Kevin Kolack:
“Never have a backup because anything is easier than acting.”

Kevin Kolack started his voiceover career as a nine-year-old. His “Teddy Tapes” featured stuffed animals gossiping about soccer practice and about who liked whom in grade school. “I had no idea that I would be allowed to do this as a job,” Kevin said as we sat down to talk in his Celtic Park apartment. “I think it’s pretty hilarious that I get paid to make funny sounds.”

Before Kevin got paid to make funny sounds, he was a taxi driver, a college professor, a firefighter, an Olympic-level marksman, a soccer coach, a puppeteer, a swimming instructor, a florist and a magician. He has a PhD in Chemistry, a scuba diving certificate, a helicopter license, and is as adept in  white water rafting as he is in skydiving, fire-eating and archery.

Kevin is currently fully committed to his acting and voiceover career, and his special skills have landed him roles as paramedics in the TV series Law and Order and White Collar. (Just recently he cast himself in the role of Professor K, the main character in a science TV show for children he created.)

Kevin advices to “Never have a back-up, because anything is easier than acting.” Each week he does multiple voiceover auditions, which he records behind a soundproofing egg crate partition in his apartment. The self-marketing an acting career requires is very time-consuming, and rejections are not uncommon. Things are further complicated by “the never-ending supply of people trying [to be actors], getting to auditions late and getting the casting director pissed off,” he said. “Everyone wants to be a star, so why not try it. [But] you have a much better chance to become a working actor if you’ve had a life and have some experience that you can bring to your role.”

I forgot to ask Kevin which of his skills he relied on the most in his role as a turtle in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles action figure commercial. I can only assume it was not fire-eating, but you never know when that might come in handy. Thankfully, I caught him on tape as he did the voice of a pile of puke.

Oh, and I should mention: Kevin is the husband of Diane Kolack.

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