Before E.G. Daily became the voice of a character loved by many, she had to walk into an audition and take over a role that another person had already recorded. Known as Elizabeth Daily, she has been reflecting on her famous role as Tommy Pickles from “Rugrats.”
The 64-year-old voice actress shared that she was not the first actor to voice Tommy. At the time of her audition, Daily was occupied with a musical in Los Angeles. She explained that she missed being in a band and decided to take a role in a musical that had originally been on Broadway and was starring Deborah Harry. After it closed on Broadway, it moved to Los Angeles, and Daily was cast in the play at the Roxy.
Daily mentioned that from this play, she received a significant record deal and an agent who encouraged her to try voice acting, noting that she had a talent for it. Although she had experience in theater, film, and television, venturing into animation was new for her. She had mostly worked on movies and TV shows but did not know much about cartoons.
She also noted that she did not attend events like Comic-Cons at that time. When she went to the audition, she was the first one there. The casting team told her they needed to replace someone in the series and were looking for a different voice. After seeing the claymation character, Daily thought she could do that voice, recalling that she had done similar voices with friends when she was younger.
During her audition, she used one of those childhood voices. After the audition, her agent informed her that she did well and had been booked for the role. Although she was excited, it came with the challenge of re-recording all the lines for an entire season that another actor had already completed.
Daily explained that she had to re-loop all the previous lines. Because she was a singer, she found that listening to the previous actor’s dialogue and mimicking it was manageable. She could learn the lines like a song, which allowed her to complete the re-recordings quickly.
Looking back, Daily described the entire experience as astonishing and recognizes how it launched her voice acting career. “Rugrats” was her first voice role, leading to other projects like “Curious George” and “PowerPuff Girls.”
She encourages others to pursue what they love, suggesting that taking chances can lead to wonderful opportunities. “Rugrats” aired from 1991 to 2004, but its impact continues, with Daily still voicing Tommy Pickles in movies, video games, and a reboot of the series. What are your thoughts on her journey into voice acting?
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Source: Amo Media