"Hear People´s Story; Give Them Room to Make Mistakes" - Interview with Andy Danish

By Bessy ADUT

Andy Danish is an LA-based voice actor and comedy writer. As a voice actor going on 15 years in the business, his career includes but is not limited to dubbed shows for Netflix, Paramount Plus, and Hulu, and projects for clients such as Citibank, McAfee, Pepsico, Moneygram, Porsche, Philips, Hotwheels, Cafe Vergnano, National Geographic Learning, Lay's Potato Chips, and more. His favorite gigs have been being the voice of Slinky and Stinky Pete from Disney's Toy Story for the videogame "Little Big Planet 2" as well as voicing ancillary characters in the Spongebob Squarepants franchise for the Nickelodeon app "The Spongebob Squarepants Challenge". Additionally, he is currently writing and producing comedy short films that have screened in multiple film festivals including the Los Angeles International Film Festival, Palm Springs Shortfest, and at TCL Chinese Theatres! His philosophy when it comes to comedy...Complete and utter absurdity!

Where are you located?

Los Angeles, CA

What are your current projects?

As a voice actor, the most recent jobs I've been working on are a lot of dubbing gigs for streaming series on Paramount Plus and Netflix. Mostly live action dubs for Spanish Language or German Language shows, "The First of Us", "Cecilia", "See You in Another Life", "Once Upon a Crime" "The Sheik", "El Rapto", "Heavenly Bites" and a few others! As well as e-learning narration for educational publishers.

As a comedy writer, I currently have 2 shorts screenings in Film Festivals. My latest one was screening at TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood as part of the Silicon Beach Film Festival.

Please share how you got started and got to where you are today...

I got started in voiceover 15 years ago while I was still living in New York. I had taken an animation voiceover weekend workshop in 2009. It was then that I developed a strong love, passion, and real connection to the industry and the craft. In that same class, I met and started freelancing with my first voiceover agent. They started representing me for Animation, Videogames, and Dubbing. Shortly after I had booked my first VO gig for a TV documentary on MSNBC called "Witness to Waco". While living in NYC, I was doing a lot of ongoing e-learning and corporate voiceover narration gigs for National Geographic Learning, and other educational publishers that were my bread and butter jobs. I love voiceover work a lot. Simultaneously, I was performing and writing sketch comedy. I was part of the National Lampoon's streaming iHeartradio show for a few years as a contributor and voice actor. I performed in a lot of sketch comedy shows at the People's Improv Theater in NYC and in a few comedy festivals all over the country. When the Pandemic came about, me and my girlfriend decided that New York wasn't the right place for us to be anymore. So we made the move to Los Angeles. We currently live in North Hollywood, and I continue my career in voiceover out here.

Has it been a smooth road?

There are always challenges for sure. Both personal and in the world. To share a personal example, there were prominent health issues. As a kid, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I have had to take medications for it my whole life, manage the side effects, and be mindful of when seizures would occur. I still do to this day and often have had seizures in scenarios that were not ideal and embarrassing, both in professional and personal circumstances.

Tell us more about your life and career...

I was born in NYC, and grew up in Leonia, New Jersey, which is right next to the George Washington Bridge. I was obsessed with The Muppets and The Simpsons as a kid and loved imitating the character voices a LOT. Probably way too much. I also loved the Marx Brothers movies, and the Zucker brothers movies (Naked Gun, Hot Shots). They definitely had a strong influence on my sense of humor. I was strongly connected to my Jewish roots growing up as part of a Jewish youth organization called Hashomer Hatzair, which is left-leaning/secular. There were lots of meetups and activities that revolved around a dialogue about our Jewish identity. It also involved going to summer camp which was similar to living on a Kibbutz for many years. There I learned a lot about the value of community. It inspired me to want to be a Hippie, grow my hair out, run around in ripped jeans, and be barefoot as if I were at Woodstock all the time. I still carry the Jewish Hippie part of me everywhere I go. After graduating from college, I briefly worked as a desk assistant for W-ABC Channel 7 news. But I decided news wasn't for me. So after that, I did an apprenticeship at the Shakespeare Theater of NJ! I learned a lot about Shakespeare and Classical theater. I did a lot of overhire work like set painting and working the spotlight for shows like Richard III! I also got my first batch of actor's equity points from my time there. This also made a huge mark on me. I pursued acting and theater for a while performing mostly in regional equity theater and Shakespearean productions. It was around that time I earned my Equity card that I had the crossroads into Voiceover and Sketch writing.

What do you think goodness is?

I think goodness is willing to hear everyone's story, give people room to make mistakes, and raise others up when they are down.

Who are you outside of your professional life?

I'm very silly. I love junk food. I love horror movies. I have the most handsome dog. His name is Homer. My girlfriend and I go hiking together and eat cheese a lot. I'm a music snob. I love building cosplay for comic cons and have gone with a cosplay group a few times at NY Comic-Con and San Diego Comic-Con. I once built a moving Venom mask and a giant Super Shredder cosplay!

Are you interested in environmental issues?

Certainly, I love being in Nature, and I think it's important we protect the natural parts of the world.

Do you think the world is not a good place right now?

I believe there is plenty of room in the world for good things to occur and for people to do good things, but of course the world is and always has been problematic. Speaking as a Jew, antisemitism has once again become more blatant, even though it's always been present. I do my part to combat it by staying connected to others in the community and mindful of where it exists. I once saw a Swastika drawn on the railing near a synagogue next to the park where I take my dog to play. I made a point to get a paintbrush, black paint, and a black marker to thoroughly and completely cover it and blend it in with the rest of the railing.

How do you make the world a better place?

I always believed in the power of community and empathy. One avenue that I have been honored to be part of has been being on an advisory board committee for an amazing organization called The National Association of Voice Actors(NAVA). NAVA works toward the protection of voice actors and provides resources to help them navigate their careers for issues such as the impact of Generative AI, understanding union contracts, accessing health insurance, DEI initiatives, and other important areas that make a direct impact on their careers. In general, NAVA is working to empower artists so that in an age where generative AI in voiceover has become more and more common, we can continue to have humans at the center of artistic creations by emphasizing what are known as the '3 Cs'; Consent, Control, and Compensation. NAVA's work also includes collaborating with groups internationally and not just within the US.

How can we all make the world better?

I personally believe in organizing and coming together to create community, and to practice empathy when we can.

How can science and spirituality coexist?

Both are important. I believe science guides us to see the building blocks of the world around us, and spirituality can guide us personally to find how we fit into the world.

If you could go anywhere, where would you go (and why)?

I would love to visit Japan. But I also would love to visit any location that has a basic beach and tropical locale (I love beaches and I love tropical locations).

Please let us know anything else you'd like to share with us...

Fun fact; for a few years I also was a Supernumerary for The Metropolitan and NYC Operas! (Spear Carrier essentially).

Also, stay Mazel Tough!

Please provide shareable links (website, social media)...

Website - www.andydanish.com

Instagram - @andysvoice 

Please provide media links to share...

My narration page - https://www.andydanish.com/narration-voice

My character page - https://www.andydanish.com/character-voice

National Association of Voice Actors - https://navavoices.org/

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