I dear say; I am so lucky for my nerd lifestyle. It has gifted me with numerous true, fun friends from all over the world, many creative-minded as well. Mr. James Cheatham is one of them. We were introduced through my narrator, Logan Anare, in our Pathfinder game. James is as sweet as his honey narration and an immense hard worker, it admirable. Definitely a person you would be blessed to have in your corner. Let’s roll the dice and go on an adventure to get to know Mr. Cheatham the Just.
Author-to-Narrator Interview: James Cheatham:
- All right! Have to start with the basic question: What got you into narration?
“Back in 2018, I was reading the Chronicles of Narnia out loud to my kids; we were on book 3 I believe. Since we homeschool our kiddos, we have a mentor of sorts come check on progress once a quarter. She just happened to come over that day, hears me reading out loud and says, “Oh my goodness! You’ve got such an incredible voice. Have you ever considered audiobooks?” I laughed it off, and thought nothing of it. Well, it wasn’t until later that nine additional people told me the exact same thing the exact same way within a two week span. I took that as my sign, and started researching. Lo and behold after some coaching, and investing in the right equipment, here I am 6 years later.“
- What were three of your favorite things to do growing up?
“Oh geez! Fellow Gen X’ers will relate to this list. If I wasn’t outside playing until the sun went down drinking from garden hoses, or riding my bike through the neighborhood, I was inside shooting digital ducks on my Nintendo.“
- What three books got you into reading in your life? One from childhood, one from teen/tween years, and one adult or more current?
“From my childhood days, I remember back in kindergarten we would go to the library once a week and take turns going through the different interactive stations that had set up. I loved the tape cassette station, and yes this is when they used to be called “Books on Tape”. My absolute favorite was Mike Mulligan’s Steam Shovel. In my teen years, I picked up a copy of my first-ever fantasy book, and absolutely fell in love. “Dragons of Autumn Twilight”. That set the stage and built interest for a whole new world of nerd-dom; and thereby opening the door to games like D&D.”
- I know you were a theater kid. What productions were you in?
“I played varied roles, but hardly ever was the main one which was fine by me. Let’s see… Boris Renfield in “Dracula: The Musical”, The Ghost of Christmas Present in “A Christmas Carol”, Basil in “The Diviners”, and then George in the one act play “Actor’s Nightmare” which was the lead role, and I ended up taking first place for best actor at the One Act Play festival in 2008.“
- Tell us about the first book you narrated. How did it make you feel?
“The first book I narrated was called, “Days Until Home”. I was so excited because not only was it my first book ever, but also a sci-fi book too! It allowed me to flex my dialect skills, and I ended up doing 13 different voices for that one both male and female.“
- Any tips for people aspiring to be voice actor?
“Yep. Coaching. Before you do anything else, get coaching. Even if you are used to stage acting, or camera acting, please for the love of bacon get coaching.“
- What are some of the warm-ups you do to prepare for a role?
“I found this nifty playlist on Spotify that has vocal warmups on there, and I tend to cycle through those each day. Then follow those up with some booth karaoke.“
- What are your favorite impressions to do to entertain others? AND, are there any actors whose voices/personalities inspire your work?
“Impressions, eh? I’ve never taken the time to master those let alone have a wide range of varied ones. However, there are two that I can comfortably do Hank Hill from “King of the Hill” Smeagul/Gollum from “Lord of the Rings” and then oddly enough Tom Petty’s singing voice. Aside from those, my main focus is doing accents and dialects.“
- Please tell us a little bit about you and your lovely family. 🙂
“I’d be happy to. It is arguably known and said that my wife has the harder job out of the two of us. She is the child wrangler/homeschool teacher for our brood of four kids. Well, actually three now since our oldest has graduated, moved out, and is doing the big girl stuff. The remaining spawn are a two-for-one special at age 13 (boy girl twins), and then our youngest daughter is 12. My wife and I are coming up on our wedding anniversary this year, and it will be 15 years! We actually met back in Japan in 2003, but were engaged to two different people at the time. Fast forward to 2007, I’m in Afghanistan with the US Army and we got back in touch with one another thanks to a fluke email. Started talking again, fell in love, and got married in 2009. Now we live in Iowa, and have been for almost 8 years.“
- What attracts you to certain roles?- “I think my love of make-believe attracts me to roles such as fantasy, sci-fi, and cyberpunk stuff. It’s just so cool!”
- What would some of your dream roles be?
“My absolute dream role of a genre to narrate would be LitRPG. Given what I’ve heard from listening to a few of those books already, I’m hooked. AND the fact that it is literally like listening to a tabletop RPG from the character’s perspective?! Yeah. Sign me up!”
- I heard you have a podcast. Can you hype it up for us here? I already know it’s radical, FYI.
“Ah, I used to. It was around for about a month or so. I called it, “You Know What I Love?” and the focus at the time was June Is Audiobook Month. I did one episode every day for the month of June, interviewing other narrators. That was crazy, and I shut it down and I even took a break from the studio for two weeks because it was so hectic. However, I miss the interaction and just candid conversations with people. So there may be a new podcast on the horizon.”
- How long have you played tabletop games/Pathfinder? Also, tell us about the character in the one we share and how this campaign makes you feel… and maybe what’s up with that Olympia chick? 😉
- “I’ve played tabletop games since I was in highschool back in 1997. I started with Dungeons and Dragons. Then when I graduated, and went off to the military, I found other like-minded folks such as myself. They, in turn, introduced me to games such as: Palladium, Rifts, Shadowrun, Vampyre the Masquerade, Werewolf the Apocalypse, Pathfinder, Starfinder, Star Wars, and Warhammer 40k.
- “In the Pathfinder campaign that we share, I play as a human cleric by the name of Frederick the Just, devout servant of the goddess Serenrae. Led by the brilliant mind of our DM, Frederick has had his fair share of goblins, adventure, ghosts, and lots of wine. Then, of course, there is a special lady named Olympia who tends to bring a certain twinkle to his eye.”
- What do you do to relax?- “Wind therapy. When the weather is nice out (usually May through mid-October,) I hop on my motorcycle and ride with some friends of mine. Other than that, I have found a recent hobby that I not only enjoy but am finding it to be very therapeutic as well. My son and I collect, build, and paint miniature figurines for Warhammer 40k. He chose Space Wolves for his faction, and I went with Orks. Love those guys, lol.”
- If you could tell your 14-year-old self one thing, what would it be?
“Don’t change a thing. Where I’m at in the year 2024, is because of the choices you make in your year. Throw the stick. Make that phone call.”
- What advice would you have for this upcoming generation?
“Do NOT take everything everyone says to you personally. Learn to know the differences between personal attacks and performance critiques.”
- Have you ever read a book/movie that changed your outlook on life?
“Several. “Sea Wolf” by Jack London made me respect the ocean. “The Princess Bride” made me yearn for true love (best movie ever, by the way). “The Bible” made me humble myself.”
- Do you have a classic piece of literature or a classic author you are fond of?
“Douglas Addams with his “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” anthology, because 42.“
- If you could pick three people who are your heroes or role models, who would they be and why?
“My dad would be first. He didn’t have a great example of what it meant to be a father, so he did everything he could by trial and error. He busted his butt working all of the time, just to make sure my two brothers and I always had a home to come to and food to eat. Second, would be my grandfather on my mom’s side. When my parents divorced, I was 10. My grandfather stepped in without missing a beat to be the necessary patriarchal figure I needed. And then number three would have to be Michael Rider. I knew him as “chief” back in my Army days. He was one of the most micromanaging jerks I ever came across, and he just happened to be the officer in charge of my radar unit. But, because of his leadership, knowledge, and training; I became a better example of what a soldier should be.”
- Name an anime you like that you want powers from, be in its world, and one that makes you happy. Make sure they are three different animes you like, please and arigato! 😉
“I want my very own zanpakuto from Bleach that can allow me to cut through the fabric space. Like a teleport ability. Just slice through the air, and step on through. The bankai would allow the added bonus of time as well as space travel. To pick a world though, I would have to go with My Hero Academia’s world. Being a shinigami in that world would have huge benefits. And then an anime that just makes me happy is not really a well-known one. Yumeiro Patissiere. It’s one I watch with my daughters on the weekends, about a middle school girl who goes to St. Marie Academy in Japan to learn how to bake sweets like her grandma did, just so she can make people happy.”
- Dog or cat person?
“Both. But, since my wife is highly allergic to dogs, we have two cats here at home. Ichigo and Maximus.”
- What do you want to eat right now?
“Right now, I want Texas Twinkies. I saw this recipe online that I want to try. You take shredded smoked brisket, jalapenos, and cream cheese and roll them up and either fry them or grill them.”
- If you could be in any movie that has already been made, which one would it be?
“The first movie that comes to mind is “The Princess Bride”. I don’t want to be Wesely, or even Indingo. I just want to be there, in the moment, at every scene.”
- What is your favorite holiday or time of year?
“My favorite time of year is autumn. Hands down. I love the smell of fireplaces coming to life again. Apples are ready to be harvested from the orchards. And the leaves changing are beyond gorgeous.”
- Anything else you would like to add?
“I’m a bit of a self-taught baker going on 12 years now. I started after I felt inspired from watching an anime featuring baking. I looked at my wife and said, “I want to do that.” She responds with, “What, draw?” Blowing a raspberry I said, “No. Bake. I want to bake.” She rolled her eyes in a challenge and said, “Yeah right. You bake? Go ahead.” So I did. That year I made for her birthday a yellow butter cake, with brown sugar cream cheese frosting. The passion for baking continued to grow year after year, and I even tried to start my own business at one point; The Bearded Baker. Now I just bake here at the house. Pizza dough, cakes, sourdough bread, pies, cookies, etc.”
BIO:
With me, you get more than a voice…you get personality. Naturally warm, rich with a honeyed-timbre, I can provide a wide range of tones and dialects to fit the needs of you, and your book. Years of experience in theater have provided me with the skills to interpret a script and find the personality that the role demands. I’m also a retired military veteran, and have been to over 17 countries. It’s been said I am a taller Bilbo Baggins, because I’ve been ‘round the world and back again. So, whether you’re looking for something confident, professional and authoritative, or something a bit more animated and whimsical, I would love the opportunity to collaborate with you.
LINKS:
https://www.narratorjames.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thevoiceofjames/
https://www.facebook.com/james.cheatham.56/
And if people out there want to join the discord server where I narrate live, they can find me at this link: https://discord.gg/fDNM5AjfuS