Voice Actor Spotlight: Tara Strong
“No problem, Mr. J!”
Some voice actors are able to make 90% of their living as individuals with a very unique and distinguishable voice. VO’s like Steve Blum and David Hayter immediately come to mind. Their voices are immediately recognizable whether they’re speaking as their character or at a panel at your local ComicCon. Others are known for their ability to voice so many different personalities, you’d never guess the same VO is behind each character. It simply boggles the mind. Mel Blanc, John DiMaggio, Daws Butler. Today’s voice actor is a member of the latter group.
Tara Strong, born Tara Lyn Charendoff, is a Canadian-American actress, voice actress and singer, among many other professions. Tara’s early life is riddled with grade school theatrical productions, solo performances, multilingual recitations and performing arts schools, all starting when she was only 4 years old. She was born to Jewish parents who owned a toy and candy store in Canada, and attended high school with fellow Canadian actress, Neve Campbell. Campbell and Strong both auditioned for the same role of Julia in Party of Five, which ultimately ended up being Campbell’s big break.
But now, years and countless VO roles later, Tara Strong has voice acting enthusiasts muttering the words, “Neve who now?”
Much like last week’s John DiMaggio, Tara Strong’s VO wrap sheet could possibly make your head asplode. Think I’m overplaying it? Here are a few examples: Kaya of Princess Mononoke, Dil Pickels of Rugrats, Raven of the Teen Titans, Princess Clara and Toot Braunstein of Drawn Together, Rikku of Final Fantasy X and X-2, Rachel from Ninja Gaiden, Omi of Xiaolin Showdown, Ben Tennyson from Ben 10, X-23 from Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Paz from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Batgirl/Barbara Gordon from pretty much any Batman title and even as the Princess from the PS3 exclusive title, Fat Princess.
She has also worked with a few of the previous VA’s in this series, including David Hayter in a few Metal Gear Solid games and John DiMaggio in Princess Mononoke.
Tara’s favorite animated feature of all time is Disney’s The Little Mermaid, so imagine her pleasure to be accepted as the voice of Melody in the direct sequel to Disney’s classic, Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. Additionally, Strong has provided previously uncredited voices for shows like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Sailor Moon, Phineas and Ferb, The Penguins of Madagascar, Bolt, TMNT, Family Guy, and is even the singing voice for Meg Griffin in Family Guy.
I think she's gonna buy her a rainbow...
It was recently announced that Tara would be replacing Arleen Sorkin as the voice of Harley Quinn in the upcoming blockbuster, Batman: Arkham City. Tara will wreak havoc up and down the streets of Arkham City as Harley Quinn with her mental and mentally abusive ‘Puddin”, The Joker, when the game drops October 18th of this year.
Dayum, Harley! Where you been all my life???
Be sure to take a peek at the rest of Tara’s voices over at IMDB and Wikipedia. You just might be surprised just how prevalent she is in your nerdy little life.
05 Aug 2011, 2:00 am
SHE WAS HARLEY? Oh my gosh. That voice annoyed me so much in that game. “NICE GOING BATS” Oh my god I could have punched her hard.
Awesome article Ryan!!
05 Aug 2011, 7:29 am
Why thank you! Now, Arkham City will be her first role as Harley. Someone else has been doing it for other games and the animated series. But I grew up with the cartoon, so Harley’s voice evokes the nostalgia in me.
05 Aug 2011, 1:14 pm
That’s kinda the point though. Harley was a sweet-sounding woman with a quiet voice before the Joker corrupted her. But afterwards, she changed her voice so that it was harsher and more ‘evil’ sounding. She thought the Joker would like it more.
So if she annoyed you, then that’s a good thing.
06 Aug 2011, 2:25 am
Friggin gorgious! Bubbles was always my favorite gnomesayin.