Jennifer Hale is a long time voice actress, who has appeared on more mediums than you probably thought. From voicing big roles like Commander Shepard in the “Mass Effect” series to voicing Naomi Hunter in the “Metal Gear” Solid franchise. Her voice has made multiple jumps to TV and movies playing such roles like Disney’s "Cinderella" and Cartoon Network's "Powerpuff Girls". I recently got the chance to ask her a few questions about her time with the “Mass Effect” series and what the future lies ahead for voice acting.

What games did you play growing up?

Jennifer: “ (Laughs) Anything outside with dirt and sticks”

Really you didn’t play any video games?

No, I am not good at it. I am an outside person; if I don’t get outside I get a little crazy.

So do you ever play any of the games you’ve voiced for?

It would drive me nuts because I have seen some of in the games that I have voiced when friends are playing and it just drives me crazy because I just want to do it again and tweak it and make it silently better.

What are your thoughts on how the “Mass Effect franchise has evolved over the years?

The writing has become much more character driven not that it wasn’t to begin with. It has just gotten a lot deeper with the character driven nature of the writing and with the depth of the stories and the narrative of the whole thing. The stakes are crazy high in Mass Effect 3, they were high in Mass Effect 1 and 2, but it just dropped into another zone for three.

What's a favorite memory from working on this franchise?

Recording some of the end game for Mass Effect 3

Do you have a favorite voice acting performance that you have done?

Oh my gosh, its like asking to pick my favorite kid. I have a few actually, whenever the writing, directing, and the material come together. It lifts its self up to whole that is greater than some of the parts. I think the end game stuff for Mass Effect 3 is one of my all time favorites, doing the Cowboy Bebop movie and voicing ‘Wolverine: the X-Men’. For me personally and something completely different, the ‘Powerpuff girls. Working on that cartoon was an insane party.

What’s the relationship process like between voice actors and writers?

Oh I wish, but very rarely if ever. I like it when I can hear directly from the writer. What they’re seeing, what they’re envisioning and what their intention is. I did brutal legend, just being in the room with Tim Shafer and talk about the game was fantastic and of course helpful. When we started working on Mass Effect 3, Matt Walters came in and really gave us the run down and the tone of the game. He really helped set us on beautiful trajectory. I don’t get to talk to writers enough because to me without them we got nothing. You know it’s remarkable that they’re so taken for granted.

Do you ever run into fellow Mass Effect voice actors?

Not in video games, but in animation we do. It's a blast in animation. We get to work together and we are all in a room. I worked on couple of shows, which we record invidiously and it’s just so fun when everyone is together. Video games its extremely rare.

For "Metal Gear Solid" we got to record in pairs and sometimes in threes I want to say. For "Onimusha: Raiden" we got to record some of us together, but its very rare for a video game.

About the Author

Alex Martinet

Writer/Editor

Alex Martinet has been working in the industry for a year. He has worked for Player Affinity and The Gamer Studio. He is currently attending Gavilan College and majoring in Journalism. Follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/LightForceJedi