Reddit AMA Recap: Katelyn Barr



On how she got interested in voice acting.

I always wanted to be an actor in general. My dream as a kid was to be in musicals on Broadway (I’d still love to do that, tbh). I aspired to be an actor from a SUPER young age, took theatre/dance classes, acted in all the school plays. I think I was in college before I got super interested in VOICE acting, specifically. During that time there were a lot of Funimation dubs on Netflix, so I was watching stuff like Soul Eater, Gunslinger Girl, Shuffle, Baccano!… everything from that time period. And it kind of occurred to me that I could recognize the same 20 or so people from all of them. I thought that was AWESOME. I was like, “I want to be one of those people!” I started getting into auditioning for stuff online (back when Voice Acting Alliance was super popular, Idk if their site is still around…?) and taking on small projects just for fun and practice. After college, I moved to Houston (I’m from NC originally) because of my S.O. at the time got a job there. I knew that’s where Sentai is, but I didn’t think I could get my foot in the door. (I kind of thought of it like Hollywood… like it’s something people can’t realistically achieve? Haha, I don’t know why I thought that, honestly. It’s not EASY to get in and you have to live in the right place, but… it’s not Hollywood. Haha.) Anyway, I started working professionally as an actor in Houston and networked a lot. I met a lot of actors while doing theatre who are VAs at Sentai, and I guess one of them put my name in for an open casting call. (I have my suspicions of who it was but I don’t want to put that person on blast, lol) I’m forever grateful to her for believing I could do it when I thought it was totally out of reach for me. I went in for the audition in the summer of 2014. I performed for Emily Neves, who was a director there at that time. She had me read a bunch of random characters from shows that were already out, just to see what I could do. I had the time of my life. A few weeks later, I got cast as Liliana in Log Horizon. 🙂 Wow, that went long, haha…


On what character do you relate/connect the most in her voice acting career?

I actually have one character that’s EXACTLY me in some ways, but she’s still under NDA (and has been for a long time) so I always go “gahhh!” when I get this question, hahaha… So, if not her, I’d say Akiho Kosaka from “My Girlfriend is Shobitch”. (I’m serious! xD) She’s very point-blank about topics/situations that make most people uncomfortable, but she’ll get flustered over holding hands or something totally innocent like that, haha… She also is super awkward when she first meets people/tries to make friends, and she places a lot of value on making her S.O. happy and having a date be “perfect.” Totally me.


On her favorite anime art style and her time doing a voice for “Pop Team Epic”.

My favorite art style from a show I’ve worked on… I don’t think I’ve ever gotten this question before, so I had to think about it. I’d say probably Kakushigoto, which I’m working on right now (I voice Ami Kakei). The color palette reminds me of those “lo-fi study beats” type videos, and the edges are so soft and rounded… it’s just a really easy show to look at.

LOL, Pop Team Epic!! I think I was in one of the last few episodes (if not the very last one)… Honestly, I had been crossing my fingers all season to get to make even one PEEP in that hilarious show, so I was thrilled even to do that small part! I think it was like 1-2 lines?? Haha. It was also one of my first sessions with Cris George, and it’s always exciting to work with a new director and have a chance to show them what you can do.


On the most memorable moment, you had in a recording booth.

The most memorable moment, weirdly, was my very first session. Kyle Jones cast me as Liliana in Log Horizon. I was SCARED TO DEATH. I thought for sure I was gonna majorly screw up and they were gonna replace me and I’d never get to go in again. (Good thing the character was very meek and timid, haha…) I think my knees were literally trembling. I’ll never forget how surreal it felt to be doing something I’d always wanted to do, for real. I rarely get nervous anymore (just excited), but I’m still in awe that this is my job.


On her bizarre choice to voice, a character in the dub for “My Girlfriend is Shobitch”.

To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve never happy-danced like I did when I got the call for Shobitch. At that point, I’d moved up to Dallas and started working at Funi… I’d had some main cast roles by then, but Shobitch was my first time as THE lead. So I was PUMPED. I think directors know (because I’m always saying it, lol) that I’m not put off by fanservice/mature content. Like, at ALL. I’m not uncomfortable with it or offended by it. Shobitch was also a Kyle Jones show (he’s been responsible for a lot of my career milestones I guess!), so it was as fun as it could’ve possibly been. Kyle is a real collaborator and he comes up with some hilarious stuff on the fly. I’m REALLY proud of the work we did on that dub. Gah, I could talk about Shobitch all day, but I want to get to the rest of your questions, haha!

On her favorite Anime Dub acting role.

I could never pick a favorite role! It changes… Right now I’ve got a little extra love for Hina from BanG Dream since I play the game so much.


On what show she is most proud of in her acting career.

As an actor, I think I did some of my best work on Magical Girl Raising Project. I played a young boy who dreams of being a magical girl – and voiced his female magical girl persona as well. A huge part of Souta’s character was about the duality of his identity, so it was really satisfying to get to sink my teeth into a role that complex (and that was actually two roles, depending on how you think about it).


On recommendations to get your foot in the door in the voice acting business and tips to be a good voice actor.

I used to always say “you need to live where the work is”, but interestingly, 2020 is causing that to shift! I just did my first LA session last week from my home studio here in Texas. You should join VA communities online like Casting Call Club to find out about auditions for indie games and stuff that don’t require going to a studio. That way you can build up your resume and be ready for bigger opportunities later on. Who knows, you may be able to work on anime and video games from home! For all the bad things 2020 has brought, that’s definitely a small plus side. 🙂

I think every VA will tell you some variation on the same thing, which is to invest your time, energy, and money into taking acting classes and workshops. Voice acting, at the end of the day, is just one facet of acting, and I think it’s important to know whether you want to be an actor in the broader sense and not just a voice actor. A lot of people think voice acting is about being able to do lots of different types of voices and accents, but really, about 90% of the time, the director/client just wants your normal, natural voice. So hone those acting skills! I can also recommend getting into VA communities online, like Casting Call Club! That’s a great resource for finding auditions and getting feedback!


On advice for proper vocal training.

I do have proper vocal training! I took singing lessons in college and learned proper breath support and stuff like that. Learning to place your voice (head voice, throat voice, chest voice, abdominal voice) is super key, and that just comes with practice.

On conducting any special routines for specific roles.

I play characters across a very wide vocal range, so I always try to warm up in the voice of that specific character. I’ll sing or do tongue-twisters, or just say some of their “trigger lines” (lines of theirs that I memorized to help me get into the right voice). If it’s a new character I haven’t played before, I try to do my research and come up with the voice on my own, then see how the director wants to proceed with it from there. 🙂


On what character she least enjoyed voicing.

I literally can’t think of a character I didn’t like voicing! ^^; I’ve had sessions that didn’t go well, but never a character I didn’t like or wasn’t happy to be cast as. There have been times when I’ve walked in and been told which character I’m playing and I thought “huh??? WHY??? I’m not right for this!!” lol but I would never say that to the director.


On preparing for a vocal performance by watching a clip of the Japanese version of a show she’s doing.

At Funimation, when you record a line/group of lines, you ALWAYS listen to the Japanese performance first. At Sentai Filmworks, you sort of have the Japanese in your ear as you go. If there’s time before a session (and if I know which character I’m playing) I always try to look up a clip or something just to get an idea. It’s helpful for auditions too, to see if you’d be a good fit! I try not to let it rule my performance though. Sometimes the director wants something totally different!


On the recent trend of “official” dub VAs declaring war on the fandub community? And how she personally feels about it.

To be totally honest, a LOT of pro-VAs got their start doing fandubs. A lot of them aren’t against fandubs per se but are against treating them like professional work when they are not. As an actor, if you did fandubs, you shouldn’t put them on your professional resume, or try to pass yourself off as “the official voice of _______” because you will be looked upon poorly for that. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with doing fandubs for fun and practice. As long as it’s clearly delineated as separate from anything official/professional.

On trying to balance the original meaning of the Japanese version of a performance/script while making it also accessible for western audiences.

This is a really good question, thank you! At conventions, I’ve held whole panels about this. (Remember conventions? Good times… ;A;) ADR writing is one of the trickiest jobs in the dubbing process because there are so many factors to balance like you said in your question. There are also a lot of variables that fans don’t necessarily think of as a thing, like a licensor’s preference. Sometimes, we’ll get a show and go “oh I know exactly what to do with this” but the Japanese company will say something like “please don’t change this, please don’t take too many liberties”, etc. and we have to honor that because it is their IP. Also, different dub directors have different visions/preferences on their end. I’ve worked with directors who were very adamant about sticking as close to translation as possible, and I’ve worked with directors who basically just said “IDK, make it funny.” xD So, I try to take all those things into account while also interpreting the plot and characters in a way that I believe is faithful to the creator’s intent. If a line was meant to be funny in Japanese but the Japanese joke doesn’t make sense to English-speaking viewers, I still have to get the laugh, so I’ll create a joke that invokes the same response in English. I can’t think of a specific scene off the top of my head right now, but I think overall, the Clover Clips (Petit Clover) segments at the end of Black Clover episodes have given me the most challenge (read: headache, haha). They rely a LOT on wordplay (which is a big part of comedy in Japan, not so much here) and there will often be a visual on-screen that I can’t write around. (If the pun in Japanese is about a teapot and they SHOW a teapot in the character’s thought bubble, then I have to incorporate a teapot, too.) That was kinda long-winded, but it’s been my job for like 6 years now so I have a lot of feelings about it, lol.



On if she reads specific Manga in advance when translating a Japanese to English Anime script for accuracy.

I usually don’t have time to get into reading the manga when I’m acting in a show, but for writing, it’s an absolute must. I stay caught up with the manga of whatever show I’m writing (Black Clover right now) and I’m constantly checking whatever wiki I can find so that I can easily look up info about a character or place. I think my favorite manga I’ve read for a show I’ve written would probably be Citrus. The art is gorgeous; I couldn’t get enough of it. ALSO, I had to keep up with Quintessential Quintuplets to find out who the bride is, but I really just enjoyed that manga a lot anyway.

 The hardest thing she’s to overcome in her career.

Definitely the tendency to compare myself to other people. I still struggle with it sometimes, but it’s a natural thing for actors to do. There are highs and lows, feast and famine… times when you’ve got so much work you can’t balance it all and times when you haven’t booked anything in months and you wonder if everyone hates you and you suck. xD And during those low times, it’s hard not to look at someone else who’s getting cast and compare your journey to theirs. I find that I have to take social media breaks during these times and focus on myself and try to be grateful for what I have. 🙂

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Thanks for your time!