Portrait of Heather Loreto (Courtesy of IMDb)
Indie film voice actress Heather Loreto speaks on performing arts, voice-acting, and her new movie “Night of the Zoopocalypse” in an exclusive interview with The Angler.
In this interview done over Microsoft Teams, Loreto conveyed a friendly, sweet, and enthusiastic attitude in her introduction. Her warm open smile and excited nature depicted her humbleness and compassion towards others. For nearly 3 hours, she spoke with openness, vulnerability, and answered questions very thoroughly. This is also Loreto’s first interview with the media.
Loreto’s Acting Origins
Loreto reveals her origins as an actress were influenced by her loved ones. Her godfather is a prominent theatre actor from Guatemala, which she would perform in shows with.
“My godfather is actually a big stage actor in Guatemala…So we would always do little plays when we [her family] were kids, for birthdays and all that.”
One of Loreto’s high school friends was an actress, and she told her about the progress of acting as a profession.
“She’s the one that explained to me how acting works,” Loreto explained. “She told me you get an agent, you go to auditions, and that’s how you book the auditions. And then there you go. You’re an actor.”
Additionally, Loreto would receive a lot of support from her mother.
“I grew up reciting things for her all the time because she’s the love of my life. My mom is a huge inspiration to me…She was born legally blind, making it that I grew up having to read everything to her…and I would love it. And it was the best time of my life.”
Loreto further states reading out loud “ignited a passion,” which led her to discover a deeper love for voice-over and storytelling. At that time, she didn’t know voice-acting was a career.
Before becoming an actress, Loreto originally planned on pursuing a major in graphic design based on her passion for the visual arts and computers. The former was especially important to her during her high school years.
“All I would really do in school was draw, and one of my sisters, she introduced me to the arts very young because she graduated in Fine Arts, so I was always in museums. Going to her house has always been so fun because she’d have a bunch of art stuff.”
Loreto’s passion for computers and gaming also influenced her initial decision. Her mother would say that she was very good with computers, since she knew how to use Google properly. Additionally, she would play video games on her computer.
“I was playing a lot of ‘MapleStory.’”
However, based on her prior acting experience with her family and learning about acting as a profession from her high school friend, Loreto decided to study acting, rather than graphic design.
“I just love acting. It is really such a spiritual experience, since it’s really just such a privilege of working on just being a human in the end.”
Loreto said she applied for a theatre program at the Cégep Saint-Laurent college in Quebec, Canada. During this time, she acted in plays, joined an actor’s union, and eventually went on to move to Toronto.
The Power of the Performing Arts
When asked about the value of performing arts, Loreto provided many reasons.
“First of all, they [performing arts] are a way to connect with humanity. For people to feel listened…to not feel alone…It helps people to not just be in their own world and understand that other personalities and ways of thinking exist. It’s just a good way and thing that teaches and can teach empathy. The performing arts, no matter what form they are under, are the best way to reach humanity.”
Moreover, Loreto explained how performing arts can positively influence both its artists and audience.
“I met someone who told me how doing improv changed their lives. They used to feel so scared about talking to people. They really had a lot of anxiety doing that, until they tried improv. It changed their life upside down. They became more confident and more comfortable with the unknown, and so I think it can be extremely therapeutic for a lot of people. Whether it is for the performer, or the other receiving end.”
She further stated that performing arts, whether as an actor or an audience member, satisfies one’s curiosities and wonders on the many aspects of life.
Loreto is experienced with stage, screen, and voice-acting. She began comparing the similarities and differences between the mediums. For differences, she provided examples such as voice actors usually deciding what to wear during recording sessions, screen actors typically being filmed from their upper body, and stage actors having the “rawest” form of acting. She explained, “Theater is the most raw because if you make a mistake, you can’t go back and delete and restart. You have to go along with it, so it takes a different muscle.”
However, for similarities, Loreto revealed all forms of acting depend on the actors’ passion towards their performance.
“When you’re performing, everything has to come from the heart…Putting your soul into the work that you do, no matter how big, no matter how small. That’s a similarity that should be shared across mediums.”
Breaking Into Voice-Acting
On the topic of voice-acting, Loreto shared the process of finding a job in the industry. She admitted finding roles was easy, thanks to the development of the Internet. However, booking said roles might be more difficult, due to a number of contributing factors.
“It depends on what your competition looks like. If it’s a lower budget, it might be a bit easier than if you’re competing in the Union world…Sometimes it can be a numbers game, as in the more auditions you do, the higher your chances of booking.”
Even if one applies these tips, Loreto acknowledged the hurdles and challenges voice actors might experience in the industry.
“There are strikes happening, fighting for better wages, fighting for our rights, especially with AI. It’s very scary territory, but in the end, I think that nothing will ever replace humanity, no matter how hard AI tries to emulate voices and tones. Fortunately, it will never know how to be human.”
Furthemore, Loreto states that voice actors should have a background in acting, in order to increase their chances at standing out from their competition, when booking a role.
“If you find any plays around you, like at your local community, join them. If it’s on the stage, even better, because you get a sense of the community. You learn a lot from acting with other people. That’s when you learn the most.”
Besides acting with others, Loreto confirms she has also learned the most through her mistakes.
“I’ve learned acting the most also by making mistakes. That’s why classes are important, because in workshops, that’s where you’re gonna do all your mistakes, so that you learn. Every day I’m learning. I’m training all the time…That’s the amazing thing about acting. You’re a lifelong student…Everything feeds your acting.”
Loreto as Frida the Capybara in “Night of the Zoopocalypse”
Afterwards, Loreto shared her involvement with voicing Frida the Capybara in “Night of the Zoopocalypse.” She started off by saying her role was a new experience for her, since she was usually cast to voice younger characters.
“When I did Frida…Rodrigo [the film’s co-director] was like ‘OK. She gets the funny part of Frida, but her voice is not deep enough.’ So they [both directors] made me go deeper, and it’s not a register that I’m used to doing…What prepared me for Frida is all the years I’ve been acting.”
Then, Loreto revealed the origins of how she got the role for Frida.
“I did the audition at home in my closet. I was like, ‘OK. I can’t add too much ad lib…unless it’s related to the character and it adds, but don’t change the script.’ Some people really like it when you add a lot, some people don’t…my agent called me and said I booked the role!”
To find the perfect voice for Frida, Loreto practiced with her mentor, actress Elley Ray. Later on, Loreto would examine the scripts featuring Frida’s dialogue, in order to get an idea of her ideal voice. She already knew Frida had a Spanish accent, and she was also given a description of Frida’s personality. However, since she initially wasn’t given the entire film’s context nor script, Loreto would create a background for her character, to find Frida’s optimal voice.
“When you’re working on characters, you have to make decisions…I gave her [Frida] a backstory. She doesn’t want to be there with all these weird animals. She just wants to be chilling in the pool with her husband, love of her life, and now he disappeared…You have to be careful not to overwork a script.”
Before arriving at the studio to record her lines for Frida, Loreto would prepare by performing vocal warm ups and rehearsing her lines.
“To prepare for Frida…I do warm ups that are really gonna make my voice deeper…I always try to be there [at the studio] almost 20-30 minutes before, just to chill and work on my stuff. I warmed up…and I went into it.”
Loreto also expressed immense respect and gratitude to the film’s animators, when thinking about the many takes of her voice lines.
“The animators are the magicians…When you’re doing voice-over, you have to think, ‘How can I make it interesting for the animators?’ They do so much. Animators are real magicians. When they are animating and they don’t have the voice, they have to act it out. They need such a deep understanding of everything and they should be celebrated even more. They’re the ones that should be walking down the carpets, in my opinion.”
Also, Loreto began to positively talk about the rest of the film’s production team.
“They were so open, fabulous, and amazing. They’re such nice people. The whole team is incredible. They’re so good-hearted and so genuine and so amazing.”
Loreto described her favorite aspects of Frida’s design and personality.
“First, the physical ones are her little nostrils, little beauty mark, and little paws. Obviously, her sassiness, she’s just so fabulous…I love everything about her, so it’s hard. She’s a leader. She’s a fighter. She’s feisty as she should be. I’m gonna say one aspect is her whole-being.”
Loreto also elaborated on the film’s themes on teamwork and tolerance.
“It’s better to do things as a team. Even though there are disagreements sometimes, due to different personalities. In the end, if you all put your heart into the same goal, and think about the greater good, I think things can always work out.”
Finally, when asked why people should watch “Night of the Zoopocalypse,” Loreto gave a very insightful and passionate response.
“First off, Canada doesn’t have a lot of their own projects [animated movies], and it’s an indie film. It’s made with so much love. Everyone did everything with so much love. It’s also a co-production with Belgium and France as well. So many studios have been involved, and they’re all so greatly talented. The cast members are incredible. The directors, they know what they’re doing. It’s fun. It’s a spooky movie, and I think it’s gonna become a pop culture icon. It’s just so iconic. The characters are hilarious. There’s so many funny lines. It’s just a fun, nice movie for the family. No matter what age you are, you’re going to find stuff that you like. People should watch it because it’s fun. You’re gonna be in it for an awesome ride. It’s just refreshing.”
You can follow Heather Loreto’s acting journey on her Instagram. Catch her as Frida the Capybara by streaming “Night of the Zoopocalypse” on Peacock.
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