When Danielle Perez learned she was cast to play Sun-Spider, Marvel’s wheelchair-using spider hero in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, she couldn’t believe it. “It wasn’t until I was driving onto the Sony lot to record the voice-over, that I was like, oh my God, this is really happening,” says Perez, a bilateral below-the-knee amputee and wheelchair user. “The security guard knew who I was, and everyone was excited to have me there to create and play and to make movie magic.”

Voice-over is a highly competitive industry that is hard to break into, but lately more and more wheelchair users like Perez are booking jobs. Animated series and movies are including more characters with disabilities in their storylines, and their creators are hiring disabled actors to voice them. Additionally, some wheelchair users, like Santina Muha, are getting hired to voice nondisability-specific roles. Muha played the Evil Realtor, a nondisabled character in Netflix’s adult animated comedy Inside Job. “Why not?” says Muha. “I don’t think a lot of people know this, but Mel Blanc, who voiced Bugs Bunny, was not actually a rabbit. With voice-over you can literally be anything. That’s the cool thing.”

Katie McGrath, director of the Diversity Department at Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Associates talent agency, has multiple clients with disabilities who are series regulars on animated series for Disney, Nickelodeon, Apple and DreamWorks. She says that, for the most part, casting directors are open to auditioning KMR’s disabled clients for all roles, though they have seen the most bookings when the character has a disability. “We’ve made strides in regard to authentic and inclusive casting, but it does seem like it’s happening a little quicker in animation right now,” says McGrath.

Ali Stroker, a KMR client, began auditioning for voice-over jobs in 2009 but didn’t start booking work until after she won the Tony Award for her role as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! in 2019. Stroker credits her years of acting experience for helping hone her voice-over skills. “Voice-over actors are seasoned. They only have their voices to tell the story, so they need to be dropped in. They need to be able to do a bunch of skill sets. That comes from experience,” says Stroker.

Stroker narrates audio books, most notably Judy Heumann’s memoir, Being Heumann. She also voices characters, including for two Disney animated series, Alice’s Wonderland Bakery and Firebuds. In Nickelodeon’s Emmy-nominated Big Nate, Stroker plays Amy, one of the title character’s misfit friends, who sports a black power wheelchair with pink accents. Stroker praises the disability representation in Big Nate because Amy’s storylines do not revolve around her disability. “I think it’s great that cartoon characters can exist, being disabled, and they don’t have to be explained. That’s always been my goal, especially with children’s content and middle-grade content, because then it models that if you are disabled yourself or have a friend who is, you don’t have to explain yourself,” says Stroker, who has written books for children and middle-graders.

A More Accessible Experience

One great aspect of voice-over work is that you can record it virtually anywhere with the right setup, making it more accessible for people with disabilities. Stroker used to drive to a studio in New York City to record Amy’s dialogue, but when Stroker got pregnant with her son, she built a recording booth in the corner of her home office. “It is covered in soundproof material, and I have big, heavy curtains,” says Stroker. “Once I set up the mic where I want it, I pull the curtains closed.” Stroker conferences by video with the director and sound engineer, and uses Source-Connect, a remote audio recording app. “It’s amazing what technology has allowed us to do,” says Stroker. “And for me, accessibility-wise and with having the baby, I just have to go into my office.”

Accessibility is one of the reasons Muha loves doing voice-over work. “Usually, most of the studios where you do voice-over are accessible, and once you get to your spot you are good to go,” says Muha. “There is no changing in and out of costumes and going to different locations.”

One of Muha’s favorite voice-over jobs is playing Dr. Melton’s receptionist in Wine Country, a 2019 film directed by Amy Poehler. “Amy said that sometimes she thinks doctor’s office receptionists have sort of like a sweet, caring voice with, like, a little bit of a bitchy undertone. And she felt like I would be perfect for it. I felt so seen, like she really gets me,” says Muha, who met Poehler through doing improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group.

Perez stays busy as a stand-up comedian and an actor for TV series like Russian Doll, Special, and With Love, but she hopes her role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse leads to more voice-over work. “I had so much fun recording Sun-Spider. I had the scripts and my lines, but I was also encouraged to ad-lib and make jokes,” says Perez. “You can do anything with animation. And to be disabled in an animated universe is just so exciting because we get to show the power we have.”

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