Conversations with Becky Boxer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Becky Boxer

Becky, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

After playing a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz at 6yrs old, I told my loving and slightly surprised parents, I was moving to LA. They smiled, and insisted that I was going to have to wait until I was an adult. So, a month after graduating Columbia College Chicago, I packed up my purple dodge and headed to the left coast. I was fortunately able to get signed by my first LA Agent, TGI Buchwald, within a few months of my arrival, and in the first 5 years of my career, I hosted “USA’s Summer Rental” on the USA Network, co-starred in the movie,“The Last Siege”, (starring Jeff Fahey and Ernie Hudson) and did a handful of pilots and commercials.

However, during many auditions in these early years, casting directors told me that I had an amazing voice, but sounded far older than I looked. You see, I have had a raspy, low voice since childhood. It was always very unique, and my college professors and many industry folks told me that I HAD to get into voiceover. The Dean of my Theater School, Sheldon Patinkin, even said I had a “jewel in my throat.” So, in 2001, I came back to Chicago for a brief time, and with the encouragement and support of the amazing Linda Jack (formerly of Linda Jack Talent), I was able to kick off my VoiceOver career, (which has now been the focus of my professional life for over 20 years).

The story of how I met Linda and broke into VoiceOver is seriously an industry miracle. Back in Chicago, I cold-called a Voice-Over Agent (Linda Jack Talent) and Linda, the boss, who never answered her own phone, happened to answer my call. After a brief conversation, she said, “Come in tomorrow. I have a good feeling about you.” Within my first few weeks at LJT, I booked my first National Campaign, becoming the Voice of Tampax for a handful of years. In Chicago, I had a lot of National Gigs (We used to actually go into the ad agencies and meet people then, so it was easier to get to know the people hiring). After about six months, I booked a National Campaign for Kraft Dressing that caught the attention of Erik Seastrand at William Morris in LA. So, I headed back to LA, and reached out to Erik. We totally hit it off, and I quickly signed with William Morris, (where I remained until their VO Department closed during the pandemic). It was honestly an industry miracle. During my time at Willy Mo, (this is what we affectionately called it and what it said on our softball jerseys), I was the Main Female Voice (Voice A) in SIMS 3, which lasted for years with expansion packs, I also got the gig as the Voice of California Tourism in the early 2000s, which  gratefully lasted 20 years. VO is different then on-camera, and a core group of us went in every single day to audition. So, these people became my family. I worked a lot, especially in my early years at WME, other companies include Michelob Ultra, Ford, HGTV, 7-11, Albertsons and many more. Also, during this time, I had the honor of working on-camera with Sam Mendes, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in the movie, Jarhead, and a handful of other projects. When WME eventually shut its doors, I joined ACM Talent Management and VOX, where I am repped now.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely NOT been a smooth road. At 22, there was no stopping me, and I cold-called  Buchwald’s Children’s Dept, TGI Talent, for weeks before they agreed to shut me up by taking a meeting. However, when I moved to Chicago and then back to LA, they told me that I was officially too “old” to be with a children’s agent and dropped me. Getting an on-camera agent in my late 20s was way harder. I did score one eventually, JLA Talent, (they got me a Jarhead and a few other projects), but honestly, being a woman in your 20s auditioning on-camera in LA, is very very competitive. I was told all sorts of awful things about my appearance. It was an emotional struggle, which is another reason I am so grateful that I landed in voiceover. Although my intro to VO was smooth, I have learned the hard way over the years, that there is nothing smooth about being a working scale actor. I have had great years, where I made a lot of money, and honestly many years, where I made little. Now, gigs tend to pay less, the market is way more saturated, and adding AI to the equation has me and many other voiceover actors very afraid for the future of our careers.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

I really love what I do!  I have a very raspy, low voice, and seem to really nail the reads that call for an Aubrey Plaza-like sarcasm or a Jennifer Lawrence devil-may-care tone. (Although, I’ve booked Mom stuff too and all types of characters over the years). The majority of my career, my speciality has been commercials, (most recently I have voiced spots for Michaels, Purdue Chicken, Culligan and more), but with the rise of the massive video-game industry, I am happy to say that video-game acting is something I now get to play in a lot. I was a SIM for many years in SIMS 3, voiced a bunch of Zombies in several Resident Evil Games and in Zombieland: Double Tap. (I was actually the only female cast on the Zombieland Zombie Team) I also played a memorable Evil Three-Headed Boss in Devil May Cry 5, a Communist Soldier in Fallout 76: Skyline Valley, Ingrid in Nikke: Goddess of Victory and many more. I have a few up-coming projects that I am really excited about too, (and can’t mention yet)!  Oh, and I even played an evil MALE Overlord in an anime movie! I think my unique voice sets me apart, as well as my experience and willingness to take risks and just get in the sandbox and play! I am really so proud of all of my work, and my ability to remain a working actor the past 20+ years. I don’t think I can pick one favorite! Although I do have a special place in my heart for the animated children’s show, S.M.A.S.H (available now on Amazon Prime) because voicing a little boy was always a dream!

Currently, I have a great role in a movie written by, directed by and starring my love, Layton Matthews. It’s called Mcconadilla, and we just had our LA Premiere at the Regal LA Live, during the Culver City Film Festival on December 13th!  We also premiered and were nominated for Best Actor and Best Comedy at Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Film Festival in New Jersey, and now we can’t wait to share this labor of love with the world!

Who else deserves credit in your story?
I am so grateful to have had so many amazing mentors and people who believed in me throughout my life. I would like to especially thank my amazing high school theater teacher, Charles Dribin. I struggled a lot emotionally in high school, but always had a huge passion, dedication and love for theater and Individual Events (speech team). Dribin taught me that it was worth pursuing this love, and that I could be successful in doing so, despite personal set-backs and challenges. Also, with the support of Dribin, Pat Murphy and my Individual Events Coach, David L Epstein, I was able to go to earn State and National Recognition for the variety of fun characters I could do, which directly prepared me for the world of VoiceOver and built my confidence to pursue this dream. Then, at Columbia College, I found some tremendous mentors in Sheldon Patinkin, Martin DeMaat, Jim Zulevic and many of my professors! Also, I had the honor of taking classes at Second City Chicago in both High School and College and studying with teachers like Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert. That was a crazy honor! Once I moved out to LA, TGI Buchwald took a chance on me, which is more than I could have ever hoped for as a nobody, with zero connections moving from Chicago. Early on in LA, I was also a part of Dan Lauria’s Playwright’s Kitchen Ensemble Theater Company, and they were a tremendous support. Then came my Voiceover Career, for which I have Linda Jack and Vanessa Lanier from Linda Jack Talent (now Grossman & Jack Talent) to thank for kicking off. They took a chance on me and taught me all the ins and outs of VO. Also, I am beyond grateful to Erik Seastrand, formerly of  William Morris, now ACM Talent ,who signed me years ago and is still one of my greatest advocates, supporters and a life-long friend. I am still with Erik, Andrew Atkins and the rest of my Great Management Team at ACM and my current awesome agents  at VOX. There have been so many others along the way, including my awesome parents and family and my partner, Layton (who is  obviously a rockstar himself). I have always maintained a huge attitude of gratitude when it comes to the industry and have been incredibly lucky to find many fabulous supporters and teammates along the way!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beckyboxer.com
• Instagram: @bexboxer
• Facebook: Becky Boxer
• Twitter: @bexboxer
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=becky+boxer+playlist
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0411440/

Image Credits
Tyler Curtis for Headshot… I’m not sure how to upload more images.. pls advise