Daniel Ross
Voice Actor
American Actor, Producer and Voice Actor Daniel Ross, is a member of The Creators Society and Councilor on the Voice Actors Branch. In fact, he is one of the first 50 members, at #48! Ross moved to LA in 2014 to pursue a voiceover career. In a short seven years, by Hollywood standards, he has and continues to make a name for himself!
In December 2020, Ross was honored to receive the Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Body of Work, Best Voice Actor, at the online awards ceremony. SOVAS-Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, described by some as the “Emmy’s” of Voice Acting, holds their award ceremonies every December, calling it “...a Global celebration where the Voice is a key creative element.”
Ross has been working in the entertainment field for over 20 years. He is a union performer at SAG-AFTRA and is repped by CESD, one of the largest talent agencies in Los Angeles, as well as TAG Talent Agency out of Austin, Texas. His first major title voice over job was portraying the evil “Starscream” in Transformers: The Game from Activision. He has worked on shows for almost every animation network, such as Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Walt Disney Company, and Boomerang, as well as Amazon, Netflix and YouTube.
You may think that the Voice Arts Award was the most exciting for Ross, but the following is the best story ever! The story is about a boy growing up in Washington, DC, who went to bed every night tucked in by his Mother. She would tell him she loved him with a “Donald Duck-like” voice. As he got older, Daniel could eventually answer his Mother back, as a duck, with “I love you too.” A constant prankster throughout his school years, the impersonation of “Donald Duck” was always in his repertoire of voices.
Do dreams come true? After multiple auditions and callbacks, Disney TVA (Disney Television Animation) asked him to voice the one and only Donald Duck! YES, THAT DUCK! In 2015, Daniel Ross became the third voice actor in 87 years to officially portray the Voice of Donald Duck. What did his Mother say before one of the auditions? “Be sure to sneeze like Donald!” And he did...
Ross told me, “This journey has been true Disney magic for me. I realize how important it is to get it right for the fans when voicing a legacy character like Donald Duck, and I take that responsibility with both seriousness and joy. I want to be a good steward for this 87 years young quacker! This means a lot to me personally. I do lots of research and practice every day, not just for the kids growing up with Donald on TV for the first time, but for all of us who grew up loving cartoons and the memories they preserve.”
Be sure to look over his website, www.ActorDanielRoss.com You’ll find pics, voice demos, acting reels, a store for autographs, and even a section for VO Coaching that Daniel offers one-on-one through Zoom. Early in May, Ross will be holding a VO workshop through the RealVoiceLA Studio.
Since all of the Animation Conventions were cancelled during 2020, you’ll also find a link to his “Cameo” page, where you can have Daniel record a personalized video message for you! You can also follow him across social media under @ActorDanielRoss. And check him out on TikTok with 800,000 followers! Ross emphasizes that actors and voice actors alike should be mindful of their social media following and online presence because that may be a factor in your success. Potential clients in the industry may be hoping you have good numbers to engage with followers for publicity.
IMDb and Wikipedia are your best resources for finding Daniel and his myriad character voices. Check out Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures (2019-2021) (formerly called Mickey and the Roadster Racers), also Chip ‘N Dale’s Nutty Tales (2017), Hot Diggity Dog Tales (2019-2020), and more!
Did you know that in the Tom and Jerry Show (Warner Bros), Ross played both recurring and utility voices over 3 seasons. In the recent hit game, War of Warcraft: Shadowlands (2020), he voiced four characters, and you may also know him as one of the voices of Lucky the Leprechaun from Lucky Charms Cereal!
This article cannot be complete without mentioning that Daniel has a feathered companion named Buddy, who is a Crimson Bellied Conure, “Buddy is about to turn 4 years old, and is surprisingly quiet which is great for a Voice Actor household! He loves popcorn and head scratches.”
Advice to our Creators Society members? “When giving advice, honesty is always key,” said Ross, “...the reality of this business is that it’s not easy! One needs to demystify the idea of rejection and failure to protect their creativity. You are working as an entrepreneur, and as such, must have a plan and backup plans to survive, manage your time, and know what it takes to support yourself!”
At the beginning, Daniel knew he had to eliminate the fear of failure, because most of us worry about money or the next job, and that stress will negatively affect auditions. “When I first got here, I gave myself six months to get settled, with a goal of 5 years to re-evaluate my status. I used a credit card where I always earned flyer miles for purchases. Why? So that if anything happened out here (in CA) I knew I’d at least have a ticket home!”
But he did make it! “Well...there are still lean times, and you have to be ready for them. I do audition for as much as I can, not just for animation or video game roles, but for commercials and promos. I am also always working on my own content for TikTok, or putting together my own animation project ideas.”
One more note, “Always follow your dreams, you never know what might happen! Also be sure to get out there and network, get those vaccines so we can all get back to meeting in person! The Creators Society Virtual Zoom Socials can help in the meantime!”
