the agents,
Speaker 1: who don't have the team and everything that I have.
Speaker 1: And so that's when I thought, oh, my goodness. You know,
Speaker 1: the audition is the way that we get gigs. It
Speaker 1: is the it's it's our it's the way that we
Speaker 1: you know, everything is kind of like an audition. Whether
Speaker 1: we want an agent or a manager or whatever, we're
Speaker 1: having to audition, having to prove our value. And yet
Speaker 1: I realized, like, oh, I've been through a lot of auditions,
Speaker 1: and I've seen a lot of stuff. I've not only
Speaker 1: been on the side of the audition or table or
Speaker 1: the audition ee rather, but the person that is being
Speaker 1: auditioned for as well, and I see so many of
Speaker 1: the same mistakes, and so just like you being a
Speaker 1: mentor for me, The way I like to kind of
Speaker 1: think of it is that I love taking people by
Speaker 1: the hand and walking them down the road of whatever
Speaker 1: it is that they're trying to do in auditions, helping
Speaker 1: them avoid the potholes, helping them, you know, know where
Speaker 1: the hairpin turns without any guardrails are, in order to
Speaker 1: get them to their goal, get them to where they
Speaker 1: want to go. Yeah, they're gonna make mistakes their own,
Speaker 1: but they don't have to make my mistakes. They don't
Speaker 1: have to make the mistakes that everyone else makes, and
Speaker 1: it's just going further faster. That's why you hire a
Speaker 1: good mentor, right, That's why people want to be a
Speaker 1: part of your contest, because you get to go further
Speaker 1: faster and in this ever changing, high paced world, that's
Speaker 1: that's vital. That's great. Thank you. We were It's funny
Speaker 1: because Christy and I often talk about because we both
Speaker 1: started so young, you know, we were both child actors,
Speaker 1: and so it's one of those things where you it
Speaker 1: can be it can be a dangerous road. There's no
Speaker 1: other way to say it. It's not what you know.
Speaker 1: It can be depressing or upsetting. No, it can be dangerous.
Speaker 1: So knowing that there are people out there that are
Speaker 1: actually looking out for the next generation that is up
Speaker 1: and coming is hugely important and something that a lot
Speaker 1: of people needed or need still nowadays because you're right Yecially,
Speaker 1: you're supposed to make your own mistakes. That's a point
Speaker 1: of growing up. Uh, and you're growing up in the
Speaker 1: business and becoming better at what you're doing. Of course,
Speaker 1: you know they say, what is it. No, Um, no
Speaker 1: great sailor ever learned anything in calm Sea's So it's
Speaker 1: just I mean, that's just the way it is. So uh.
Speaker 1: But knowing that there's a great captain out there who's
Speaker 1: going to teach you the ropes not mixed metaphors, um,
Speaker 1: but it's but it's pretty wonderful. So uh, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: great that you're doing that, and please keep that up
Speaker 1: because it's sure. But I think it's now more than ever,
Speaker 1: especially with the kids coming up and I mean kids
Speaker 1: like anyone, from kids like you are when you first started,
Speaker 1: to people who are in their twenties coming out of college.
Speaker 1: I mean, we are so at least in this country.
Speaker 1: We are so fame obsessed, we are so um obsessed
Speaker 1: with you. Yeah well, yeah, well, and but there's something
Speaker 1: to be said for being selfish, but then there's something
Speaker 1: to be said for being self centered, right, And so
Speaker 1: when we selfish and we don't realize that it's selfish,
Speaker 1: when we get caught up in in what I've heard
Speaker 1: called vanity metrics, the likes, the subscribers, the number of
Speaker 1: auditions that we've gone on, right, or the number of
Speaker 1: this that those are just vanity metrics that make our
Speaker 1: ego feel better, right, Because go to your supermarket and
Speaker 1: try and pay for your food with subscribers or likes
Speaker 1: right there, they'll kick you out. So really, then focusing
Speaker 1: on what matters, and you say, it's a dangerous road.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, because we get caught up in allowing our
Speaker 1: value to be determined by the number of people clapping, right,
Speaker 1: or the number of people liking, or the number of
Speaker 1: how much money we're making, And that's not it. And
Speaker 1: so I'm so glad that you're doing things like this.
Speaker 1: I'm glad that I get to do stuff like I
Speaker 1: do because I'm shifting and I know you are as well.
Speaker 1: Shifting the perspective away from all that vanity stuff and
Speaker 1: more towards like, hey, here the nuts and bolts. You're
Speaker 1: gonna make huge mistakes. But if you're willing to fail,
Speaker 1: like you like to talk about here, if you're willing
Speaker 1: to just go for it, you're going to discover so
Speaker 1: much about yourself. And I will guarantee you every single
Speaker 1: thing that I've ever done that has had any sort
Speaker 1: of success in it, whether that's the Little Sweet commercials
Speaker 1: or this Disney project or American Idol or Broadway, I
Speaker 1: have failed miserably, but I've been willing to fail because
Speaker 1: in those moments of failure, I'm like, oh, that doesn't work,
Speaker 1: or in those moments of I don't know what's gonna
Speaker 1: come out next, let's see what happens. Like that thing,
Speaker 1: that reason why we got into this business, that unique
Speaker 1: X factor, if you will, not to talk about another show,
Speaker 1: but that that X factor that is unique to us
Speaker 1: and us alone, is allowed to shine through. Man. That's
Speaker 1: great that you are a wonderful guest and we're so
Speaker 1: lucky to have you on. And obviously I told you
Speaker 1: I'm I'm already a fan of the show and I
Speaker 1: will be watching it yeah, alright, So I have a
Speaker 1: question that I have a question for you. You're you
Speaker 1: get to pick your ultimate voice over role. Who do
Speaker 1: you play any character? No matter what you are the
Speaker 1: voice of, who's it gonna be? Wow? Is it Mickey?
Speaker 1: You know what? I love Mickey, as we all do.
Speaker 1: The one thing about well you know what, Yeah, Mickey
Speaker 1: would be super fun. I mean I take it from
Speaker 1: like also, I think like a life perspective because it's like,
Speaker 1: you do Mickey, and that's probably all you're gonna do.
Speaker 1: That's your job. That's your job until you've just written
Speaker 1: the first line of your obituary. Right, Yeah. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: interesting with these shows. It's interesting with these like really
Speaker 1: popular shows, right like um Wicked, for example, I was
Speaker 1: in that on Broadway. There are people who been in
Speaker 1: that from the very beginning. Lion King. I could have
Speaker 1: been in that maybe a couple of years into it,
Speaker 1: and we called the Golden Handcuffs, right, It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, you're like the gilded Cage. Yeah it is.
Speaker 1: It is gold handcuffs, gilded cage and all that stuff.
Speaker 1: So I would say Nicky would be really fun, But um,
Speaker 1: I would love to play um like a really comedic, fun,
Speaker 1: goofy character. Um, you know, like something along the lines
Speaker 1: of and and you know, who could ever possibly do
Speaker 1: this better than then he could? But like the Genie
Speaker 1: with Robin Williams where you can just go off, you
Speaker 1: know like that with that kind of character. So, you know,
Speaker 1: would I have a character that I've always loved? Um,
Speaker 1: I can't like picking which breath I like exactly, But yeah,
Speaker 1: I seem to be more the Disney side than say
Speaker 1: superhero side. So it's not like, oh, I want to
Speaker 1: play Superman or I want to play Batman, or I
Speaker 1: want to play interesting. But like I think it would
Speaker 1: be on It would be interesting, But I think I
Speaker 1: like more of the fun characters. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: nothing would be just having my voice and just using
Speaker 1: it like that, right, But there's something to be said for,
Speaker 1: you know, some of the more you know, fun guys.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know. It just seems fun to me.
Speaker 1: Make bold choices bold that so interesting? Interesting? How about
Speaker 1: a villain if you ever want? I mean, we've got
Speaker 1: kies with super kitties, We've got you know, it's kind
Speaker 1: of the fun young more other than being a villain.
Speaker 1: It's more just kind of finding your way and maybe
Speaker 1: not always taking the right path. What about a super
Speaker 1: villain something along those lines could be pretty I'd always
Speaker 1: love to play the Joker. Yeah, that would be like
Speaker 1: that would again, it's just like more of like the
Speaker 1: sort of real crazy guy. And I actually got to
Speaker 1: meet Mark hamill uh during one Tony's and I was like,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I love you more for Luke
Speaker 1: or for the Joker. Yeah. We were when we were
Speaker 1: doing Return of the Joke and I was just sitting
Speaker 1: in between him and Kevin Conroy for a week. It
Speaker 1: was the most insane thing in the world watching the
Speaker 1: two of them go back and forth. It's like, I
Speaker 1: don't even belong in this room. Yeah I know, it's
Speaker 1: the greatest. Yeah, so that character. And you know they've
Speaker 1: I've I've actually auditioned for it and they didn't want
Speaker 1: you to do the Mark version of it. But they've
Speaker 1: had a bunch of different kind of you know, some
Speaker 1: people are just like this is the joke, like we
Speaker 1: like interesting like choices on the Joker. So but but yeah,
Speaker 1: I would. I would. I would steal greatly from Mark
Speaker 1: Cambll's version. Everyone would. That's just the way it is.
Speaker 1: When you got the best, you kind of go okay,
Speaker 1: yeah exactly. It's like yeah, exactly right, yeah, I'll be
Speaker 1: the cheaper version, right exactly. That's what they say. It's
Speaker 1: like I'm diet I'm I'm diet joker exactly. So other
Speaker 1: than super kitties, where else can everybody find you? Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness? Well, all you have to do is just
Speaker 1: search on social media at Justin Guarini. If you can't
Speaker 1: spell that, don't worry. Just took look up the guy
Speaker 1: with from American idol with the hair that help, right.
Speaker 1: A couple of other people will come up, but I'm
Speaker 1: the one. I'm the Justin little I was gonna say
Speaker 1: when I thought the guy with the with the huge
Speaker 1: mohawk would have yeah, yeah, yeah, he'll come up. He'll
Speaker 1: come up to he's a lovely guy by the way.
Speaker 1: Um but uh yeah and that and just you know,
Speaker 1: you can find everything from my book to wacky videos
Speaker 1: of my children driving me crazy all there on social
Speaker 1: media at Justin Guarini. And don't forget to catch super
Speaker 1: Kiddies on Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney Plus. It's
Speaker 1: out now, please go watch it. It sounds like a
Speaker 1: ton of fun. Yeah. I don't know if anybody's going
Speaker 1: to be more excited than you about it, though, I
Speaker 1: think a little six year old that's yes. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: it takes so long. It takes so long for all
Speaker 1: for all the voicing and the the animation and stuff
Speaker 1: like that. So you know, it's just been I feel
Speaker 1: like I've just been like sitting on my hands for
Speaker 1: like the better part of a year wait more actually
Speaker 1: waiting for this to happen. So now that it's finally here,
Speaker 1: I couldn't be more excited. Sounded on the rooftop, so gratulations.
Speaker 1: This is the coolest thing in the world. And thank
Speaker 1: you again for mentoring everybody else coming out check out
Speaker 1: his book and you know all the social media stuff
Speaker 1: and of course Super Kitties which is coming. And thank
Speaker 1: you so much for joining us. Really it's very cool,
Speaker 1: and we want to have you back on when we
Speaker 1: are in the midst of our contest, we'll we'll fring
Speaker 1: you out an absolutely on. Maybe you can help come
Speaker 1: and mentor one of the one of the younger voice
Speaker 1: over actors as they would love to bread and Butter.
Speaker 1: I love it awesome. Thank you so much. For joining us.
Speaker 1: Go check out everything he's doing. Because I don't know
Speaker 1: about you, but I'm pretty inspired right now. I mean,
Speaker 1: and I think, thank you, thank you so much. Justice,
Speaker 1: Yeah my pleasure. Yeah. Thanks. That was amazing. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's so inspiring to to talk to him, and I
Speaker 1: feel like I could run like two or three miles
Speaker 1: after right, right, It's just it's somebody who's so positive
Speaker 1: and who who um, I mean, just it was. I know.
Speaker 1: We've talked about our contest a whole bunch of times. Again,
Speaker 1: it's a super awesome Christy, it's the super awesome contest
Speaker 1: to become. It's the super awesome contest. I can't look
Speaker 1: at it to become. The next it is and your
Speaker 1: big break, people, it's your break break. January ninth to
Speaker 1: February nine, Enter again and up to a two minute video.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this. Do whatever you want voice over wise, uh,
Speaker 1: please enter because we're gonna find you and don't ever
Speaker 1: forget if you think you have what it takes to
Speaker 1: step up to the microphone, put your voices where your
Speaker 1: mouth is. Thanks everybody, by guys I Hear Voices is
Speaker 1: hosted by Wilfred l and Christy Carlson Romano Executive produced
Speaker 1: by Wilford L. Brendan Rooney, Amy Sugarman and Vicky Ernst Chang.
Speaker 1: Our executive in charge of production is Danielle Romo, Our
Speaker 1: producer is Lorraine Vera Wez and our editor slash engineer
Speaker 1: is Brian Burton. And that was my announcer voice. Some
Speaker 1: side effects of listening to I Hear Voices are sore
Speaker 1: abs from hilarity falling down the Coco melon rabbit hole,
Speaker 1: sneezing due to mass nostalgia, and hugs. Follow I Hear
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Speaker 1: any of the amazing voices. Be sure to follow us
Speaker 1: on Instagram and TikTok at I Hear Voices podcast. You
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