Voice Recreation: Yellow Diamond – “Steve Universe”

As a voice actor who really enjoys playing against type, or subverting expectations; and as a Queer actor as well, I have spent many years developing several feminine voices. In many ways, I have the most fun behind the mic with them. And while I can’t hope to reach the higher-pitched range of cute or bubbly female characters, I’ve discovered a very comfortable place performing deeper voiced women with powerful tones. Think Maleficent, who was voiced by Eleanor Audley in the original Sleeping Beauty, or Ursula the Sea Witch, who was voiced by Pat Carroll.

In the video below, I was very excited to try and tackle a similar character with Yellow Diamond, voiced by singer and stage performer, Patti LuPone. The challenge here was resting the voice in just the right spot, giving a soft, almost comforting tone with just a subtle hint of malice that grows over time. But, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to produce this performance if I didn’t have a Peridot to act against.

Thankfully, I was lucky to find Anime Potato VA at the time, who was very kind in lending her time to this recreation project.