Written by Diane Leverich

This week, Episode 5 of Unwritten released, entitled “The Adventure of the Resident Patient.” We decided to chat with Luna Madison–the voice Elaine (our protagonist)–about the podcast and her future in voice-acting.

 Luna Madison began her acting career in 2012 at a community theater in Cincinnati. Recently, she has participated in several short films as well as a web series. Unwritten is Luna’s first experience with voice-acting.

Dayton Writer’s Movement: Do you feel that you identify with any aspects of Elaine’s personality? How did you prepare for the role of “becoming” Elaine?

Luna Madison: I identify with a lot of Elaine’s personality. She’s a curious, quirky, quiet, and shy crusader for equality, and I can identify with that quite a bit. I’ve been a feminist and LGBTQ+ advocate for several years and [Elaine’s] need for justice and equality that drives her, as well as her need for answers, is something that I can see in myself. Above all, I feel a deep connection with her ability to procrastinate–especially when she’s indecisive. It wasn’t the biggest stretch to get into character.

DWM: In the past, you’ve acted in short films and were part of a web series. How is voice-acting different from acting in a film? Were there any challenges associated with voice-acting? Which medium do you prefer?

LM: Voice-acting and acting in film is very different. When you’re acting in any sort of visual media, you get your entire body to portray a character. You get to move around and you have more tools at your disposal. With voice-acting, everything I did had to be portrayed only with my voice–which in itself is a powerful tool–but not having your body to also emphasize your words can be challenging. I like both [acting and voice-acting] in their own way. The physicality of film acting is always fun, but I enjoy the different challenge of voice-acting.

DWM: What is one thing you want your audience to know about Elaine that they may not know now?

LM: I read Elaine as asexual and aromantic. She really doesn’t care for romance outside of fiction and sex is just something she was never interested in. She’s not against it–she advocates for safe sex education–but she really doesn’t care or notice that it’s not in her life.

DWM: What first sparked your interest in Unwritten? How did you become involved in the project?

LM: The opportunity to voice-act was what initially grabbed me. Every summer, I try to do something in film or similar media because, typically, I can’t during the school year.I obsessively listend to books-on-CD and read aloud to myself when I was little, so the interest was always there. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to at least try. When I read the bit of information Chris and Megan had put up on the casting call, I could tell it was a project that had both purpose and meaning to it. It meant something to the writers and was well-thought out. I had to at least audition.

DWM: What are your future goals in terms of acting/voice acting?

LM: In the future, I’d really love to do more voice work. It’s been so much fun and expanding upon that skill would be wonderful. I’ll probably continue trying to find work in film projects as well.

Look out for upcoming interviews with other cast and crew members!

Hear more about Elaine’s story by listening to Unwritten: Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, SoundCloud, YouTube