Important People of Color in the Voice Acting Industry

When people throw around the term "whitewashing," they most often refer to live action adaptations. People have mostly let the animation and video game production community slide when these companies cast white actors to voice characters who are people of color. However, there has been recent support for ending whitewashing in voice acting.

Today learn a little about the beginnings of the movement to end whitewashing in voice acting as well as 6 of the most successful people of color who are voice actors.

Whitewashing in Voice Acting

Throughout the years, animation and video game companies have been using white actors for the voice of their characters, despite their ethnicity. A close look at the Disney princess movie timeline reveals that Princess Jasmine, the first Middle-Eastern princess, has the speaking voice of a white woman and the singing voice of a Filipina woman.

However, these productions have no problem farming out the animation to agencies run by non-westerners. For example, "Avatar: The Legend of Aang" was created by Americans but animated by Studio Mir, a Korean studio. Other 2D animation outsourcing companies provide similar arrangements.

Change began in 2020 when actress Jenny Slate announced that she would no longer provide the voice of Missy, a Black character, in the animated series "Big Mouth." Her example opened the floodgates as people called out other productions with white actors in people of color roles. Kristen Bell followed suit, stepping down from the role of a Black character, Molly, in "Central Park."

This soon led to other animated series finally announcing that roles denied to people of color will now be open to people who match the race and ethnicity of the character.

6 People of Color Voice Actors

Now that there are new roles finally opening up to people of color voice actors, it's the time to appreciate those who have carved successful careers for themselves despite the whitewashing.

1. Olivia Olson

Olivia Olson is a talented biracial singer and voice actor. Her first foray into acting was in the 2003 romantic-comedy anthology "Love, Actually." Her singing was so good, the editors had to tweak her performance because they didn't think audiences would believe someone so young could have that much talent. As a voice actor, she is most known for providing the speaking and singing voice of Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in "Phineas and Ferb" and Marceline the Vampire Queen in "Adventure Time."

2. Dante Basco

Dante Basco was also an actor before making it big in voice acting. He appeared as Rufio, the de facto head of the Lost Boys in Pan's absences in 1991's "Hook." As a voice actor, his two most famous performances were as people of color. The first was the biracial protagonist of "American Dragon: Jake Long." But his most enduring performance would be as the troubled and banished Prince Zuko from "Avatar: The Legend of Aang."

3. Kevin Michael Richardson

Kevin Michael Richardson's deep, resonant voice is so distinct you'll probably remember any character he's ever played and recognize him. After a career as a live-action actor in the '90s, Richardson's voice performances include Captain Gantu in the "Lilo and Stich" franchise, Kilowog in the "Green Lantern" animated series and Rhombulus in "Star vs the Forces of Evil." He also has an extensive list of voice acting performances in video games, including Grommash Hellscream in "World of Warcraft" and Stump Smash in the "Skylanders" series.

4. Keith Ferguson

Keith Ferguson is one of the most versatile people of color voice actors in the whole industry. He's most known for providing sound-alike performances for other actors. Some of his most notable sound-alike performances include the voice of Han Solo in "The Lego Movie" and Lightning McQueen in the "Cars" tie-in video game. Aside form playing Lord Hater in "Wander Over Yonder" and Zuzo in "Elena of Avalor," Ferguson has also worked for literally dozens of video games. His video game performances include various voices in the Dragon Age series, Mass Effect video games and the Final Fantasy saga.

5. Estelle

Estelle is a successful singer, with multiple awards and albums under her belt. She broke out into voice acting by providing the speaking and singing voice for Garnet in "Steven Universe." The character and Estelle's performance have gathered praise from the LGBTQ+ community and people of color for her strength and complex portrayal. Estelle reprised the role in the sequel miniseries and the feature film.

6. Cree Summer

Cree Summer is one of the most prolific voice actors in the industry, providing the voice for animated characters since 1983. Her first role was a Penny from Inspector Gadget. Her extensive list of roles include Princess Kida in "Atlantis: The Lost Empire,"Nefertina in "Mummies Alive!,"Foxxy Love in "Drawn Together,"Numbuh Five in "Codename: Kids Next Door" and Witch Haggar in "Voltron: Legendary Defender." Cree Summer also has plenty of video game voice acting credits that start in 1996, with her voicing at least one character in a game every year since then.

Despite the massive outpour of support for people of color in voice acting only surging recently, there are already plenty of established POC voice actors in the industry. The massive ongoing support will help them, and new voice actors, get more roles that were previously given to white people. Here's to celebrating a new era of inclusivity and representation in animation and video games.