Meet Elizabeth Carrillo | Bilingual Voice Actor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Carrillo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Because I finally gave myself permission to. & ultimately, because of my partner Gilbert. I’ll explain later.

I never imagined pursuing a creative career. Growing up, I always thought people that were well off were the ones that pursued creative careers. I am a first generation Mexican American. When I was applying for college, I was pursuing a career that would give me financial security and good benefits. I studied Clinical Nutrition at UC Davis and I also double majored in Spanish. I LOVE speaking Spanish. I knew I wanted to speak beautiful Spanish at a young age. So that’s why I studied it in high school and in college. I wanted to incorporate it into a career somehow, but I couldn’t think about roles outside of becoming an interpreter or a translator. (See…nothing creative there.)

The thought process slightly changed when my high school Spanish teacher, Mr.Rojas, once suggested I should pursue voice acting. I took that as a compliment, but not as something I would realistically follow. A creative choice such as voice acting, felt like an unrealistic goal. It’s not guaranteed that I would be able to make a good living. When I was younger I thought actors were actors because they were famous, and never really thought about acting as a craft and as a skill you could improve.

The closest I got to considering voice acting was my freshman year in college when I enrolled in a class called “Career Discovery Group.” The class was meant for students to explore their majors and do some research on the career they were interested in within the major. I was an Animal Science major at the time…but Mr.Rojas’ words were still echoing in my head . Can you try and guess what my career project was about? I chose voice acting! Ugh, hello! “Liz…you’ve been wanting this!” I say to myself 10x a day as I shake myself by the shoulders. It’s obviously something I was extremely interested in. But researching information for that project was like window shopping. You look at something you yearn for and let yourself imagine wearing it/having it, but then you walk away empty handed.

During the pandemic, I asked myself “Why not me?.” & I finally went for it. I’ve been studying voice acting and winning amazing voice acting jobs ever since.

So if anybody else is wondering if you could follow a dream, no matter how out of reach it may feel…I say go for it. You have the permission to.

How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
I’m really proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone and finally saying yes to voice acting. I remember the very first voice acting class I took. I signed up for an Animation class through Real Voice LA. It was my first voice acting class ever so I had no idea what to expect. I thought I would just be able to hop on Zoom and just watch the instructor teach us about voice acting and then maybe she would do a few scripts for us. The class starts, I think we did introductions and then the instructor says “Ok did everyone pick their scripts? Who wants to go first?” This emoji was literally me at that moment 😳. I was so close to slamming my laptop shut. “There is no way I’m performing in front of these people. I am so out of here! Nobody knows me anyway? They won’t even notice I left…” Somehow I convinced myself to stay. And I performed my first animation script in front of maybe 10 other people. I wasn’t laughed at or ridiculed. The Chacal from Sábado Gigante didn’t blow his trumpet and nobody yelled “¡fuera!”. I had fun. And in that moment I learned that I would be safe performing scripts in class because I wasn’t going to be judged. The instructor genuinely wanted us to do a good job and for us to learn how to get better.

But you know what my biggest challenge is? I can’t wear my earrings while I record!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You can’t visit LA and not go to Porto’s at least one time. I really love their Glendale location, but we would go to Burbank since it has a lot of unique boutiques and vintage shops all along Magnolia where I could see us spending a lot of time exploring. Before heading home to introduce her to my cats and my tortoise, we would pick up baked empanadas from World Empanadas to enjoy at home so we had something to snack on while we caught each other up on all the chisme we’ve missed from being apart. And to end the day, we would go to the Comedy Store for some drinks and laughs.

The next day, we would start with breakfast at Black Cow in Montrose. Specifically on a Saturday so we could catch the farmer’s market afterwards. From there we would make a beeline to Descanso Gardens. It’s spring time so I would want her to get a chance to see the tulips! On the way home we’d pick up some treats and breakfast burritos from The Village Bakery & Cafe in Atwater.

Aside from eating, I think it would be amazing to sprinkle in museum visits. Some of my favorites are LACMA, MOLAA and The Broad. Each of these locations has a neighborhood we could venture out to itinerary free, since sometimes that’s the most fun anyway.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
When I first verbalized that I wanted to try out voice acting, my partner Gilbert was the first to hear my “crazy idea.” I remember we were sitting on the floor of my studio apartment. It was one of those days when we had curfew during the pandemic. (remember those?) He had just moved in and we were throwing ideas back and forth about what we really wanted to do with our lives. And guess what? He didn’t think it was crazy! He thought it would be perfect for me. He said “this shouldn’t be your side gig, it sounds like this is your dream. You HAVE to do this.” He’s been my biggest supporter ever since. I truly believe that Gilbert’s support was the ultimate motivation for me to say, Ok I’m doing it! He was the finally push I needed. Without him, I can confidently say I would not be the voice actor I am today. He has even built me a recording studio in every place we’ve moved to since!

The first podcast I ever listened to about voice acting was: “Voice Acting Mastery with Crispin Freeman.” It gave me the blueprint of where to go for training and what to look for in a coach. That is where I learned about The Voicecaster! That whole team at The Voicecaster has been fundamental in my voice acting career.

A group that really helped me find community in voice over is WomeninVO on Instagram. Not only have I found friends that I care so much about, but it’s also been a space where I’ve learned about voice acting from a completely different point of view independent of casting directors and coaches.

I cannot recommend the book “It’s all in Your Head” by Russ Vitale enough. (Yes, the rapper.) This is the book my partner and I listened to the day leading up to the conversation on our studio floor. It is not about voice acting at all, but it is a book that talks about believing in yourself. I recommend listening to the audiobook version because Russ himself reads it and I think his cadence is what really helped deliver his message.

Most importantly, a shout out to my parents for enforcing we only speak Spanish at home. I would not be bilingual without them.

Website: https://elizabethcarrillovo.com

Instagram: fearlizzvo

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethcarrillovoiceactor/

Image Credits
Headshots by Emily Sandifer