We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brenna Thornton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brenna below.

Brenna, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Over the years, it has taken a lot of patience and perseverance to learn my strengths as a voice actor. It doesn’t come over night, it’s a long journey and varies depending on person to person. Knowing what I know now, I definitely wish I had started my journey into voice acting sooner and been less fearful of attending workshops, as I could’ve known so much more than I do right now. When learning something new, go in with a strong willingness to learn, pay no mind to the uncertainties in your subconscious, be open to constructive criticism, and give it a hundred percent at all times. Some of these skills didn’t come to me initially, I had to throw myself into various workshops, participate in contests, and attend table reads until it eventually got easier. I was my greatest obstacle for awhile, because of my stage fright I evaded learning in group settings to avoid feeling small, but now I prefer group lessons since it allows me to learn from my classmates, as well. The more the merrier!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

As a kid, I had many things I wanted to be when I was older: a veterinarian, artist, marine biologist, and an actor. My heart leaned more towards the art of performing, too play pretend for a living, bring characters to life, and inspire others through my craft. Unfortunately, as I grew up, life’s twists and turns averted my focus from what my heart wanted. It wasn’t until about four years ago that I reconnected with a super close friend of mine during the toughest patch of my life. Having already helped me get through so much, she shared a casting call with me one day and pushed me to give it a go, just for fun. With zero training and a lot of uncertainties, I was a bit hesitant to audition, but after her encouragement, I submitted my audition and later found out that I booked the role. A snowball effect began and I was introduced to so many people who shared the same passion as me and started booking some roles every once in awhile. For about a year, voice acting felt more of a hobby to me, until I watched live theatre reactions of one of my favorite anime movies. I already feel super inspired when I’m watching these movies, but something about seeing other people get hyped and connect with these characters sparks something in me. What a life it would be to work in an industry that combines two things that I love: acting and anime. I can do what I love comfortably behind a microphone, bring characters to life and maybe even inspire others along the way. That’s when I knew this is what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life and started putting in the work.
I’m honored to connect with creatives and work together to tell their stories. Punctuality, communication, adaptability, understanding, and fun are what I always keep in mind in the booth!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Life is all but linear and it’s made me appreciate the little things, as well as, taught me to work with what I have. I was in a rough patch in my life back when I started voice acting in 2019 up until last year of summer 2022. During that time frame, I had abruptly moved three different times while battling my own personal life issues. There was always something happening that prevented me from pursing voice acting and it took a toll on my mental health. With each move to a different house or apartment, there were always things to consider: figure out where to rebuild my setup and be wary of which resident got home at what time. With how chaotic everyday was, it almost felt like there was never a good time to record, but I wanted this so bad that I didn’t care how tired I was after recording in my car late into the night, it didn’t matter how many times I had to build a new recording space, and even though I didn’t have the money to attend workshops or upgrade my equipment I did what I could with what I had. Everyday, it felt like the universe was against me, but I would remind myself that tomorrow is another day, a fresh start. I try to maintain a positive mindset and after everything I’ve learned, when I’m hit with an obstacle, I know I’m going to hit it back twenty times harder!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is to inspire others through my acting and encourage them to take that leap! Whatever it is that you think you should pursue, take a shot at it, you never know where it may lead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brennathornton.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/brennathornton.vo?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenna-thornton-6a8182255
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thorntonbrenna?s=21&t=Md2zkiUnM4r9IhblePZ5TA