We Interview “The Living Fears Star” Hillary O’Keefe
Full transcript:
MAE:
So. Everything has to start somewhere, and this is how we are starting Unbranded Content. I’m Mae and this is the official podcast blog for all the projects and creative content produced by Unbrandable Media. Today I’m going to be sit ting down to have a conversation with Hillary O’Keefe. She plays Maggie, the lead in the upcoming release The Living Fears. Hillary?
HILLARY:
So. The Living Fears.
M:
Yeah.
H:
I am so excited for people to hear it, because I mean this particular story. It combines very average normal life even in all of its drab splender, if that’s such a thing. But it really take this, basic day for someone. Not a great day either. And it combines it with the supernatural, the creepy stuff, the spooky stuff. You know, it doesn’t really sound like your average horror story when it kicks off and then it eventually gets there, but I really like the juxaposition of those two sort of feels to it.
M:
That sounds like a good description of The Living Fears.
H:
Yup.
M:
I would say that it has a certain um, I don’t know, strength that comes from the blending of the two different worlds. Normal life and supernatural or paranormal activity togeth er without making it so, in your face. That you’re combining two separate worlds.
H:
Yeah. Its subtle and, I mean, that’s the way Dennis writes a lot of his stuff. Which is really fun.
M:
He does a good job blending things from a natural and un natural world without making it seem so off or weird.
H:
Mmhm. It all fits.
M:
On the topic of The Living Fears, you’re the voice for, ah Maggie, the Deputy who we follow through the story, right?
H:
Correct.
M:
You’re portraying the female lead in a story, told in the horror genre. At any point did you feel at all concerned that you’d be stereotyped or pushed into a type of performance you’re not comfortable with?
H:
Well, like from an actor’s standpoint, I don’t think so, be cause that’s not my main wheelhouse. Um, I can definately get there. I can do those characters, but I don’t think that’ll be the lasting impression people take away from this. Sim ply because the character, it doesn’t fit that trope. You know, its not this, like this helpless lady who is running through the woods, and she trips and falls and turns around and there’s the monster and it, you know, eats her up or whatev er.
M:
Ha! Eats her up!
H:
Eats her up, yeah! Just wrecks her day. Uh, that’s not this at all. And the way, you know, Dennis made sure to keep Maggie’s, um, you know, her personality. Her humanity. Her sensibilities. All of that is so much front and center. To me at least, it doesn’t feel like your typical horror scream queen kind of thing. If anything, I think it steps out of that typi cally female gender sterotype and she puts forward a much more neutral, if not slightly masculine energy throughout. So yeah. I’m not too worried about that.
M:
So you and Maggie are both somewhat similar and I’ve been able to tell that just by working with you before and I want to see how you feel you relate to Maggie.
H:
Ah. Well. Reading through Maggie’s story for the first time. Um. I understood why Dennis asked me to do this role. Um. Maggie and I have a similar sense of duy when it comes to doing what’s right. Like that appealed to me. She also approaches thing pragmatically. And with, you know, a sense of sort of rational scientific curiosity. You know, she doens’t go into this house thinking, oh boy there’s some, there’s some really creepy supernatural stuff in here and it’s absolutely gonna be the end of me. No she goes in thinking, I just need to extract these children from this, you know,
from this enviornment and that’s what I’m gonna do. I don’t want to be here. It’s late. The weather’s gross but I’m going to do it anyway. I can relate to that one hundred percent.
M:
So you are saying, that’s how you relate to Maggie. Are there any things about working with, or as Maggie that pushes you out of your comfort zone and makes you feel iffy about your performance?
H:
Oh yeah. Um. Yeah. This is my first attempt at portraying a character that was truly in pain towards the end. Truly in a state of panic but she’s also really trying very hard to
sound, not just in charge of her own emotions and her own experience, but like, she’s trying to intimidate the forces around her. Getting to that point, was not easy. Not gonna lie. I don’t think those are things I can just call upon in my everyday life expereience, because, hey, I’ve got {laughs}, nice friends and I live in a nice home. You know, like, there’s nothing there that challenges me physically or mentally like that. So, that took a couple of tries. Easily. Towards the end. And the act of screaming, which you know this is a horror. There’s no spoiler here…
M:
No, it’s not a horror! {laughs} Its not scary at all!
H:
Right? There’s going to be screaming in it, no spoiler. Getting to the point physically where I sounded, legit like I was, like what is happening in the story is happening to me. Getting that across on the microphone wasn’t easy! It is a full full-body experience. It is something you have to, you gotta picture a lot of things in your mind going on. It’s just a head-to-toe effort and it absolutely wiped me out. One hundred percent. I think there’s always this concern, am I going to be good enough? Am I going to be able to deliver what people want, ten years from now, 15, you know, even 20. Especially as my voice changes, I get older, you know.
M:
You mean normal human things? {laughs}
H:
I was gonna say its typical, it’s typical like, am I good enough actor stuff.
M:
That’s also, am I good enough teenager stuff!
H:
That’s true!
M:
Every high schooler in the world!
H:
Now that you, see now that you mention it, it does kind of feel like that. Maybe you can relate thinking that, perhaps, everyone is judging you all the time?
M:
No, that’s just called anxiety. {laughs}
H:
Ok. That’s what that is. All right well, in this, in this line of work…
M:
I can relate to that!
H:
In this line of work, you are literally being judged all the time. You are being judged critically. Quickly! {laughs} Um, and that’s, that’s how…
M:
As you would be in any media job.
H:
Yeah.
M:
That makes sense. I mean, anywhere you work in media, the feedback from the director or the producer or anyone like that. Them saying, I don’t think you should sound like that. Or, I think you should sound like this instead, that can hurt. But what will hurt worse is comments, because if people that can hurt you, the people that watch the show – listen to the show – will try to hurt you. Listen to, right?
H:
There’s a two-part answer. The first one is, I’m not reading any comments! I’m just not!
M:
{laughs}
H:
I’m not. And that’s for my sanity. And that’s for my mental health and wellbeaing. So there! If people want to tell me that its the worst thing they’ve ever heard, they are entitled to that opinion, and I wish them all the best in life. Now the second part to this question, is that working with Dennis, it’s such a good experience. He offers such support as a director, becasue he already knows what he wants me to sound like, before…
M:
Becasue he wrote the characters!
H:
Well, right! I mean obviously, but even between a couple of takes with these like, just super nuanced differences he already knew, that my second take, was better than my first take even though they sounded very very similar. Like that’s how specific he gets. And that’s how well he knows the universe that he’s written. He sees these people, he under stands. He knows what their voices sound like. He knows what’s going on inside their heads, and as a result he can, he can direct me with such accuracy, that like, takes happen quickly. He’s happy. I’m happy because I’m, you know, I’m succeeding and bringing his vision to life. It’s really nice to work with him, for that.
M:
Yeah. You said that you’re not gonna read any comments…
H:
Mmhmm.
M:
I will be reading them…
H:
Do you have experience doing that? Do you know how to not feed the trolls?
M:
I’m a moderator on so many TikTok lives. I’m the person that’s just like, I won’t give second chances.
H:
Alright! You…
M:
Because if you’re gonna be mean, you don’t deserve to be here.
H:
You rule with an iron fist. And that’s ok.
M:
I don’t just roll with an iron fist, sometimes if I’m feeling mean, or saracstic I will respond to the trolls comments.
H:
{laughs} Something, something tells me you respond, um, without cupcakes and rainbows.
M:
HA! No! I’m very much like, some other people you may work with, I’m like, if you’re going to be mean, I’m going to have a comeback, and its not going to be nice!
H:
Ok! You’re prepared. Good. That’s good.
M:
I had to learn to do more of this. Because of quarentine I had to not let people get to me online.
H:
Definitely, and a thicker skin, can’t hurt you in life. Really. As long you maintain your, you know…
M:
Especially for high school!
H:
Yeah, exactly. Um, the quicker you figure out that it really doesn’t matter what people think, the better off you’ll be in life. That’s, that’s all that really matters truthfully.
M:
As long as you’re happy and doing what you enjoy, then you should be fine!
H:
Exactly!
M:
Is there another piece of advice that might have stuck with you most in your life?
H:
Oh. I kind of wish I had taken that advice earlier, in life. Because I, I mean I still do suffer from some pretty heavy performance anxiety, but its nowhere close to where I was ten years ago. When I look, when I, when I think about the comfort I have in front of the microphone and how much. Like I still can’t believe, people pay me to do something that absolutely lights my heart on fire. I still can’t get over that. And when I think back to how frightened I was of experi encing that in addition to, you know the judgement and the hard work, and like, the potential for failure! Like the, the, the stark potential for, for, the stark potential for failure. Um, I wish…
M:
You forget words too!
H:
I do forget words! I use them all day and by the end of the day I run out.
M:
{laughs}
H:
And there are no more.
M:
{laughs}
H:
But…
M:
That’s, yeah… {laughs}
H:
When I think back to how, how I felt back then and com pare that to, to how I feel now, the difference is night and day. And if I could tap 25-year old Hillary on the shoulder and say, just trust me, you want to do this. It’s, it, just, just dive in! That’s all it takes. And if it really sucks, you at least then find out. Once you’re in it. But don’t stand on the sidelines and assume you know everything that’s going to happen. Because you don’t.
M:
{laughs} That makes sense! Don’t try and assume you know the most. Was there somebody that helped you learn those lessons or did you have like, a big inspiration?
H:
Um, well, when I, when I think about, when I think about other voice actors that have, that have really made it, um, there’s no one that stands out in particular. But the more I
learned about what they did, how they did it. That was, that was real motivation. That was inspiration, for me to get my act together and do what, um, what my heart and soul were really calling out for. So, I think the industry in general, it’s
both {laughs}, you know, it’s both terrifying and inspiring, at the same time. See these heavyweights like John Dimaggio, Tara Strong, like can you imagine living…
M:
You’re fine, you’re working on horror projects.
H:
That’s what I’m saying! Can you, can you imagine living that life like and I make no assumptions about what their life is actually like but, to get to that upper echelon of, of voice ac tors it’s a, it’s a dream! So it’s, it’s kinda like I’ve been chasin’ that. Well they did it, they’re humans, you can too.
M:
Wait? Their humans? No, they’re aliens.
H:
Actually, yeah, I know. You’re right, they might be. They, they very well might be.
M:
I have faith that you are going to become very amazing at voice acting.
H:
Why, thank you Mae! That’s sweert of you to say.
M:
You have a great voice.
H:
I appreciate that.
M:
You know where you did show it off very well though?
H:
Where?
M:
Your band.
H:
Oh! Oh, yes, um. Yeah. Ah, the Pretty Good Musicians.
M:
The good ol’ days.
H:
They were though! Life was simpler. Nobody, nobody was thinking about pandemics or Donald Trump as President. Like it just, none of that, none of that was anywhere close to reality. {laughs} Um, it was such a fun and, and and short lived experience like, and, and I do look at that as one of the first times I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to perform and then be judged. And low and behold, people liked it. {laughs}
M:
Because you’re amazing!
H:
{laughs} Thank you, but there’s, I mean, I’m not gonna say the band was a joke but we certainly did it more for fun than anything else.
M:
That’s the point!
H:
And, thanks to, thanks to Matt being such a gifted musician
and Ian being, Ian being quite gifted as well. Um, the three of us managed to create some really fun stuff, and I, I, it’s it’s, it’s sad that it ended but I also think we burned a little bit too bright. And maybe we weren’t destined to carry on for years and years and years.
M:
Having fun is kinda the point of a band.
H:
Oh absolutely!
M:
It’s not usually for serious reasons or for money, most peo ple don’t start a band for that. They start it for the fun of it.
H:
I believe that. Yeah.
M:
I’m fourteen years old and I’m doing voice work. Do you think I’m doing it because I need the money?
H:
Hopefully not.
M:
I’m doing it cuz I’m having fun.
H:
Good. Good. Then it’ll never be work for you.
M:
I love the people we’re working with and this team is just amazing.
H:
Agreed. Everybody’s super cool.
M:
Dennis and Pam, they’re both amazing!
H:
Mmhm.
M:
And our team of editors, everyone is just great to work with.
H:
Oh yeah, and can I give a shout out to the other actors on this project? Holy smokes! So…
M:
Yes! They are so good!
H:
So good!
M:
And so talented…
H:
I still get goosbumps, um, thinking about Mark’s delivery of, and I again, I don’t wanna, I don’t want to do too much to reveal what’s really happening in the story because I want y’all to go listen to it! His delivery of his character is so creepy and its so perfect and he doesn’t sound like a normal human being when he’s doing it and I think that’s great. And you know, the actress that does Boy is equally as their voice is such a departure…
M:
So talented.
H:
Such a departure from what you might think of if you saw her, like it’s, she really transforms into that character.
M:
The way you worked with us on The Living Fears has been so amazing! And you’re working with us on another upcoming project, correct? And are you excited for that project to come out?
H:
Oh! Well, first thank you. Um, and yeah! Yeah I don’t know how much I can say about it though, but I…
M:
Not much.
H:
But I will say this, I will say this it’s um, it’s a slightly bigger universe than this one particular story. This one, this one installment of The Living Fears series. And that by itself is huge. It’s it’s a bigger, brighter, more complex universe and to be a part of that was, again, incredible. Such a wonderful opportunity.
M:
Dennis writes his own worlds. They’re always so crazy but they always have boundaries. If we set no boundaries for you and you could do whatever you wanted or write what ever you wanted and it had no boundaries, what would you write about?
H:
Oh, um, wow. That’s a big question but here we go. Let’s see.
I mean I would take care of the usual stuff that presses on everybody. Um, the state of the climate, a lot of inequality. Sickness. Um, lack of education. People starving. It it, you know just there’s…
M:
World hunger.
H:
Yes! There’s a lot of pain and misery out there. That if I could snap my fingers, I’d love to take care of. With that like, with ease. So just, that’s the easiest decision to make. Um, but if I had unlimited resourses for myself. I mean the first thing I would do, I hate to say it but I would quit my current job. Not that I don’t love everybody there and not that I don’t love the work that I do and the, like the company and its mission that I do it for…
M:
Hillary’s job, if you are listening, she loves you all.
H:
I do though! They’re super cool people! I love working there. I would quit that job however, because I would want to do, I would want to do voice stuff full time and not necessarily to get paid for it. Because well, I wouldn’t need the money. But to do things like read audio books for the blind and just try every single different genre and script that I could get my hands on. Just try everything. You know, I would do a ton of traveling. Um. I would set up roller derby facilities all across the country. I’m talking like, state-of-the art flat track, with you know, physical trainers, rehab spe cialists, um, on-site child care. Like you know, free gear for everybody. Um, and it’s because I want to, I want to make roller skating and you know, roller derby a legit sport that everybody thinks of, just like they would baseball or soccer or whatever. I I would love to bring that up to the forefront of possibilities for people, especially women.
M:
Is roller derby something you would enjoy doing in your free time, if you didn’t have work?
H:
Oh yeah. I used to do it.
M:
Ooooo, that sounds like a fun experience.
H:
It was interesting for sure. Um…
M:
Let’s see if I can it on the internet.
H:
Oh no, you won’t.
M:
Oh! That’s sad!
H:
I know, I know. Uh, {laughs}…
M:
I did find your band though.
H:
I know that. You’re a fan! Just say it. Just say it. You’re, you’re, you’re a fan.
M:
No one said that.
H:
Ok fine. Fine!
M:
I found it because Dennis found it and showed it to a whole bunch of us.
H:
Yes, and that is why he first contacted me about doing voice work on one of his stories.
M:
Really?
H:
Yup.
M:
That is amazing! So you’ve been part of his plan for a while now?
H:
Yeah! I mean we’ve been friends for, since like, uh, 2013? 2014? Something like that.
M:
That was like when I was little.
H:
Yeah. Yeah. And I’ve never met him in person by the way.
M:
Oh.
H:
Yeah.
M:
That’s interesting.
H:
One of my, one of my closest buddies you know, but never met him in person and um, yeah. He’s great to work with so, I forgot the original question.
M:
So did I, it’s ok. We’ll just move on.
H:
Cool. Great, great.
M:
So, we were talking about what you like doing in your free time because you said you used to be in a roller derby.
H:
Oh yeah, so I love skating. I certainly haven’t been doing enough of that lately. Been busy. Been busy for the past six months, I’ve been you know, building out client book for my voiceover business and it’s working! But I haven’t had a ton of time to do the fun things that I usually do in my sparetime. Like, I love drawing and cooking. Um, you know, finding, finding people to just sit down and chat with like other humans. Becasue I do work from home by myself. Yeah doing stuff like this! Exactly! Chatting with you. Um, I’m I’m kind of a tinkerer. Craft person. Like I love to build things with my hands.
M:
Tinkerer?
H:
Tinker, tinkering?
M:
Tinkering, like Tinkerbell?
H:
Sure. {laughs} Shh, yeah. Ok.
M:
The tinker fairies. They like to build things.
H:
Ok, there you go. Yes.
M:
Don’t question that.
H:
I just know, I just learned that that is the origin. It’s tinker fairies, they build things?
M:
Yeah.
H:
Is that, is that it?
M:
Yeah.
H:
Cool. Perfect. Thank you.
M:
You’re welcome.
H:
I just learned something today.
M:
That’s why her name is Tinkerbell because when she was born she was sort of an orphan but she was born into the tinker fairies and so they named her Tinkerbell because bells are something they make.
H:
Amazing! I’m so happy that I know that now! Thank you.
M:
You’re welcome.
H:
It’s fantastic.
M:
My odd knowledge on weird things helps out sometimes.
H:
It’s, it’s always helpful. Keep, keep doing that. Keep that up.
M:
You like to tinker though, what do you like to make?
H:
Um, it’s mostly just workin with my hands. Um, you know, knitting. Like I built, {laughs} I built a small greenhouse for my indoor plants this past winter. Because the home I’m liv ing in, the the windows are old, not very well insulated. So
I got some dowels and some wire and some of that weath erproof plastic stuff, uh that you put on your own windows.
And built a little greenhouse. An it, it helped! I mean it was probably like, 2 or 3 degrees warmer.
M:
Isn’t it hard to have a greenhouse in Texas?
H:
Well, oh this is indoors.
M:
Oh. I was very concerned. I was like isn’t it very…
H:
No, no no no no no no no no no no no no.
M:
Hot in Texas?
H:
Oh, no. So this winter in Austin here, we had the whole freeze fiasco. Um.
M:
Oh, that’s so fun.
H:
Oh what a nightmare but, um, the plants I have are small. Like they are literally miniatures and I don’t have a very green thumb. So I’m like, holding on to faith. And I’ve had them for about 7 months. Fingers crossed that they stay with me and I don’t kill them. Like I have many other plants. Um.
M:
We don’t want death in the family.
H:
No! No, I do not want to kill plants I want to keep them alive and the greenhouse helped with that. It was probably about two to four degrees warmer with, the greenhouse around them, than it was in the rest of my house. Sort of in the ambient air tempature. So, yeah that’s that’s a perfect ex ample of me just, I like building things. Um, or knitting or…
M:
You probably, like keep your house actually warm though?
H:
Oh yeah! Yeah.
M:
My parents like to freeze me.
H:
{sighs} They tell you to go put a sweater on?
M:
Yes!
H:
And socks?
M:
They keep it at 71 here.
H:
Well it’s hot outside.
M:
They are trying to freeze me out.
H:
Therefore your house is freezing?
M:
It’s only 86 outside.
H:
Yeah, well he, he or she who pays the bills controls the ther mostat.
M:
Which is why I just wear hoodies all day.
H:
{scoffs} You shouldn’t complain about that. That’s a good life. You just wear hoodies all day.
M:
Yeah. Mmhm, hoodies are comfy.
H:
Mmhm.
M:
I only have like two questions left and they are ones we haven’t touched on yet.
H:
Ok.
M:
So I haven’t asked you them before. One was how would you describe yourself in three words?
H:
Oh boy! {laughs}
M:
Or less, you can use one word if you want to.
H:
{laughs} Um. How do you not sound like, a self-centered tool bag {laughs} when answering this question? Um.
M:
I’ve got a few for you! Amazing. Talented.
H:
{sighs} As Dennis says, I’m not just blowin’ sunshine up your skirt! Cuz I think you’re blowin’ sunshine up my skirt. No, no, thank you!
M:
Says who?
H:
That’s very sweet of you. It’s very very kind of you to say. Um, if I’m, if I’m taking a critical look at myself, describing myself in three words. Um. I consider myself creative, first and foremost. And that’s in all aspects of life…
M:
Oh definitely.
H:
Like not just in, just in like the arts but in solving business problems and…
M:
You made a greenhouse!
H:
There you go! Yeah.
M:
Creative!
H:
Thank you. Um. Ah, this is kind of a family trait, and I, I, I see this in, in my siblings, and my parents, you know. But we all, really, really, really like to make people laugh. And I’m not gonna call us comics or clowns or anything like that, we just…
M:
You’re obviously not a comic, you’re not a book.
H:
No! Oh, but, oh my god. {laughs} Walked into that one!
M:
Yeah!
H:
Oh yeah. Yeah, I did. Um. So I’m not gonna, I would call it, I would say its more of a humorist thing. Just more of an ap preciation of things that people find funny and wanting to share that and wanting to, uh, help people laugh. You know? So um, a final one, uh…
M:
You’re caring. Not just to others, not just caring what others feel but you are caring about plants. Making sure that they won’t die. About your performance, making sure it’s good enough. You care what the listener’s would feel or think. You care about everything and it’s really nice. But it can also be a bad trait. Because it can be self-destructive.
H:
I’ll take that.
M:
Cuz you could be over-caring.
H:
I will take that. That’s a very human part of me. I do look out for others. Don’t often look out for myself enough.
M:
Ah, you need to take care of yourself.
H:
Oh I know! Oh I know. Like after this, I’m going to the gym to swim because…
M:
I’m such a hypocrite. I’m such a hypocrite.
H:
Oh my god. Your life is shaped by your thoughts.
M:
Well I am a hypocrite, I know that! I tell people not to drink too much caffeine but I’m over here dowing a monster.
H:
Sluggin’ away at a monster. We are, to error is human and everything. We are, we are all {scoffs} weird hairless mon keys. Just trying to get by.
M:
No, I love my hair I am not hairless.
H:
I’m just gonna throw this out there and say that you’re prob-
ably mostly hairless? A majority of your body is hairless?
M:
Uh, well you are not wrong.
H:
You’re furless, how about furless?
M:
Furless, yeah!
H:
Yeah. You are furless. {laughs} This is the weirdest interview I have ever been a part of.
M:
You know who probably is hairless?
H:
Oh god, who? What? {laughs}
M:
This is gonna sound really bad…
H:
Uh…
M:
I know cancer patients when they take chemotherapy, their hair falls out. But does like all their hair fall out, or just the hair on their head?
H:
Um, I think it depends on the person but…
M:
Like are they just completely bald all over their body then?
H:
I think it might depend on the person, the severity of the chemo treatment, you might just loose the hair on your head because I think it grows cycle rate than like your eye brows or your eyelashes or your arm hair or whatever. Um…
M:
Oh imagine someone without eyelashes.
H:
They do exist! Alopecia is a thing.
M:
Uh! Big words! But, uh, yeah we are all very human so. I learned something new about you today. You have siblings.
H:
Oh yeah. Yeah. I’ve got an older brother named Doug, a younger brother named John. Oh is Doug funny?! Is that name funny?
M:
Yeah just a little bit.
H:
Why?
M:
It reminds me of like an old man from an old cartoon.
H:
Oh, ok.
M:
Doug the Dog!
H:
Is that from…
M:
Isn’t that a cartoon? I swear…
H:
Is that from Up?
M:
Yeah!
H:
Is that Doug the dog? Ok. And then I have a younger sister, Meredith. She’s the coolest.
M:
That’s so pretty!
H:
Isn’t that a nice name? She’s pretty too!
M:
My sister is the most beautiful person in the planet, though.
H:
I beg to differ!
M:
Eh, fair enough.
H:
Cuz it’s my sister, is the most beautiful person is winner. It’s mine.
M:
Oh, mine’s five years old.
H:
Oh. Mine’s 32.
M:
{laughs}
H:
{laughs}
M:
Mine’ still the prettiest person on ther human earth.
H:
She probably…
M:
The human earth.
H:
As opposed to the astral plane?
M:
I don’t know! On the crust of the earth.
H:
Ok! For all the lizard people living below the mantle, what up?
M:
Yeah! All the lizard people, hi!
H:
Hi! Your sister probably has some, some adoarable abilities that my older sister doesn’t, so that might be the tipping point.
M:
Well she’s also the baby of the family so she kinda gets away with everything.
H:
Mmhm.
M:
Well this might be a little bit of too much information but my parents are separated so I’m the baby of the family at one of my houses. And I love being the baby. Because it means I’m the adorable one. {laughs}
H:
Not a bad place to be in life.
M:
Being the cute one.
H:
Mmhm.
M:
Especially because I still mess up on words and I forgot what silent letters were so I called them invisible letters.
H:
Yes! Because they kinda are! From an audio standpoint they are invisible.
M:
Which I’ve been working on audio recently so it’s kinda obvious that’s where my brain went.
H:
Yeah. Makes sense to me.
M:
See! Someone gets it!
H:
Yup, I get it.
M:
You’re cool!
H:
Well, thank you!
M:
I can see why Dennis decided to work with you!
H:
Mae, that is so sweet of you ! You’re cool too.
M:
{laughs} I know I’m always cold!
H:
{scoffs} Ha. Ha. Ha. {laughs}
M:
{laughs} Dennis said we may be doing a table read at some point.
H:
Eeeeeeeee. That’s my excited noise. I’m very happy!
M:
Hillary wants to do a table read.
H:
I do! I want to meet people! In person!
M:
We’ve only ever done a table read once and…
H:
Mmhm.
M:
And it was over Zoom and now that hopefully, most of us are fully vaccinated we might be able to do one!
H:
Yeah. Figured it out.
M:
I’m fully vaccinated.
H:
I am too.
M:
And so hopefully, maybe we can all meet up.
H:
That would be wonderful.
M:
Is there any other information on the project you feel you should share with me and the listeners?
H:
More information about the, about the project.
M:
Mmhm.
H:
Its a really cool honest take, about the intersection between spooky supernatural stuff and like an average everyday life. And I think that’s going to make it relatable. But also inter esting, and maybe even…
M:
And suspenseful.
H:
Yeah, suspenseful and maybe even give people this notion that something like that could happen to them. You know? Cuz reality and unreality are so closely smashed together, in
this case. Um.
M:
Yeah.
H:
I recommend everybody listens to it. Maggie stands up against other, I’d say typical heroines and horror stories. Like, she holds her own. And she doesn’t fit into that typical, helpless, screaming. Well, you know, scream, well helpless scream queen, uh, stereotype.
M:
Yeah.
H:
She’s much more of a Jamie Lee Curtis, you know. And then there’s the sound quality and the mixing. And the way Dennis and his crew. They all put their heads together and create, literally created an environment. It is, it’s so creepy to hear all of the details that they chose to highlight. Like someones walking through a hallway. You can practically feel the grit and dust under their shoes. Things creak. You hear strange, random stuff that you can easily recognize is coming from like outside of the house. The sound editing, the composition. It’s so good. It’s so good!
M:
Ok, wow. Well I’ve just gotta say thank you for taking the time to sit with me today and talk about The Living Fears and voice acting and well, everything. You’re amazing, Hillary! An inspiration. I can’t wait to hear what you have in store for us next!
This has been Mae from Unbrandable Media. Thanks again for being here Hillary and thank you all for listening. Till next time.
{Music Outro}
