Danielle Rayne - actress, voice-over artist, and stunt woman

Danielle Rayne is an actress, voice-over artist, and stunt woman who has mastered the art of versatility. She is the star of the Sci-Fi hit, “Portal: No Escape,” and has voiced and played everything from an alien to an action hero. On this episode we get into everything from the world of recording audio books to whisper room design to stand-in work and much more.

--------------------
Danielle is a veteran of TV, Film, Stage and Voice-Over work. In addition to audiobook narration, she has voiced characters ranging from a 6'6" spiky alien mercenary squad-mate for Mass Effect: Andromeda to a Christmas cookie for Target. With a BFA in Classical Theatre and starring roles in viral Sci-Fi hits like Dan Trachtenberg’s Portal: No Escape, she brings a side of action hero to her storytelling. For more on Danielle Rayne, go to www.daniellerayne.com and @daniellerayneoffical on Instagram and view her currently available audiobooks on Audible.

------------------------
Produced and Edited by Arts and Craft.
Theme Music: Sound Gallery by Dmitry Taras.

Transcript

00:00:00.060 --> 00:00:08.180
<v Danielle Rayne>I started in my little walk-in closet with my iPad Pro and my MacBook Pro and just was recording my auditions there.

00:00:08.180 --> 00:00:11.280
<v Danielle Rayne>And that is where I booked my Mass Effect.

00:00:11.280 --> 00:00:20.260
<v Danielle Rayne>But they send you, here's the audition, record it, send it in, and you know, every once in a rare blue moon, you get a response saying, hey, you're the one they want.

00:00:20.260 --> 00:00:26.760
<v Nancy Magarill>She is an actress, voiceover artist and stunt woman who has mastered the art of versatility.

00:00:26.760 --> 00:00:30.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>She has voiced and played everything from an alien to an action hero.

00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:34.660
<v Nancy Magarill>Danielle Rayne joins us on today's episode.

00:00:34.660 --> 00:00:36.400
<v Nancy Magarill>My name is Nancy Magarill.

00:00:36.400 --> 00:00:40.460
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm a singer, songwriter, composer, performer, graphic and web designer.

00:00:40.460 --> 00:00:45.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>And I'm Peter Michael Marino, and I'm a writer, producer, creator, performer and educator.

00:00:45.540 --> 00:00:48.800
<v Nancy Magarill>We are New York based artists you may or may not have heard of.

00:00:48.800 --> 00:00:53.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>And we are here to introduce you to other artists you may or may not have heard of.

00:00:55.440 --> 00:00:57.820
<v Nancy Magarill>Hello, I'm so happy to have you here.

00:00:57.940 --> 00:00:58.840
<v Nancy Magarill>I have to tell you, like...

00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:00.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>Nancy, did you check us?

00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:01.560
<v Peter Michael Marino>Did we sound good?

00:01:01.560 --> 00:01:02.840
<v Nancy Magarill>Of course I did.

00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:04.240
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, ye of little faith.

00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:04.900
<v Nancy Magarill>Didn't you see me go home?

00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:08.600
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, we're only 25 episodes in, and Peter's going, did you check the gate?

00:01:08.600 --> 00:01:10.460
<v Danielle Rayne>Right, I gotta be sure I sound good.

00:01:10.460 --> 00:01:11.220
<v Peter Michael Marino>That's what they sound...

00:01:11.220 --> 00:01:12.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, you have to sound good.

00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:14.540
<v Peter Michael Marino>Your whole career is writing on this.

00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:20.360
<v Nancy Magarill>It would really suck if we put this out, and you just sounded like crap talking about all the audio work that you do.

00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:21.620
<v Nancy Magarill>That would be really funny.

00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:23.000
<v Danielle Rayne>I sounded totally under water.

00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:24.380
<v Danielle Rayne>Is this not okay?

00:01:24.380 --> 00:01:25.080
<v Danielle Rayne>How's this?

00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:31.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>Danielle, we have talked to many people who make their living using a microphone.

00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:36.840
<v Peter Michael Marino>These people have the worst audio setups at home.

00:01:36.840 --> 00:01:46.300
<v Nancy Magarill>When it comes to doing this stuff, I know you don't, I know because you are making your living doing audio, you're always in your studio, which let's talk about.

00:01:46.300 --> 00:01:49.300
<v Nancy Magarill>So you have a studio, it's called Maverick Studios.

00:01:49.300 --> 00:01:50.440
<v Danielle Rayne>Studio Maverick, yeah.

00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:53.860
<v Danielle Rayne>This used to be my horse stall.

00:01:53.860 --> 00:01:54.920
<v Peter Michael Marino>Was there a horse in it?

00:01:54.920 --> 00:02:00.040
<v Danielle Rayne>There was a horse lying right where I am sitting right at this moment.

00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:01.280
<v Danielle Rayne>Your horse?

00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:01.820
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:02:01.820 --> 00:02:13.140
<v Danielle Rayne>He is a beautiful white Arabian, and he was absolutely the most stunning horse, and we had this incredible, if there's an equine soulmate, he was mine.

00:02:14.760 --> 00:02:20.940
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, it's just magical how we came together, and he was an incredible horse.

00:02:20.940 --> 00:02:22.860
<v Danielle Rayne>I had him for 19 years.

00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:33.920
<v Danielle Rayne>And just 2019, he had something called laminitis, which they don't know what causes it nor how to cure it, but it can come after an infection.

00:02:33.920 --> 00:02:38.680
<v Danielle Rayne>And for two years, we tried to save him, and we just couldn't.

00:02:38.700 --> 00:02:41.680
<v Danielle Rayne>So this place sat empty for five years.

00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:44.440
<v Danielle Rayne>Literally, it would break my heart to go in the backyard.

00:02:44.440 --> 00:02:47.460
<v Danielle Rayne>I would look at his stall, and all I could think of was him.

00:02:47.460 --> 00:02:50.040
<v Peter Michael Marino>And there was also a pandemic and a lockdown going on.

00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:53.460
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes, and there was no horse to ride during the pandemic.

00:02:53.460 --> 00:02:56.980
<v Danielle Rayne>Anyway, so last year, another thing broke my heart.

00:02:56.980 --> 00:02:58.660
<v Danielle Rayne>My dad passed away.

00:02:58.660 --> 00:03:04.620
<v Danielle Rayne>And then this year now, my mom has moved in with us, but we have a tiny house.

00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:08.040
<v Danielle Rayne>I mean, I'm grateful we own our home.

00:03:08.040 --> 00:03:11.040
<v Danielle Rayne>It is a whopping 1,250 square feet.

00:03:11.920 --> 00:03:14.440
<v Nancy Magarill>You're talking to two New Yorkers who have no...

00:03:14.440 --> 00:03:14.860
<v Danielle Rayne>Right.

00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:19.060
<v Danielle Rayne>The studio apartment, nine people, that makes sense.

00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:21.380
<v Peter Michael Marino>But you have one and a half baths, at least, don't you?

00:03:21.380 --> 00:03:22.160
<v Peter Michael Marino>Please tell me.

00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:23.140
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes, one and a half.

00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:26.140
<v Danielle Rayne>We need more than one toilet for all these people.

00:03:26.140 --> 00:03:38.140
<v Danielle Rayne>So anyway, we looked at this stall, and I realized this is an empty space that could be used, that could be memorialized to my horse.

00:03:38.140 --> 00:03:40.480
<v Danielle Rayne>And so we converted this.

00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:48.480
<v Danielle Rayne>We put in everything from rock wall and two layers of drywall and every kind of sound protection.

00:03:48.480 --> 00:03:54.540
<v Danielle Rayne>The only thing that really gets me is a helicopter coming straight overhead, where I go, okay.

00:03:54.540 --> 00:03:57.120
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because you didn't soundproof the roof.

00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.680
<v Danielle Rayne>There was only so much soundproofing you could do before it might fall on your head.

00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:02.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>Right, right.

00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:08.260
<v Danielle Rayne>That was when my contractor said, you know, any more soundproofing and this will fall on your head one day.

00:04:08.260 --> 00:04:09.960
<v Danielle Rayne>Like, okay, that's not safe.

00:04:10.280 --> 00:04:17.980
<v Peter Michael Marino>I guess I'm just thinking about now how I did voiceovers for A Good Spell in the 90s, the hot times to do voiceovers, you know.

00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:20.640
<v Peter Michael Marino>And when you're in a studio, there's no windows, right?

00:04:20.640 --> 00:04:21.740
<v Peter Michael Marino>There's no windows.

00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:22.460
<v Peter Michael Marino>Right.

00:04:22.460 --> 00:04:23.800
<v Peter Michael Marino>I never really thought about it.

00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:30.620
<v Peter Michael Marino>There's sometimes you go to an audition and there's like, it's like you're in a prison, the window is very tiny so that you don't hear the helicopter.

00:04:30.860 --> 00:04:34.380
<v Nancy Magarill>Or you have like intensely soundproof windows.

00:04:34.380 --> 00:04:36.640
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, soundproof, double glass.

00:04:37.660 --> 00:04:42.840
<v Danielle Rayne>I have a window in my door of my whisper room, which is a four by six whisper room.

00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:44.200
<v Peter Michael Marino>Wait, what's a whisper room?

00:04:44.200 --> 00:04:44.880
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, what's a whisper room?

00:04:44.880 --> 00:04:47.360
<v Danielle Rayne>Whisper room is basically a sound booth.

00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:52.300
<v Danielle Rayne>So I have my studio and it houses my whisper room.

00:04:52.300 --> 00:05:02.080
<v Danielle Rayne>So I've literally got two walls and that is one of the key things to soundproof any environment, is to have separate walls not touching anything.

00:05:02.080 --> 00:05:05.400
<v Danielle Rayne>It's up on casters, although there's no sound underneath me.

00:05:05.400 --> 00:05:13.660
<v Danielle Rayne>But in the house, when I used to have my whisper room, if someone flushed the toilet, I could hear it coming underneath the whisper room.

00:05:13.660 --> 00:05:18.160
<v Nancy Magarill>What is the purpose of having a whisper room in a soundproof studio?

00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:20.180
<v Danielle Rayne>Extra soundproofing.

00:05:20.180 --> 00:05:23.720
<v Danielle Rayne>You want it to be dead space, quiet space.

00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.320
<v Danielle Rayne>So it is literally just your voice.

00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:37.760
<v Danielle Rayne>And, hi, I live in Los Angeles, and people are constantly adding an ADU in their backyard, making, you know, building a new home across the street.

00:05:37.760 --> 00:05:48.460
<v Danielle Rayne>There's so much sound that you just cannot have cutting in on your recording just when you're getting, you know, a good vibe going, and you're rolling, you're rolling, and then all of a sudden you hear a truck.

00:05:48.460 --> 00:06:07.720
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, it's for your own sanity, but it also just you have that assurance that your sound quality is already, it's starting at a base minimum of excellent, a certain amount of dBs, minus dBs like minus 60 dBs is what you're going for, for a room tone.

00:06:07.720 --> 00:06:13.460
<v Danielle Rayne>And so that's what I'm able to achieve by having the Whisper Room inside the studio.

00:06:13.460 --> 00:06:16.740
<v Danielle Rayne>I'm able to have that kind of quiet in a very loud city.

00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:18.900
<v Nancy Magarill>Are you in the Whisper Room right now?

00:06:18.900 --> 00:06:19.840
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes, I am.

00:06:19.840 --> 00:06:23.800
<v Nancy Magarill>So are you always, no matter when you're recording, you're in the Whisper Room?

00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:24.760
<v Danielle Rayne>Absolutely.

00:06:24.760 --> 00:06:25.840
<v Danielle Rayne>Yep.

00:06:25.840 --> 00:06:28.540
<v Nancy Magarill>So what's in the rest of the studio?

00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:34.160
<v Danielle Rayne>I have a little self-tape area because I still get on-camera auditions.

00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:40.260
<v Danielle Rayne>And I used to have to take out all this equipment, put it all up in the family room.

00:06:40.260 --> 00:06:45.580
<v Danielle Rayne>And then as soon as I was done with the audition and I submitted it, take all this stuff down, put it all away.

00:06:45.580 --> 00:06:47.180
<v Danielle Rayne>Now it can just live out here.

00:06:48.840 --> 00:06:54.640
<v Danielle Rayne>It is a complete, just a studio for both the on-camera and all my voiceover work.

00:06:54.640 --> 00:06:57.680
<v Peter Michael Marino>Your beautiful horse left you a great gift.

00:06:57.680 --> 00:06:58.920
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:00.140
<v Peter Michael Marino>At the right time.

00:07:00.140 --> 00:07:00.440
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.

00:07:00.440 --> 00:07:02.080
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's really amazing that you're able to have that.

00:07:02.080 --> 00:07:05.600
<v Danielle Rayne>It is so much better to honor him than to just miss him.

00:07:05.600 --> 00:07:08.000
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, have my heart aching for him.

00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.480
<v Danielle Rayne>So now I can just honor him and be in here.

00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:11.600
<v Nancy Magarill>That's so sweet.

00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:12.360
<v Nancy Magarill>You know, it's so funny.

00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:14.400
<v Nancy Magarill>I don't know if I remember you being a rider.

00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.280
<v Nancy Magarill>I grew up riding, and I loved horses.

00:07:17.280 --> 00:07:19.760
<v Nancy Magarill>So I'm a little jealous, because like it's such a...

00:07:19.760 --> 00:07:22.300
<v Nancy Magarill>It's every little girl's fantasy, right, to have a horse.

00:07:22.300 --> 00:07:23.020
<v Danielle Rayne>Oh my gosh.

00:07:23.020 --> 00:07:29.800
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, they put me up on a horse when I was four, and they took a picture, and I was horse crazy from that moment.

00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:39.140
<v Danielle Rayne>And at 10, I started with riding lessons, and my dad would drop me off at a stable on Saturdays, go play tennis all day, and then come at the end of the day and pick me up.

00:07:39.140 --> 00:07:41.220
<v Danielle Rayne>And I learned how to ride hunters and jumpers.

00:07:41.220 --> 00:07:49.200
<v Danielle Rayne>And then when I came out here to California, the man I fell in love with happened to be in the Wild West Stunt Show and had friends who had horses.

00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:57.520
<v Danielle Rayne>So I started riding their horses and learned how to ride Western and rode in Griffith Park and learned how to work cows and all that stuff.

00:07:57.520 --> 00:07:58.960
<v Danielle Rayne>And then I got my own horse.

00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:02.620
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was really a lifelong wish fulfilled.

00:08:02.620 --> 00:08:03.960
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm so impressed.

00:08:03.960 --> 00:08:05.260
<v Nancy Magarill>Danny and I went to school together.

00:08:05.260 --> 00:08:08.180
<v Nancy Magarill>We went to a theater conservatory together.

00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:08.980
<v Nancy Magarill>And one of the things-

00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:10.660
<v Peter Michael Marino>Classically trained, both of you?

00:08:10.660 --> 00:08:12.260
<v Nancy Magarill>Classically trained, yep.

00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:19.480
<v Nancy Magarill>And although in our junior year, she went into the classical acting department and I went into the musical theater.

00:08:19.500 --> 00:08:23.680
<v Nancy Magarill>But we still had all the similar training except for the musical theater part.

00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:35.580
<v Nancy Magarill>But one of the things I think is so remarkable about you is that you have managed since graduating to consistently work in some fashion.

00:08:36.100 --> 00:08:40.900
<v Nancy Magarill>You are like the quintessential, oh god, what's the word I want to use?

00:08:40.920 --> 00:08:42.360
<v Danielle Rayne>Working actor.

00:08:43.520 --> 00:08:48.960
<v Nancy Magarill>But you found every little niche that you can fit into.

00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:57.200
<v Nancy Magarill>You've taken all of your skills, like at the bottom of an actor's resume listener, it says skills, and you put all of your skills on there.

00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.400
<v Nancy Magarill>And you know, people lie sometimes.

00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:04.260
<v Nancy Magarill>But Danny can literally say, I'm a writer, I'm this, I'm that, I'm doing all.

00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:05.860
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm a stunt person.

00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:10.100
<v Nancy Magarill>She's just doing, using every inch of her talent to work.

00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:14.860
<v Nancy Magarill>And I think that is so admirable, and it's really fantastic.

00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:17.600
<v Nancy Magarill>And you've just been going at it for so long.

00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:31.620
<v Nancy Magarill>So I want you to tell a little bit about like what happened when you moved to LA and then how you transitioned over the pandemic, as we had already talked about this, but I'd love for everybody to hear into the audio world a little more and all that, if you don't mind.

00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:34.580
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yes, because the listeners do not know what we've been talking about.

00:09:34.580 --> 00:09:35.220
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:09:35.220 --> 00:09:39.180
<v Peter Michael Marino>They might be going, why does this voice sound so familiar?

00:09:39.180 --> 00:09:40.960
<v Peter Michael Marino>That really might be happening.

00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:43.460
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh my God, think about that at any given time.

00:09:43.460 --> 00:09:46.020
<v Peter Michael Marino>There is somebody on planet Earth who is listening to your voice.

00:09:53.505 --> 00:09:55.625
<v Peter Michael Marino>You decided to go to LA first thing.

00:09:55.625 --> 00:09:56.965
<v Nancy Magarill>No, she came to New York.

00:09:56.965 --> 00:09:58.065
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, you came to New York.

00:09:58.065 --> 00:09:59.945
<v Danielle Rayne>I was in New York for 11 years.

00:09:59.945 --> 00:10:01.705
<v Peter Michael Marino>Okay, you pass, you pass.

00:10:01.705 --> 00:10:04.605
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.

00:10:04.605 --> 00:10:27.565
<v Danielle Rayne>As soon as I graduated, I did a bunch of scrappy little jobs, like a children's musical that toured Texas for a month, and a cruise ship, so I could save enough money to move into a little studio apartment with my first roommate, who was my cruise ship cabin mate, Amy Fortgang, and we shared this tiny little studio in the Upper West Side, 91st and West End Avenue.

00:10:27.565 --> 00:10:31.205
<v Danielle Rayne>And from there, I just went the normal routes.

00:10:31.205 --> 00:10:33.945
<v Danielle Rayne>I waited tables for a number of years.

00:10:33.945 --> 00:10:35.185
<v Danielle Rayne>I got my union card.

00:10:35.185 --> 00:10:38.045
<v Peter Michael Marino>Did you wait online at five in the morning to go to an audition at Equity?

00:10:38.845 --> 00:10:40.285
<v Danielle Rayne>Me too.

00:10:40.285 --> 00:10:41.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>So many times.

00:10:41.865 --> 00:10:43.985
<v Danielle Rayne>And open calls, TV, film.

00:10:43.985 --> 00:10:45.105
<v Danielle Rayne>There were a lot of those too.

00:10:45.125 --> 00:10:48.245
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because you can move, so you can go to movement calls as well.

00:10:48.245 --> 00:10:49.985
<v Peter Michael Marino>I didn't have to do that because I don't move.

00:10:50.065 --> 00:10:58.385
<v Danielle Rayne>The big thing that my mother always reminds me of is the time that Martin Scorsese was looking, casting for, it starts with something, Angel.

00:10:58.385 --> 00:11:02.605
<v Danielle Rayne>But it was a movie, and I had gone to one of those giant open calls.

00:11:02.605 --> 00:11:04.845
<v Danielle Rayne>And then I had gotten the cruise ship job.

00:11:04.845 --> 00:11:08.285
<v Danielle Rayne>And they actually, I think it was Angel Heart.

00:11:08.325 --> 00:11:15.445
<v Danielle Rayne>They tried to call me because they were interested in me for the part that I think it was Lisa Bonet ended up doing.

00:11:16.225 --> 00:11:24.605
<v Danielle Rayne>And my mother is just like freaking out because I'm on a cruise ship, and cannot be reached for cell phones before any of that.

00:11:24.605 --> 00:11:25.485
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:11:25.485 --> 00:11:26.605
<v Danielle Rayne>I was like, yeah.

00:11:27.145 --> 00:11:30.405
<v Peter Michael Marino>You only booked that because you took the cruise ship job.

00:11:30.405 --> 00:11:32.025
<v Danielle Rayne>Well, I didn't book it.

00:11:32.025 --> 00:11:33.905
<v Danielle Rayne>They just wanted me to come in for a call back.

00:11:33.905 --> 00:11:34.865
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, you would have gotten it.

00:11:34.865 --> 00:11:37.385
<v Danielle Rayne>Ridiculous early morning things.

00:11:37.385 --> 00:11:38.505
<v Danielle Rayne>But yeah.

00:11:38.505 --> 00:11:57.805
<v Danielle Rayne>So anyway, so lifetime in New York, I actually got my first pension credit, and my first year of insurance by being a stand-in on a movie, which was Tim Robbins and Elizabeth Penya, Jacob's Ladder, directed by Adrienne Lyne.

00:11:57.805 --> 00:11:59.965
<v Danielle Rayne>And I was Elizabeth Penya's stand-in.

00:11:59.965 --> 00:12:03.365
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was the first time I got a pension credit and all that good stuff.

00:12:03.365 --> 00:12:06.605
<v Peter Michael Marino>And a lot of experience, I imagine, just constantly on the set.

00:12:06.605 --> 00:12:13.205
<v Danielle Rayne>Because we did not get much film experience, like on-camera experience, at our college training program.

00:12:13.205 --> 00:12:22.885
<v Danielle Rayne>So I actually got trained by the Girardi brothers, who had been the team with Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice.

00:12:22.885 --> 00:12:26.845
<v Danielle Rayne>So they were the ones teaching me how to find out about framing and all this sort of stuff.

00:12:26.845 --> 00:12:33.025
<v Danielle Rayne>So I went on and I did my law and order and the soap operas in New York City.

00:12:33.225 --> 00:12:36.325
<v Danielle Rayne>And was like, I wanted to try pilot season.

00:12:36.325 --> 00:12:37.425
<v Danielle Rayne>So I came out to LA.

00:12:37.485 --> 00:12:40.425
<v Peter Michael Marino>This whole time, where were you picturing yourself?

00:12:40.425 --> 00:12:42.305
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like what was your goal, I guess?

00:12:42.305 --> 00:12:44.645
<v Danielle Rayne>Well, you know what, I was pretty happy in New York.

00:12:44.645 --> 00:12:49.825
<v Danielle Rayne>My days would be like, I had a recurring role on a soap called All My Children.

00:12:49.825 --> 00:12:51.745
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes, oh, I would go do that.

00:12:51.745 --> 00:12:55.205
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know my buddy, Fred Spreckeller, he was a stage manager there forever.

00:12:55.405 --> 00:12:58.525
<v Peter Michael Marino>I know everybody from All My Children, the cast of People.

00:12:58.525 --> 00:13:03.485
<v Peter Michael Marino>And it just came up yesterday with someone else talking about another soap opera, and it always comes up.

00:13:03.485 --> 00:13:05.525
<v Peter Michael Marino>Just like the city of Buffalo always comes up.

00:13:05.845 --> 00:13:07.845
<v Danielle Rayne>The soap operas are pretty small.

00:13:07.845 --> 00:13:09.885
<v Nancy Magarill>Did you work with Bill Timoney?

00:13:09.885 --> 00:13:11.605
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, I think I did.

00:13:11.725 --> 00:13:13.985
<v Peter Michael Marino>Right, of course, Bill Timoney, yeah.

00:13:13.985 --> 00:13:17.325
<v Danielle Rayne>It's, you know, it was so long ago.

00:13:17.325 --> 00:13:19.525
<v Danielle Rayne>So long ago.

00:13:19.525 --> 00:13:30.825
<v Danielle Rayne>But Mark Teshner, who like is out here in New York, he's been general hospital casting director, I actually worked for him on Loving, when I was, you know, doing something.

00:13:31.645 --> 00:13:41.705
<v Danielle Rayne>I've done a lot of photo double, or like if somebody has an evil twin, and they need somebody to be the back of her while they're fighting, while they're doing their scenes.

00:13:41.705 --> 00:13:47.505
<v Danielle Rayne>I have done that in New York, and I still have done this here for general hospital.

00:13:47.505 --> 00:13:55.225
<v Danielle Rayne>But Mark Teshner cast me in Loving a couple times before he came out to LA, and then I came out to LA.

00:13:55.225 --> 00:13:59.225
<v Danielle Rayne>And, you know, he's just one of those great guys who keeps me working.

00:13:59.225 --> 00:14:16.425
<v Danielle Rayne>But anyway, so I come out here for pilot season, and I have a return ticket for seven months, and I meet this very handsome stuntman actor who works at Universal Studios and the Wild West Stunt Show and all the stunt shows.

00:14:16.425 --> 00:14:19.425
<v Danielle Rayne>He literally would run from one stunt show to the next.

00:14:19.425 --> 00:14:24.005
<v Danielle Rayne>And I fell in love, and I never went back and let the ticket expire.

00:14:24.005 --> 00:14:27.185
<v Danielle Rayne>So I'm out here, and now I have to figure out how to make a living out here.

00:14:27.185 --> 00:14:29.865
<v Danielle Rayne>And I've been pretty successful in commercials.

00:14:29.865 --> 00:14:32.445
<v Danielle Rayne>TV commercials had really paid my bills in New York.

00:14:32.445 --> 00:14:33.845
<v Peter Michael Marino>On camera.

00:14:33.845 --> 00:14:35.545
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, a lot of that.

00:14:35.925 --> 00:14:37.365
<v Danielle Rayne>It was a great way to make a living.

00:14:37.365 --> 00:14:38.945
<v Peter Michael Marino>What's your type?

00:14:38.945 --> 00:14:39.605
<v Danielle Rayne>You know what?

00:14:39.605 --> 00:15:02.105
<v Danielle Rayne>Back then, like I had some AT&T small business spots, there was a big campaign for, it was Disney and a couple other, it was like one of those try things that they did for a contest, Disney World and AT&T and Delta Airlines holding all those conflicts.

00:15:02.585 --> 00:15:05.505
<v Danielle Rayne>I would have a lot of really nice spots like that.

00:15:05.665 --> 00:15:13.745
<v Danielle Rayne>My big claim to fame was that I did this Campari spot that took me to Rio de Janeiro for a week and Milan, Italy for a week.

00:15:13.745 --> 00:15:21.505
<v Danielle Rayne>And they paid me like a fashion model where I got $2,500 a day and $1,250 a day that I was off.

00:15:21.505 --> 00:15:25.885
<v Danielle Rayne>And I just had crazy amounts of money to spend in a beautiful location.

00:15:25.885 --> 00:15:28.705
<v Danielle Rayne>So, I mean, those were the kinds of jobs that I did.

00:15:28.705 --> 00:15:29.745
<v Danielle Rayne>And I loved it.

00:15:29.825 --> 00:15:33.145
<v Danielle Rayne>And I came out here and I needed a survival job.

00:15:33.145 --> 00:15:35.545
<v Danielle Rayne>And I was not going back to Waiting Tables.

00:15:35.545 --> 00:15:41.405
<v Danielle Rayne>But I did fall into that community of stunt performers at Universal Studios.

00:15:41.405 --> 00:15:41.945
<v Peter Michael Marino>Of course.

00:15:41.945 --> 00:15:45.785
<v Danielle Rayne>And I've always been athletic.

00:15:45.785 --> 00:15:48.785
<v Danielle Rayne>I've always loved being strong and fit.

00:15:48.785 --> 00:15:57.025
<v Danielle Rayne>And I started out doing a Halloween show they had where I was literally wearing a vinyl bikini and a giant headdress.

00:15:57.405 --> 00:16:06.725
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was a character based pretty much, I mean, like an evil Lady Macbeth, a cyber Lady Macbeth really was what it was.

00:16:06.725 --> 00:16:07.825
<v Danielle Rayne>Love the twist.

00:16:07.825 --> 00:16:08.905
<v Danielle Rayne>It was so much fun.

00:16:08.905 --> 00:16:12.505
<v Danielle Rayne>I had a great time and started auditioning for the shows.

00:16:12.505 --> 00:16:18.205
<v Danielle Rayne>And then they did the Terminator 2, 3D live-action show at Universal Studios, Hollywood.

00:16:18.205 --> 00:16:19.085
<v Peter Michael Marino>Great show, I saw it three times.

00:16:19.085 --> 00:16:20.605
<v Danielle Rayne>Giant scene in Florida.

00:16:20.605 --> 00:16:21.985
<v Nancy Magarill>You probably saw her.

00:16:21.985 --> 00:16:23.985
<v Danielle Rayne>Well, if you saw it here in Hollywood, I did it.

00:16:23.985 --> 00:16:26.045
<v Danielle Rayne>I opened the show and I closed the show.

00:16:26.565 --> 00:16:29.965
<v Danielle Rayne>I filled on to that job like nobody's business.

00:16:29.965 --> 00:16:30.065
<v Nancy Magarill>Yes.

00:16:30.065 --> 00:16:32.685
<v Danielle Rayne>Because it kept you in shape.

00:16:32.685 --> 00:16:36.205
<v Danielle Rayne>You worked five days a week, ten shows a day.

00:16:36.205 --> 00:16:42.665
<v Danielle Rayne>If you got an audition, you could call someone on the roster and say, hey, can you take this shift?

00:16:42.665 --> 00:16:49.405
<v Danielle Rayne>I got to be here at this time and fill in a shift and know that you were going back to that job.

00:16:49.405 --> 00:16:52.985
<v Danielle Rayne>If I got a job for a while, I became the spokesperson of a cruise line.

00:16:52.985 --> 00:16:55.665
<v Danielle Rayne>I could be gone for two to three weeks on a cruise ship.

00:16:56.605 --> 00:17:00.465
<v Danielle Rayne>I could come back and know I still had that job.

00:17:00.625 --> 00:17:03.085
<v Danielle Rayne>I held on to that job for all it was worth.

00:17:03.085 --> 00:17:06.185
<v Danielle Rayne>I sucked the life out of being Sarah Connor.

00:17:06.185 --> 00:17:12.725
<v Danielle Rayne>In the meantime, I did make some great connections, like when I did this short film called Portal No Escape.

00:17:12.725 --> 00:17:14.345
<v Danielle Rayne>Which is a huge film.

00:17:14.345 --> 00:17:14.705
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:17:14.845 --> 00:17:18.565
<v Danielle Rayne>It's over 27 million views at this point.

00:17:18.565 --> 00:17:21.645
<v Nancy Magarill>I remember watching that blow up go, this is so cool.

00:17:21.645 --> 00:17:24.865
<v Danielle Rayne>It was a million views a day for five days in a row.

00:17:25.045 --> 00:17:30.045
<v Danielle Rayne>I think we bumped out Lady Gaga's hit song, it topped that.

00:17:30.045 --> 00:17:40.965
<v Danielle Rayne>But anyway, so that was just because the guy who was the original stunt coordinator was my original John Connor in The Terminator 2 show.

00:17:40.965 --> 00:17:49.965
<v Danielle Rayne>So it just gave me so many great relationships that kept me working, that gave me opportunities to do things that I would not have done.

00:17:49.965 --> 00:17:51.245
<v Danielle Rayne>Certainly not waiting tables.

00:17:52.665 --> 00:18:10.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>Nancy, isn't it so interesting how yesterday we spoke to our friend Melinda Buckley, who was on Broadway doing musicals and now kind of works in the industrials, like big brand announcement things with people in them and stuff.

00:18:10.705 --> 00:18:20.405
<v Peter Michael Marino>And how she was telling us, it just, I said, charmed life, because it's so nice to hear one thing goes to the next goes to the next.

00:18:20.405 --> 00:18:26.265
<v Peter Michael Marino>And sometimes it's just chance, like the agent who lived in her building in the elevator.

00:18:26.265 --> 00:18:29.785
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh yeah, Vinnie Lyft lived in her building.

00:18:29.785 --> 00:18:34.305
<v Peter Michael Marino>So he'd always go, oh, I know you're an actor, will you water my plants?

00:18:35.785 --> 00:18:38.325
<v Peter Michael Marino>But it actually wound up leading to...

00:18:38.345 --> 00:18:39.245
<v Nancy Magarill>A Broadway show.

00:18:39.245 --> 00:18:40.985
<v Peter Michael Marino>A Broadway show, so there you go.

00:18:40.985 --> 00:18:41.765
<v Danielle Rayne>That's great.

00:18:42.425 --> 00:18:49.225
<v Peter Michael Marino>But I use the word charmed so cautiously because to everyone else, everyone's life seems charmed, you know?

00:18:49.225 --> 00:18:59.005
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, it's not taking away from all of the shit in between where things are not lining up and things are not connecting and all of that stuff.

00:18:59.005 --> 00:19:04.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>But I do love it when everything does work out that way because it's kind of like, oh, this probably is the way it's supposed to go.

00:19:04.945 --> 00:19:10.925
<v Danielle Rayne>And hopefully, if you've lived your life right, you look back and you remember the great things that happened.

00:19:10.925 --> 00:19:17.585
<v Danielle Rayne>Not all those times like, yeah, and then I spent seven months, couldn't find a single bit of work or something to that effect.

00:19:17.585 --> 00:19:18.265
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:19:18.265 --> 00:19:27.105
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, it's also understanding an artist's life, especially an actor's life where you're working when you're an actor, you're waiting for someone to hire you.

00:19:27.105 --> 00:19:36.465
<v Nancy Magarill>When you're a creator, and this is the difference with the solo show world and maybe a singer-songwriter world, we're always creating our work for us.

00:19:36.465 --> 00:19:46.685
<v Nancy Magarill>But when you're waiting for someone to hire you, it's a whole different ballgame, because you're constantly auditioning and having to be in people's faces to get hired.

00:19:46.685 --> 00:19:51.885
<v Nancy Magarill>And then you're getting your reels out and then you're doing new reels, and you're doing new headshots.

00:19:51.885 --> 00:19:55.465
<v Nancy Magarill>And there's so much work that goes into it.

00:19:55.505 --> 00:19:58.225
<v Peter Michael Marino>And bad theater, you're doing bad theater, that you have to do bad theater too.

00:19:58.885 --> 00:20:00.005
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:20:00.005 --> 00:20:02.105
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:20:02.105 --> 00:20:07.965
<v Peter Michael Marino>I love when you reach the point in your life where you're like, I am now recognizing that it's bad.

00:20:07.965 --> 00:20:09.665
<v Nancy Magarill>How I know it was bad from the beginning.

00:20:09.665 --> 00:20:11.845
<v Peter Michael Marino>This knowledge will inform my next choice.

00:20:11.845 --> 00:20:15.965
<v Peter Michael Marino>Look, I tell you, man, I don't think actors really always know how to read a script.

00:20:15.965 --> 00:20:21.545
<v Peter Michael Marino>I mean, a lot of actors, they're not reading it for like, how is the audience going to feel?

00:20:21.545 --> 00:20:23.745
<v Peter Michael Marino>They're reading for like, what does my character do?

00:20:23.745 --> 00:20:24.345
<v Peter Michael Marino>How do they grow?

00:20:24.505 --> 00:20:25.165
<v Peter Michael Marino>What do they change?

00:20:26.945 --> 00:20:32.885
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's very hard to see the whole picture, unless you've kind of done every single thing in this industry.

00:20:32.885 --> 00:20:37.685
<v Danielle Rayne>And then we often make compromises, where it's like, okay, I know Hedda Gabler is a great play.

00:20:37.685 --> 00:20:38.705
<v Danielle Rayne>I want to do it.

00:20:38.705 --> 00:20:48.565
<v Danielle Rayne>They're not going to hire me at a big theater to be Hedda Gabler, but this tiny little theater down here in this basement across the street from my apartment, you know, wants me to play Hedda Gabler.

00:20:48.565 --> 00:20:53.505
<v Danielle Rayne>It's not going to be the world's greatest production, but I'm going to get a chance to be Hedda Gabler.

00:20:54.145 --> 00:21:01.465
<v Danielle Rayne>It's in a basement theater in New York City, and I got to run from my soap opera job and run up to the theater, so I can go do that.

00:21:01.465 --> 00:21:01.985
<v Danielle Rayne>That's what I love.

00:21:01.985 --> 00:21:04.105
<v Peter Michael Marino>When are you playing Hedda Gabler next?

00:21:04.105 --> 00:21:05.965
<v Danielle Rayne>Oh boy, I wish.

00:21:06.005 --> 00:21:06.625
<v Danielle Rayne>Why not?

00:21:06.625 --> 00:21:09.945
<v Danielle Rayne>The last theater I did here in LA was Hamlet.

00:21:09.945 --> 00:21:14.405
<v Danielle Rayne>I played Gertrude in Hamlet, and that was a lot of fun.

00:21:14.405 --> 00:21:25.785
<v Danielle Rayne>It was the Ensemble Shakespeare in Pasadena, and I enjoyed it a lot, but I like what I'm doing now as much, as much.

00:21:25.785 --> 00:21:28.985
<v Nancy Magarill>So let's talk about what you're doing now, because you went from...

00:21:28.985 --> 00:21:32.425
<v Nancy Magarill>So you were doing stand-in work at the Goldbergs, right?

00:21:32.425 --> 00:21:49.145
<v Danielle Rayne>Well, during the pandemic, so just a little arc, when my son was in high school, my husband was full-time as a stand-in on TV shows, and those are crazy long days, leaving the house at 5:30 a.m., not being back until 9.

00:21:49.445 --> 00:21:50.465
<v Danielle Rayne>So I decided...

00:21:50.465 --> 00:21:52.325
<v Peter Michael Marino>Tell our listener what a stand-in does, just do it.

00:21:52.325 --> 00:22:17.245
<v Danielle Rayne>So a stand-in on a TV show, basically, they do the blocking, the actors come in, and then we see where they're standing, what they're doing, how they move, and they go away so that the hours of boring lighting can happen with the stand-ins, and then the actors can come back still fresh, having done their makeup and had a chance to rest and go over their lines, and they come in and they do the work.

00:22:17.445 --> 00:22:22.505
<v Danielle Rayne>It just basically, if you've ever had to stand in for yourself on a set, it is exhausting.

00:22:22.505 --> 00:22:26.705
<v Danielle Rayne>By the time you're actually ready to do your scene, you're too tired to do it.

00:22:26.705 --> 00:22:26.965
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.

00:22:26.965 --> 00:22:33.945
<v Danielle Rayne>So a stand-in here in Los Angeles, God love it, it's a union job, so it's a good paying job.

00:22:33.945 --> 00:22:34.285
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:22:34.285 --> 00:22:52.465
<v Danielle Rayne>And when I was doing a co-star on a show called Without a Trace, and I was opposite Anthony La Paglia, who did not do a lot of the rehearsals, his stand-in did, which is common, you know, you got your number one on the call sheet, you need a little more rest time.

00:22:52.465 --> 00:23:00.325
<v Danielle Rayne>And while I sat there talking to him, he was telling me how he put his kids through college, was able to buy a house doing stand-in work.

00:23:00.325 --> 00:23:05.185
<v Danielle Rayne>As long as you get in and you're covering somebody good, excellent paying job.

00:23:05.185 --> 00:23:05.985
<v Danielle Rayne>Great work.

00:23:05.985 --> 00:23:06.545
<v Peter Michael Marino>Thank you for that.

00:23:06.545 --> 00:23:08.225
<v Danielle Rayne>So that's what a stand-in does.

00:23:08.225 --> 00:23:13.545
<v Danielle Rayne>And my husband, stunt performer, he got injured and he wasn't able to do stunts anymore.

00:23:13.545 --> 00:23:18.285
<v Danielle Rayne>And I was in the doctor's office with him when they said, you cannot fall down 10 times a day anymore.

00:23:18.585 --> 00:23:19.465
<v Danielle Rayne>This has to stop.

00:23:20.125 --> 00:23:26.025
<v Danielle Rayne>So once he was healthy enough to be able to work, I suggested he try stand-in work.

00:23:26.025 --> 00:23:36.845
<v Danielle Rayne>Because a stunt person watches what the actor's doing, has to copy it down to every little minute detail, and it makes him one of the best stand-ins you will find.

00:23:36.845 --> 00:23:43.385
<v Danielle Rayne>He's so professional, he's such a team player, and he does a great job of copying exactly what his actor does.

00:23:43.725 --> 00:23:48.885
<v Danielle Rayne>So, I had gone to do retail because he was doing that full-time.

00:23:48.885 --> 00:23:56.325
<v Danielle Rayne>I was no longer making enough money from commercials, and a big stretch of non-union work was really taking over the commercials.

00:23:56.325 --> 00:23:58.645
<v Danielle Rayne>It was not the same industry I was in.

00:23:58.645 --> 00:24:04.245
<v Danielle Rayne>So, I go do retail, I'm miserable, the soul's getting sucked out of me, the pandemic hits.

00:24:04.245 --> 00:24:24.765
<v Danielle Rayne>Retail is shut down, and they needed a full-time stand-in for the show The Goldbergs, and Tommy had been in there since they started, and the DP was a wonderful man who said, how about Danny standing in for, and it was Haley on The Goldbergs, and I ended up doing that for the next three years.

00:24:25.065 --> 00:24:25.685
<v Danielle Rayne>Amazing.

00:24:25.685 --> 00:24:26.585
<v Nancy Magarill>That's so great.

00:24:26.585 --> 00:24:31.305
<v Danielle Rayne>I mean, that's insurance, it's pensions, it's so many good things.

00:24:31.305 --> 00:24:33.445
<v Nancy Magarill>And it's worked during the pandemic.

00:24:33.445 --> 00:24:34.105
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:24:34.345 --> 00:24:36.365
<v Nancy Magarill>How were they able to stay open?

00:24:36.365 --> 00:24:40.065
<v Danielle Rayne>Oh, it was stuff that was really challenging.

00:24:40.185 --> 00:24:49.905
<v Danielle Rayne>I mean, we wore masks and shields, and then you're asked to read a script while going downstairs, and you're like, I can't see anything.

00:24:49.905 --> 00:24:51.385
<v Danielle Rayne>I can't see a thing.

00:24:51.385 --> 00:24:53.665
<v Danielle Rayne>But I mean, it was, they kept us safe.

00:24:53.665 --> 00:25:01.265
<v Danielle Rayne>We had a wonderful COVID officer, Julie, and she made sure that, you know, we lived by so many rules.

00:25:01.265 --> 00:25:04.445
<v Danielle Rayne>It was, it tested a lot of people's patience.

00:25:04.445 --> 00:25:05.545
<v Danielle Rayne>But it kept us safe.

00:25:05.545 --> 00:25:10.065
<v Danielle Rayne>And we were still working when this show would get shut down, and that movie would get shut down.

00:25:10.065 --> 00:25:15.205
<v Danielle Rayne>Bullet Train, we called it COVID Train because it shut so many, it shut down so many times during filming.

00:25:15.205 --> 00:25:17.745
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was at the stage next to us at Sony.

00:25:17.745 --> 00:25:23.905
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was just, it was a great way to make a living and get through the pandemic.

00:25:23.905 --> 00:25:26.965
<v Danielle Rayne>And in the meantime, the voiceover stuff was still happening.

00:25:26.965 --> 00:25:32.945
<v Danielle Rayne>I was, you know, sometimes running from Sony stages to some tiny little voiceover studio.

00:25:32.945 --> 00:25:34.645
<v Danielle Rayne>This is before I had my own.

00:25:34.945 --> 00:25:44.845
<v Danielle Rayne>And they would go back and open it at 730 at night, so I could record this spot, which for that, which back then was for Biden when he was running to...

00:25:44.845 --> 00:25:45.985
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, I remember that.

00:25:45.985 --> 00:25:46.665
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:25:46.665 --> 00:25:49.105
<v Danielle Rayne>So I was doing several spots for him.

00:25:49.365 --> 00:25:53.885
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was, it was really, it was the perfect job at that time.

00:25:53.885 --> 00:25:55.765
<v Danielle Rayne>It was a great transition job.

00:25:55.765 --> 00:25:56.585
<v Danielle Rayne>I loved it.

00:25:56.585 --> 00:25:59.325
<v Danielle Rayne>Then, you know, season 10, they shut down.

00:26:00.045 --> 00:26:04.945
<v Danielle Rayne>Tommy has been working now on the show Ted, which is a lot of fun.

00:26:04.945 --> 00:26:10.565
<v Danielle Rayne>I've been able to go in and do a little day playing, standing in on that show too.

00:26:10.565 --> 00:26:17.305
<v Danielle Rayne>But yeah, and then the voiceover stuff has, has become my full-time gig, especially now the audiobook narration.

00:26:17.305 --> 00:26:20.745
<v Nancy Magarill>Which, but what, so Danny, I didn't know she was doing this.

00:26:20.745 --> 00:26:26.165
<v Nancy Magarill>And I, I remember I was going somewhere one day and you sent me a link to one of your books.

00:26:26.165 --> 00:26:28.765
<v Nancy Magarill>And it, I was walking through Central Park.

00:26:28.865 --> 00:26:30.045
<v Nancy Magarill>It was during the pandemic.

00:26:30.045 --> 00:26:31.445
<v Nancy Magarill>I think it was during the pandemic.

00:26:31.445 --> 00:26:36.025
<v Nancy Magarill>And it was the most, your voice is so soothing and comforting.

00:26:36.025 --> 00:26:42.905
<v Nancy Magarill>And I remember going, oh my God, this is just like listening to you in this way was so wonderful.

00:26:42.905 --> 00:26:44.165
<v Nancy Magarill>It was just so calming.

00:26:44.165 --> 00:26:46.285
<v Nancy Magarill>I think you need to do meditation stuff too.

00:26:46.285 --> 00:26:47.285
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, I was just gonna ask.

00:26:47.285 --> 00:26:51.105
<v Peter Michael Marino>I could really use you telling me to like practice gratitude every day.

00:26:51.105 --> 00:26:52.005
<v Peter Michael Marino>That would be awesome.

00:26:52.005 --> 00:26:52.985
<v Nancy Magarill>Right?

00:26:52.985 --> 00:26:55.725
<v Nancy Magarill>You could be the Marianne Williamson of audiobooks.

00:26:55.725 --> 00:26:58.005
<v Danielle Rayne>Hello, non-fiction authors.

00:26:58.125 --> 00:26:59.125
<v Danielle Rayne>I'm out here.

00:26:59.125 --> 00:27:01.025
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, right, right.

00:27:01.725 --> 00:27:02.705
<v Danielle Rayne>I love that kind of stuff.

00:27:02.705 --> 00:27:04.665
<v Danielle Rayne>I love the wellness books.

00:27:04.665 --> 00:27:17.785
<v Danielle Rayne>The thing I love, though, and I think it's because it allows me to bring in my little, what my son Jack calls my little side action hero, my little side of action hero, is the mysteries and thrillers.

00:27:17.785 --> 00:27:24.885
<v Danielle Rayne>Because especially if it has a kick-ass FBI agent, female lead, I love that stuff.

00:27:25.085 --> 00:27:26.005
<v Danielle Rayne>I get into it.

00:27:26.445 --> 00:27:38.965
<v Danielle Rayne>It's not only that combination of getting to be super creative and create a whole cast of characters, but to live vicariously through someone who is strong and kicking ass and taking names.

00:27:41.005 --> 00:27:42.345
<v Peter Michael Marino>I don't want to forget this idea.

00:27:42.345 --> 00:27:45.245
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I have a project for you.

00:27:45.245 --> 00:27:47.685
<v Peter Michael Marino>Okay.

00:27:47.685 --> 00:27:49.305
<v Danielle Rayne>I mean, yes, and?

00:27:49.305 --> 00:27:55.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>You should do, like you do for a book, do it with Hedda Gabler and break it up into parts.

00:27:56.005 --> 00:27:58.585
<v Peter Michael Marino>And just roll it out for your friends and family to listen to.

00:27:58.585 --> 00:28:01.405
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then you've started to make you manifest that dream.

00:28:01.405 --> 00:28:01.865
<v Danielle Rayne>Okay.

00:28:02.305 --> 00:28:03.145
<v Nancy Magarill>Interesting.

00:28:03.645 --> 00:28:04.825
<v Danielle Rayne>I'm going to hang on to that.

00:28:04.825 --> 00:28:06.065
<v Danielle Rayne>I'm going to hang on to that and see.

00:28:06.065 --> 00:28:06.945
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, there are certain pieces that-

00:28:06.945 --> 00:28:08.725
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, give it to Broadway Podcast Network.

00:28:08.725 --> 00:28:10.805
<v Peter Michael Marino>I'm sure it's a public domain, isn't it?

00:28:10.805 --> 00:28:11.165
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yes.

00:28:11.165 --> 00:28:11.425
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes.

00:28:11.425 --> 00:28:14.345
<v Danielle Rayne>That's the word I was just looking for, public domain.

00:28:14.345 --> 00:28:19.725
<v Danielle Rayne>If it's public domain, you can create your own audio book version of it.

00:28:20.185 --> 00:28:23.325
<v Danielle Rayne>You're the producer, you're hiring yourself or royalty share.

00:28:24.905 --> 00:28:26.085
<v Danielle Rayne>And that's what you do.

00:28:26.085 --> 00:28:26.365
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.

00:28:26.885 --> 00:28:30.725
<v Peter Michael Marino>This is a really great idea for you, and I'm glad that I was able to give it to you today.

00:28:30.725 --> 00:28:32.045
<v Danielle Rayne>Thank you.

00:28:32.045 --> 00:28:32.525
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:28:32.525 --> 00:28:34.225
<v Danielle Rayne>Absolutely.

00:28:34.225 --> 00:28:38.025
<v Danielle Rayne>And if I decide I need a male voice to come in and do the other part.

00:28:38.025 --> 00:28:39.045
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, stop.

00:28:39.045 --> 00:28:40.225
<v Nancy Magarill>Doesn't he have a great voice?

00:28:40.565 --> 00:28:40.985
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes.

00:28:40.985 --> 00:28:42.105
<v Danielle Rayne>Yes.

00:28:42.105 --> 00:28:43.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know, I was going to ask you about that.

00:28:43.665 --> 00:28:46.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I actually, I was made fun of my whole life.

00:28:46.665 --> 00:28:49.045
<v Peter Michael Marino>I just had, I guess, a girly voice when I was a kid.

00:28:49.045 --> 00:28:50.465
<v Nancy Magarill>Well, that explains everything.

00:28:50.685 --> 00:28:52.745
<v Peter Michael Marino>Thank you.

00:28:52.745 --> 00:28:56.185
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then I lived in Queens.

00:28:56.185 --> 00:28:59.005
<v Peter Michael Marino>My grandmother literally sounded like Edith Bunker.

00:28:59.005 --> 00:29:00.685
<v Peter Michael Marino>Like, I'm not even joking.

00:29:00.685 --> 00:29:04.945
<v Peter Michael Marino>And actually, our house was like four blocks away from where that house was.

00:29:04.945 --> 00:29:08.145
<v Peter Michael Marino>And then we moved to Long Island when I was a teenager.

00:29:08.145 --> 00:29:09.065
<v Danielle Rayne>Long Island.

00:29:09.065 --> 00:29:09.365
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah.

00:29:09.365 --> 00:29:11.225
<v Peter Michael Marino>So like, I became Long Island.

00:29:11.225 --> 00:29:22.525
<v Peter Michael Marino>I became Queens in like the first day of, you know, acting class in Buffalo State College, which of course I, a freshman, I don't need to take the pre, you know, you're letting me in because I have experience.

00:29:22.525 --> 00:29:32.845
<v Peter Michael Marino>The first day I got to introduce myself and the professor's like, young man, you will see a speech therapist immediately, or you will never work in this business.

00:29:32.845 --> 00:29:33.345
<v Peter Michael Marino>You know what?

00:29:33.345 --> 00:29:33.905
<v Peter Michael Marino>I went.

00:29:33.905 --> 00:29:35.365
<v Peter Michael Marino>I thought there was one on campus.

00:29:35.365 --> 00:29:36.665
<v Peter Michael Marino>I found a speech therapist.

00:29:36.665 --> 00:29:37.845
<v Peter Michael Marino>I got rid of my accent.

00:29:37.845 --> 00:29:42.805
<v Peter Michael Marino>I came home for Christmas and all my friends were like, okay, whatever.

00:29:42.805 --> 00:29:44.025
<v Peter Michael Marino>What's with the accent?

00:29:44.145 --> 00:29:45.265
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, isn't that crazy?

00:29:45.265 --> 00:29:46.285
<v Nancy Magarill>People resent it.

00:29:46.285 --> 00:29:47.365
<v Nancy Magarill>They really resent it.

00:29:47.365 --> 00:29:48.225
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:29:48.225 --> 00:29:58.465
<v Peter Michael Marino>So a very long way of getting to one day, the girl I went to junior prom with in junior high school in Long Island was a manager or an agent somewhere.

00:29:58.465 --> 00:30:03.545
<v Peter Michael Marino>And she was like, hey, I think you should audition for this Mountain Dew rap commercial.

00:30:03.545 --> 00:30:08.165
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I did, and I booked it, because I have good rhythm, so I knew how to do rap.

00:30:08.165 --> 00:30:14.505
<v Peter Michael Marino>So I booked it, and then that just led to suddenly, I'm doing voiceovers everywhere, like literally freelancer with everybody and blah, blah, blah.

00:30:14.505 --> 00:30:15.725
<v Peter Michael Marino>I never would have guessed it.

00:30:15.725 --> 00:30:16.725
<v Peter Michael Marino>I still don't believe it.

00:30:16.725 --> 00:30:17.805
<v Peter Michael Marino>How that happened for you?

00:30:17.805 --> 00:30:24.525
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, when I would audition for commercials in New York City, occasionally the cast directors would be like, we're doing a voiceover here.

00:30:24.525 --> 00:30:27.045
<v Peter Michael Marino>Would you come and audition for this over here?

00:30:27.045 --> 00:30:30.925
<v Danielle Rayne>And I think back then I was like, oh no, I do on camera, you know.

00:30:30.925 --> 00:30:32.745
<v Danielle Rayne>Right.

00:30:32.745 --> 00:30:33.945
<v Danielle Rayne>It's interesting.

00:30:33.945 --> 00:30:37.805
<v Danielle Rayne>I started doing voiceover, I think it was 2009.

00:30:37.805 --> 00:30:43.305
<v Danielle Rayne>I don't know what got into my head that I wanted to do voiceover, but I did.

00:30:43.305 --> 00:30:46.945
<v Danielle Rayne>And I started, I got really lucky.

00:30:46.965 --> 00:30:52.885
<v Danielle Rayne>One of my friends from Terminator, she was a Kimberly Duncan, Sarah Connor would shoot.

00:30:52.885 --> 00:30:53.745
<v Peter Michael Marino>The part connections.

00:30:53.745 --> 00:30:55.365
<v Danielle Rayne>She did voiceovers.

00:30:55.365 --> 00:30:58.605
<v Danielle Rayne>And she was doing a lot of great work.

00:30:58.605 --> 00:31:07.265
<v Danielle Rayne>And when I told her I wanted to do it, she said, well, come and audition for this casting director who I work with all the time, Bridget, and she does World of Warcraft.

00:31:07.265 --> 00:31:09.545
<v Danielle Rayne>And so I auditioned for that and I got it.

00:31:09.765 --> 00:31:19.105
<v Danielle Rayne>And so, but it was basically taking all of the Shakespearean characters and how dare you come into my area.

00:31:20.125 --> 00:31:27.045
<v Danielle Rayne>And I was a death slayer, I was a dragon, and it was a lot of fun.

00:31:27.045 --> 00:31:28.305
<v Danielle Rayne>But it was the first thing.

00:31:28.305 --> 00:31:32.965
<v Danielle Rayne>And from there, she happened to have a good friend who was an agent.

00:31:32.965 --> 00:31:36.325
<v Danielle Rayne>I was doing my reach outs trying to get a voiceover agent.

00:31:36.325 --> 00:31:40.925
<v Danielle Rayne>And as soon as I said, I just worked for Bridget Burdine doing this, she was like, oh my god, that's my best friend.

00:31:40.925 --> 00:31:46.445
<v Danielle Rayne>She became my first voiceover agent, Michaela, and she was great.

00:31:46.445 --> 00:31:47.705
<v Danielle Rayne>And from there, I said-

00:31:47.705 --> 00:31:49.085
<v Peter Michael Marino>Was that in the 90s?

00:31:49.165 --> 00:31:50.105
<v Peter Michael Marino>2000s?

00:31:50.105 --> 00:31:52.945
<v Danielle Rayne>That was in the 2010s?

00:31:52.945 --> 00:31:53.385
<v Danielle Rayne>2010s?

00:31:53.385 --> 00:31:54.185
<v Peter Michael Marino>2010s.

00:31:54.185 --> 00:31:56.285
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, somewhere in there.

00:31:56.285 --> 00:31:58.745
<v Danielle Rayne>And I did commercials.

00:31:58.745 --> 00:32:00.725
<v Danielle Rayne>I was a Christmas cookie for Target.

00:32:00.725 --> 00:32:02.145
<v Danielle Rayne>Oh, that's crummy.

00:32:02.185 --> 00:32:06.945
<v Danielle Rayne>And I was Vetronex for Mass Effect Andromeda.

00:32:06.945 --> 00:32:16.485
<v Danielle Rayne>And it was incredible doing my first big video game, the first big one, because while I'm not a gamer, I knew Mass Effect.

00:32:16.485 --> 00:32:17.745
<v Danielle Rayne>I'd certainly heard it.

00:32:17.745 --> 00:32:20.945
<v Danielle Rayne>And when you book it, you're sending in these auditions.

00:32:20.945 --> 00:32:22.465
<v Danielle Rayne>You don't know what it's for.

00:32:22.465 --> 00:32:23.905
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, they don't give you a name.

00:32:23.905 --> 00:32:25.245
<v Danielle Rayne>It's Project X.

00:32:25.245 --> 00:32:30.605
<v Danielle Rayne>And all of a sudden, you have booked Project X, and you're standing in front of the microphone on your first day going, what am I doing?

00:32:32.005 --> 00:32:32.905
<v Danielle Rayne>It's a nasty fact.

00:32:32.905 --> 00:32:42.525
<v Nancy Magarill>And you're like, And when you say you're sending in, so tell the listener that means you're sending in a reel, like you actually go in and record a demo for them.

00:32:42.525 --> 00:32:43.765
<v Nancy Magarill>How does it work?

00:32:43.765 --> 00:32:49.985
<v Danielle Rayne>So once you have an agent, you have to pretty much at that point, have your own home studio.

00:32:49.985 --> 00:32:50.865
<v Danielle Rayne>This day and age.

00:32:50.865 --> 00:32:57.465
<v Danielle Rayne>When I first started, it was kind of like, yeah, you can come in and record here in my office or go to the studio.

00:32:57.465 --> 00:33:05.965
<v Danielle Rayne>You still went into studios for auditions, but probably definitely during the pandemic, it became there is no other option.

00:33:05.965 --> 00:33:08.725
<v Danielle Rayne>You only have a home setup or you just don't.

00:33:09.085 --> 00:33:11.945
<v Peter Michael Marino>And you're not going to get any direction either in your audition.

00:33:11.985 --> 00:33:12.605
<v Danielle Rayne>Exactly.

00:33:12.605 --> 00:33:14.965
<v Danielle Rayne>Which is the worst part, because I love taking direction.

00:33:14.965 --> 00:33:15.445
<v Peter Michael Marino>I love it too.

00:33:15.445 --> 00:33:23.705
<v Danielle Rayne>But I started in my little walk-in closet with my iPad Pro and my MacBook Pro and just was recording my auditions there.

00:33:23.705 --> 00:33:26.805
<v Danielle Rayne>And that is where I booked my Mass Effect.

00:33:26.805 --> 00:33:35.545
<v Danielle Rayne>But they send you, here's the audition, record it, send it in, and every once in a rare blue moon, you get a response saying, hey, you're the one they want.

00:33:35.545 --> 00:33:36.565
<v Danielle Rayne>That's right.

00:33:36.745 --> 00:33:38.785
<v Danielle Rayne>And it is a lot of fun.

00:33:38.785 --> 00:33:44.685
<v Danielle Rayne>It is a lot of work, and it is a lot of keeping your head up for all the times that you send in stuff.

00:33:44.685 --> 00:33:46.965
<v Danielle Rayne>And it maybe was like, oh, I love that.

00:33:46.965 --> 00:33:48.265
<v Danielle Rayne>I'd love to do something like this.

00:33:48.265 --> 00:33:49.925
<v Danielle Rayne>And you hear nothing, you know?

00:33:50.805 --> 00:33:51.225
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:33:51.225 --> 00:33:54.565
<v Nancy Magarill>It's the heartbreak of the weight.

00:33:54.565 --> 00:33:58.825
<v Danielle Rayne>And it's whether or not you're like, I'm willing to keep going.

00:33:58.825 --> 00:33:59.025
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah.

00:33:59.025 --> 00:34:01.185
<v Danielle Rayne>Keep going and not give up.

00:34:01.185 --> 00:34:05.125
<v Peter Michael Marino>Do you do things like Comic Con because of some of the voices you provide?

00:34:05.125 --> 00:34:06.045
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, you're laughing.

00:34:06.045 --> 00:34:06.685
<v Peter Michael Marino>Great.

00:34:06.685 --> 00:34:08.705
<v Peter Michael Marino>Well, this is like our second interview, right?

00:34:09.165 --> 00:34:11.205
<v Peter Michael Marino>Wasn't we talking about the Pokemon?

00:34:11.265 --> 00:34:11.645
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, yeah.

00:34:11.645 --> 00:34:12.365
<v Nancy Magarill>Jason Page.

00:34:12.365 --> 00:34:13.485
<v Nancy Magarill>Do you know Jason?

00:34:13.485 --> 00:34:14.605
<v Danielle Rayne>No, I don't.

00:34:15.245 --> 00:34:16.365
<v Nancy Magarill>He's out in LA.

00:34:16.365 --> 00:34:18.205
<v Danielle Rayne>Like a rocker!

00:34:18.485 --> 00:34:20.905
<v Nancy Magarill>He also plays these crazy characters.

00:34:20.905 --> 00:34:22.745
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, that's great.

00:34:22.745 --> 00:34:26.285
<v Peter Michael Marino>He sang, he composed and sang the Pokemon theme.

00:34:26.285 --> 00:34:28.625
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, my kid was into Pokemon.

00:34:28.625 --> 00:34:30.025
<v Nancy Magarill>Every kid was.

00:34:30.025 --> 00:34:33.105
<v Peter Michael Marino>So your kid would love to meet him at Comic Con.

00:34:33.105 --> 00:34:33.585
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:34:33.645 --> 00:34:35.445
<v Danielle Rayne>How about you?

00:34:35.445 --> 00:34:38.845
<v Danielle Rayne>For me, Comic Con was because of Portal No Escape.

00:34:38.845 --> 00:34:39.325
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, you did it.

00:34:39.425 --> 00:34:39.645
<v Danielle Rayne>Mr.

00:34:39.645 --> 00:34:58.285
<v Danielle Rayne>Dan Trachtenberg, when he had this show, The Totally Rad Show, and they always had a Comic Con panel, and then one year, and I'm pretty sure it was 2011 because we shot it in 2010, he released Portal No Escape there at Comic Con during their panel.

00:34:58.285 --> 00:35:03.465
<v Danielle Rayne>And then he dropped it on YouTube, and that's when it went viral.

00:35:03.465 --> 00:35:11.325
<v Danielle Rayne>So the following year, I got to go to Comic Con and sign autographs, and take pictures with people, and it was a lot of fun.

00:35:11.325 --> 00:35:12.265
<v Danielle Rayne>It was a lot of fun.

00:35:12.265 --> 00:35:27.045
<v Danielle Rayne>And subsequent years, I would go, I went again because of Mass Effect, and you're standing there with your kid, and there's really nothing more awesome than somebody coming up and going, you were in Portal No Escape, and you're a veteran X, and can I get an autograph?

00:35:27.045 --> 00:35:29.425
<v Danielle Rayne>There's my kid, and I'm like going, yes, you can.

00:35:29.425 --> 00:35:30.725
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:35:30.725 --> 00:35:31.345
<v Danielle Rayne>Thank you.

00:35:31.345 --> 00:35:34.965
<v Danielle Rayne>Thank you for making me look like a hero in front of my child.

00:35:34.965 --> 00:35:43.885
<v Peter Michael Marino>I thought you were going to say this, but there's nothing better than being at Comic Con all day with your kid, and your kid just gets to watch a giant robot walk by, a witch, a donkey.

00:35:43.885 --> 00:35:47.325
<v Danielle Rayne>Actually, he probably remembers that more than the standing in line.

00:35:47.325 --> 00:35:49.445
<v Peter Michael Marino>No, but it's for you, and that's the great thing.

00:35:49.445 --> 00:35:53.985
<v Peter Michael Marino>And for your kid, it's like, I saw everything today.

00:35:53.985 --> 00:35:54.905
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, you're right.

00:35:54.905 --> 00:35:56.885
<v Danielle Rayne>You are so right.

00:35:56.885 --> 00:36:00.125
<v Nancy Magarill>What is your favorite kind of work to do?

00:36:00.125 --> 00:36:01.705
<v Danielle Rayne>Ah, man.

00:36:02.245 --> 00:36:04.565
<v Danielle Rayne>I love so many parts of this business.

00:36:04.605 --> 00:36:11.265
<v Danielle Rayne>And you were saying in the beginning how, you know, I seem to have scrapped my way into every category of this industry.

00:36:11.525 --> 00:36:18.665
<v Danielle Rayne>I did, you know, the spokesperson, the industrial work that you were talking about, mostly filming.

00:36:19.985 --> 00:36:24.605
<v Danielle Rayne>That job as the spokesperson for the cruise line, it was a six-star luxury cruise.

00:36:25.185 --> 00:36:29.325
<v Danielle Rayne>They would pack me up on the ship, and I would wear the finest clothes.

00:36:29.325 --> 00:36:31.825
<v Peter Michael Marino>Because they were shooting on the ship.

00:36:31.825 --> 00:36:36.985
<v Danielle Rayne>I was the onboard spokesperson, so I'd be like, welcome to the beautiful Crystal Serenity.

00:36:36.985 --> 00:36:38.565
<v Danielle Rayne>Let me tell you all these wonderful people.

00:36:38.565 --> 00:36:40.825
<v Peter Michael Marino>Wait, you were in person welcoming people?

00:36:40.825 --> 00:36:41.085
<v Peter Michael Marino>No.

00:36:41.085 --> 00:36:42.505
<v Danielle Rayne>I was on their TV.

00:36:42.505 --> 00:36:45.085
<v Danielle Rayne>So like I did all the shipboard media.

00:36:45.085 --> 00:36:46.545
<v Danielle Rayne>So they would film me.

00:36:46.545 --> 00:36:55.845
<v Danielle Rayne>So when the person came into their cruise ship cabin, there's a woman on the talking head on the box going, and then here's the so-and-so dining area, and this is open from so.

00:36:55.845 --> 00:36:58.725
<v Danielle Rayne>Treat yourself to a lovely massage as they massage me.

00:36:58.725 --> 00:37:00.305
<v Danielle Rayne>And I'm like, can I have this longer, please?

00:37:00.785 --> 00:37:01.545
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, my God.

00:37:01.545 --> 00:37:02.865
<v Danielle Rayne>So that was glorious.

00:37:02.865 --> 00:37:12.505
<v Danielle Rayne>And I also got to take my husband, my son, once I took my mom on these ships, my son turned one off the coast of Cannes, France.

00:37:12.505 --> 00:37:17.305
<v Danielle Rayne>While I was filming, he was learning how to walk down the halls of a cruise ship.

00:37:18.665 --> 00:37:19.945
<v Nancy Magarill>Talk about wobbling.

00:37:19.945 --> 00:37:21.825
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, yeah, yeah, right?

00:37:21.825 --> 00:37:23.445
<v Peter Michael Marino>Oh, that's amazing.

00:37:23.445 --> 00:37:25.885
<v Danielle Rayne>So that was one of my favorite jobs ever.

00:37:26.925 --> 00:37:32.545
<v Danielle Rayne>And I've just had so many incredible experiences when I was playing Sarah Connor.

00:37:32.545 --> 00:37:42.705
<v Danielle Rayne>I got to go through a boot camp with Captain Dale Dye, who for like saving Private Ryan, was teaching actors how to be more like soldiers instead of actors.

00:37:42.705 --> 00:37:58.705
<v Danielle Rayne>And, you know, there were so many experiences that I got to go through because of, you know, it wasn't the illustrious career of being, you know, a leading actor in a TV show, but it's been really fun, and I've loved scrapping my way through.

00:37:58.705 --> 00:37:59.485
<v Nancy Magarill>That's really cool.

00:37:59.485 --> 00:38:03.925
<v Peter Michael Marino>Yeah, it seems to me like you're the kind of person that needs to have a variety of things to do.

00:38:03.925 --> 00:38:07.265
<v Peter Michael Marino>It's just like that's how you thrive, is when you have a variety of things to do.

00:38:07.265 --> 00:38:08.825
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, I'm a creative junkie.

00:38:09.465 --> 00:38:11.685
<v Nancy Magarill>Oh, I call myself a creative junkie too.

00:38:18.835 --> 00:38:21.015
<v Nancy Magarill>What is next for you?

00:38:21.015 --> 00:38:22.695
<v Danielle Rayne>I have just...

00:38:22.695 --> 00:38:24.255
<v Peter Michael Marino>Besides Hedda Gabbler.

00:38:25.995 --> 00:38:30.795
<v Danielle Rayne>The public domain version of Hedda Gabbler, brought to you by...

00:38:30.795 --> 00:38:32.375
<v Danielle Rayne>I am going to...

00:38:32.535 --> 00:38:40.295
<v Danielle Rayne>I've just wrapped up book eight in the Nash Running Bear series that is written by Bear Charlton.

00:38:40.295 --> 00:38:45.295
<v Danielle Rayne>He was the second author to hire me for an audio book.

00:38:45.575 --> 00:38:49.375
<v Danielle Rayne>And this is our eleventh collaboration.

00:38:49.375 --> 00:38:50.695
<v Peter Michael Marino>Wow, congrats.

00:38:50.695 --> 00:38:53.115
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, yeah, it's fantastic.

00:38:53.115 --> 00:39:01.115
<v Danielle Rayne>Probably the one that I sent you, I've worked with that author a second time on a YA science fiction book.

00:39:01.115 --> 00:39:07.455
<v Danielle Rayne>And then Bear pretty much has kept me working consistently all the way through this journey.

00:39:07.455 --> 00:39:13.955
<v Danielle Rayne>And he's sent me the Bible for another series that he wrote, and it's a five book series.

00:39:14.215 --> 00:39:20.495
<v Danielle Rayne>So that's, that will be the next project that I'll probably start doing my prepping and my research on.

00:39:20.495 --> 00:39:22.015
<v Nancy Magarill>And what does the Bible mean?

00:39:22.015 --> 00:39:25.135
<v Danielle Rayne>Bible is like the cast of characters.

00:39:25.135 --> 00:39:28.815
<v Danielle Rayne>Who, you know, who are the main characters?

00:39:28.815 --> 00:39:32.015
<v Danielle Rayne>Like if there's an actor who's a prototype.

00:39:32.015 --> 00:39:43.175
<v Danielle Rayne>When you're working independently on an audio book, sometimes you really get to have a good relationship with the rights holder who is usually the author, and ask them, who do you picture?

00:39:43.235 --> 00:39:49.255
<v Danielle Rayne>If you could cast this as a TV show or a movie, who would play this character, and who would play that character?

00:39:49.555 --> 00:39:55.155
<v Danielle Rayne>And it's really, really great, very helpful, because it kind of gives you an idea.

00:39:55.155 --> 00:40:03.255
<v Danielle Rayne>Like one of the characters in the Nash Running Bear series, he said, you know, I think of Leon Rippey in Saving Grace.

00:40:03.255 --> 00:40:11.255
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, Leon Rippey has this kind of rolling kind of voice that just kind of like comes out like this, and he's got pauses and hesitations.

00:40:11.395 --> 00:40:13.275
<v Nancy Magarill>Matthew McConaughey.

00:40:13.275 --> 00:40:19.015
<v Danielle Rayne>Well, yeah, but he's, this guy is a little older and very wise.

00:40:19.015 --> 00:40:27.315
<v Danielle Rayne>And that was like, that was such a great, you know, example for him to have that in the Bible for this character.

00:40:27.315 --> 00:40:31.115
<v Danielle Rayne>That, you know, I just have to go, Leon Rippey, and I'm right into that character.

00:40:31.115 --> 00:40:31.975
<v Peter Michael Marino>And you're in it, wow.

00:40:31.975 --> 00:40:34.175
<v Danielle Rayne>Because you have to jump from one character to another.

00:40:34.175 --> 00:40:42.895
<v Nancy Magarill>Now, didn't you tell me, or maybe I'm mistaken, but that sometimes you actually don't do characters where you're sometimes, they don't want you to read that way?

00:40:42.895 --> 00:40:45.595
<v Nancy Magarill>Or they're different styles for these audio books?

00:40:45.595 --> 00:40:45.975
<v Danielle Rayne>Right.

00:40:45.975 --> 00:40:52.315
<v Danielle Rayne>So there's fully voiced narration, where you choose a different voice for every character.

00:40:52.315 --> 00:41:04.415
<v Danielle Rayne>Then there's partially voiced, or maybe you just give your lead character, or maybe a couple of side characters in your lead character, some real voices, and everybody else is just read in your voice.

00:41:04.415 --> 00:41:09.115
<v Danielle Rayne>And then there's unvoiced, which is just you reading it straight through your voice.

00:41:09.535 --> 00:41:12.095
<v Danielle Rayne>He said, she said, you know, that's it.

00:41:12.095 --> 00:41:18.575
<v Danielle Rayne>There's no, he said, she said, you know, no changing the tone or anything.

00:41:18.575 --> 00:41:19.715
<v Danielle Rayne>It's just you.

00:41:19.715 --> 00:41:22.895
<v Nancy Magarill>When you get a book to read, how long does that take?

00:41:22.895 --> 00:41:25.475
<v Nancy Magarill>And how many days are you sitting in that studio?

00:41:25.475 --> 00:41:29.775
<v Nancy Magarill>How many hours a day can you sit in that studio and do this work?

00:41:30.075 --> 00:41:36.435
<v Danielle Rayne>There's a common saying in audiobook narration, whereas the rest of voiceovers is a sprint.

00:41:36.435 --> 00:41:38.235
<v Danielle Rayne>Audiobook narration is a marathon.

00:41:38.235 --> 00:41:43.815
<v Danielle Rayne>You start by, as soon as you get the book, you might spend however long it takes you to read the whole book.

00:41:43.815 --> 00:41:45.515
<v Danielle Rayne>Take all of your notations.

00:41:45.515 --> 00:41:51.095
<v Danielle Rayne>If there's other languages, if there's other accents, you know, how much of a deep dive do you need to do?

00:41:51.095 --> 00:41:54.615
<v Danielle Rayne>You know, in a Tennessee accent if you've never done one.

00:41:54.615 --> 00:42:01.575
<v Danielle Rayne>So the prep is one thing that can take anywhere from a few days to a week, you know, depending how much time you have for prep.

00:42:02.035 --> 00:42:05.915
<v Danielle Rayne>Then you just start recording the chapters.

00:42:05.915 --> 00:42:12.555
<v Danielle Rayne>At this level where I'm working in ACX, you do all of your own production, so you're also doing all of the mastering.

00:42:12.555 --> 00:42:23.895
<v Danielle Rayne>So I'll go in, I can probably record anywhere between three and four chapters a day before my voice starts to get a little too raspy and then I need to take a break.

00:42:23.895 --> 00:42:29.455
<v Danielle Rayne>So at that point, then you're also editing everything that you did the day before.

00:42:29.455 --> 00:42:53.335
<v Danielle Rayne>You might also know that, you know, I think I'm just going to record this book between 12 and 6, because that's where my vocal range is best for the characters that I have to do versus I can't record this in the morning because my voice will be too deep and I won't have the range to talk as Muna who's all the way up here, you know, and I need to have that mid-range more.

00:42:53.335 --> 00:42:55.875
<v Danielle Rayne>So it is planning your day.

00:42:55.875 --> 00:43:02.595
<v Danielle Rayne>It is, you know, sitting down and doing the recording, which is the fun part, and then doing the editing, which is not the fun part.

00:43:02.595 --> 00:43:07.315
<v Danielle Rayne>And, you know, finally uploading the chapters as you've completed them.

00:43:07.315 --> 00:43:14.015
<v Nancy Magarill>And how, like, generally, how long do they give you to do a, you know, I guess a standard size book?

00:43:14.015 --> 00:43:15.895
<v Nancy Magarill>I don't know how, if that's even...

00:43:15.895 --> 00:43:28.255
<v Danielle Rayne>Depending on the author, like, if they have like, oh, I'm releasing this book on this date and I want it done by here, or I want this released at Christmas time, they may have a hard and fast date they need to have it done.

00:43:29.335 --> 00:43:32.595
<v Danielle Rayne>My current author, Bear, he's always just like, deadlines?

00:43:32.595 --> 00:43:33.515
<v Danielle Rayne>What's a deadline?

00:43:33.515 --> 00:43:34.235
<v Danielle Rayne>I don't care.

00:43:34.235 --> 00:43:35.055
<v Danielle Rayne>Just get it done.

00:43:35.055 --> 00:43:40.335
<v Danielle Rayne>You got it cold, you got something that came up, you know, take whatever it does, you know.

00:43:40.335 --> 00:43:53.335
<v Danielle Rayne>And that happened to me earlier last year where I got COVID and I was in the middle of recording a book and it took me almost two weeks before my voice was back to where it was when I started recording the book.

00:43:53.335 --> 00:43:58.975
<v Danielle Rayne>And you can't record anything in between because your voice will sound so bad.

00:43:58.975 --> 00:44:00.395
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah, exactly.

00:44:00.395 --> 00:44:09.455
<v Danielle Rayne>So it is a nice thing because it is you set your days, you, you know, if you're a night owl and you want to record at night, that's what you can do.

00:44:09.455 --> 00:44:18.155
<v Danielle Rayne>If you're a morning person, whatever it is, once you know how your voice is going to behave at different times of the day for different characters, you get to set your own.

00:44:18.155 --> 00:44:20.715
<v Danielle Rayne>So that's why I love this work, you know.

00:44:20.715 --> 00:44:21.795
<v Nancy Magarill>That's wonderful.

00:44:22.495 --> 00:44:23.315
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, I'm so glad.

00:44:23.315 --> 00:44:24.635
<v Peter Michael Marino>I love all of this.

00:44:24.635 --> 00:44:26.495
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, I think this is really interesting.

00:44:26.495 --> 00:44:29.135
<v Nancy Magarill>I think people are going to really enjoy hearing this too.

00:44:29.135 --> 00:44:36.915
<v Nancy Magarill>I think it's a really fascinating, first of all, the audio book stuff alone is fascinating and just all the stuff that you've done.

00:44:36.915 --> 00:44:38.195
<v Nancy Magarill>It's really wonderful.

00:44:38.195 --> 00:44:48.715
<v Peter Michael Marino>You're such a great example of like, how like people in the arts or artists, actually, I guess everybody, everybody just has such interesting, weird lives.

00:44:48.755 --> 00:44:49.255
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:44:49.255 --> 00:44:53.015
<v Danielle Rayne>And one of the things is, it's our creativity, right?

00:44:53.015 --> 00:44:56.535
<v Danielle Rayne>At core, because we're fighting the battle with AI.

00:44:56.535 --> 00:45:02.575
<v Danielle Rayne>I'm sure you've heard plenty of AI recordings, whether it's a book, whether it's a news clip like I clip on.

00:45:02.575 --> 00:45:03.575
<v Nancy Magarill>Commercials.

00:45:03.575 --> 00:45:06.735
<v Nancy Magarill>I'm hearing them on the podcast commercials all the time.

00:45:06.735 --> 00:45:09.155
<v Nancy Magarill>And I'm like, this is definitely AI.

00:45:09.155 --> 00:45:09.615
<v Danielle Rayne>Yeah.

00:45:09.615 --> 00:45:12.335
<v Danielle Rayne>And that is the threat.

00:45:12.335 --> 00:45:22.955
<v Danielle Rayne>So the thing that keeps us that far away from AI is our ability to really put our heart and soul into something, which AI will...

00:45:22.955 --> 00:45:29.875
<v Danielle Rayne>They may get AI to cry one day, but at this point, we can do that genuinely.

00:45:29.875 --> 00:45:30.735
<v Danielle Rayne>And that is still...

00:45:30.735 --> 00:45:34.575
<v Peter Michael Marino>AI doesn't really do nuance very well, which is important.

00:45:34.575 --> 00:45:44.655
<v Nancy Magarill>Look, I jokingly say this, that until AI can translate what I say onto a phone, it's not going anywhere.

00:45:45.155 --> 00:45:46.935
<v Nancy Magarill>Because it's like...

00:45:47.075 --> 00:45:48.275
<v Nancy Magarill>I jokingly say...

00:45:48.275 --> 00:45:50.075
<v Nancy Magarill>Duck instead of fuck, like things like that.

00:45:50.075 --> 00:45:52.875
<v Nancy Magarill>Yeah, and Siri doesn't get Jew, is what I always say.

00:45:52.875 --> 00:45:54.575
<v Nancy Magarill>It doesn't understand Jew.

00:45:54.575 --> 00:45:59.935
<v Nancy Magarill>It's like everything I dictate in there, I always have to fix like 20 times.

00:46:00.435 --> 00:46:02.635
<v Nancy Magarill>It's so ridiculous.

00:46:02.635 --> 00:46:03.715
<v Peter Michael Marino>Hey, thanks for checking us out.

00:46:03.715 --> 00:46:06.515
<v Peter Michael Marino>Links to today's guests can be found in the show notes.

00:46:06.515 --> 00:46:11.515
<v Nancy Magarill>Don't forget to subscribe, like us, rate us, and tell all your friends about Arts and Craft.