Anna Parker-Naples's Page

From a young age I loved to read aloud. I couldn’t get enough of books and learning. At the age of seven I remember rushing through my books so that I could ask the teacher if I could go back to the library again! And then I discovered that I actually enjoyed reading aloud to the class. Why did other children dread it?! I had the whole room listening to me and I loved it!

I never planned to be a Voiceover Artist. It didn’t come first as my passion, not for a long while. No, the Royal Shakespeare Company was going to snap me up right out of Drama School as far as I was concerned. Yet time and again my teachers and  vocal coaches, and then casting directors and then theatre directors would tell me how pretty, and lyrical my speaking voice was. How they could listen to me speak for hours. How young I sounded (In my late teens I only wanted to sound more mature, not like a young girlie girl!)

One day I stumbled on a Voiceover class at the Actors centre, and thought why not? I liked that there was a business approach to the industry, very different to the Acting world. The course was inspiring, and the teacher a Voiceover legend, sadly no longer with us. He gave me the confidence to just give it a go, and hey presto, within weeks of recording a demo, I had landed a massive commercial campaign for a leading brand of doll.. From then on my acting career was accompanied by Voice recordings for some of Britains’s best production companies, the likes of CiTV, CBeebies and Aardman Animation.  Still the penny didn’t drop. After all the Royal Shakespeare Company was calling.

It was only after a prolonged stint of ill-health which had me facing the prospect of potentially being wheelchair-bound indefinitely, and a casual remark from an audio engineer acquaintance, that I realised that Voiceover’s could now be done from anywhere, even from my own home given the right studio space and recording equipment. With the major technological advancements and the spread of the Internet, it was going to be possible for me to be in my wheelchair, and still be as energetic and youthful and upbeat as I wanted to be. I could still touch people with a powerful, fun performance, all from my seat. I set about to teach myself all I could about Voiceovers. I wanted to be the best that I possibly could be.

Along the journey it dawned on me that I have a unique talent, and a pretty, distinctive sound for Voice work. I love the fun I can have getting into character, I love getting the script just right, I love that other people are engaged, or inspired, or stimulated, or simply entertained by the quality of my performance. Working as a Voiceover Artist gave me a reason to get better, and now I am fit as a fiddle, and able to go for those audtions when the Royal Shakespeare Company comes calling (I’m performing there in Mar 2012,so no joke there !) and a chance to thrive if I hadn’t been so fortunate as to make a full recovery. It fits beautifully with my life as a busy mother of three children.  I feel so lucky to have found a blossoming career I am passionate about.