Roy Kelly

Accents: I do an Indian accent that is quite intelligible and would probably not be considered cartoonish. My New York area accent is gritty and deep and has been compared to Ray Liotta so many times that I almost feel comfortable calling it an imitation. My British accent is good and serves well as a narrator, but isn’t localized enough to pass as a character from a specific region of England. It is also well-used for a villainous character who possesses gravitas and intelligence. My Texas accent reaches for cowboy greatness and might best be regarded as a lovable roughneck. With enough direction, it could stand in for the great Sam Elliott in a Dodge ad if he called in sick one day. Impersonations: The Emperor from Star Wars, and Richard Nixon. Don’t take that as a political statement. I consider so few of my voices to be successful imitations because I hold impersonations to a very high standard. For characterizations, I’m proud of my ability to be anywhere in between straight as an arrow and strange as you like. This is a real bright spot for me. My voice can also go high into Mickey Mouse territory and almost as low as Don LaFontaine. I can do characters that sound so innocent and friendly that they would almost only work as the voice of a manatee. On the other hand, I really enjoy villains, skeptical characters, and wise guys. Tasked with voicing a man-sized cat with a taste for adventure and expensive merchandise, I came up with a deep voice that is projected from the throat, with rolled r’s and combines Arabic and Russian inflections. This combination successfully projects both eagerness and hysterical cynicism when called for. You will notice, particularly in my lower-pitch demo reel, that I can also do some post-production work. These examples should show you what final results my voice can be used for. My standout feature is that I can either develop something new and appropriate for your script, follow a standard pattern, or bring your direction to life.

I maintain a YouTube channel exclusively dedicated to my voiceovers. As of this writing, I have more than three million views, 18,500 subscribers and all my voiceovers (more than 100) are 98% “liked” or better. Mine is one of the few YouTube channels on which you will find voiceover “videos” with thousands of views and zero dislikes. This comes despite the fact that my voiceovers are hosted on a video site and yet almost never have any true video component. Most of my productions feature my voiceover plus an image of text scrolling so that the viewer can follow along if they wish. I have also managed to unite a base of subscribers with my work despite the fact that the material I use for my voiceovers do not suit any particular taste. My voiceovers are, in fact, extremely eclectic, but I feel compelled to push my work into new areas to feel out my strengths and weaknesses as a voice actor. I have been paid to voice multiple characters from both the video game Super Lemonade Factory and the online publication The Izzy Story. I recently graduated top of my class with a history degree, so I have an edge on reading complicated texts with many clauses in a way that makes sense and sounds as if I am an authority on the subject. This puts me in an advantaged position for documentaries and educational materials of all sorts.