Voices for Voices®

Behind the Mic: Jason Simpson on Acting, Anxiety, and Authenticity | Episode 247

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 247

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Behind the Mic: Jason Simpson on Acting, Anxiety, and Authenticity | Episode 247

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The courage to transform personal struggle into creative power takes center stage as voice actor Jason Simpson opens up about his 25-year journey in the entertainment industry. In this deeply authentic conversation, Simpson—whose voice has brought characters to life in Dragon Prince, My Little Pony, and Sausage Party—reveals the delicate balancing act between crippling self-doubt and artistic confidence.

Simpson pulls back the curtain on the business side of acting, sharing how his decades-long relationship with his agent has provided both career opportunities and protection from exploitative projects. "My agent has her finger on the pulse of what's happening throughout the city," he explains, highlighting the importance of professional partnerships built on mutual trust and respect.

What makes this episode particularly moving is Simpson's vulnerable discussion of anxiety. Rather than pretending it doesn't exist, he shares his approach to channeling nervous energy into performance fuel. "I've learned how to actually change that anxiety or rather fuel my confidence with it," he reveals, offering hope to anyone who battles similar feelings. The contrast between his on-camera anxiety ("I am aware that they see all of me and I don't like looking at all of me") and his voice acting confidence demonstrates how finding the right creative outlet can transform our relationship with ourselves.

Perhaps most compelling is Simpson's discussion of the freedom he finds in character work. For someone who struggles with body image in daily life, stepping into a character provides liberation: "I'm that character, this is what that character looks like. I am a-okay with that character being seen." This fascinating psychological shift offers a powerful reminder of how art allows us to transcend our limitations and insecurities.

During challenging times in the entertainment industry, Simpson's message of persistence resonates deeply: "Keep your nose pointed in the direction you want to go and just keep hustling." His reminder that rejection rarely reflects your talent provides essential perspective for anyone pursuing creative work. Through booms and busts, he remains grounded in what truly matters—family and authentic connections that sustain him through the unpredictable nature of his career.

Have you found ways to transform your anxieties into creative fuel? Listen to this episode and share your experiences with us. Subscribe to catch our full conversation with remarkable voices making a difference in the world.

#behindthemic #jasonSimpson #acting #anxiety #authenticity #socialmedia #influencer #podcast #mentalhealth #performanceanxiety #actorslife #actorsjourney #mentalhealthmatters #socialmediainfluencer #personalstory #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion 

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Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host, founder, executive director of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for tuning in, whether this is your first episode or you've been with us from the beginning. We're past the episode 240 mark, from in-studio episodes as well as remote episodes, on our way to the big number of 300 total episodes by the end of calendar year 2025.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And we couldn't do this without your love and support of us, the organization, the guests and really wanting to help make the world a better place. And, as you hear me on just about every show, unless I don't get a chance to say it, we all have the huge goal of wanting to help 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. It's a huge goal. If we get there, I don't know, but I want to have a huge goal, and so that's where we're at. We're just over 7 billion in the world and so we'll see, but we're well on our way of helping and sharing and helping individuals through hard situations, through hard situations, giving them tips and ideas of real-world experience from our guests, and we can't thank our guests enough for taking the time out of their days to come into your living rooms or your headset, your headphones, your earbuds. And again, we're global, and so it's just incredible Over 50 countries, 600 cities. At the beginning, we have this huge goal of wanting to help 3 billion people, and so, of course, we want to reach as many people across the world as possible. And so here we are, and we value your time as well, our viewers, our listeners, to want to spend any amount of time watching and listening to our episodes. If you're able to, we ask if you're able to like, share, subscribe our YouTube Rumble channels and then, from the audio platforms you know, from the audio platforms, from Apple Podcasts to Spotify to iHeart we're over 16 platforms total. Each episode is on, so we have a little bit of something for everybody.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

So our previous episode from our last studio episode we are filming right now episode or I guess part two with our guest, mr Jason Simpson. He is an actor both in the physical sense and as the voiceover sense. You may know him and his work from Dragon Prince, from my Little Pony, sausage Party, and those are just some ones that come to mind, but there's a lot he's been involved with. As we learned in our first part, he is not only the actor, he's also a writer, he is a mentor, he's also a writer, he is a mentor. He just is really a great person and we're really thankful that he wants to spend any of his time with us and to share his experiences.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And we have a mutual friend that really connected us and it's really due to him that we're able to have Mr Jason Simpson on and this is Mr Jason Simpson's episode, so we're not going to get into kind of that connection, but the connection is great. Individual who coming out talking about the situation and experiences and really wanting to be and is not just wanting to be a beacon of hope for so many people. And so we wanna again thank him, and we'll find out who that is as the year progresses. But let's go to our Zoom guest that's joining us from Vancouver, british Columbia. Mr Jason Simpson, thank you for joining us for our second episode. We appreciate it.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

My pleasure.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, so we had a really good conversation about the first half of your life, or first section of your life, of how the interest at 10-11 came to be to do that and going to film school and shadowing other actors in the studio, putting in the time, learning, making mistakes as we all do and then we learn from them and we watch others make mistakes and then we kind of get a little extra learning from that and then to really see how those mistakes really turn into probably better work.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

That comes from that of being like, okay, I know that this happened, or whether it's written out or whether it's just kind of filed in our mind. It's just an amazing thing and anything with film, with learning, with helping others, with teaching, is huge, obviously with us in our organization and it's even the same way with you, jason. So thank you again for joining us and we maybe can pick up on how you learn about available roles, available projects, because I don't know Is there an Indeedcom or a Monstercom for it? I don't think there is, but shed a little light onto that.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Sure, I have an agent, and my agent finds all the work for me. So there is, there are websites for folks who don't have agents, who are independent and they freelance, and they can go get those jobs. My agent, though, has her finger on the pulse of what's happening throughout the city and gets me those auditions, so I don't actually have to do that work. If I did have to do that work, I would never work, because I'm terrible at that sort of thing. So that's what my agent does for me, and she's very good at her job. So it's not easy getting an agent. I got one out of right out of school, because one of my instructors, who was with my agent, said you need to see Jason and I think he'd be a great addition to your roster, and so I was very fortunate to sign on with her 25 years ago, and I'm still there. We have an excellent relationship, and she's she's one of the. She's one of the tops in the city, so she gets a. Like I said, she's.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

She gets all the big stuff that comes through town, and that is how I get most of my work and I think that I think that's important, that you were able to get that relationship right out of school to have that and then to continue that, and so, like you said, you have that relationship, that familiarity of knowing what you like and those types of things, so you're not getting calls or messages or things like oh, like you know they, she should know that I don't, I don't like this or I don't, for whatever that is, and I think that's important.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Well, she will. Actually. It's sometimes the opposite too. It's sometimes I want to do this thing and she says, no, you're not going to do that thing because they don't want to pay you what you're worth. Or this thing is not going to go anywhere because, whatever the situation is, she knows better than I do and you know we'll have those conversations but she's very discerning and she has great wisdom because she's been in this business a long time. And she's very discerning and she has great wisdom because she's been in this business a long time and she's always open. Of course it's my career, but it's her career as well, and so there's a great level of trust and we just balance that out. But for the most part, if she says this is not going to be good for us and that's rare when that happens but when it does, I say okay, no problem.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, so when those opportunities do come, do I say sorry, I have bad anxiety? I'm just wondering when you go into an audition it's probably different now than right out of film school do you get to get nervous, and what type of preparation film school do you get nervous and what type of preparation do you do? Do you just show up?

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Yeah, I suffer from anxiety a great deal as well, and the nerves aren't. I'm terrified nerves, the nerves are. I want to do well, yeah, excuse me, and I don't think I will, and that's just. It's just false. That's just my anxiety saying you're not very good at this, and that's just. Those are just lies. That's a strong word, but it's been there my whole life. So, as an adult, I go. No, I'm actually really good at this and these people have seen me many times. They know what I'm good at. That's why I'm in this room to audition.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

But the anxiety is always there. You just have to learn how to. It's not, it's easier said than done. You just have to learn how to control it and actually shape it for the better, for the performance. Because when you walk into a room to audition, for in front of a camera in front of a camera is way different than voice.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Okay, in front of a camera, I am aware that they see all of me and I don't like looking at all of me. And when other people have to look at all of me, that that makes me feel very anxious and very stressed out. When it's voice, my confidence is way up here, totally different feeling. But, um, I've got to. You know, over the years I've learned how to actually just change that anxiety or rather fuel my confidence with it. Just the energy has to shift a little bit and that sounds weird and I don't know how I do that, but it's something I've learned to figure out and it's actually helped me in auditions to just have a great deal of confidence going in and coming out. Coming out is actually sometimes worse Going home, going oh I was terrible, they hate me, they'll. A great deal of confidence going in and coming out.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Coming out is actually sometimes worse, oh.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Going home, going. Oh, I was terrible. They hate me. They'll never see me again. Why am I doing this? I should go work, I should go dig ditches, or you know yeah.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

But that's never the case. It's just my, it's just that voice in me telling me that, oh, that wasn't great but it was fine, telling me that that wasn't great but it was fine, and quite often it was good or great. And I'm just always not always, but often telling myself the opposite. And that's just that voice inside me that I think many people suffer from that, but some of us more than others.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, like you said, it's about shaping that anxiety from being a negative or just being not helpful to being helpful, to use that energy and that anxiety, that energy in that positive way. I know for me, with my history of up until seven, going on eight years ago, alcohol was a huge part of my life and so it was anytime anything came up, like I had to drink before it, because I just had these nerves and I didn't know how to shape them because I was just constantly looking for the party and, before I got married, looking for somebody to hang out with for the night or or what have you. And and I've learned since I've gone, uh, the last seven, gone eight years, yeah, it's like gone. Uh, let's say you're going sober and and on mental health medication and visit a psychiatrist and therapist of using the energy that I would use, of finding out where the party or what day I'm going to the club, or I'm taking that energy and doing things like this. And so for me it is.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

I mean, I always get, get nervous. I'm nervous now, uh, but like to the same thing that you're mentioning, that you shape it into something good and at at most of the time, it's good, if not great, uh, and and so I think that's that's helpful for for people to find what works and and not to be, not to be ashamed if that's something, if they need and I'm speaking from my experience, you know if they, if they need help, they need to talk to somebody that, uh, I didn't want to do it and we talked about, you know, the ego with the industry. You kind of have to leave that. There's no room for that in the industry and I had to really leave my ego at the door and say, okay, well, I'm gonna be taking this medication. I don't know if it's gonna be the rest of my life, or two years or one year or six months, um, and and I've just seen a there's a huge positive movement and in my life and I think, with with you turning that, you know, anxiety of going into audition and turning that into just shaping that and, uh, whether it settles it or what, but it it, it turns out to be an actual like a good thing.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And so people say, do you drink coffee, do you? And I said, no, I don't drink coffee. This is like just the energy that I have and it's, it's fine. Like you, you don't drink coffee and you know whatever, and it's it's. It's interesting, though, those conversations that they come up, but it's you know, knowing that you're doing something that you're you're good at. Otherwise you wouldn't be doing it and, like you said, your agent wouldn't be calling you and you wouldn't be getting the work and the projects that you have and that you are. And then they're coming into the future.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

That's a really interesting point. If I may, yes, please. I think it's really important what you just said, that that idea that this is the energy that I have, and I think we need to find a comfortability in that and use that, like we've just been talking about. Use that, shape that as best we can, because we cannot be someone else that somebody else wants us to be. We are who we are and we need to maximize what we've. Sometimes we need to change it because sometimes it's negative, but can we take that negative and turn it into a positive? And these are all just words, but we put these things into action. And how? How do we do that? Well, a lot of times it's just personal, it's just a mindset.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Sometimes nerves and anxiety can be so crippling. But I think another thing you said is and to just to expand on that dealing with the right people. If we know, if we know the people we're working with, or if we know that we can feel safe in a place like in an audition if I'm going to audition for people I've been auditioning with for 20 years, 25 years, that's a safe space and I know I can be who I want to be, which is just myself and they expect that from me. They know I'm gonna come in and be creative, I'm going to take direction. So I don't have to worry or be anxious, and I think I found that many, many years ago.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

It's the people who I don't necessarily know, that I see here and there where I go. Okay, I've got to put on something. No, I just have to be myself and be the same creative person who's making big choices, taking chances and listening to them, and that's the real me. The real me is not the anxious guy. The real me is the guy who is free from that and it's just not always easy to be that guy. But we've just got to find those. And I think it's embracing, like you said, the energy that I have and then the the people that we work with absolutely and uh, not to bring another actor's name in I, it was several years ago.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Uh, there was uh an interview that I don't know if I watched it or if I read it with Johnny Depp, and he was talking about how, when he goes in to play a role, he's able to not be himself, he's able to be that character, but then when he takes himself out of that role and he has to sit down for an interview and that's just the one that comes to mind, he's not the only one but then when he has interviews and different things, they come off as like, wow, this is him, because they're used to seeing him or her in a certain light, and all of a sudden it's like, well, wait a minute, this isn't who I've seen on the screen or the voice that I've heard, and so I think it is.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

It's important where we can feel safe in those spaces, and so that's like one less, maybe stressor that we have to even worry about. So we don't have to worry about security or something. We know we're in a safe place, we know that they're going to treat me fairly, they're going to understand where I'm coming from and they're going to give that direction and know that you're going to be able to take that with that audition you know what's interesting is, um, if I may yeah I, you know I've lived my whole life with, uh, just image problem.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Um, I, I've overeaten my whole life and I eat when I'm. I eat through my emotions. I do too. So that's affected me physically over the years and I've never liked looking at myself. I don't like other people looking at me, but when I'm on camera there's that freedom. I'm that character, this is what that character looks like. I am a-okay with that character being seen. That person is. So I do find a little bit of that freedom of becoming the character and everything just sort of evens out and I can be that terrible human being on screen or a regular dude who just looks like this. The yell cut, I'm back to going. I'm gonna go hide in the corner. You know, don't look at me.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, like I'm going to turn my phone on or do something just like separate for a while.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

But there is that actor. There is that division. Though you know many actors, I'm one of these guys who, when you yell action, I'm in it. Okay, I am that character, I'm that person. We do this thing and I like playing bad guys and they can be you know finger quotes bad guys. They can make very horrible decisions and say nasty things and do terrible things, but the moment that it's cut back to Jason just doing my thing, just being who I am, I love that separation of actor and character because it does give me this great freedom to be someone completely different, who I would never be in real life. But real life me is fine. It's just fun to play those other people because I do have that sense of freedom to breathe and say, hey, look, here's my gut, take a look at it. This character owns this gut. Real Jason goes please don't look at my gut.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

What's happened recently, what's going on that you want to share, and then maybe some parting words of inspiration, for you know we got about six, seven minutes left.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

That's a good question. I mean I'm busy working, doing, you know, film and television as much as I can doing voice work as much as I can in video games, cartoons, commercial work. There's nothing there that I can really talk about right now. Yeah, I don't want to. Yeah, but you feel that work is in this industry right now is tight. You know we're dealing with cross-border tension, there's a lot of stuff politically going on that affects everyone in our jobs at some point somehow, and we certainly feel that We've got industry strikes in the US, we've had strikes up here, so things have been impacted for the negative and we're coming back from that. So things are just slow for everybody.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

But I know this is the only thing I want to do and I love doing so. You find I try and find the positive doesn't always work. I complain lots, I get down on myself lots, I feel sorry for myself a lot and I just need my wife to say just snap out of it and let's keep going. But as far as encouragement goes for anyone who's in my industry or wants to be in it, keep your nose pointed in the direction you want to go and just keep hustling. You will find the work, you will get better at what you're doing. And if you're not working, if you're auditioning and you're not booking auditions, we all need to keep working and learning, but for the most part it's not a you issue.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

That's the hardest thing to learn as an actor the rejection. You audition so many times you don't get anything. It's not because you're terrible, it's because someone else did or said something that the production liked and they hired that person. Maybe I'm four inches taller than they needed, or maybe I'm 50 pounds heavier than they wanted. Those are things. Well, the one thing I can't change I'm always going to be taller. I can change that other thing, but then maybe it's well, now I'm 50 pounds less than somebody else wanted. You never know. So it it's quite often you, you're doing the right thing, you're on the right path. It's just somebody else did something different. So we've just got to be okay with who we are, embrace that and just get ready to do the work when it comes to us excellent, because you talk about, like that, confidence.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

that's where, if we're not confident in ourselves, how are others going to be confident in us? And I know it's easier, easier said than done. But when we look at things we're passionate about, we put in the time, the effort, whether the role comes in a week or a year or six months, and it's life changing, but just being yourself and myself.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

You know it's interesting, though You're right, it can be life changing. But at the same time I come home and I've still got to take out the garbage.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

I was going to say, yeah, you still got to.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

It is life-changing, but don't.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

It's not, it's all around yeah.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Life still goes on and that's the beautiful thing about it. Right, we're not elevated to this next level and we stay there. It's no, we had a great moment and that might last a while, but underneath it is the important stuff.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, it's my family and the life we're building and, uh, that thing just happens to be a lovely moment in time, but always stay focused on what's really important and so I, I, uh, I gather that the work that you, you do, obviously it's, it's important, but it's important to stay within your yourself and not step, oh yeah, too much out where you may garner interest for this other type of a role, and it's like, wait a minute, like I want to. This is where I'd like to be. This is more my lane, or lanes, and I did this really well. Now things are going over here, and how do I handle that?

Actor, Jason Simpson:

I will always embrace the work wherever it takes me. If it's something elevated, I get something bigger. Because of work I did, people like what I did and they hire me. I'm always going to be very appreciative of that. It's very humbling. I always want to stay humble Because I've seen some lovely success and I've seen how that affects other people in my life for the positive and not and people I don't know, people who love the work I've done and I get to meet those people and the fan base, let's say, and it's very, very, very humbling. I'm so grateful for that. But at the same time, I then get to go home to my wife, my children and just this grounded, and that's there. Whether I have a rainy season of just great growth or I have this dry, desert, arid season of there's no work, there's nothing, there's no people saying you're awesome, we love you, you know what's important is my family is still there and that keeps me sane and grounded well, we're at the end of our time for a second episode.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Is there anything else that we'd like to share? Or it's uh, you know your branding moment.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Well, not my branding so much, as I just think we have not known each other very long, but I think you're such a positive, driven person who's so you are so eager to help others and to to me it sounds like help others, find where they can impact other people and also just find themselves in a positive way, so that's really impressive. I'm just really impressed by that. That and um I I you know. Many blessings to you, my friend, because I think you're doing something quite lovely and uh, people can just listen and hopefully find a great positivity and in their own, their own life in their own.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

Uh, what they're going after in life?

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

no, thank you very much. That means, means a lot. Uh yeah, and thank you for joining us for two shows. We're just very humbled to have you just impart your wisdom and experiences.

Actor, Jason Simpson:

That's my pleasure.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

And we'll definitely stay in contact and hopefully we'll be able to meet someday and do that. So thank you again, Mr Jason Simpson, for joining us my pleasure.

Voices for Voices Founder, Justin Alan Hayes:

Thank you, you're welcome, and thank you our listeners, our viewers. We've just had an incredible interview with Mr Jason Simpson. Go back to the previous episode in the order and you'll find part one of our conversation, and it's just a real, it's just a real blessing to have an individual that's so caring and and genuine and sharing their, their experience to help others, and we, we, we thank him for that and we thank you for watching and listening. So, until our next episode I want you to tune into, please be a voice for you or somebody in need.

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