Today we’d like to introduce you to David Cui Cui.
Hi David, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
A year into my life of post-graduation, I found myself in Virginia with both an excess of disposable income and free time. I spent most of that time playing video games and watching shows, much like I had in school. Video games and cartoons had an integral impact on how I grew up, and I remember thinking to myself, “what would it take to be a voice in one of these productions?” So I did my research for a couple months or so, and when the answer came back as “you essentially have to be a full time voice actor”, that was it. So I started building towards that career shift then and there.
I had never taken an acting class before, wasn’t in a major voice acting hub like NYC or LA, and I actually had to pause for about half a year into my training because I was seriously debating moving to Japan. After my brief hiatus (if you could call it that), I got back into my training, started building up my resume and industry network, and after a handful of years I moved out to LA! While I do wish I had a bit more time to prepare myself mentally/emotionally, I think my shift to focusing more on voice acting happened at exactly the right pace for me to handle everything I was (and am) at the time.
Currently, I would still consider myself only a year after moving to LA in the “hustle” phase. I’m still getting to know people, and people are still getting to know me. All things will come in their time, so while that is cooking in the background I’m focusing on establishing roots here and making LA feel like home. A lot of friends have asked me how long I plan on staying out here or when I’m moving back east, and I always find it interesting that these are the same friends who kept asking me when I was going to move to LA, and now they’re asking when I’m coming back? It’s funny.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m quite the risk averse individual, so I made sure that I would be prepared to face common struggles most aspiring actors face. For example, I wanted to make sure I would always have my finances taken care of, so jumping in too deeply too quickly was never on the table. I didn’t consider moving to LA until I could convince myself it would be worth it and I wouldn’t have to hustle too hard when I arrived. I wanted to make sure I could stay sane by moving at my own pace.
That’s not to say that my journey has been devoid of struggle or turbulence, of course. The other aspects of the job still get to me: sending out hundreds of auditions that don’t book, seeing all the role announcements on social media from friends and colleagues when I have nothing to show for myself, not knowing if I’m actually making progress or not. It still feels like that regularly. I’m not the most patient person, so seeing my friends and colleagues get to where I want to be can really get me down sometimes. But I’m happy to be around friends and colleagues who also experience the same struggles and can relate to them; it makes the difficulties more tolerable.
I think another aspect that gets to me a lot is the professional social aspect. Voice actors are incredibly friendly and welcoming, don’t get me wrong, but there are times when the impostor syndrome will kick in and I feel like I don’t belong among my friends and colleagues, like my resume isn’t big enough to hang out with these people, or something like that; like if I want to make friends, then I have to “earn it”. That fear paralyzes me into even trying to make relationships at times, even in my personal life. But you have to put yourself out there if you want to make friends and connections.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
So my official pitch is “bilingual (English/Japanese) male Asian American voice actor that specializes in character work for video games and animation, commercial, and narration”, which is quite a mouthful haha. I’m most specialized in video games, as that’s the main genre I focus on and why I’m doing this in the first place. You can hear me in games like LIVE A LIVE, Aether Gazer, Jagged Alliance 3, Genshin Impact, and a bunch of other ones. I also voice in a lot of audio dramas, K-drama dubs, internal corporate videos, and eLearning modules.
Some roles I’ve booked definitely mean a lot for me as one of those “OMG I’VE MADE IT!” roles when I was early on in my career, like I had finally crossed the border between hobbyist and professional. But they’re all special, and I’m proud of nearly all of my work. I love acting, and I love being able to play around and create characters and tell stories. I’m incredibly lucky and humbled to be in this industry and to work with so many talented, amazing directors, engineers, writers, and of course other actors!
I would also say being able to speak Japanese definitely sets me apart from other actors. I’m also really good at doing naturally-sounding accents and dialects, specifically Chinese/Japanese. It’s important for me to stay sharp on accents and dialects, because only Asian people are going to be hired to do Asian accents these days; the industry didn’t always do that, and there’s still the ongoing effort to bring in more authenticity and representation. That’s the best way you’re going to get more natural, authentic characters: from actors/directors who have the background and life experience and bring them to life.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
From my personal life, I learned during the pandemic that the world is actually so small. As an extrovert, I was incredibly anxious during the early parts of lockdowns and social distancing, but I was able to connect and reconnect with so many people over the internet. Whether it was just video calls to check in with people, weekly movie nights on Discord, or reaching out on social media, I felt like I was rediscovering friendships and making new ones that would otherwise have been impossible. In the voice acting industry, I think people thought I was on the west coast at the time because I was chatting and networking online with all these LA actors. I just had a weird sleep schedule and an overcharged social battery. As a remote voice actor at the time, my opportunities also grew a lot, which let me audition for and book projects that I probably would have never seen otherwise.
On the not-so-positive side, it also revealed to me at the time where I fell in certain circles. I think people had a tendency to group with their closest friends or core group, and it felt like I wasn’t always included. As restrictions relaxed and a sense of normalcy returned, people were comfortable with the lockdown lifestyle and social groups that there was little effort to open back up and be friends to the same extent with everyone again. It was pretty lonely the last year or so before I moved to LA, and that’s actually one of the main reasons why I moved when I did.
The crisis also was and still is a humbling reminder to be considerate of others and to have sympathy towards their situations. It’s easy to look at things from where I come from and where I am and think that everyone should do what I do, but I have no idea what people are going through, whether it’s from a personal health perspective like with COVID, or anything else going on. I’m very thankful to have been able to have a lot of very insightful and candid conversations with friends regarding this, and I feel like it’s allowed me a greater capacity to understand and accommodate them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cuicuovo.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cuicuivo
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CuiCui48
Image Credits
@photobybrandonandre @the_voiceover_network
