We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mitch Hoagland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mitch, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

In college, I was a little lost on what to major in. It took a few tries until I was told by my now fiancé that I can just major in film since I enjoyed movies and the process of making them. I then took classes and majored in film but I had the most fun when I was acting for my other classmates short films. I’ve always had issues memorizing lines, so I never thought I could be an actor but once again my fiancé recommended voice acting since I love animated series and video games. She surprised me with an intro to voice over class with a studio in Atlanta and once I got into the booth to do my practice lines I was sold. I felt at home and it was so much fun. I knew that this is what I wanted to do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Well, I am originally from Birmingham, AL and moved to Charleston, SC about two years ago. I graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (U.A.B.) with a degree in film and animation, a major that I created from their individually designed major program. From there is how I discovered my love of filmmaking and acting, but I did not trust my memorization capabilities so I did not take any acting classes in college. So I just took classes on how to make movies in general.

About a year after I graduated, my now fiancé surprised me for my birthday with an intro to animation voice over class. Since a teenager, I’ve enjoyed being a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons and have given my all to giving voices for the many characters the players would interact with. From that, they all have said I should look into voice acting and that is where the gift came from. When I took that class and got into the booth voicing the demo character they provided for the class I fell in love with it and knew that is what I wanted to do. I took more classes with them and with other prolific voice actors online. Voice actors like Chris Rager, Monica Rial, Cassandra Lee Morris, and Kiba Walker just to name a few.

As a voice actor, I provide the voice to characters that are animated, drawn from comics, or from audiobooks and audiodramas. It’s weird to say, but I feel more like myself when I’m pretending to be someone else with a whole different life when I’m in my recording booth. To answer your question on what I’m most proud of is hard to pin down. I’ve accomplished a lot as a beginner and I have so much more to achieve that I’m looking forward to. But for now, I would have to say making my character demo with Everett Oliver and using that demo to get representation from Exclusive Artists Agency in Los Angeles.

I want people to know that I devote myself to the characters I voice, I try to learn their past and what shaped them as a character and what makes them tick as a person/creature in general. I’ve picked up a small trick that helps give my characters more life by giving them a secret that only I know. Not even telling the director. That gives more life to the character and makes my takes more believeable.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Oh most definitely. Being a voice actor isn’t just going into a room with a microphone and putting on a funny voice. Most voice actors get cast by using their regular voice because it makes it real. And that’s the goal with voicing a main character. Sure, you get the silly goofball character with a funny voice here and there as a side character but most main roles are just the actor’s natural voice with a slight inflection to their cadence if anything.

And for those wanting to get into voice acting it’s not all about the microphone, it’s the environment your microphone is in. I’ve taken more time setting up my recording area than anything else because I need to make sure that there is not any echo where I’m recording. That makes the sound file feel umprofessional and tacky. So, I have a PVC pipe booth set up with furniture pads, blankets, towels, and foam to help dampen any sound that may bounce around in there. Because of that, it can get HOT hahaha. Be prepared to sweat your butt off because the energy you put into your character just adds to the heat in the booth.

It also takes endurance and effort. I’ve gotten a “no” so many times from auditions I’ve sent out. Most of the time not even getting that and having no response at all. That is not a reflection of my talent, just that I’m not what the director or casting director was looking for. But on the journey of an actor, you have to be prepared to get a “no” or receive no response and know that it’s not because you’re a bad voice actor. It’s just that you didn’t fit for this role exactly. There will be the perfect role one day that when they hear your audition they’ll say: “no more, this is the one!” But, it’s having the endurance to get to that point.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have many goals driving me on my voice over journey: I want to voice a villain in an anime, be in a major video game, voice a hero, etc. I can go on and on and on with all my goals for who I would like to voice. It sounds a little selfish when I think about it now, but aren’t we all a little selfish when it comes to the goals that drive us? I guess I just really look forward to the day where my family is watching something and a character comes on and they go “he sounds familiar” and then they proceed to look up the character and it’s revealed that the character is me hahaha.

Mission-wise I would have to say that I just want to make my instructors proud. From online classes with the voice actors and the classes I have been taking in person to help with my on screen acting. They all believe in me and wish for my success, so I want to prove them right for having that faith in me. To be honest, I would not be having this interview if not for one of my instructors, Shelby Busey, whom you have interviewed before. She really inspires me with all that she does toward her personal projects and it makes me feel like I need to do the same if not more.

Contact Info:

• Website: mitchhoagland.com
• Instagram: @mitch_hoagland
• Linkedin: Mitch Hoagland
• Twitter: @MitchHoaglandVA
• Other: Linktree: linktr.ee/mitch_hoagland BlueSky: @mitchhoagland.bsky.social

Image Credits
Chris Lonsberry Media Mitch Hoagland