Canadian actor Jason Simpson is perhaps best known as the voice of Lord Viren in The Dragon Prince on Netflix. He and his fellow thespians will be featured in Volume Four of The Animated Voice. Shortly after I interviewed him, he posted an interesting–and generous–offer to his fans on Twitter. Here it is:
I asked my followers on Twitter and Instagram to send me their original poems, so that I may ply my trade as a voice actor, and do them some sort of artistic and creative justice. I was astonished at the wonderful work sent my way, and it was a great honor to collaborate with these fine artists.
Please enjoy the collected works we’ve assembled for you.
– Jason
March 20
LET’S GET CREATIVE!
Hey Poets! Gimme your poems!
Me’n Lord Viren wanna read’em & record’em. I’ll send you an mp3 & maybe post videos!
And listen: even if you’re not a #TDP fan but you enjoy writing poems & you want to hear a bored, anxious, hammy actor read it, I’m your guy!
(1) pic.twitter.com/M1iq1vgqWB— J a s o n S i m p s o n (@aboySimpson) March 21, 2020
March 24
Thanks everybody! Your poems are wonderful; some of you have never written poetry in your life and you choose to step out and be creative! It’s a joy to work with you!
Stay tuned!
(And stay isolated and healthy. We can do it folks, keep it up!)#Poetry #VoiceOver #MashUp pic.twitter.com/zcgoGQj4NL— J a s o n S i m p s o n (@aboySimpson) March 24, 2020
April 27
Poetry, yay!
Thanks for your work, poets; I had a lovely time working on these. Go have a listen to what we made! (I will email you soon)https://t.co/75NZHVX1RW pic.twitter.com/ijvryagupV— J a s o n S i m p s o n (@aboySimpson) April 27, 2020
He reads the 26 entries here, in the voice he uses for Viren, at a site appropriately named, “A Servant Darkly.”
Listen to #18. Yes, he’s reading my entry, “An Ode to Clouds.” A magnificent reading, and I am honored by his performance. Bowled away, even. You’ll get a treat out of listening to him.
If you’re a director, listen to these MP3s. I think you’ll be impressed.
P.S. Here’s “An Ode to Clouds,” directly: