Filipina voice actor successfully finds niche in gaming industry

MANILA, Philippines — Last year, Riot Games’ popular first-person shooter game Valorant launched its very first Manila-born agent, Neon. The character’s trailer was full of Pinoy Easter eggs, with a "PILIPINAS" jersey hanging on her wall. But what delighted Filipino fans the most was Neon’s Tagalog dialogues, with a few “Hoy!” and “Ingat ka” sprouting in-game and her most quotable line, "I'll show them! Lintik kayo!" during crucial game plays, voiced by Filipino voice actor Vanille Velasquez.

It had always been Velasquez’s dream to be part of video games and animation as she was a gamer herself.

“I've been playing games since I was about five or six years old. I wanted to be a part of video games simply because I really enjoyed them. I began playing fighting games but as I grew older, I really fell in love with RPGs [because] I love rich stories and memorable characters and it's those stories and characters, and the actors of those characters' performances, that really inspired me to want to do the same thing. I wanted to be THAT actor playing THAT character who would then inspire other gamers.” Velasquez told Philstar.com in an exclusive interview in celebration for National Women’s Month.

Velasquez won first runner-up during Hero TV’s Dubbing Academy and landed her first role in the Tagalog dub of Nickelodeon’s animated show, The Loud House. She ended up doing mostly dubbing work for local studios, as well as dubbing English telenovelas and Chinese animated shows overseas. She also voiced independent games and animated thesis films, which helped her hone her skills in voice acting.

Landing roles while based in the Philippines was one of the hurdles Velasquez faced in her dream to be a voice actor. It is said that it’s more difficult to land major roles in animated shows or video games if you do not reside near Los Angeles, California, where most of the studios are located.

Velasquez herself also had the same belief, thinking it would be near impossible to land a role in a mainstream video game as she had dreamed to do unless she relocated to the United States.

“It admittedly continues to be a challenge still today. With our days in lockdowns farther and farther away now, more projects are returning to exclusively recording in-studio in the United States. But opportunities for actors working outside of the United States are still out there. It's just that we have this extra pressure to perform exceedingly well because we were competing with the convenience that actors based there provided, other than simply competing with them as the best for the role. We have to be absolutely perfect for the role so they don't think twice about hiring us despite the location and time difference,” said Velasquez.

It was in 2020 when Velasquez landed her first original animation role in Singaporean animated TV series Lil Wild, and in 2021, she was voicing titular character Jelly in PBS Kids’ animated shorts Jelly Ben & Pogo when her dreams of being part of video games would soon become reality.

“I was contacted by a casting producer [for Riot Games], who told me she found me online via social media. I’m pretty active online as a voice actor [as] I often posted my work, demos, etc. She had looked into me and my website, even listened to a podcast where I was interviewed a year or two prior, before offering me an audition via email,” recounted Velasquez.

She added: “I had two auditions for them. An initial audition where I had very little details and then a callback audition where it was revealed to me that I was auditioning for two different characters in [two games].”

Those two characters would be her biggest roles yet: Valorant’s Neon and League of Legend’s Zeri.

Though many people thought Velasquez’ success happened overnight, it was the opposite.

“There’s this perception that it happened pretty much overnight but what people don’t see is the long road it took to get there. Acting is seen as somewhat of a glamorous job but like any other job, you start from the bottom and you work your way up. I was definitely not doing video games my first year voice acting. And even when you do get there, you shouldn’t feel like you’re too proud and you’re above doing smaller roles now. A job is a job, big or small,” shared Velasquez.

But as she reached the top, Velasquez found herself facing a new challenge.

“The launch of my characters from Riot Games really altered my personal life and how I navigate the internet. I used to be very active online and would rarely take a pause before I post something. Comments excited me. Even in the weeks leading up to their release, I was obsessively monitoring what people were saying so far. But when suddenly, everyone knew and they were talking more directly to me or about me, it really opened my eyes to how awful people could be on the internet, and just how far people could misinterpret what you actually said. People like to say they don't think trolls could get to them but I think it's really something you only understand once you experience it firsthand. I was so taken aback by this that it pushed me off the internet mere weeks after that launch,” said Velasquez.

Though it was a hard time, Velasquez looks back on it as a learning experience that helped her develop a more mature and cautious internet personality.

“I believe that I have thicker skin now, but I'm also more cautious about how I navigate the internet and I've grown to appreciate spending more time offline. At the same time, I'm learning to love creating content again without that fear of scrutiny from random strangers. I know it isn't going to be easy, and I will continue to sometimes feel bad about a comment, but I'm more mature and I know to be easy on myself if that happens. It's all part of being human,” added Velasquez.

Women in gaming

Having grown up with that mindset that kids interested in gaming are “geeky” or “nerdy”, Velasquez is happy that the community is growing and that more people are seeing its value and moving from its previous negative connotation. She, however, believes in terms of women in esports and gaming, the community still has a long way to go.

“It’s no secret that the gaming world continues to be sexist. I hear from girls who feel the need to use a voice changer to modify their voice to sound more masculine so they have a better online gaming experience. It sucks. I personally don’t play a lot of online games in fear of having a similar encounter. I only ever play with friends, people I trust,” recalled Velasquez.

She also shared that she did a brand deal post for a computer company recently and she was met with comments criticizing her opinion just because she was a woman. She’s also received multiple unsolicited comments on her appearance, which she felt shouldn’t have been the case as the whole reason why being a voice actor appealed to her so much was because the person behind the voice was rarely seen and it was really about the performance.

“I always feel this need to dress up and have make up on before I make content and I resent this feeling because I don’t think male content creators feel that same need that female content creators do, but I do it anyway because I fear how my appearance will be perceived. I really do hope we’ll get to a point where absolutely no one cares what gender you are when you play games with them, or what type of games you play in the first place. While I do believe we’ve made some progress over the years, I also know we’re very much not there yet and we still have a lot of work left to do,” said Velasquez.

For those who wish to pursue a career in voice acting, Velasquez hopes they see beyond the glitz and glamor.

“If you’re interested in voice acting for video games, know that the road isn’t going to be smooth and it definitely won’t be instant. If you have ambition to be [a voice actor], you will need thick skin to deal with comments on your performance, or just about you personally. Notoriety is a double-edged sword. You will hear hurtful words from people, but at the same time it feels amazing to hear from people who were touched by your work. That’s what keeps you going, knowing you’re doing something that makes an impact in someone’s life out there, however little that may be. You become part of their memories the same way the voice actors in the games I grew up playing have shaped my memories of gaming. You have to remember why you’re doing this, so you don’t get lost in the noise,” she said.